Passage
Deuteronomy 29.29
29. The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (ASV)Book: Deuteronomy · NASB95
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
27. therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book; 28. and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day.
29. The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:27-29, ASV)
WEB
27. Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28. Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”
29. The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:27-29, WEB)
KJV
27. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 28. And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29. The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:27-29, KJV)
YLT
27. and the anger of Jehovah burneth against that land, to bring in on it all the reviling that is written in this book, 28. and Jehovah doth pluck them from off their ground in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath, and doth cast them unto another land, as [at] this day.
29. 'The things hidden [are] to Jehovah our God, and the things revealed [are] to us and to our sons, to the age, to do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:27-29, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: Moses, concluding the covenant made "in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb" (29:1)
- Audience: Israel, the generation about to cross the Jordan into Canaan, and their descendants (29:14-15)
- Location: "beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab" (1:5)
- Time period: On the book's own dating, the fortieth year after the Exodus (1:3), shortly before Moses' death (34:5). Many critical scholars connect the book's final form with the reform under King Josiah in the late seventh century BC (2 Kings 22-23)
Theological reading
"The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."
The context. The verse closes a warning. Future generations and foreigners will look at a ruined land and ask why, and the answer will be that Israel forsook the covenant (29:22-28). Moses then draws a line between what God has kept to himself and what he has made known.
Two kinds of knowledge. "Secret things" (Strong's H5641) are what God has hidden: the full shape of the future, the reasons behind his particular judgments. "Things that are revealed" (H1540) are what he has disclosed, and they are given for a practical purpose: "that we may do all the words of this law." Revelation is given to be obeyed, not to satisfy curiosity. In the Hebrew manuscript tradition the words "unto us and to our children" carry dots written above the letters, one of the few places in the Torah marked this way; the reason for the marks is debated.
Deism and revelation. Deists held that reason and nature tell us all we need to know of God, and that claims of special revelation cannot be trusted. Thomas Paine argued in The Age of Reason (1794) that a revelation is revelation only to the first person who receives it, and hearsay to everyone else. That is a serious objection. The verse's reply is that Israel's revelation was not a private experience reported later. It was given to a nation at Horeb, "in the day of the assembly" (18:16), and written down: "Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests ... and unto all the elders of Israel" (31:9, ASV).
Two kinds of humility. Deism is modest about what can be known of God beyond reason. The verse is modest in a different way: it claims to know only what God has said, and it leaves the rest with him. See Deism vs the Christian God, General Revelation and Divine Hiddenness.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.
- H8451 - torah, torah, Strong's H8451
- H5769 - olam, olam, Strong's H5769
- H1697 - dabar, dabar, Strong's H1697
- H0430 - elohim, elohim, Strong's H0430
- H6213 - asah, asah, Strong's H6213
- H1121 - ben, ben, Strong's H1121
Quoted in
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Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.