Deuteronomy 30:11–14

Context

Deuteronomy 29–30 depicts Moses renewing the covenant with the people of Israel on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan. In the immediately preceding verses, 30:1–10, Moses promises that when the scattered people return, God will restore them and "circumcise thine heart" (Deuteronomy 30:6) so that they will love him. Circumcision is the rite by which the sign of the covenant was marked on the body of a male child; here it serves as a figure for the renewal of the heart.

Verses 11–14 follow from this promise. The commandment given that day is not in some unreachable place, such as heaven or beyond the sea, so there is no need to wait for someone to go and bring it back. Rather, the word is already in the mouth and in the heart of the people. This statement leads immediately into the exhortation to choose life rather than death, blessing rather than evil (Deuteronomy 30:15–20).

Interpretation

• The plain reading of the text: The law is not secret knowledge known only to a few, nor is it something obtained only through a special mediator. On this reading, it is a word that has already been given, which anyone can know and obey.
• Paul's reading: In Romans 10:6–8, Paul uses this passage to explain "the righteousness which is of faith." He reinterprets ascending "into heaven" as bringing Christ down from above, and going "beyond the sea" as descending "into the deep" to bring Christ up again from the dead. He then calls the word that is near "the word of faith, which we preach." The expression that follows in Romans 10:9, "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth . . . and shalt believe in thine heart," likewise draws on the "mouth" and "heart" of this passage.
• The Jewish traditional reading: The Talmud is reported to contain a story based on the words of verse 12, "It is not in heaven." The argument is that because the law (Torah) has already been given to human beings, its interpretation must be settled by the deliberation of the sages rather than by a voice from heaven.

Debates and Issues

• "Able to do it" and Paul's understanding of the law: This passage states that the commandment can be done. Paul, by contrast, states that no one will be justified by the deeds of the law (Romans 3:20). How the two are to be read together is an open question.
• The Lutheran and Reformed traditions distinguish between law and gospel. They therefore tend to hold that Paul read this passage not as evidence of an ability to keep the law but as testimony that the gospel has drawn near. They also connect it with the promise of the circumcised heart in Deuteronomy 30:6, holding that obedience becomes possible only when one receives a new heart by God's grace.
• The Wesleyan tradition tends to place greater emphasis on grace as making actual obedience and sanctification possible.
• Paul's manner of quotation: Some interpreters hold that Paul freely adapted the passage in a sense different from its original context. Others argue that, when the promise of restoration earlier in chapter 30 is taken into account, Paul's reading is continuous with the context. Views also differ on whether Paul set this passage in contrast with, or in continuity with, "the righteousness which is of the law" (Romans 10:5), where he quotes Leviticus 18:5.
• Translation: The Hebrew at the end of verse 14 is, literally, closer to an expression of purpose: "to do it." Some have therefore noted that it may be rendered as purpose ("that thou mayest do it") rather than ability ("you are able to do it").

Related Passages

• Romans 10:5–10
• Deuteronomy 30:15–20
• Deuteronomy 30:6
• Jeremiah 31:31–34
• Ezekiel 36:25–27