DEUTERONOMY 29:29 REVISITED

This verse talks of the secret things of God being God's while the revealed things are given for our benefit. Of course, that immediately causes many of us to know what the nature of those secret things is. Six years ago I wrote a short post summarizing the opinions of several commentators regarding this passage. After repeating that post below, I would like to supplement it with some additional comments I have gleaned elsewhere.

The most obvious meaning to this verse is expressed by several scholars:

Andrew Hill: The word translated as hidden or secret may “refer to the residual mystery of the transcendent God, who is free to remain hidden (Job 34:29; Prov 25:2; Isa 45:15) or free to involve himself in his creation...Likewise, the secret things like wisdom belong to God (Deut 29:29; Job 28:21). This contributes to the suddenness of human destiny and purpose in life (Job 3:23), making divine revelation all the more essential (Ps 119:19).”

R. K. Harrison: “Certain matters of eternal significance belong to God alone, while others are revealed to men. The law has been given for the obedience of Israel, and if the kingdom is sought in this way, everything else needful will be added (cf Mt. 6:33).”

Cousins: “God has revealed his law and his nature in the covenant (Much more, Christians would say, in the New Covenant.) God's people should attend to these and not hanker for knowledge of his hidden purposes.”

J. A. Thompson: “The secret things, i.e. things beyond man's knowledge, such as the future, are God's concern...Sufficient is revealed in Yahweh's covenant with Israel to provide her with a sure guide for living in the present and to this she is called. This is a salutary observation which is as relevant for the Christian community as it was for Israel.” In this regard, we should keep in mind the lesson of Job 38-41. If we can't even comprehend all the secrets of the natural world, how can we expect to understand God's nature and plans?

Craigie treats the context as the previous verses. “That is to say, one thing was certain and revealed, namely, the words of the law...It would be presumptuous of man to assume that in revelation he has been given total knowledge of God.”

Others have attempted to get more specific in determining what the secret things are:

Mayes: “The secret things are usually understood as a reference to the future which only God can know...what lies in the future, whether a continuation of the present conditions or a happy restoration, should not be the object of speculation. It lies in God's hands.”

Levinson: They are “concealed acts that God will punish (vv. 18-19), or future events. More likely, the antithesis with revealed rejects religions of esoteric speculation that restrict access to truth to a learned few. Torah, based upon a public revelation (ch 5) and Mosaic instruction (chs 12-26), is accessible to all.” Although I would certainly agree with Levinson's last sentence, the two explanations he gives do not have much to recommend them in my mind. How can concealed sins of others be the secret things of God? And proposing that the Jews would encounter esoteric religions in Canaan such as the much later Gnostics rests on a thin historical basis and falls into the category of speculation itself.

Beale and Gladd (Hidden But Now Revealed) present the most elaborately reasoned thesis concerning this verse, treating the previous verses 22-28 as the context. That passage can be interpreted to say, in marked contrast to other future scenarios present in the OT prophets, that the Jews will reject God and only be restored after the Gentiles have come to salvation.

This hidden truth is only revealed much later and explained by Paul in Romans 11:25-27. Thus, “Paul has experienced the resolution to the Deuteronomic secret or 'mystery'; indeed, the first to be saved in the eschaton [last days] were Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, and then the Jewish Christian witness went out to the Gentiles resulting in their salvation.” But for the rest of this age, the order will be reversed.

As evidence pointing to this interpretation, Beale and Gladd note that:

    (a) Later Jewish writings actually explained Deuteronomy 29:29 in much the same manner.

    (b) The Greek phrases “kept secret” and “revealed” found at the end of Romans (at 16:25-26) are either the same or synonymous with those found in the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 29:29.

Lastly, the intended immediate context for v. 29 bears a little consideration. As mentioned above, Craigie says that it is the previous verses while Mayes and others associate this verse with 30:11-14 rather than with what precedes it. Thus, they feel that 29:29 and 30:11-14 actually serve as a framework to the intervening verses. Beale and Gladd agree with both these views in that 29a harks back to verses 22-28 and 29b connects to 30:1-10.

So much for my earlier analysis. I turned next to some additional scholarly resources in my home library to come up with the following:

Two anonymous contributors to Dictionary of Biblical Imagery add these comments:

“Parents are responsible to teach their children of God's justice, both his judgment and his mercy. Admonitions to 'train up a child in the way he should go' are many (Deut 4:9-10; 6:7; 29:29; 30:2; 31:13; 32:46, etc).”

“God is hidden from human knowledge except by revelation...to those able to receive it. God's 'marvelous work' is hidden from 'the understanding of [the] prudent' (Is 29:14 KJV)...Earlier, Isaiah spoke of new revelation in his time from the treasury of 'hidden things' (Is 48:6), and Deuteronomy 29:29 distinguished between what had been revealed and what was still secret.”

Watts says, “The high point of the first exodus was Yahweh's self-revelation through his word (Deut. 30:11-14), near enough for all Israel to hear and see (Deut. 29:29). Christologically for Mark [in Mark 3:4], God's presence and his Torah are now embodied in Jesus (as John 1:14 will later so memorably put it, 'the Word became flesh').”

“Uncritical acceptance of messages because they were received in a supernormal experience is unwise. Problems also occur when people demand special knowledge or answers from God. These are 'secret things' that belong to God (Deut 29:29). Divination and magic are attempts to gain knowledge and control that God declares are not needed. When things do not make sense or the future looks anxiously uncertain, divination and magic are tempting rivals to trusting God.” (O'Mathuna) This is an important point to remember since many of us would much rather live by sight rather than by faith. And such people do not necessarily have to go all the way to turning to magic. Instead they are much more likely to trusting in popular podcasts or the proclamations of self-proclaimed prophecy experts to hang their assurance on.

Speaking of popular sources on the Internet, lastly I decided to take a sampling of what people posting on it felt. And for once, I was pleasantly surprised with what Google AI had to say on Deuteronomy 29:29. It (or should I say they, he, or she?) felt that this verse “distinguishes between God's hidden, sovereign knowledge and the truths He has revealed to humanity for obedience. It teaches humility, encouraging trust in God for unknown mysteries while focusing on applying revealed scripture.” 

Another popular site is Bible Hub, which collects the comments mainly of scholars from an earlier generation. Below are samplings from that source:

“Must not Moses have longed to know what would befall his people in the latter days? and if we ourselves, 'upon whom the ends of the world are come,' do not yet see the future of Israel distinctly, are not the words appropriate still?” (Elliott)

“We are forbidden curiously to inquire into the secret counsels of God, and to determine concerning them. But we are directed and encouraged, diligently to seek into that which God has made known. He has kept back nothing that is profitable for us, but only that of which it is good for us to be ignorant. The end of all Divine revelation is, not to furnish curious subjects of speculation and discourse, but that we may do all the words of this law, and be blessed in our deed.” (Matthew Henry)

"Those who give the answer close their address with an expression of pious submission and solemn admonition. 'That which is hidden belongs to the Lord our God (is His affair), and that which is revealed belongs to us and our children for ever, to do (that we may do) all the words of this law.' That which is revealed includes the law with its promises and threats; consequently that which is hidden can only refer to the mode in which God will carry out in the future His counsel and will, which He has revealed in the law, and complete His work of salvation notwithstanding the apostasy of the people.” (Keil and Delitzsch) 

Despite the sometimes old fashioned and stilted language in which such sentiments are expressed, commentators such as these are generally to be trusted to stay rather close to the intended meaning of the text and not engage in much undue speculation.