a command · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
command
מְצַוְּךָ֖me.tza.ve.Kha
H6680
(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
day
הַיּ֑וֹםhai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hidden
נִפְלֵ֥אתnif.Let
H6381
properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
off
רְחֹקָ֖הre.cho.Kah
H7350
remote · adjective, feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteous…
Psalms 147:19-20 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
Romans 16:25-26 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the my…
Colossians 1:26-27 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Moses here urges them to obedience from the consideration of the plainness and easiness of the command.
I. This is true of the law of Moses. They could never plead in excuse of their disobedience that God had enjoined them that which was either unintelligible or impracticable, impossible to be known or to be done (Deu 30:11): It is not hidden from thee. That is, not send messengers to heaven (Deu 30:12), to enquire what thou must do to please God; nor needest thou go beyond sea (Deu 30:13), as the philosophers did, that travelled through many and distant regions in pursuit of learning; no, thou art not put to that labour and expense; nor is the commandment within the reach of those only that…
THE COMMANDMENT IS MANIFEST. (Deu 30:11-14)
For this commandment . . . is not hidden . . . neither is it far off--That law of loving and obeying God, which was the subject of Moses' discourse, was well known to the Israelites. They could not plead ignorance of its existence and requirements. It was not concealed as an impenetrable mystery in heaven, for it had been revealed; nor was it carefully withheld from the people as a dangerous discovery; for the youngest and humblest of them were instructed in those truths, which were subjects of earnest study and research among the wisest and greatest of other nations. They were not under a necessity of undertaking long journeys or distant voyages,…
For this commandment which I command thee this day,.... Which the Jews understand of the law, but the Apostle Paul has taught us to interpret it of the word of faith, the Gospel preached by him and other ministers, Romans 10:6; which better suits with the context, and the prophecies before delivered concerning the conversion of the Jews, their reception of the Messiah, and his Gospel:
it is not hidden from thee; being clearly revealed, plainly and fully preached: if hidden from any, it is from them that are lost; from the wise and prudent, while it is revealed to babes, and given to them to know the mysteries of it: or too "wonderful" (q); hard, difficult, and impossible; its doctrines, are…
The Church Fathers
Because this precept that I am sending you today is not out of measure or far from you. He is not in heaven, saying-that is, for you to say- "Who will come up to heaven for us and bring it to us and hear it?" Nor is it on the other side of the sea, saying-that is, for You say: "Who will go for us across the sea and bring it to us and listen to it and put it to work?" This word is very close to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart and in your hands so that you put it to work. The Apostle says that this is the word of faith, belonging to the New Testament (Cf Rm 10,8). But we can ask why previously they are called commandments to the things that are written in the book of this law (Cf Dt 29,21). And the explanation is because they all mean the spiritual things belonging to the New Testament, if they are understood correctly. We can also ask why what is said here: Nor is it on the other side of the sea, for you to say: «Who will go for us to the other side of the sea and bring it to us?, The Apostle picks it up, saying: Who will go down into the abyss? "And, in explaining these words, he adds: This is: bringing Christ up from the dead (Rm 10,7). The explanation is that the author calls sea to all the life that passes in this world, and that is crossed with death, so that in a certain way the sea ends and death is called the other side of the sea, as if was the other side of this life, which is indicated by the word sea. On the other hand, what the text says: And in your hands, the Apostle does not collect it, but only says: In your mouth and in your heart (Rm 10,8). And this he continued until the end, saying: For with the heart one believes to obtain justice, and with the mouth confession is made to obtain salvation (Rm 10,10). With good reason, then, the translated text of the Hebrew, as far as I could verify, does not have the words: in your hands. But I do not believe that the Seventy have added it uselessly. They want to say that the hands themselves, which signify the works, must also be received in the heart, where faith is, that works through love (Gal 5,6). Because if the things that God commands are done externally with the hands and are not made with the heart, there is no one so foolish that he thinks that this is how the commandments are fulfilled. For the rest, if love, which is the fullness of the law (Cf Rm 13,10), dwells in the heart,…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Excuses · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
11. For this commandment, which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off:
11. Praeceptum hoc quod praecipio tibi hodie, non est absconditam a to, nec procul remotum.
12. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
12. Non est in coelis ut dicas, Quis nobis ascendet in coelum, ut deferat illud ad nos, et annuntiet nobis, ut ipsum faciamus?
13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13. Nec est ultra mare, ut dicas, Quis nobis trajiciet mare…
The fulfilment of this condition is not impossible, nor really very difficult. This natural though leads to the motive, which Moses impresses upon the hearts of the people in Deu 30:11-14, viz., that He might turn the blessing to them. God had done everything to render the observance of His commandments possible to Israel. "This commandment" (used as in Deu 6:1 to denote the whole law) is "not too wonderful for thee," i.e., is not too hard to grasp, or unintelligible (vid., Deu 17:8), nor is it too far off: it is neither in heaven, i.e., at an inaccessible height; nor beyond the sea, i.e., at an unattainable distance, at the end of the world, so that any one could say, Who is able to fetch i…
Adherence to the covenant terms that Moses had outlined would give life; disobedience would surely bring death. Life and death refer to physical, mortal life in the land—of individuals and of the community of Israel.
30:11 This command refers to the whole covenant text, all of Deuteronomy (see 4:2; 5:29; 7:9).
Rashi on Deuteronomy 30:11
לא נפלאת הוא ממך [FOR THIS COMMANDMENT …] IS NOT נפלאת FROM YOU i.e. is not concealed from you, just as it is said, (Deuteronomy 17:8): כי יפלא which is rendered in the Targum by “If there be concealed [from thee]”; and (Lamentations 1:9): ותרד פלאים which means, she went down into concealment, i.e. being covered and bound in the place of concealment.
