What about "whoever is not here with us today" (v. 15)? Study Deuteronomy 29 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · DEUTERONOMY 29 — THE COVENANT RENEWED: ENTERED WITH EYES OPEN
Three readings converge: the unborn generations (the covenant's continuity), the absent tribes (those already settled in Transjordan, per v. 8's note), and — in the trajectory of the Abrahamic promise — the nations' future inclusion. The New Covenant explicitly gathers "those who are far off" (Eph 2:13–17); Peter writes to the dispersed as covenant-heirs (1 Pet 1:1; 2:9–10). The verse stands as Deuteronomy's open door.
The sentence describes the hardened apostate — the heart that blesses itself while forsaking the covenant, not the sinner who turns (1 John 1:9's condition is the opposite posture). Hebrews 6 and 10 quote this passage's spirit: the danger is not sin's size but sin's settled, self-justifying state. The cure for the stubborn heart is promised next: God's own circumcision of the heart (30:6).
Deuteronomy 29–30 form the third address — the covenant renewal proper, after the historical review (chs. 1–4) and the code (chs. 5–28). The setting is the fortieth year's eleventh month (compare 1:3): forty years after Horeb, the renewal before Jordan. The audience is comprehensive — every stratum of Israel, including the lowest workers ("the one who chops your wood and the one who draws your water," v. 11), and, strikingly, "those who are not here with us today" (v. 15). Verses 16–29 explain the renewal's necessity and warn against hidden apostasy.
The renewal ceremony's comprehensiveness (all strata, including woodcutters and water-drawers) is sociologically realistic — a fabricated ideal would feature elites. The "root bearing poisonous fruit" image became the prophets' standard vocabulary (Isa 5:4's wild grapes; Heb 12:15's "root of bitterness"). Verse 29's secret/revealed distinction entered theology as the charter of biblical epistemology — God's revelation sufficient for duty, his counsels beyond audit.
This study preserves the hard questions, explanations, context, apologetic note, and references from Dr. Shallua's Commentary.