30:1-10
records the section on tsuvah, repentance. Commentators have understood
this section in two different ways.
The Rambam (Laws of Repentance, 7:5 and Laws of Kings 11:1) explains this section as being a prophecy of the future that in the future the people will repent and be redeemed from exile. On the other hand, the Ramban (31:11) understands that not only is the section a prophecy but it is also teaching the commandment to repent. (The Rambam also agrees that there exists a commandment to repent, but he believes that this obligation derives from Bemidbar 5:6,7.)
This disagreement also relates how to understand the word commandment in 30:11. Ramban (on 30:11, see also Abravanel, Horev edition, p. 480) writes that the word commandment refers to the commandment to repent, which he believes is the subject of 30:1-10. Thus, according to the Ramban, in 30:11,12, Moshe was telling the people that it was not impossible for them to repent. However, according to the Rambam, the reference in 31:11 to “this commandment” is to all the laws, and N. Leibowitz (1980, p.323) writes that this is the view of most of commentators.
A proof for this latter approach is that the complete phrase in 31:11 is “this commandment that I commanded you today,” and the reference to today is not just to the previous verses, but to the covenant, whose basis are all the laws, that was established on that day, see 27:9. In addition, in the book of Devarim the phrase "this commandment" appears several times (6:1, 7:11, 17:20, also Shemot 24:12), and it seems that in these cases, the word is referring to all the laws, even though it is written in the singular.
The Rambam (Laws of Repentance, 7:5 and Laws of Kings 11:1) explains this section as being a prophecy of the future that in the future the people will repent and be redeemed from exile. On the other hand, the Ramban (31:11) understands that not only is the section a prophecy but it is also teaching the commandment to repent. (The Rambam also agrees that there exists a commandment to repent, but he believes that this obligation derives from Bemidbar 5:6,7.)
This disagreement also relates how to understand the word commandment in 30:11. Ramban (on 30:11, see also Abravanel, Horev edition, p. 480) writes that the word commandment refers to the commandment to repent, which he believes is the subject of 30:1-10. Thus, according to the Ramban, in 30:11,12, Moshe was telling the people that it was not impossible for them to repent. However, according to the Rambam, the reference in 31:11 to “this commandment” is to all the laws, and N. Leibowitz (1980, p.323) writes that this is the view of most of commentators.
A proof for this latter approach is that the complete phrase in 31:11 is “this commandment that I commanded you today,” and the reference to today is not just to the previous verses, but to the covenant, whose basis are all the laws, that was established on that day, see 27:9. In addition, in the book of Devarim the phrase "this commandment" appears several times (6:1, 7:11, 17:20, also Shemot 24:12), and it seems that in these cases, the word is referring to all the laws, even though it is written in the singular.
These two approaches also give different perspectives as to the relationship between chapter 30 and the previous chapters. The point of 30:1-10 seems to be to console the people after hearing the curses in chapters 28 and 29, but Tigay (1996, p.432) argues that “the promise of forgiveness could weaken the effectiveness of the warning. Conceivably, Moshe reasoned that no generation would dismiss the warning of disaster because of the promise that it could be followed by restoration. However, in 30:1-10 the promises of prosperity after restoration are so glorious that they practically overshadow the threats.”
Tigay’s question does not apply to the Ramban’s approach since if 30:1-10 refer to the commandment to repent, then the “glorious restoration” would be to reward the people for repenting. However, following the Rambam’s approach, why does Moshe tell the people of the future “restoration” immediately after his warnings to the people to keep the covenant?
Maybe the answer is that the last section in chapter 29, 29:21-27, is particularly depressing since the threats are not couched as a warning if the people sin, but could be understood as a future prophecy. This could give the people the idea that they are doomed to sin and the land to be destroyed.
In response, the following section, 30:1-10, is a prophecy that the people will return to G-d. The message of the section is that the people are not doomed to sin, some generations may sin, but others will follow G-d. This section is not just to console the people that the future will be good, but to give them hope to follow the covenant. They should not and they cannot think that they are doomed to sin. Therefore, Moshe told the people that G-d would help them return, 30:3,6,9. Also, afterwards, in 30:11-4, Moshe avowed that it was possible for the people to fulfill the laws, and in 30:15-20, Moshe stated that since the people have free will they are not doomed to sin and they have the ability to fulfill the covenant.
Accordingly, in chapter 30, Moshe was trying to make clear that the threats and warnings in chapters 28 and 29, and particularly 29:21-27, were not so overpowering that the people should feel that they were doomed to sin and could never uphold the covenant. Moshe told the people that in the future some people would keep the covenant, and hence it was, and still is, up to each individual to choose to follow the covenant.
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