Deuteronomy 29:4

an heart to know The heartthe seat of the practical understanding; -not the seat of the affections, but the mind itself, the intellectual faculty of the soul" (Calvin), yet always in a moral aspect; see on Deuteronomy 4:39; Deuteronomy 6:6. Eyesand ears, figures here of the spiritual senses, cp. Jeremiah 5:21.

In form the connection with the preceding v. is difficult to trace, but the substance is clear. The deeds in which the Divine revelation consists are of no avail without the inward power to recognise and appreciate them, which is also, equally with them, of the gift of God; -Men are ever blind even in the brightest light, until they have been enlightened of God" (Calvin). The speaker is made to express the truth in this negative way in order to emphasise to the people the urgent need of their at last, after so much neglect, awakening to the meaning of Jehovah's Providence. The awkwardness of the construction is due to the effort to express both the grace of God and the responsibility of man.