“And he said, "Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do wonders that have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD, for it is awesome, what I am doing with you."”
The passage uses active participles ("cutting," "doing") to show God's actions as ongoing, not just future promises but present realities. Two key verbs describe the wonders: "will do" (future commitment) and "have not been created" (passive, showing these things never existed before). The pronouns shift between "I" (God), "you" singular (Moses), and "your people" (Israel), mapping the relationships in the covenant.
The verse is built like a formal legal announcement: attention-getter ("Behold"), speaker identification ("I"), action ("am making a covenant"), audience ("before all your people"), and then the covenant terms spelled out. The phrase "wonders that have not been created in all the earth or in any nation" stacks up emphasis — God will do what has never been done anywhere by anyone. The final "with you" ties it all back to Moses personally.
Heard aloud in ancient Israel, this would have been thrilling — the repeated "I" and "I am doing" hammer home that God himself speaks and acts. The phrase "not been created in all the earth or in any nation" has a rolling, building rhythm that lets the scope sink in. When read silently today, we can skip over those repetitions, but hearing them would have made the community feel the weight of the moment and God's commitment.
Text-centered
The literary structure mirrors the covenant itself: God speaks, promises unprecedented wonders, and guarantees public witness. The word "create" (used for the wonders that haven't happened yet) echoes Genesis creation language — God is about to do something as original and powerful as making the world. The center of the verse is the people seeing God's work, which makes sense because covenant relationship is about knowing God through what he does.
Author-centered
Moses has just come down from the mountain after Israel's golden calf disaster; God had threatened to destroy the nation but relented. Now God restates the covenant with stronger language — not just "I will be with you" but "I will do unprecedented wonders." Historically, Moses' audience would hear this as both reassurance (the relationship isn't over) and anticipation (greater things are coming than they've seen so far). The original listeners knew what some of those wonders were — the conquest of Canaan, the Jordan crossing, Jericho's walls.
Reader-centered
For you personally, this passage shows God doesn't just make vague promises — he commits to visible, unmistakable action. The covenant isn't abstract; it's "all the people will see." If you feel like your faith is invisible or private, this reminds you that God's work is meant to be witnessed by communities, not just experienced alone. The shift from ancient public hearing to your private reading means you might miss the "everyone will see this" emphasis — in Israel, faith was never just individual. You can ask: where do I see God's work that others can see too?
Reads this as part of God's unfolding covenant history that culminates in the New Covenant through Christ; emphasizes continuity of God's faithfulness across Old and New Testaments and the Church as the people who now "see" God's wonders in the sacraments
Sees the "wonders" as foreshadowing the Incarnation and Resurrection, the most "awesome" work of God; emphasizes that Moses' encounter here anticipates the Transfiguration where Christ's glory is revealed
Emphasizes God's sovereignty in initiating and maintaining the covenant — "I am making" underscores that salvation is entirely God's action, not human effort; the "wonders" demonstrate God's electing grace toward his chosen people
Focuses on the personal relationship implied in "with you" — faith is individual response to God's work; also emphasizes that "all the people will see" means genuine faith produces visible fruit that witnesses to others
Highlights God's restoration of the covenant after Israel's sin as evidence of prevenient grace; the "awesome" work God does "with you" shows God's cooperative relationship with humans in sanctification and mission
Sees the "wonders that have not been created" as anticipating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and miraculous signs; emphasizes "all the people will see" as the visible, experiential manifestation of God's power today
Emphasizes the covenant structure and God's faithfulness to his law and promises; the "awesome" work includes God's end-time remnant people bearing witness to the world before Christ's return
We endorse no tradition. The basis is shown so you can examine and decide for yourself.
The verb "created" (נִבְרְא֥וּ) typically refers to divine creation, but here it describes wonders that "have not been created" anywhere — scholars debate whether this means "brought into existence" or "performed/accomplished," since wonders are actions not objects.
Every parsing above is retrieved, not generated. Open this to see the dataset it came from, word by word.