---
title: Deuteronomy 29:29
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-29-29/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/deuteronomy-29-29.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Deuteronomy 29:29
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Deuteronomy 29:29

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "The things concealed belong to Jehovah our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our descendants forever, so that we may carry out all the words of this Law."

## JW Usage

Cited for the limits of what humans may know and for contentment with what Jehovah has revealed through his organisation. In practice it is sometimes used to close off questions — some things belong to Jehovah, so a Witness need not pursue them further.

## Protestant Usage

The verse has two halves and the second is the one usually dropped. Yes, the concealed things belong to God. But the things revealed belong to us and to our descendants for ever — and the stated purpose is so that we may carry them out. So revelation is given to be known and acted on, not deposited with specialists. That is a useful thing to have in hand when a question is waved away as beyond a person's competence to consider. The verse is also the right frame for the Trinity conversation. God has not told us how three persons subsist in one being; that belongs to the concealed side. He has told us that there is one God, that Father, Son and Spirit are each called God, and that they are distinct. Those belong to the revealed side, and they are what the doctrine summarises. The Christian is not claiming to have explained God. The claim is narrower and more defensible: this is what has been revealed, and it has to be held together. Compare Isaiah 55:8, Romans 11:33, Deuteronomy 13:3.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [You're Not God — Why Your Model Isn't the Standard](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/epistemic-humility-trinity-objection.md) — An incomprehensible Creator and the limits of created reason [Deity of Christ]