Yahweh has kept hidden the meaning of all those miracles, primarily their basic significance, which was that they were the means whereby Yahweh was making the Israelites his own people. This is a theme found elsewhere in the Old Testament, most notably in Isa 6.9-10 (and see its use in Matt 13.14-15; Mark 4.12; Luke 8.10; John 12.40; Acts 28.26-27).

The LORD has not given you: the translation should not make it appear that the Israelites did not have minds, or eyes, or ears. The meaning is that God had not allowed them to understand fully the significance of those events. In some languages translators will be able to retain language similar to the Hebrew; for example, “The LORD didn’t let your hearts [or, minds] understand what your eyes saw and your ears heard.” In other languages the Good News Translation rendering, “he has not let you understand what you have experienced,” expresses the meaning quite clearly, if not with so much emphasis as the Hebrew text has.

To this day: this means “until today” (New Jerusalem Bible). There is no clear hint that things will change and the people will finally understand the meaning of those events.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .