Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 29:12

"that thou mayest enter into the covenant of Jehovah thy God, and into his oath, which Jehovah thy God maketh with thee this day;" — Deuteronomy 29:12 (ASV)

Enter (literally “pass”) into covenant with the Lord. —Compare Ezekiel 20:37: I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; Rashi illustrates by Jeremiah 34:18, the passing between the parts of the divided victim, in order to enter into the covenant. (Compare Genesis 15:17-18.) But no such ceremony is mentioned here, and therefore we can only say that possibly the practice may have given occasion for this use of the word “pass.”

His oath. —A word here used for the first time in Deuteronomy. It is rendered “curse” in Deuteronomy 29:19-21. It seems to mean an imprecation in the name of God (Genesis 24:41), which may bring a curse if the thing sworn to is not fulfilled.

Which the Lord thy God maketh with thee. —Maketh; literally, cuts. The word refers to the “covenant.”