(9) You stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, (10) your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to waterdrawer— (11) to enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; (12) to the end that He may establish you this day as His people and be your God, as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

אתם נצבים YE ARE STANDING THIS DAY [ALL OF YOU BEFORE THE LORD] — This teaches that Moses assembled them in the presence of the Omnipresent on the day of his death, in order to initiate them into a covenant with Him.

מחוטב עציך עד שואב מימיך, from the leader of the wood choppers to the most lowly of the water carriers. The construction here parallels comparisons as מעולל ועד יונק, “infants as well as sucklings,” (Samuel I 15,3) i.e. the highest ranking within its category to the lowliest ranking. Similar expressions are used when the Torah speaks of משור ועד שה, oxen as well as lambs, meaning the most expensive animals of your livestock to the least expensive. Similarly,מגמל ועד חמור, “from the camels down to the donkeys.”

(13) I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, (14) but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here this day.

ואת אשר איננו פה [NOT WITH YOU ALONE DO I MAKE THIS COVENANT … BUT WITH HIM THAT STANDETH HERE …] AND ALSO WITH HIM THAT IS NOT HERE — i.e. with the generations that will be in future (i.e. Moses is not referring to persons who happened to be absent from the assembly, for it states, v. 10, that all were present: “You are standing this day all of you before the Lord”) (Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 3).

(Deut. 29:12 [13]:) IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH YOU TODAY AS HIS PEOPLE…, i.e., so that I would not go back on the word that I swore to their ancestors. Deut. 29:13 [14]): AND NOT ONLY WITH YOU <HAVE I MADE THIS COVENANT AND THIS OATH>, but the generations that have yet to come were also there, as stated (in vs. 14 [15]): BUT WITH THOSE WHO ARE <STANDING ('MD)> HERE WITH US <TODAY> … AND WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT HERE WITH US TODAY. Now why does it say: THOSE WHO ARE <STANDING ('MD)> HERE? And why does it say: THOSE WHO ARE NOT HERE (without using the word STANDING)? Because all the souls were there, <even> when <their> bodies had still not been created. It is for that reason <their> existence (literally: standing, rt.: 'MD) is not stated here. R. Eleazar said: A curse will come upon Laban, because he said to Jacob (in Gen. 31:30): WHY DID YOU STEAL MY GODS? It (i.e., such an idol) could not save itself [from theft]. How could it save others? But Israel is not like that, as stated (in Deut. 10:21): HE IS YOUR PRAISE, AND HE IS YOUR GOD, <WHO HAS DONE THESE GREAT AND AWFUL THINGS FOR YOU THAT YOUR OWN EYES HAVE SEEN>. He also watches over Israel like a father who watches over his son, as stated (in Ps. 121:4): BEHOLD THE ONE KEEPING ISRAEL SHALL NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP.

Having quoted a verse, the baraita tangentially interprets the subsequent verse. From the phrase: “But with he who stands here with us this day” (Deuteronomy 29:14), I have derived only that those who stood at Mount Sinai were included in this covenant. From where do I derive that the subsequent generations, and the converts who will convert in the future, were also included? The verse states: “And also with he who is not here with us this day” (Deuteronomy 29:14).