Deuteronomy8
New American Standard
1“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, so that you may live and increase, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.
2And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.
4Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
5So you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.
6Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in valleys and hills;
8a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;
9a land where you will eat food without shortage, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
10When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.
11“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes which I am commanding you today;
12otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, and you build good houses and live in them,
13and when your herds and your flocks increase, and your silver and gold increase, and everything that you have increases,
14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
15He who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground where there was no water; He who brought water for you out of the rock of flint.
16In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to put you to the test, to do good for you in the end.
17Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’
18But you are to remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, in order to confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19And it shall come about, if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve and worship them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish.
20Like the nations that the Lord eliminates from you, so you shall perish, because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 8.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Exhortations and cautions, enforced by the Lord's former dealings with Israel, and his promises. (1–9). Exhortations and cautions further enforced. (10–20).
vv1-9
Obedience must be, 1. Careful, observe to do; 2. Universal, to do all the commandments; and 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their God, and with a holy fear of him. To engage them to this obedience. Moses directs them to look back. It is good to remember all the ways, both of God's providence and grace, by which he has led us through this wilderness, that we may cheerfully serve him and trust in him. They must remember the straits they were sometimes brought into, for mortifying their pride, and manifesting their perverseness; to prove them, that they and others might know all that was in their heart, and that all might see that God chose them, not for any thing in them which might recommend them to his favour. They must remember the miraculous supplies of food and raiment granted them. Let none of God's children distrust their Father, nor take any sinful course for the supply of their necessities. Some way or other, God will provide for them in the way of duty and honest diligence, and verily they shall be fed. It may be applied spiritually; the word of God is the food of the soul. Christ is the word of God; by him we live. They must also remember the rebukes they had been under, and not without need. This use we should make of all our afflictions; by them let us be quickened to our duty. Moses also directs them to look forward to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward, to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward will furnish us with arguments for obedience. Moses saw in that land a type of the better country. The gospel church is the New Testament Canaan, watered with the Spirit in his gifts and graces, planted with trees of righteousness, bearing fruits of righteousness. Heaven is the good land, in which nothing is wanting, and where is fulness of joy.
vv10-20
Moses directs to the duty of a prosperous condition. Let them always remember their Benefactor. In everything we must give thanks. Moses arms them against the temptations of a prosperous condition. When men possess large estates, or are engaged in profitable business, they find the temptation to pride, forgetfulness of God, and carnal-mindedness, very strong; and they are anxious and troubled about many things. In this the believing poor have the advantage; they more easily perceive their supplies coming from the Lord in answer to the prayer of faith; and, strange as it may seem, they find less difficulty in simply trusting him for daily bread. They taste a sweetness therein, which is generally unknown to the rich, while they are also freed from many of their temptations. Forget not God's former dealings with thee. Here is the great secret of Divine Providence. Infinite wisdom and goodness are the source of all the changes and trials believers experience. Israel had many bitter trials, but it was “to do them good.” Pride is natural to the human heart. Would one suppose that such a people, after their slavery at the brick-kilns, should need the thorns of the wilderness to humble them? But such is man! And they were proved that they might be humbled. None of us live a single week without giving proofs of our weakness, folly, and depravity. To broken-hearted souls alone the Saviour is precious indeed. Nothing can render the most suitable outward and inward trials effectual, but the power of the Spirit of God. See here how God's giving and our getting are reconciled, and apply it to spiritual wealth. All God's gifts are in pursuance of his promises. Moses repeats the warning he had often given of the fatal consequences of forsaking God. Those who follow others in sin, will follow them to destruction. If we do as sinners do, we must expect to fare as sinners fare.
Key Words
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
מִצְוָה: a command, whether human or divine (collectively, the Law)
צָוָה: (intensively) to constitute, enjoin
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
שָׁמַר: properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
חָיָה: to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive
רָבָה: to increase (in whatever respect)
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
יָרַשׁ: to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication, to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin
Cross References
Deuteronomy 8Jesus directly quotes this verse during His wilderness temptation to repel the devil's suggestion.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Luke's account of Jesus quoting this verse during His wilderness temptation to show dependence on God.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel repetition of the miraculous preservation of their clothes and shoes during the forty years.
Supported by JFB
A direct New Testament expansion on the fatherly discipline of God mentioned in verse 5.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The original account of the giving of the manna, which they and their fathers knew not.
Supported by JFB
Direct historical and prophetic parallel of Israel becoming full, heart-lifted, and forgetting God.
Supported by Matthew Poole
New Testament parallel warning against self-attribution of gifts, matching "mine hand hath gotten me wealth."
Supported by Matthew Poole
Nehemiah's post-exilic confession echoing the miracle of clothes not wearing out and feet not swelling.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrasts the watered nature of Canaan with Egypt, expanding on the description of the good land.
Supported by John Calvin
The historical bringing forth of water out of the rock of flint during wilderness travels.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Warns Israel against claiming their own righteousness or strength secured their success.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The danger of being full and denying God, saying, "Who is the Lord?"
Supported by Matthew Henry
Identifies the wilderness rock that yielded water as a type of Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Nebuchadnezzar exemplifies the wicked self-reliance warned against: "by the might of my power."
Supported by Matthew Henry