Deuteronomy 8:2-12

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee in the wilderness, that he might afflict thee, and try thee, and that the things in thine heart might be made manifest, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no.

3 And he afflicted thee and straitened thee with hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that he might teach thee that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live.

4 Thy garments grew not old from off thee, thy shoes were not worn from off thee, thy feet were not hardened, lo! these forty years.

5 And thou shalt know in thine heart, that as if any man should chasten his son, so the Lord thy God will chasten thee.

6 And thou shalt keep the commands of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7 For the Lord thy God will bring thee into a good and extensive land, where there are torrents of waters, and fountains of deep places issuing through the plains and through the mountains:

8 a land of wheat and barley, vines, figs, pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;

9 a land on which thou shalt not eat thy bread with poverty, and thou shalt not want any thing upon it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of its mountains thou shalt dig brass.

10 And thou shalt eat and be filled, and shalt bless the Lord thy God on the good land, which he has given thee.

11 Take heed to thyself that thou forget not the Lord thy God, so as not to keep his commands, and his judgments, and ordinances, which I command thee this day:

12 lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt in them;

Deuteronomy 8:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 8

In this chapter Moses repeats the exhortation to observe the commands of God, and urges the Israelites to it, from the consideration of the great and good things God had done for them in the wilderness, and even in those instances which were chastisements, and were of an humbling nature, De 8:1-6, and on the consideration of the blessings of the good land they were going to possess, De 8:7-9 for which blessings they are exhorted to be thankful, and are cautioned against pride of heart through them, and forgetfulness of God, and of his goodness to them while in the wilderness, and when brought into the land of Canaan, which they were to ascribe to his power and goodness, and not their own, De 8:10-18, and the chapter is concluded with a warning against idolatry, lest they perish through it as the nations before them, De 8:19,20.

Footnotes

• [a]. issuing from deep places.