Deuteronomy 8:6-16

6 and thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7 For Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of water-brooks, of springs, and of deep waters, that gush forth in the valleys and hills;

8 a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey;

9 a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, where thou shalt lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou wilt dig copper.

10 And thou shalt eat and be filled, and shalt bless Jehovah thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

11 Beware that thou forget not Jehovah thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command thee this day;

12 lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built and inhabited fine houses,

13 and thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied,

14 then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

15 who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, [a wilderness of] fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there is no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

16 who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Deuteronomy 8:6-16 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]. The word often rendered 'brass.'
• [b]. Or 'good,' as ch. 3.25.