Deuteronomy 5:3

3 It was not with our ancestors[a] that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

Deuteronomy 5:3 in Other Translations

KJV
3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
ESV
3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.
NLT
3 The LORD did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today.
MSG
3 God didn't just make this covenant with our parents; he made it also with us, with all of us who are alive right now.
CSB
3 He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

Deuteronomy 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:3

The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers
That is, not with them only, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Abendana remark; for certain it is that this covenant was made, or law was given, to the immediate fathers of this present generation of Israelites, whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness; unless this is to be understood of their more remote ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom the covenant of grace was made, or afresh made manifest, especially with the former; when the law, the covenant here spoken of, was not delivered until four hundred and thirty years after, ( Galatians 3:16 Galatians 3:17 ) ,

but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day;
many of them were then present at the giving of the law, and though under twenty years of age, could remember it, and the circumstances of it; and besides, they were the same people to whom it was given, though not consisting wholly of the same individuals.

Deuteronomy 5:3 In-Context

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
3 It was not with our ancestors that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
5 (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

Cross References 2

  • 1. Deuteronomy 11:2-7
  • 2. Numbers 26:63-65; Hebrews 8:9

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or "not only with our parents"
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