Deuteronomy 11:1-7

1 "And you shall love Yahweh your God, and you shall keep his obligations and his statutes and his regulations and his commandments {always}.
2 And you shall realize {today} that [it is] not [with] your children who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of Yahweh your God--his greatness, his strong hand, and his outstretched arm,
3 and his signs and his deeds that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all [of] his land,
4 and what he did to the army of Egypt and to their horses and to their chariots, [and] how he made the water of the {Red Sea} flow over them, {when they pursued after them}, and so Yahweh has destroyed them, {as is the case today},
5 and what he did to you in the desert until you came up to this place,
6 and what he did to Dathan and to Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth wide and swallowed them, their households and their tents, and all [of] the living creatures that [were] in their possession [and that were] {following along with them} in the midst of all [of] Israel.
7 The fact of the matter is, {your own eyes have seen} all [of] the great deeds of Yahweh that he did.

Deuteronomy 11:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 11

In this chapter, the exhortation to love the Lord, and keep his commands, is repeated and urged again and again from various considerations; as not only from the chastisement of Pharaoh and the wicked Egyptians, but of such Israelites who offended the Lord, and transgressed his law, De 12:1-7, from the goodness and excellency of the land they were going to inherit, De 11:8-11, from the blessing of rain that would come upon it, and be productive of all good things for man and beast, in case of obedience, and a restraint of it in case of disobedience, De 11:12-17, from the continuance of them and their offspring in the land, should they be careful to observe the commands themselves, and teach them their children, De 11:18-21, and from the extensiveness of their conquests and dominions, De 11:22-25 and from the different issue and effects of their conduct and behaviour, a blessing upon them if obedient, but a curse if disobedient, De 11:26-28 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal; the situation of which places is described when they should come into the land of Canaan, of which they are assured, De 11:29-32.

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. Literally "all [of] the days"
  • [b]. Literally "the day"
  • [c]. Literally "sea of reed"
  • [d]. Literally "in/at their pursuing after them"
  • [e]. Literally "until the day the this"
  • [f]. Hebrew "creature"
  • [g]. Literally "in their feet" = "living things traveling along with them"
  • [h]. Literally "your eyes that are seeing"
  • [i]. Hebrew "deed"
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