Deuteronomy 11:3-13

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.

8 "And you must keep all [of] the commandments that I [am] commanding you {today}, so that you may have strength and [you may] go and [you may] take possession of that land {to which you are crossing} to take possession of it,

9 so that {you may live long} on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to give [it] to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 For the fact is [that] the land {that you are about to go into} to take possession of it [is] not like the land of Egypt, [from] which you have {come out of}, where you sow your seed and you give water by [your] foot, {as in a vegetable garden}.

11 But the land that you [are] about to cross into to take possession of it [is] a land of hills and valleys, [and] by the rain of the heaven it drinks water,

12 a land that Yahweh your God [is] caring for it; continually the eyes of Yahweh your God [are] on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of [the] year.

13 "And it will happen [that] if you listen carefully to my commandments that I [am] commanding you {today}, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all [of] your heart and with all [of] your soul,

Deuteronomy 11:3-13 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

• [a]. Literally "sea of reed"
• [b]. Literally "in/at their pursuing after them"
• [c]. Literally "until the day the this"
• [d]. Hebrew "creature"
• [e]. Literally "in their feet" = "living things traveling along with them"
• [f]. Literally "your eyes that are seeing"
• [g]. Hebrew "deed"
• [h]. Hebrew "commandment"
• [i]. Literally "the day"
• [j]. Literally "you are crossing there"
• [k]. Literally "you may make long days"
• [l]. Or "fathers"
• [m]. Literally "you are about to go there"
• [n]. Literally "come out from there"
• [o]. Literally "as [the] garden of [the] vegetables"
• [p]. Literally "the day"
• [q]. Or "inner self"