Deuteronomy 6:17-25

17 Keep thou the commandments of thy Lord God, and the witnessings, and ceremonies, which he hath commanded to thee; (Obey thou the commandments of the Lord thy God, and his testimonies, and statutes, which he hath commanded to thee;)
18 and do thou that that is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, that it be well to thee (so that it shall be well with thee), and that thou enter, and wield the best land, of which the Lord swore to thy fathers,
19 that he should do away all thine enemies before thee, as he hath spoken. (and that he would do away all thy enemies before thee/and that thou would do away all thy enemies before thee, as he hath promised.)
20 And when thy son shall ask thee tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, and shall say, What will these witnessings, and ceremonies, and dooms to themselves, which our Lord God commanded to us? (And when thy son, or thy daughter, shall ask thee tomorrow, that is, in the time to come, and shall say, What is the meaning of these testimonies, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which the Lord our God hath commanded us to obey?)
21 thou shalt say to him, We were Pharaoh's servants in Egypt, and the Lord led us out of Egypt, in a strong hand; (thou shalt say to them, We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and the Lord led us out of Egypt, with a strong hand;)
22 and he did miracles, and great wonders, and worst, that is, most painful vengeances, in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his house, in our sight. (and he did miracles, and wonders, yea, the greatest and the worst, in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his household, right before our eyes.)
23 And he led us out thereof, that he should give to us led in, the land of which he swore to our fathers. (And he led us out of there, to lead us into the land which he had promised to our fathers, that he would give us.)
24 And the Lord commanded to us, that we do all these lawful things, and dread our Lord God, that it be well to us, in all the days of our life, as it is today. (And the Lord commanded us, to obey all these laws, and to fear the Lord our God/and to revere the Lord our God, so that it would be well with us, all the days of our life, as it is today.)
25 And he shall be merciful to us, if we shall do and keep all his behests, before our Lord God, as he commanded to us. (And he shall be merciful to us, if we shall obey all these commandments, before the Lord our God, as he commanded us.)

Deuteronomy 6:17-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 6

In this chapter Moses proceeds on in his exhortations to the people of Israel, to attend to the commandments of God, that it might be well with them, De 6:1-3, and begins with a principal and fundamental article of religion, which deserved their first and chief regard, the unity of God, and the love of him, De 6:4,5, which they were carefully to instinct their children in, and ever to be mindful of themselves, De 6:6-9, and when they were come into the land of Canaan, and into a plentiful enjoyment of all good things in it, they are exhorted to be careful not to forget the Lord, their kind benefactor; but to fear him, serve him, and not go after other gods, since he is jealous of his honour and worship, De 6:10-15 and not to tempt him, as they had done, but diligently keep, his commandments, that it might be well with them in that land, De 6:16-19, and when their children inquired the reason and meaning of such testimonies, statutes, and judgments, that were enjoined them, they were to give them the history of their case in Egypt, their deliverance from thence, the wonders that were wrought for them, and the introduction of them into the good land of Canaan; and to let them know that these commands were some of them in commemoration of these blessings; and by these they were laid under obligation to regard them all, and the rather, since they were not only for the glory of God, but for their own good, De 6:20-25.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.