Deuteronomy 8:1-8

1 All the mitzvah which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers.

2 You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his mitzvot, or not.

3 He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.

4 Your clothing didn't grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.

5 You shall consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

6 You shall keep the mitzvot of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7 For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;

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

Deuteronomy 8:1-8 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.