Deuteronomy 8:1-9

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

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thy heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments, or not.

3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

4 Thy raiment hath not become old upon thee, neither hath thy foot swelled these forty years.

5 Thou shalt also consider in thy heart, that as a man chasteneth his son, [so] the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.

6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

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

9 A land in which thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any [thing] in it, a land whose stones [are] iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

Deuteronomy 8:1-9 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.