when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, learn, fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”
Show the surrounding paragraph
Deuteronomy 31:11-13 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of booths, when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, learn, fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”
Parallel Translations
-
when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, learn, fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law,
and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.”
-
When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:
And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
Show all 3 translations
-
when all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which He shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;
and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (27)
- Deuteronomy 4:10 (v12) the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my…
- 2 Kings 23:2 (v11) The king went up to Yahweh’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, the prophets,…
- Joshua 8:34-35 (v11) Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was…
- Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (v11) Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened…
- Exodus 23:16-17 (v11) And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the…
Show all 27 cross-references
- Exodus 34:24 (v11) For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before…
- Deuteronomy 11:2 (v13) Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his…
- Deuteronomy 12:5 (v11) But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and you…
- Nehemiah 8:1-8 (v11) All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the wide place that was in front of the water gate; and they spoke to Ezra the…
- Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (v12) These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of…
- Deuteronomy 6:7 (v13) and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and…
- Nehemiah 8:13 (v11) On the second day, the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the…
- Nehemiah 9:3 (v11) They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God a fourth part of the day; and a fourth part they…
- Psalms 19:7-11 (v12) Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s covenant is sure, making wise the simple. Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the…
- Psalms 34:11-14 (v12) Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh. Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may…
- Psalms 84:7 (v11) They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
- Luke 4:16-17 (v11) He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to…
- Acts 13:15 (v11) After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of…
- Acts 15:21 (v11) For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
- Ezra 10:1 (v12) Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before God’s house, there was gathered together to him out of…
- Nehemiah 8:18 (v11) Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days; and on the…
- Psalms 78:4-8 (v13) We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds…
- Proverbs 22:6 (v13) Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- Ephesians 6:4 (v13) You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (v12) From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.…
- Deuteronomy 29:29 (v12) The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all…
- John 5:39 (v12) “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 Before the Ark of the covenant, which was the…
Before the Ark of the covenant, which was the sign of God’s presence, and the figure of Christ.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11, 13 Deu 31:11 When all Israel is come to appear…
Deu 31:11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Ver. 11. Thou shalt read this law.] Which was nevertheless "read in their synagogues every Sabbath day." {Act 15:21} And by this reading, at the feast of Tabernacles, every seventh year, the original copy written by Moses, they might perceive that those copies that they had amongst them were right and authentic. It was ill ordered in our English Bibles of the new translation, that between the printers’ haste and correctors’ oversight, such foul errors have been lately committed, as Judas printed for Jesus in the great Bible. The Turkish Koran is written and to be read in Arabic, under pain of death not to mistake a letter, {a} which is as easily done in this tongue as in any.
Read full note →
{a} Lightfoot’s Miscellanies.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Thyself in part, for the Jews tell us that…
Thyself in part, for the Jews tell us that the king was in person to read some part of it; or, at least, thou shalt cause it to be read by the priests or Levites, for he could not read it himself in the hearing of all Israel, but this was to be done by several persons, and to the people met in several congregations. See Neh 8:1, &c.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children,....…
Gather the people together, men, and women, and children,.... At the three grand festivals in other years, only males were obliged to appear; women might if they would, but they were not bound to it; but at this time all of every age and sex were to be summoned and assembled together; and it is said (z), when the king read in the book of the law, all the people were obliged to come and bring their families, as it is said Deu 31:12; "gather the people", &c. and as it could not be done when it happened on the sabbath day, the reading of the section was put off to the day following:
and thy stranger that is within thy gates; not only the proselyte of righteousness, but the proselyte of the gate that renounced idolatry, for his further conviction and thorough conversion to the religion of the true God; or, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, that they might see the honour and glory of the law. The end is more fully expressed as follows:
Read full note →
that they may hear; all the laws which God had given:
and that they may learn; and attain unto the true knowledge and right understanding of them:
and fear the Lord your God; serve and worship him internally and externally, according to these laws:
and observe to do all the words of this law; so take notice of them as to put them in practice; and reading them in such a solemn and reverent manner made them the more servable, and raised the greater attention to them, to the importance of them; otherwise they were read in their families, and on sabbath days in their synagogues; see Deu 6:7 Act 13:15.
(z) Bartenora in Misn. Megillah, c. 1. sect. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Thou shalt read - Thou shalt cause it to…
Thou shalt read - Thou shalt cause it to be read by the priest or Levites; for he could not read it himself in the hearing of all Israel, but this was to be done by several persons, and so the people met in several congregations.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v11 Compare the marginal references. It is not to be…
Compare the marginal references. It is not to be supposed that the whole of the Pentateuch was read, nor does the letter of the command require that it should be so. This reading could not be primarily designed for the information and instruction of the people, since it only took place once in seven years; but was evidently a symbolic transaction, intended, as were so many others, to impress on the people the conditions on which they held possession of their privileges and blessings.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Thou shalt. Septuagint, "you shall read." Josephus says, the…
Thou shalt. Septuagint, "you shall read." Josephus says, the high priest had to perform this office; while the Rabbins assert, that the chief magistrate, Moses, and his successors, the kings of Juda, had to read the law publicly. The princes did this in the court of the temple, designed for the women, as they also were bound to hear it. We find that Josias read aloud in the temple the words of the covenant, which have been lately discovered, 4 Kings xxiii. 2. (Calmet) --- But Esdras, a Levite, did the like; (1 Esdras viii. 2,) and the command seems to be directed chiefly to the priests, from whose number Moses was not excluded, Psalm xcviii. 6. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. Thou shalt read this law — This was…
11. Thou shalt read this law — This was a formal reading of the law in a general assembly of the whole nation gathered to the place that Jehovah should appoint. In Neh_8:18, we learn that at the feast of tabernacles Ezra read in the book of the law of God day by day from the first day unto the last day. Later, the reading was on the first day of the feast, and only portions of Deuteronomy were read.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–13 11. appear before, etc.] Rather see the face of,…
11. appear before, etc.] Rather see the face of, as in Deu_16:16; thy God, Sam. LXX A and other codd, your God LXX B.
in the place, etc.] See on Deu_12:5.
Read full note →
thou shalt read this law] The Sg. address is striking; for according to Deu_31:9 Moses is addressing the priests and elders; nor because of the following before all Israel can the whole nation be here addressed. We are left therefore with the supposition that the charge described in this passage was originally addressed to one individual, and the context Deu_31:1-8; Deu_31:14 ff. make it probable that this was Joshua. Yet the text is uncertain: Sam. has he or one shall read (not, as Steuern. and Berth. say, shall be read, for the vb. is followed by an accusative); the LXX codd. (with few exceptions) have Pl. ye shall read, as also in next v.; this, however, may be due to harmonising. On this law see on Deu_31:9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v13 That their children . . . may hear, and…
Deu_31:13
That their children . . . may hear, and learn to fear the Lord.
Read full note →
Early piety
I. Godliness in children is accounted by Christians generally to be extraordinary, or at least uncommon; and perhaps there are but few godly children. Compared with the number of children who are blessed with godly parentage, and taught in Christian schools, who are present when the public ordinances of Christs Church are administered, the children who manifest true piety are certainly not many. If our observation be accurate, Christian parents and teachers and pastors do not, with sufficient confidence, look for, or expect to find, godliness in children. If we employ those means which are divinely ordained for the conversion of human beings in our efforts On behalf of children, why should we not expect immediate and early results?
II. It is true that the sighs of a child are not heavy; they are not, as in the soul of manhood and womanhood, ocean waves, but they are rather like the ripple upon the waters of some sheltered lake. It is true that the emotions of a child are not the hardy blossoms of a sturdy fruit tree, but the tender and delicate bloom of a tree that has as yet yielded little more than promise of fruit. Nevertheless, that blossom, which winds will tear and shake, is the outflowing of life; that ripple on the lake shows susceptibility in the water towards its sister element, air; and those dewdrop tears show that earth and heaven, man and God, are working upon the childs nature. If the understanding of a child be less enlightened, the soul is more sensitive; if the judgment be less formed, the conscience is more tender; if there be but little strength of purpose, the heart is less hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
III. If decided piety be within reach of a child, how is it that the absence of godliness from children does not more distress us, and that piety in children is not more our aim and hope, and that it is not more frequently the burden of our prayer? Why, as some, always suspect a child who professes to be godly? Godly children are Gods workmanship, created by Jesus Christ, and if we would be the means of leading children into true godliness, we must bid them look to our Saviour Jesus. I say to Him, not at Him. There is a vast difference between these things. The child looks at the King when he goes to see him proceed in state to open the Parliament; but he looks to his mother when he relies on her for the supply of his daily wants. (S. Martin, D. D.)
Susceptible periods of life
In fresco painting it is necessary to throw on the colours while the plaster to be decorated is damp. The rule is, Work while the moisture remains; hence the need in this particular branch of art of a definite plan of well-mixed colours, and of a swift and steady hand. The principle has a wider application. There are times when the human character is especially susceptible to impression, such as the period of early youth, the occasion of a great sorrow, a great joy, or a great change--times when the influence you exert will be received readily and sink deeply. Would you stamp lives and hearts around you with the beauty of heavenly patterns, make them glow with the hues of heavenly grace? Be sure of your plan, have your materials ready, and paint while the plaster is wet. (W. A. Gray.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v12 (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v12 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues speaking to the priests and the elders.
Read full note →
your foreigner who is within your city gates
Here "city gates" represents the cities themselves. Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the instances of "your" here are singular. AT: "your foreigners who live in your cities" (See: Synecdoche and Forms of You)
keep all the words of this law
"carefully obey all the commands in this law"
translationWords
assembly
alien
gate
honor
word
law
life
Jordan River
possess
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v12 31:12 Even foreigners living among the Israelites were to…
31:12 Even foreigners living among the Israelites were to submit to the requirements of the covenant law. Despite their disadvantaged status, the Lord would provide for them (see 10:18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.