“Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
Parallel Translations
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“Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
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Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
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Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 31:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 6:7 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 when you lie down, and when you rise up.
- Deuteronomy 31:21-22 It will happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their ways and what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land which I promised them.” So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you.
- Deuteronomy 4:9-10 Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children— 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 words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.”
- Deuteronomy 11:19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
- Deuteronomy 31:30–32:45 Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished. Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he. They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock; butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine. But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread. Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth. Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man. I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.’ ” For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them. Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps. “Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.” For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large. He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge; which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection. “See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever, if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.” Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel.
- 2 Samuel 14:3 Go in to the king, and speak like this to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth.
- John 12:48 He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day.
- Exodus 4:15 You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
- Isaiah 51:16 I have put my words in your mouth and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
- Isaiah 59:21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”
- Jeremiah 1:9 Then Yahweh stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
- Ezekiel 2:5 They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse, for they are a rebellious house, yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them.
- Matthew 10:18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To preserve you and your children from idolatry, by…
To preserve you and your children from idolatry, by remembering God’s benefits.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for…
Deu 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
Ver. 19. Put it in their mouths.] That out of their own mouths I may judge them; things made up in metre are better remembered. Before the knowledge of letters and writing, among the ancients it was a custom to sing their laws, lest they might forget them; used in the days of Aristotle, by the Agathyrsi, a people near to the Scythians.
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 This song, which is contained Deu 32, and is…
This song, which is contained Deu 32, and is put into a song that it may be better learned, and more fixed in their minds and memories.
Put it in their mouths; cause them to learn it, and sing it one to another, to oblige them to more circumspection and watchfulness.
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A witness for me; of my kindness in giving them so many blessings, of my patience in bearing so long with them, of my clemency in giving them such fair and plain warnings, and my justice in punishing such an unthankful, perverse, and incorrigible people.
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 For when I shall have brought them into the…
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers,.... To give it to them, and put them into the possession of it, even the land of Canaan, often thus described, and as it is by the following character:
that floweth with milk and honey; aboundeth with all good things; see Exo 3:8,
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and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; that is, after they have for a considerable time enjoyed the good things of the land, and they abound with them, and increase in them, and have great fullness of them:
then will they turn unto other gods: turn from the Lord who has brought them into all this plenty, from the fear, worship, and service of him, and turn to the worship of idols:
and serve them: the works of men's hands, and at most but creatures, and not the Creator; than which nothing can be more absurd and stupid, as well as wicked and ungrateful:
and provoke me: nothing being more provoking to the Lord than idolatry, it striking at his very nature, being, and glory:
and break my covenant; now made with them; this being foretold by the Lord, which exactly came to pass in numerous instances, proves his precise foreknowledge of future events, even such as depend on the inclinations, dispositions, and wills of men.
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 Write this song - Which is contained chap. xxxii,…
Write this song - Which is contained chap. xxxii, 1-43, and is put into a song that it may be better learned, and more fixed in their minds and memories. Put it in their mouths - Cause them to learn it, and sing it one to another, to oblige them to more circumspection. A witness - Of my kindness in giving them so many blessings, of my patience in bearing so long with them, of my clemency in giving them such fair and plain warnings, and my justice in punishing such an incorrigible people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. Write ye this song] The song which…
Verse 19. Write ye this song] The song which follows in the next chapter. Things which were of great importance and of common concern were, among the ancients, put into verse, as this was found the best method of keeping them in remembrance, especially in those times when writing was little practised. Even prose was sometimes sung. The history of Herodotus was divided into NINE books, and each inscribed with the name of one of the NINE Muses, because these books were anciently sung. Homer is reported to have sung his poems through different Greek cities. Aristotle observes that anciently the people sung their laws. And Cicero observes that it was a custom among the ancient Romans to sing the praises of their heroes at the public festivals. This was the case among the northern inhabitants of Europe, particularly in Ireland and Scotland; hence the Gaelic poetry of Ossian and others. See Dodd; and See Clarke on Ex 15:1, where the subject is largely treated.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 31:19. Now, therefore, write this song — Recorded…
Deu 31:19. Now, therefore, write this song — Recorded in the next chapter, the contents of which were put into a song, that they might be better learned and more fixed in their minds and memories. For it has always been thought the most profitable way of instructing people, and communicating things to posterity, to put them into verse. For which reason Aristotle reports that people anciently sung their laws. And Tully tells us it was the custom of the ancient Romans to have the virtues and praises of their famous men sung at their feasts. Teach it the children of Israel — Cause them to learn and understand it, and have it daily in their mouths. That this may be a witness for me — Of my kindness in giving them so many blessings, of my patience in bearing so long with them, of my clemency in giving them such fair and plain warnings, and of my justice in punishing such an incorrigible people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain This canticle, which will be given in the following…
This canticle, which will be given in the following chapter. Hence this law, (ver. 9,) may comprise not only what had gone before, but also the remaining part of the book of Deuteronomy. This Moses would write before his death, and deliver entire, with the preceding books, to be kept with the utmost care, by the priests, as a testimony to remind all of what had happened in past ages, and what would befall the transgressors of God’s law. (Haydock) --- The canticle, containing an abridgment of the book of Deuteronomy, (Calmet) as the latter did of the whole law, was to be copied out more frequently, (Haydock) and committed to memory. Some suppose that Moses and Josue are here ordered to see this put in execution. Others think that Moses gives this commission to the priests. --- That they. Hebrew, "put in their mouths, (Calmet) that this song may be a witness for me against," &c. God foresaw that the Israelites would prove rebellious; but he leaves them without excuse, as they could not plead ignorance. (Haydock) --- This testimony against them was written in the form of a canticle, that it might be more easily remembered. (Worthington)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Now therefore write ye this song--National songs take deep…
Now therefore write ye this song--National songs take deep hold of the memories and have a powerful influence in stirring the deepest feelings of a people. In accordance with this principle in human nature, a song was ordered to be composed by Moses, doubtless under divine inspiration, which was to be learnt by the Israelites themselves and to be taught to their children in every age, embodying the substance of the preceding addresses, and of a strain well suited to inspire the popular mind with a strong sense of God's favor to their nation.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 19. Write ye this song… and teach it —…
19. Write ye this song… and teach it — An ode like the one that follows, in the time when the whole nation had its popular gatherings, its commemorative festal days, would be calculated to have a powerful and enduring effect upon the people.
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 19. write ye this song for you] This Pl.…
19. write ye this song for you] This Pl. can be justified only by reference to Moses and Joshua both, but only Moses is addressed in Deu_31:10, and in the light of the following singular imperatives teach thou … and (Sam., LXX, Syr.) put, and of Deu_31:22, Moses (alone) wrote, read write thou … for thee. LXX has the plural throughout, Syr. repeats the Heb. text.
a witness for me against the children of Israel] By showing that God had sufficiently forewarned, and pleaded with, them (cp. Deu_31:26). Apart from the question of the date of the Song there is no doubt that Israel had been forewarned by the prophets, that they would perish if they ventured to reject His commands; and further it is generally true that no punishment for sin is ever unforeseen by the conscience of the sinner. On children of Israel, never found in D, but always editorial in Deut., see on Deu_31:23.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) Put it in their mouths, that this song…
(19) Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness.—This method of perpetuating the truth was even better adapted to the times and to the condition of the people than the delivery of a written law. It was not possible to multiply copies of the law among them to any great extent; but the rhythmical form of the song would make it easy to be retained in their memories. There is reason to believe that Samuel, the first person who (so far as we know) effected anything of importance towards the establishment of a system of religious education in Israel, employed the same means for the purpose, viz., psalms and spiritual songs. The first companies of prophets were evidently singers and minstrels (see 1Sa_10:5-6; 1Sa_19:20-24); hence their remarkable influence over Saul. And if they taught the psalms to the people, as they learnt them under Samuel and David—especially historical psalms, like the 78th, 105th, and 106th—a very efficacious means of spreading the knowledge of God in Israel was in their hands.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Write ye this song. This refers to the song…
Write ye this song. This refers to the song which follows in next chapter. Moses and Joshua were both to write this song, Moses probably as the author, Joshua as his amanuensis, because both of them were to do their endeavor to keep the people from that apostasy which God had foretold.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to Moses about the Israelites.
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Put it in their mouths
This is an idiom. AT: "Make them memorize and sing it" (See: Idiom)
a land flowing with milk and honey
This is an idiom. AT: "a land where plenty of milk and honey flow" or "a land that is excellent for cattle and farming" See how you translated this in Deuteronomy 6:3.
translationWords
people group
Israel
testimony
oath
ancestor
honey
turn
false god
worship
covenant
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 31:19-22 When sung by the collective community in days…
31:19-22 When sung by the collective community in days to come, this song (32:1-43) would remind the people of God’s faithfulness in the past and of their too-frequent disloyalty. The major blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience were implicit in the song. The people of Israel would sing it as a sign that they had placed themselves under these promises and threats. Through music, they would be reminded of God’s blessings for obedience and would invoke God’s judgment should they prove unfaithful.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.