Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Parallel Translations
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Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
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Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
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Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee — a land flowing with milk and honey.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 6:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 22:17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.
- Genesis 15:5 Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.”
- Genesis 26:4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed,
- Genesis 28:14 Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
- Exodus 3:8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Genesis 12:2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing.
- Genesis 13:16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring may also be counted.
- Exodus 1:7 The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
- Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
- Deuteronomy 5:32-33 You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
- Acts 7:17 “But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which hath abundance of all things appertaining to man’s…
Which hath abundance of all things appertaining to man’s life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 6:3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to…
Deu 6:3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do [it]; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
Ver. 3. That it may be well with thee.] Respect may be had to the recompense of reward. We may make it our scope, our aim, {σκοπουντων, 2Co 4:18} though not our highest aim; Moses cast an eye when he was on his journey, {απεβλεπε, Heb 11:26} he stole a look from glory, and got fresh encouragement.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it,....…
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it,.... Or them, the commandments given them:
that it may be well with thee; in body and estate:
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and that ye may increase mightily; not only in wealth and riches, but chiefly in numbers:
as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee; a promise of increase of numbers was frequently made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as that their seed should be as the stars of heaven, and as the dust of the earth, and the sand on the sea shore, innumerable; see Gen 15:5 and this especially
in the land that floweth with milk and honey; a very common periphrasis of the land of Canaan, because of the plenty of good things in it; see Exo 3:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to…
Verse 3. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it] Literally, Ye shall hear, O Israel, and thou shalt keep to do them.
1. God is to be heard; no obligation without law to found it on, and no law in religion but from God.
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2. The commandment must be understood in order to be obeyed.
3. It must be observed - attentively considered, in order to be understood. And,
4. It must be performed, that the end for which it was given may be accomplished, viz., that GOD may be glorified, and that it may be well with the people.
What is here spoken applies powerfully to every part of the moral law; God has given IT as a rule of life, therefore obedience to it is indispensably necessary, not to the purchase of salvation, for no human merit can ever extend to that, but it is the way by which both the justice and mercy of God choose to conduct men to heaven. But let it be fully understood that no man can walk in the way of obedience but by and under the influence of the grace of God.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In the land - Better: According as the Lord…
In the land - Better: According as the Lord the God of thy fathers promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey.
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 Hear. The Jews have a particular respect for the…
Hear. The Jews have a particular respect for the seven following verses, which they write on vellum, and recite every day, as a preservative against the devil. (Clarius.) --- To do. It will not suffice to hear nor to learn the law, we must also put it in execution, chap. v. 1. (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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Promised thee, in the land — As there…
3. Promised thee, in the land — As there is no preposition before the word translated land the passage is better read: “For Jehovah, God of thy fathers, promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey.”
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 3. observe to do] See on Deu_5:1.
3. observe to do] See on Deu_5:1.
that ye may increase mightily] A partial return to the Pl., and, with such a verb, logical and natural. The phrase is not found elsewhere. This therefore may not be a mere editorial echo. But the idea of the multiplication of the people as a Divine blessing is constant in Deut. as in other O.T. writings. In their world of war all Semitic tribes naturally prayed for large numbers. Cf. Doughty on the Arabs: ‘the soul of them is greedy first of their proper subsistence and then of their proper increase.’
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the God of thy fathers] Deu_1:21, Deu_12:1, Deu_27:3; of your f., Deu_1:11, Deu_4:1, cp. Deu_29:25. So E, Exo_3:15 and J, Exo_3:16.
unto thee … a land, etc.] The construction is defective: in supplied by R.V. is not in the Heb. LXX adds to give thee, which affords a good connection and is probably original; as the eye of a Heb. scribe may easily have confused the first and second thee’s.
a land flowing with milk and honey] found in J and E and in both the Sg. and Pl. passages of Deut. For a list of the instances, and the meaning of the phrase, see on Exo_3:8. ‘Only where rich wells or running water produce sufficient pasture for the whole year, is it possible always to get fresh milk; and therefore the desert-dweller dreams of such regions in which water and in consequence milk always flows.’ ‘On long marches mothers comfort their weeping children thus: I will give you milk and honey’ (Musil, Ethn. Ber. 154, 158).
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 (3) That ye may increase mightily . . .…
(3) That ye may increase mightily . . . in the land.—The position of Israel in the land, and their continuance therein, depended entirely on their fulfilment of the purpose for which they were brought there—the observance of the Law of Jehovah, as it applied to their peculiar situation.
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 God had promised from the first to the patriarchs…
God had promised from the first to the patriarchs that he would make of their posterity a great nation. (Gen_12:1 Gen_17:6 Gen_18:18) But the fulfillment of this promise was conditioned by their continuing as a people in the fear of God, and in obedience to his Law. Everything, then, depended on their hearing what Moses had been commanded to teach them, and observing to do it (cf. Lev_26:9, etc.) In the land, etc. This is to be connected with the clause, "that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily;" the land was to be the scene and sphere of their prosperity and increase. Some would render thus: "As the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee a laud," etc., i.e. a place in which thou mayest prosper and increase; the other, however, is the more natural construction and rendering. There is, indeed, no preposition before "the land" in the Hebrew; but nothing is more common in that language than for the accusative of a noun to be used adverbially to describe the place where anything is done. Milk and honey; emblem of fruitfulness and sweetness; (Son_4:11) proverbially descriptive of Canaan, as rich in pasturage for flocks, and abounding in flowers whence the bees could extract honey (cf. Exo_3:8, Exo_3:17)
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:
Moses continues to tell the people of Israel Yahweh's words as if the Israelites are one person. (See: Forms of You)
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listen to them
Here "listen" means to obey, and "them" refers to Yahweh's commandments. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "listen to Yahweh's commandments, statutes, and decrees" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
keep them
"obey them"
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: Idiom)
translationWords
Israel
honey
Yahweh
God
ancestor
promise
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 6:3 The milk and honey abundant in Canaan represented…
6:3 The milk and honey abundant in Canaan represented both agriculture and forage. Compared to the desert fare, Canaan’s food was sumptuous indeed (see Exod 3:8, 17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.