Know therefore today that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.
Parallel Translations
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Know therefore today that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.
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Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
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Know therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is He who goeth over before thee as a devouring fire; He will destroy them, and He will bring them down before thee; so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the LORD hath spoken unto thee.
Cross-references (26)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 9:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 4:24 For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
- Romans 8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Hebrews 12:29 for our God is a consuming fire.
- Deuteronomy 20:4 for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
- Deuteronomy 7:23-24 But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed. He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.
- Exodus 23:29-31 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
- Joshua 3:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
- Micah 2:13 He who breaks open the way goes up before them. They break through the gate, and go out. And their king passes on before them, with Yahweh at their head.
- Deuteronomy 1:30 Yahweh your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8 punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- Joshua 3:14 When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,
- Isaiah 41:10-16 Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish. You will seek them, and won’t find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing. For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’ Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff. You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 7:1-2 When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you; and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.
- Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?
- Nahum 1:5-6 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
- Matthew 15:10 He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand.
- Mark 7:14 He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.
- Ephesians 5:17 Therefore don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
- Revelation 19:11-16 I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself. He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.” The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen. Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
- Deuteronomy 31:3-6 Yahweh your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken. Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for Yahweh your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.”
- Isaiah 27:4 Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.
- Isaiah 30:27 Behold, Yahweh’s name comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation. His tongue is as a devouring fire.
- Isaiah 30:30 Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones.
- Isaiah 30:33 For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh’s breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
- Deuteronomy 7:16 You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.
- Deuteronomy 9:6 Know therefore that Yahweh your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To guide thee and govern thee.
To guide thee and govern thee.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 9:3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD…
Deu 9:3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God [is] he which goeth over before thee; [as] a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
Ver. 3. As a consuming fire.] The force whereof is violent and irresistible. "Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? Woe unto us! who shall deliver us?" &c., said those crest-fallen Philistines at the sight of the ark. {1Sa 4:8} So, "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites: who among us," say they, "shall dwell with this devouring fire?" - meaning God; - "who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" {Isa 33:14}
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 Quickly; without great difficulty or long wars.
Quickly; without great difficulty or long wars.
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 Understand therefore this day,.... Or be it known to…
Understand therefore this day,.... Or be it known to you for your encouragement, and believe it:
that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee as a consuming fire: did not only go before them over the river Jordan, in a pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and direct them, and was a wall of fire around them to protect and defend them, but as a consuming fire, before which there is no standing, to destroy their enemies; see Deu 4:24,
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he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face; be they as great and as mighty, as large and as tall as they may, they will not be able to stand before the Lord, but will soon be made low, and be easily brought down to the earth by him, and to utter destruction; which would be done in a public and visible manner, so as that the hand of the Lord would be seen in it by the Israelites:
so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee; that is, the far greater part of them, and so many as to make room for the Israelites, and which was quickly done. The Jews commonly say (a), that they were seven years in subduing the land; otherwise they were not to be driven out and destroyed at once, but by little and little: see Deu 7:22.
(a) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31, 32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 9:3. As a consuming fire — Before whom…
Deu 9:3. As a consuming fire — Before whom thine enemies shall be as easily consumed as stubble before the flames. So shalt thou drive them out — quickly — Not the whole seven nations, whom he said (Deu 7:22,) God would drive out by little and little, but so many as to make a settlement for them in Canaan.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain So shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them…
So shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly - This is not inconsistent with Deu 7:22, in which instant annihilation is not to be expected for the reasons assigned. Here Moses urges the people to trust in God’s covenanted aid; since He would then make no delay in so destroying the nations attacked by them as to put them into enjoyment of the promises, and in doing so as fast as was for the well-being of Israel itself.
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 Fire. See chap. iv. 24. The conducting angel would…
Fire. See chap. iv. 24. The conducting angel would fight for the Hebrews. (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 3. Understand therefore — It is better not to…
3. Understand therefore — It is better not to render the verb as an imperative. It should be read in connexion with the first verse. Thou art to pass over Jordan at this time, and thou shalt know this day that Jehovah thy God, he that goeth before thee, a consuming fire, he will destroy them. So shalt thou drive them out. Some critics, as Knobel and Colenso, write as if the speaker, in the ardour of his discourse, had forgotten that he had earlier said, Thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee, (Deu_7:22.) There the thought expressed is that the whole land is not at one fell blow to be depopulated. Here the speaker has in mind those whom they are to meet in battle. Over them they are to have overwhelming victory.
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. Know therefore] See on Deu_7:9.
3. Know therefore] See on Deu_7:9.
he which goeth over before thee] Deu_31:3 (cp. Jos_3:11).
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a devouring fire] Only here and Deu_4:24.
he shall destroy … and he] he emphatic.
bring them down before thee] In D the verb is found only here: it is used also of the subjection of Israel’s enemies in the deuteronomic Jdg_3:30; Jdg_4:23; Jdg_8:28, the late passage 1Sa_7:13, and otherwise only in late writers; except for Jdg_11:33 and 2Sa_8:1 which may be pre-deuteronomic.
quickly] Omitted by LXX B, but otherwise confirmed. See on Deu_7:22.
as the Lord hath spoken unto thee] Exo_23:23 (edit.), Exo_23:27 (E).
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) Understand therefore.—Literally, the connection seems to be this:…
(3) Understand therefore.—Literally, the connection seems to be this: “The children of Anakim thou knowest—thou knowest also (the same word) to-day, that it is Jehovah thy God Himself that passeth over before thee, a consuming fire. He will destroy them, and He will make them to bow down before thee. And thou shalt make a conquest of them, and speedily annihilate them, according as Jehovah hath commanded thee.”
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 Understand therefore this day; rather, And thou knowest today…
Understand therefore this day; rather, And thou knowest today or now. The expression corresponds to ver. 1, "Thou art to pass and thou knowest." In the victory they had obtained over Sihon and Og, they had already had experience of the Lord"s going before them, and leading them on in triumph. The repetition of the He in this verse is very emphatic. Consuming fire (cf. Deu_4:24) Quickly, or suddenly. There is no contradiction here of what is said in Deu_7:22; for there the reference is to the possession of the land by Israel, here it is to the destruction which was to come on the Canaanites the former was to be by degrees, the latter was to come suddenly and overwhelmingly. As Jehovah hath said unto thee. (cf. Exo_23:23, Exo_23:27, etc.; Deu_2:24, etc.)
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 speak to the Israelites as if they are one person. (See: Forms of You)
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today
Moses is speaking of the days and weeks beginning on that day, not of the time since the sun had last set.
like a devouring fire
Yahweh is powerful and able to destroy the armies of the other nations. (See: Simile)
subdue them before you
"make them weak so you can control them"
translationWords
know
Yahweh
God
perish
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 9:3 The graphic metaphor like a devouring fire depicts…
9:3 The graphic metaphor like a devouring fire depicts God’s war against his enemies (see 1:30). God will not just use fire but will himself be a raging inferno, consuming everything in his path. In the end, Israel would simply have to step in and occupy the subdued land.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.