Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Parallel Translations
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Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
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Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may establish the word which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 9:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
- Genesis 17:8 I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”
- 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 12:7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 13:15 for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever.
- Genesis 15:7 He said to Abram, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”
- Genesis 28:13 Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring.
- Ezekiel 20:14 But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
- Exodus 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
- Micah 7:20 You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
- Luke 1:54-55 He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”
- Acts 3:25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’
- Acts 13:32-33 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’
- Romans 11:28 Concerning the Good News, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.
- Romans 15:8 Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Neither for thy upright heart, nor holy life, which…
Neither for thy upright heart, nor holy life, which are the two things which God above all things regards, 1Ch 29:17; Psa 15:1,2; and consequently he excludes all merit. And surely they who did not deserve this earthly Canaan, could not merit the kingdom of glory. That he may perform the word which he sware; to show my faithfulness in accomplishing that promise which I graciously made and confirmed with my oath. By which words it is implied, that this land was not given to them for the righteousness of their fathers, though they were righteous and holy persons, and much less for their own righteousness, which they had not, as it follows.
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 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of…
Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart,.... Neither for their external righteousness before men, or their outward conformity to the law, nor for the inward sincerity of their hearts, and their upright intentions in doing good, in which they were defective:
dost thou go to possess their land; this is repeated, and enlarged on, and explained, that this notion might be entirely removed from them, and not entertained by them; similar to which is that of men, who fancy that their sincere obedience, though imperfect, will be accepted of God instead of a perfect one, on account of which they shall be justified and saved; but by the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified in the sight of God, nor by any works of righteousness done by the best of men, and in the best manner they are capable of, will any be saved:
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but for the wickedness of those nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee; which is repeated, that it might be taken notice of as the true reason of the Lord's dealing with them in such severity; and which because it would be now doing, when the Israelites passed over Jordan, and went in to possess the land, it is expressed in the present tense, "doth drive", the work being not yet finished; sin was the cause of their ejection out of their land, and another thing was the reason of the Israelites possessing it, and not their righteousness next expressed:
and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; it was to fulfil his covenant, and make good his word of promise to their fathers, and not on account of any righteousness of theirs; and the salvation of the Lord's people in a spiritual sense, and their enjoyment of the heavenly Canaan, are owing to the gracious purposes and promises of God, and to his covenant engagements, as well as to the undertakings, obedience, and righteousness of his Son, and not to any righteousness of theirs.
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 Not for thy righteousness - Neither for thy upright…
Not for thy righteousness - Neither for thy upright heart, nor holy life, which are the two things which God above all things regards. And consequently he excludes all merit. And surely they who did not deserve this earthly Canaan, could not merit the kingdom of glory. To perform the word - To shew my faithfulness in accomplishing that promise which I graciously made and confirmed with my oath.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. For the wickedness of these nations] So…
Verse 5. For the wickedness of these nations] So then it was not by any sovereign act of God that these people were cast out, but for their wickedness; they had transgressed the law of their Creator; they had resisted his Spirit, and could no longer be tolerated. The Israelites were to possess their land, not because they deserved it, but first, because they were less wicked than the others; and secondly, because God thus chose to begin the great work of his salvation among men. Thus then the Canaanites were cut off, and the Israelites were grafted in; and the Israelites, because of their wickedness, were afterwards cut off and the Gentiles grafted in. Let the latter not be high-minded, but fear; if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee. But let it be remembered that this land was originally their own, and that the present possessors had no legal right to it.
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 9:5. Not for thy righteousness — Neither for…
Deu 9:5. Not for thy righteousness — Neither for thy upright heart nor holy life, the two things which God, above all others, regards. Here, therefore, all merit in them is excluded: and they are given to know that, although the Canaanites were expelled for their national wickedness, they were not settled in their room for their righteousness. And surely they, who did not deserve this earthly Canaan, could not merit the kingdom of glory. To perform the word — To show my faithfulness in accomplishing that promise which I graciously made and confirmed with my oath.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. dost thou go in to possess] Characteristic of…
5. dost thou go in to possess] Characteristic of the Sg. passages.
the wickedness of these nations] wickedness the direct opposite of righteousness; in disputes as to justice the wicked is the man who is in the wrong (Deu_25:1; Exo_2:13 (J), Deu_23:1; Deu_23:7 (E), see note; Isa_5:23); so wickedness in Deu_25:2. Both adj. and noun are largely used especially in later writings of all in opposition to Jehovah and His people; but the terms also cover a wider ethical range, Eze_18:27; Eze_33:19, etc. Here, therefore, the wickedness of these, nations will primarily mean their refusal to acknowledge the true God, but implicitly the immorality and ethical uncleanness of their rites: to which recent excavations at Gezer and elsewhere bear testimony. See what is said on abomination Deu_7:25 : here it is clearer that more than ritual unrighteousness is intended.
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thy God] Sam. and LXX B omit.
establish the word, etc.] See on Deu_8:18 : establish the covenant, etc. It is true that the people must fulfil their side of the covenant by obedience to its laws without which they shall not receive these material blessings in the land; but God made the covenant out of His own free will, Deu_7:7, and will keep it because of His faithfulness, Deu_7:9, and not because of any merit of the people.
which the Lord sware] Sam. and LXX B etc.: which he sware.
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 (5) Not for thy righteousness . . . dost…
(5) Not for thy righteousness . . . dost thou go.—The pronoun is emphatic. There is no reason why thou of all others shouldest be thus honoured.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — 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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the uprightness of your heart
This is an idiom. "because you always thought and desired the right things" (See: Idiom)
so that he may make come true the word
Here the metonym "the word" refers to what God has promised. AT: "so that he may fulfill the promise" (See: Metonymy)
your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the "ancestors" of whom Moses is speaking.
translationWords
righteous
heart
possess
evil
nation
cast out
true
word
oath
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
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 9:5 to fulfill the oath: In the covenant promises…
9:5 to fulfill the oath: In the covenant promises made to the patriarchs, God swore that their descendants would inherit the land of Canaan (Gen 13:14-17; 15:18-21; see Deut 1:8; 8:18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.