Deuteronomy 12:5
in Deuteronomy 12Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But unto the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come;
KJV
But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 12
Commentary
5 notes on this verseBut unto the place which the Lord your God,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, that the Word of the Lord your God: shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there; to place his tabernacle, set up his worship, take up his residence, and cause the Shechinah, or his divine Majesty, to dwell there, as the next clause explains it; out of what tribe it should be chosen, and where it should be, is not said.
This site's exposition
Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God
on Deuteronomy 12:4-5
Verse 4 turns the demolition into a rule about method, since Israel's God is not to be served the way the nations served theirs. Verse 5 gives the alternative, and the phrase the place which the Lord your God shall choose falls fifteen times in chapters 12 to 26, five of them in this chapter, at verses 5, 11, 14, 18 and 26. It never names the place, and the naming happens later, at 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Kings 8:16. The Samaritan Pentateuch reads the phrase as a place already chosen and identifies it with Gerizim, which is the textual root behind the question the woman puts to Jesus at John 4:20.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The former precept was intended to prevent all false worship, the latter to preserve the worship God had instituted. They are commanded to bring all their offerings to the altar of God, and all their holy things to the place which he should choose,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
“To put his name there” means to manifest to men His divine presence. The Targumists rightly refer to the Shechinah; but the expression comprehends all the various modes in which God vouchsafed to reveal Himself and His attributes to men. The purpose of the command of the text is to secure the unity, and through unity the purity of the worship of God. That there should be one national center for the religion of the people was obviously essential to the great ends of the whole dispensation.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It was admirably calculated to prevent the corruption which would otherwise have crept in from their frequenting groves and high hills--to preserve uniformity of worship and keep alive their faith in Him to whom all their sacrifices pointed. The place was successively Mizpeh, Shiloh, and especially Jerusalem.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֠י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִֽם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֞וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִבְחַ֨ר | yivchar | he will choose | H977 → | 171 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מִכָּל־ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔ם | shivteikhem | tribes your | H7626 → | 190 times |
| לָשׂ֥וּם | lasum | to put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמ֖וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שָׁ֑ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹ | leshikhno | to dwelling its | H7931 → | 129 times |
| תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ | tidreshu | you will resort | H1875 → | 164 times |
| וּבָ֥אתָ | uvata | and you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שָֽׁמָּה׃ | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
כִּ֠יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִֽם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֞וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִבְחַ֨רhe will choose
yivcharH977 →171 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙God your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
מִכָּל־from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔םtribes your
shivteikhemH7626 →190 times
לָשׂ֥וּםto put
lasumH7760 →584 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמ֖וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
שָׁ֑םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹto dwelling its
leshikhnoH7931 →129 times
תִדְרְשׁ֖וּyou will resort
tidreshuH1875 →164 times
וּבָ֥אתָand you will go
uvataH935 →2568 times
שָֽׁמָּה׃there towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 8:29May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:11
then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 6:20
May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward…
- 2 Chronicles 7:15–16
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
- 1 Kings 8:16
‘Since the day I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house so that My Name would be…
- Deuteronomy 12:11
Through
Deuteronomy 26:2you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
it leads to
- Exodus 23:19
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Exodus 23:16
You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year,…
- Exodus 23:19
Through
2 Chronicles 7:12the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
it leads to
- Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Genesis 17:1
Through
Deuteronomy 12:11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 15:20
Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.
- Deuteronomy 15:20
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.