Deuteronomy 26:5
in Deuteronomy 26and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt answer and say before Jehovah thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
KJV
And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 26
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A Syrian ready to perish was my father - The reference is shown by the context to be to Jacob, as the ancestor in whom particularly the family of Abraham began to develop into a nation (compare Isa 43:22, Isa 43:28, etc.).
This site's exposition
A Syrian ready to perish was my father
A man holding a basket of fruit says the whole history of his nation in one sentence, and it begins with an ancestor who nearly died. Barnes takes the father to be Jacob, born of Syrian parents and twenty years resident in Padan-aram, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown render the Hebrew a wandering Syrian rather than one ready to perish, since the phrase will carry either. The Passover Haggadah takes this verse as the text it expounds clause by clause, so a farmer's confession became the shape of the seder's telling.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Jacob is here called an Aramite, or Syrian, because he lived twenty years in Padan-Aram; his wives were of that country, and his children were all born there, except Benjamin; and perhaps the confessor means not Jacob himself, but that son of Jacob who was the father of his tribe.
A Syrian - So Jacob was, partly by his original, as being born of Syrian parents, as were Abraham and Rebecca, both of Chaldea or Mesopotamia, which was a part of Syria largely so called, partly by his education and conversation; and partly by his relations, his wives being such, and his children too by their mother's.
And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A Syrian ready to perish was my father--rather, "a wandering Syrian." The ancestors of the Hebrews were nomad shepherds, either Syrians by birth as Abraham, or by long residence as Jacob.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A Syrian ready to perish was my father - This passage has been variously understood, both by the ancient versions and by modern commentators. The Vulgate renders it thus: Syrus persequebatur patrem meum, “A Syrian persecuted my father.” The Septuagint thus: Συριαν απεβαλεν ὁ πατηρ μου, “My father abandoned Syria.” The Targum thus: לבן ארמאה בעא לאובדא ית אבא Laban arammaah bea leobada yath abba, “Laban the Syrian endeavored to destroy my father.” The Syriac: “My father was led out of Syria into Egypt.” The Arabic: “Surely, Laban the Syrian had almost destroyed my father.” The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel: “Our father Jacob went at first into Syria of Mesopotamia, and Laban sought to destroy him.” Father Houbigant dissents from all, and renders the original thus: Fames urgebat patrem meum, qui in Aegyptum descendit, “Famine oppressed my father, who went down into Egypt.” This interpretation Houbigant gives the text, by taking the י yod from the word ארמי arammi, which signifies an Aramite or Syrian, and joining it to יאבד yeabud, the future for the perfect, which is common enough in Hebrew, and which may signify constrained; and seeking for the meaning of ארם aram in the Arabic arama, which signifies famine, dearth, etc., he thus makes out his version, and this version he defends at large in his notes. It is pretty evident, from the text, that by a Syrian we are to understand Jacob, so called from his long residence in Syria with his father-in-law Laban. And his being ready to perish may signify the hard usage and severe labor he had in Laban’s service, by which, as his health was much impaired, so his life might have often been in imminent danger.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעָנִ֨יתָ | veanita | and you will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י׀ | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲרַמִּי֙ | ʾarami | [was] an Aramean | H761 → | |
| אֹבֵ֣ד | ʾoved | wandering | H6 → | 184 times |
| אָבִ֔י | ʾavi | ancestor my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַיֵּ֣רֶד | vaiyered | and he went down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יְמָה | mitzraymah | Egypt towards | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וַיָּ֥גָר | vaiyagor | and he sojourned | H1481 → | 97 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בִּמְתֵ֣י | bimtei | <in> men of | H4962 → | 22 times |
| מְעָ֑ט | meat | fewness | H4592 → | 101 times |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and he became | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁ֕ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לְג֥וֹי | legoy | <into> a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| גָּד֖וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| עָצ֥וּם | ʾatzum | mighty | H6099 → | 31 times |
| וָרָֽב׃ | varav | and numerous | H7227 → | 454 times |
וְעָנִ֨יתָand you will answer
veanitaH6030 →331 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֜and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
לִפְנֵ֣י׀<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
אֲרַמִּי֙[was] an Aramean
ʾaramiH761 →
אֹבֵ֣דwandering
ʾovedH6 →184 times
אָבִ֔יancestor my
ʾaviH1 →1212 times
וַיֵּ֣רֶדand he went down
vaiyeredH3381 →381 times
מִצְרַ֔יְמָהEgypt towards
mitzraymahH4714 →641 times
וַיָּ֥גָרand he sojourned
vaiyagorH1481 →97 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
בִּמְתֵ֣י<in> men of
bimteiH4962 →22 times
מְעָ֑טfewness
meatH4592 →101 times
וַֽיְהִי־and he became
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
שָׁ֕םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
לְג֥וֹי<into> a nation
legoyH1471 →561 times
גָּד֖וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
עָצ֥וּםmighty
ʾatzumH6099 →31 times
וָרָֽב׃and numerous
varavH7227 →454 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
Deuteronomy 10:22Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
it leads to
- Exodus 1:5
The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 46:27
And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.
- Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Deuteronomy 1:10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Exodus 1:5
Through
Genesis 46:27And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.
it leads to
- Acts 7:14
Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all.
- Deuteronomy 10:22
Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Acts 7:14
Through
Genesis 43:12Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.
it leads to
- Genesis 42:25
Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,
- Genesis 42:35
As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! And when they and their father saw the bags of silver, they were dismayed.
- Genesis 42:25
About Deuteronomy
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.