Deuteronomy 29:11
in Deuteronomy 29your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
your little ones, your wives, and thy sojourner that is in the midst of thy camps, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water;
KJV
Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 29
Commentary
6 notes on this verseYour little ones, your wives,.... Who are scarce ever mentioned in any special law or solemn transaction: and thy stranger that is in thy camp; not only the proselyte of righteousness, who embraced the Jewish religion entirely, but the proselyte of the gate, who was admitted to dwell among them, having renounced idolatry.
This site's exposition
All of you are standing today before the LORD your God
on Deuteronomy 29:10-11
The roll runs from the leaders of the tribes down to those “who cut your wood and draw your water”, with children, wives and foreigners. Joshua 9:21 later gives that pair of tasks to the Gibeonites, the lowest place an outsider held.
This site's exposition
your children and wives
John Gill observes that wives and children are scarcely ever named in a solemn act of the law, and here both stand in the assembly. He takes the foreigners in your camps to include the proselyte of the gate, a resident who had renounced idols.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Observe, Even little ones are capable of being taken into covenant with God, and are to be admitted with their parents. Little children, so little as to be carried in arms, must be brought to Christ, and shall be blessed by him, for of such was and is the kingdom of God.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The covenant was national, and therefore embraced all the elements which make up the nation. The “little ones” would of course be represented by their parents or guardians; the absent Deu 29:15 by those present; nor were the servants and proselytes to be excluded (compare Act 2:39). The text is fairly alleged in justification of the Church’s practice of admitting little ones into covenant with God by Baptism, and accepting promises made on their behalf by sponsors.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
It was of the greatest consequence to impress all with the strong and abiding conviction, that while the covenant of grace had special blessings belonging to it, it at the same time had curses in reserve for transgressors, the infliction of which would be as certain, as lasting and severe. This was the advantage contemplated in the law being rehearsed a second time.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
מחטב עציך FROM THE WOODCUTTER [UNTO THE DRAWER OF THE WATER] — This teaches that some of the Canaanites came in Moses' days to become proselytes just as the Gibeonites came in the days of Joshua, — and this is the meaning of what is stated of the Gibeonites, (Joshua:4) “And they also acted cunningly”; — and Moses made them woodcutters and drawers of water (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 2).
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Your young, your wives, and your convert who is within your camps; from your wood cutters to the water drawers.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| טַפְּכֶ֣ם | tapekhem | little one[s] your | H2945 → | 42 times |
| נְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם | nesheikhem | wives your | H802 → | 781 times |
| וְגֵ֣רְךָ֔ | vegerekha | and sojourner your | H1616 → | 92 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּקֶ֣רֶב | bekerev | [is] in [the] midst of | H7130 → | 227 times |
| מַחֲנֶ֑יךָ | machaneikha | camps your | H4264 → | 215 times |
| מֵחֹטֵ֣ב | mechotev | from [the] cutter of | H2404 → | |
| עֵצֶ֔יךָ | ʾetzeikha | wood<s> your | H6086 → | 328 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | unto | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| שֹׁאֵ֥ב | shoev | [the] drawer of | H7579 → | |
| מֵימֶֽיךָ׃ | meimeikha | water your | H4325 → | 581 times |
טַפְּכֶ֣םlittle one[s] your
tapekhemH2945 →42 times
נְשֵׁיכֶ֔םwives your
nesheikhemH802 →781 times
וְגֵ֣רְךָ֔and sojourner your
vegerekhaH1616 →92 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּקֶ֣רֶב[is] in [the] midst of
bekerevH7130 →227 times
מַחֲנֶ֑יךָcamps your
machaneikhaH4264 →215 times
מֵחֹטֵ֣בfrom [the] cutter of
mechotevH2404 →
עֵצֶ֔יךָwood<s> your
ʾetzeikhaH6086 →328 times
עַ֖דunto
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
שֹׁאֵ֥ב[the] drawer of
shoevH7579 →
מֵימֶֽיךָ׃water your
meimeikhaH4325 →581 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
Colossians 3:11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
it leads to
- Galatians 3:28–29
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 12:13
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
- Romans 10:12
For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
- Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Ephesians 1:23
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
- Galatians 3:28–29
Through
Exodus 12:38And a mixed multitude also went up with them, along with great droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.
it leads to
- Numbers 11:4
Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Numbers 11:4
Through
Deuteronomy 5:14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox…
it leads to
- Hebrews 4:4
For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this manner: “And on the seventh day God rested from all His works.”
- Genesis 2:2
And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
- Hebrews 4:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.