Deuteronomy 30:16
in Deuteronomy 30For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it.
KJV
In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
See, I have set before you today life and goodness
on Deuteronomy 30:15-16
Moses puts the whole covenant into one pair of choices, “life and goodness, as well as death and disaster”, the form of the blessing and the curse at 11:26-28. Verse 16 defines the life by three verbs, to love the LORD, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments. Love stands first and the keeping follows, in the order of 6:5-6.
This site's exposition
so that you may live
Henry reads the promise that those who love the LORD and walk in His ways will live and increase in the land as an appeal to hope. Verse 18 appeals to fear with the threat to perish. Henry finds the same pair of motives at Romans 2:7-9.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God,....
If they would love God, and evidence the sincerity of their love by keeping his commandments--if they would make conscience of keeping his commandments, and do it from a principle of love--then God would do them good, and they should be as happy as his love and blessing could make them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Love of God and compliance with His will are the only ways of securing the blessings and avoiding the evils described. The choice was left to them, and in urging upon them the inducements to a wise choice, Moses warmed as he proceeded into a tone of solemn and impressive earnestness similar to that of Paul to the elders of Ephesus (Ac 20:26, 27).
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָנֹכִ֣י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| מְצַוְּךָ֮ | metzavekha | [am] commanding you | H6680 → | 494 times |
| הַיּוֹם֒ | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לְאַהֲבָ֞ה | leahavah | to love | H157 → | 211 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לָלֶ֣כֶת | lalekhet | to walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בִּדְרָכָ֔יו | bidrakhav | in ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְלִשְׁמֹ֛ר | velishmor | and to keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| מִצְוֹתָ֥יו | mitzvotav | commandments his | H4687 → | 181 times |
| וְחֻקֹּתָ֖יו | vechukotav | and statutes his | H2708 → | 104 times |
| וּמִשְׁפָּטָ֑יו | umishpatav | and judgments his | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וְחָיִ֣יתָ | vechayita | and you will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| וְרָבִ֔יתָ | veravita | and you will increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וּבֵֽרַכְךָ֙ | uverakha | and he will bless you | H1288 → | 330 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בָּאָ֕רֶץ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתָּ֥ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בָא־ | va'- | [are] about to go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שָׁ֖מָּה | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃ | lerishtah | to take possession of it | H3423 → | 231 times |
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָנֹכִ֣יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
מְצַוְּךָ֮[am] commanding you
metzavekhaH6680 →494 times
הַיּוֹם֒this day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
לְאַהֲבָ֞הto love
leahavahH157 →211 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙God your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לָלֶ֣כֶתto walk
lalekhetH1980 →1546 times
בִּדְרָכָ֔יוin ways his
bidrakhavH1870 →707 times
וְלִשְׁמֹ֛רand to keep
velishmorH8104 →468 times
מִצְוֹתָ֥יוcommandments his
mitzvotavH4687 →181 times
וְחֻקֹּתָ֖יוand statutes his
vechukotavH2708 →104 times
וּמִשְׁפָּטָ֑יוand judgments his
umishpatavH4941 →422 times
וְחָיִ֣יתָand you will live
vechayitaH2421 →282 times
וְרָבִ֔יתָand you will increase
veravitaH7235 →227 times
וּבֵֽרַכְךָ֙and he will bless you
uverakhaH1288 →330 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
בָּאָ֕רֶץin the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אַתָּ֥הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בָא־[are] about to go
va'-H935 →2568 times
שָׁ֖מָּהthere towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃to take possession of it
lerishtahH3423 →231 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 6:5And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
it leads to
- Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
- Matthew 22:37
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Mark 12:30
Through
John 14:21Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
it leads to
- John 14:15
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
- 1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,
- 1 John 2:5
But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:
- 2 John 1:6
And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love.
- John 14:15
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.