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Deuteronomy 30:20

in Deuteronomy 30

and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

KJV

That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 30

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

That thou mayest love the Lord - Without love there can be no obedience. Obey his voice - Without obedience love is fruitless and dead. And cleave unto him - Without close attachment and perseverance, temporary love, however sincere and fervent - temporary obedience, however disinterested, energetic, and pure while it lasts - will be ultimately ineffectual. He alone who endures to the end, shall be saved. Reader, how do matters stand between God and thy soul? He cannot persevere in the grace of God whose soul is not yet made a partaker of that grace.

This site's exposition

That thou mayest love the Lord thy God

Three verbs close the address, love, obey and cleave, and cleave unto him is the word Moses used at 11:22 and 13:4 and Joshua repeats at Joshua 22:5. He is thy life, and the length of thy days puts the life set before them in a person rather than in a span of years. The last clause reaches back past Moses to the oath sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, so a chapter that opened among the nations of the scattering closes on a promise older than the law it has been arguing for.

The words behind it

25 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לְאַֽהֲבָה֙by loving

    leahavahH157 →211 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • לִשְׁמֹ֥עַby listening

    lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times

  • בְּקֹל֖וֹto voice his

    bekoloH6963 →506 times

  • וּלְדָבְקָה־and by cleaving

    uledavekah-H1692 →54 times

  • ב֑וֹto him

    vo

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • ה֤וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • חַיֶּ֙יךָ֙[is] life your

    chaiyeikhaH2416 →498 times

  • וְאֹ֣רֶךְand [the] length of

    veorekhH753 →

  • יָמֶ֔יךָdays your

    yameikhaH3117 →2304 times

  • לָשֶׁ֣בֶתto dwell

    lashevetH3427 →1079 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאֲדָמָ֗הthe land

    haadamahH127 →225 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩which

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • נִשְׁבַּ֨עhe swore

    nishba'H7650 →186 times

  • יְהוָ֧הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • לַאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָto ancestors your

    laavoteikhaH1 →1212 times

  • לְאַבְרָהָ֛םto Abraham

    leavrahamH85 →175 times

  • לְיִצְחָ֥קto Isaac

    leyitzchakH3327 →108 times

  • וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֖בand to Jacob

    uleyaakoH3290 →350 times

  • לָתֵ֥תto give

    latetH5414 →2011 times

  • לָהֶֽם׃ פto <the> them

    lahem

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 37:3Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.21 worksJohn 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.20 worksDeuteronomy 10:20You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.18 worksJohn 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.15 worksJohn 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.14 worksActs 17:25Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.14 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 17:28‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’12 worksDeuteronomy 10:12And 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 God with all your heart and with all your soul,11 worksDeuteronomy 4:40Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.11 worksJeremiah 7:23but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.11 worksPsalms 36:9For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.10 worksDeuteronomy 5:16Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.10 worksPsalms 66:9He preserves our lives and keeps our feet from slipping.10 worksPsalms 34:12Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days?10 worksGalatians 2:20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.9 worksPsalms 27:1The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— whom shall I dread?8 worksJoshua 23:8Instead, you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.8 worksDeuteronomy 13:4You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.8 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    John 14:6

    Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

    it leads to

    • Acts 4:12

      Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

    • John 10:9

      I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.

    • Ephesians 2:18

      For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

    • John 11:25–26

      Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.

    • John 1:4

      In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

  • Through

    John 17:3

    Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 5:20

      And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son…

    • 1 John 5:11–12

      And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

    • John 3:17

      For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 30 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony.

Read on in Deuteronomy 30 →