Skip to content
mannafest.faith

Deuteronomy 31:26

in Deuteronomy 31

“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

KJV

Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

This verse in Deuteronomy 31

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
Take this book of the law,.... Not Deuteronomy only, but the whole Pentateuch: and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; not in the ark, for there were nothing there but the two tables of stone with the ten commands on them, 1Ki 8:9; but on one side of it; the Targum of Jonathan says, it was"put in a chest (or box) on the right side of the ark of the covenant;''which is very probable.

This site's exposition

When Moses had finished writing in a book the words of this law

on Deuteronomy 31:24-26

The book is placed “beside the ark”, since 1 Kings 8:9 says nothing lay inside it but the two stone tablets. Hilkiah finds the book in Josiah's reign at 2 Kings 22:8, and its reading turns a kingdom.

This site's exposition

place it beside the ark

Adam Clarke calls this Book of the Law the standard to which every later copy had to answer. John Gill cites the Targum of Jonathan, which places the book in a chest at the right of the ark. A master copy beside the ark guarded the law against drift.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Take this book - Probably the very same book, which (after having been some way misplaced) was found in the house of the Lord, in the days of Josiah, and publickly read by the king himself, for a witness against a people, who were then almost ripe for ruin.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The year of release was typical of gospel grace, which therefore is called the acceptable year of the Lord; for our remission and liberty by Christ engage us to keep his commandments, Luke i.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Take this book of the law - The standard copy to which all transcripts must ultimately refer: another copy was put into the bands of the priests. See the note on Deu 31:9.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark--The second copy of the law (see on De 31:9) was deposited for greater security and reverence in a little chest beside the ark of the covenant, for there was nothing contained within it but the tables of stone (1Ki 8:9).

The words behind it

16 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.

  • לָקֹ֗חַtake

    lakoachH3947 →966 times

  • אֵ֣ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • סֵ֤פֶר[the] book of

    seferH5612 →186 times

  • הַתּוֹרָה֙the law

    hatorahH8451 →219 times

  • הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • וְשַׂמְתֶּ֣םand you will put

    vesamtemH7760 →584 times

  • אֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • מִצַּ֛דfrom [the] side of

    mitzadH6654 →

  • אֲר֥וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • בְּרִית־[the] covenant of

    berit-H1285 →284 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑םGod your

    ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times

  • וְהָֽיָה־and it will become

    vehayah-H1961 →3559 times

  • שָׁ֥םthere

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • בְּךָ֖on <the> you

    bekha

  • לְעֵֽד׃<into> a witness

    leedH5707 →70 times

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

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

    Galatians 2:19

    For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.

    it leads to

    • Romans 7:4

      Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear…

    • Romans 6:2

      Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:10

      He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

    • Romans 6:11

      So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

    • 2 Corinthians 5:15

      And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 31:19

    Now therefore, write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 6:7

      And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

    • Deuteronomy 31:21–22

      And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their inclination, even…

    • Deuteronomy 11:19

      Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.