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Deuteronomy 32:40

in Deuteronomy 32

For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live for ever,

KJV

For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 32

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

See now that I am He

on Deuteronomy 32:39-40

Hannah says the same at 1 Samuel 2:6, and Isaiah 45:7 states it in the same shape: “I bring death and I give life”. The lifted hand is the gesture of an oath, used by Abram at Genesis 14:22, and God swears by his own life, having nothing higher, the point Hebrews 6:13 makes. Revelation 10:5-6 has an angel lift a hand and swear by him who lives forever.

This site's exposition

As surely as I live forever

As surely as I live becomes a regular oath of God, at Numbers 14:21 and more than a dozen times in Ezekiel. Ezekiel 33:11 uses it to swear that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The same oath carries judgment and mercy.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

For I lift up my hand to heaven,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

For I lift up my hand to heaven - See concerning oaths and appeals to God in the note on Deu 6:13 (note).

The words behind it

9 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.

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • אֶשָּׂ֥אI lift up

    ʾesa'H5375 →656 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שָׁמַ֖יִםheaven

    shamayimH8064 →421 times

  • יָדִ֑יhand my

    yadiH3027 →1618 times

  • וְאָמַ֕רְתִּיand I will say

    veamartiH559 →5305 times

  • חַ֥י[am] living

    chaiH2416 →498 times

  • אָנֹכִ֖יI

    ʾanokhiH595 →359 times

  • לְעֹלָֽם׃for ever

    leolamH5769 →438 times

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

Related verses

15 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.

Revelation 10:5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven.7 worksIsaiah 62:8The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled.5 worksJeremiah 4:2and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”4 worksHebrews 6:17–18So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.4 worksGenesis 14:22But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,4 worksNumbers 14:21“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,4 works
The other 9 cross-references, with their words ▾
Numbers 14:28–30So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.3 worksExodus 6:8And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”3 worksEzekiel 20:5and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. With an uplifted hand I said to them, ‘I am the LORD your God.’2 worksDaniel 12:7And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.”2 worksIsaiah 3:7On that day he will cry aloud: “I am not a healer. I have no food or clothing in my house. Do not make me leader of the people!”2 worksEzekiel 36:7Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own.2 worksEzekiel 20:23However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.2 worksPsalms 144:8whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.2 works1 Timothy 6:16He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.1 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

    Jeremiah 4:2

    and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 65:16

      Whoever invokes a blessing in the land will do so by the God of truth, and whoever takes an oath in the land will swear by the God of truth. For the former troubles…

    • Jeremiah 9:24

      But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,”…

    • Genesis 22:18

      And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

    • Deuteronomy 10:20

      You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:31

      Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

  • Through

    Genesis 14:22

    But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

    it leads to

    • Daniel 12:7

      And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever,…

    • Exodus 6:8

      And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”

    • Judges 11:35

      As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given…

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.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 32 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 32 →