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Deuteronomy 34:4

in Deuteronomy 34

And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Jehovah said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

KJV

And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 34

Commentary

2 notes on this verse
I have caused thee to see it - The sight thus afforded to Moses, like that of “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” Luk 4:5, was no doubt supernatural.

This site's exposition

And the Lord said unto him, This is the land

The oath is traced back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the grant runs to thy seed, so what Moses is shown is a promise the men it was sworn to also died without holding. Hebrews 11:13 describes those men as having seen the promises afar off and been persuaded of them, which is what this verse does to Moses in a single sentence. Why he may not cross is answered in more than one way inside the canon: Deuteronomy says three times that the Lord was angry with him for your sakes, at 1:37, 3:26 and 4:21, while 32:51 names the trespass at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh and Numbers 20:12 gives the reason as because ye believed me not. Both accounts stand and neither is written over the other.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

ואת הנגב means THE SOUTH COUNTRY. — Another explanation is, that it refers to the cave of Machpelah (which was in the Negeb), as it is said, (Numbers:22) “And they went up to the south country, and came to Hebron” (where this cave was situated) (Sifrei Devarim:20).
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Deuteronomy 34:3:1, via Sefaria, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934

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. 2 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

18 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֵלָ֗יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • זֹ֤אתthis

    zotH2063 →603 times

  • הָאָ֙רֶץ֙[is] the land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • נִ֠שְׁבַּעְתִּיI swore

    nishba'tiH7650 →186 times

  • לְאַבְרָהָ֨םto Abraham

    leavrahamH85 →175 times

  • לְיִצְחָ֤קto Isaac

    leyitzchakH3327 →108 times

  • וּֽלְיַעֲקֹב֙and to Jacob

    uleyaakoH3290 →350 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • לְזַרְעֲךָ֖to offspring your

    lezarakhaH2233 →229 times

  • אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּהI will give it

    ʾettenenahH5414 →2011 times

  • הֶרְאִיתִ֣יךָI have let see [it] you

    heritikhaH7200 →1300 times

  • בְעֵינֶ֔יךָwith own eyes your

    veeineikhaH5869 →887 times

  • וְשָׁ֖מָּהand there towards

    veshamahH8033 →834 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַעֲבֹֽר׃you will pass over

    taavorH5674 →556 times

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

Related verses

16 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.

Deuteronomy 32:52Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”7 worksGenesis 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—7 worksGenesis 12:7Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.6 worksDeuteronomy 1:37The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.5 worksGenesis 13:15for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.5 worksGenesis 28:13And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.4 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Deuteronomy 3:26–27But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.3 worksGenesis 24:7The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.3 worksGenesis 26:3Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.2 worksNumbers 20:12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”2 worksLeviticus 25:2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.2 worksActs 7:5He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.2 worksDeuteronomy 34:1Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,2 worksJoshua 21:43Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.2 worksPsalms 105:9–11the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.1 worksJohn 1:17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.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

    Genesis 28:13

    And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 13:15

      for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 35:12

      The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

    • Genesis 48:3

      Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

  • Through

    Genesis 26:3

    Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath…

    it leads to

    • Genesis 28:15

      Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what…

    • Psalms 105:9

      the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

    • Genesis 22:16–18

      saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,

  • Through

    Genesis 12:7

    Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 17:8

      And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

    • Genesis 17:1

      When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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 34 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 34 →