Deuteronomy 6:7
in Deuteronomy 6And 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
KJV
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 6
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThou shalt teach them diligently - שננתם shinnantam, from שנן shanan, to repeat, iterate, or do a thing again and again; hence to whet or sharpen any instrument, which is done by reiterated friction or grinding. We see here the spirit of this Divine injunction. God’s testimonies must be taught to our children, and the utmost diligence must be used to make them understand them.
This site's exposition
these words, which I command thee this day
on Deuteronomy 6:6-7
The words go into the man before they go to the child, since verse 6 puts them in thine heart and verse 7 sends them to the children. Teaching them diligently is then defined by four times of day, sitting in the house, walking by the way, lying down and rising up, which covers a whole day without setting an hour aside for it. What is described is a household rather than a school.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Teach them to thy children, not only those of thy own body" (say the Jews) "but all those that are anyway under thy care and tuition." Bishop Patrick well observes here that Moses thought his law so very plain and easy that every father might be able to instruct his sons in it and every mother her daughters.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children,....
How the passage was read
On Deuteronomy 6:4-9On Deuteronomy 6:4-9
The confession Israel still prays twice a day
Verses 4 and 5 are the Shema (Hebrew for “Hear,” the passage's first word): “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” It is the closest thing Judaism has to a creed, prayed morning and evening by observant Jews to this day; the Mishnah, the first code of Jewish oral law (about AD 200), opens its very first page with the question of when the evening Shema is recited (Berakhot 1:1). When a lawyer asks Jesus which commandment is greatest, His answer begins with this text (Matthew 22:37).
The commands to bind these words “on your hand” and “between your eyes” and to write them “on your doorposts” are kept physically. Tefillin (called phylacteries in the Gospels) are two small leather boxes containing Scripture passages, bound with straps to the arm and forehead during weekday morning prayer. A mezuzah is a small case fixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home holding this passage on parchment. Jesus never criticizes either practice; His woe falls on tefillin made extra wide to be seen (Matthew 23:5), ostentation in a good thing, not the thing itself.
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.
Sources: Mishnah Berakhot 1:1 (the Shema's recitation, the Mishnah's opening subject) · Mishnah Menachot 4:1 (tefillin of arm and head, each valid without the other)
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם | veshinantam | and you will repeat them | H8150 → | |
| לְבָנֶ֔יךָ | levaneikha | to children your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ | vedibarta | and you will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| בָּ֑ם | bam | in them | ||
| בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ | beshivtekha | when sitting you | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ | beveitekha | in house your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ | uvelekhtekha | and when walking you | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ | vaderekh | on the road | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ | uveshakhebekha | and when lying down you | H7901 → | 212 times |
| וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃ | uvekumecha | and when rising up you | H6965 → | 628 times |
וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣םand you will repeat them
veshinantamH8150 →
לְבָנֶ֔יךָto children your
levaneikhaH1121 →4930 times
וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖and you will speak
vedibartaH1696 →1141 times
בָּ֑םin them
bam
בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤when sitting you
beshivtekhaH3427 →1079 times
בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙in house your
beveitekhaH1004 →2046 times
וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣and when walking you
uvelekhtekhaH1980 →1546 times
בַדֶּ֔רֶךְon the road
vaderekhH1870 →707 times
וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖and when lying down you
uveshakhebekhaH7901 →212 times
וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃and when rising up you
uvekumechaH6965 →628 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
1 Peter 3:15But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and…
it leads to
- Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- 2 Timothy 2:25–26
He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
- Luke 21:14–15
So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves.
- 1 Peter 3:2
when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.
- Colossians 4:6
Through
Ephesians 6:4Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become discouraged.
- Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
- Proverbs 29:15
A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
- Proverbs 19:18
Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be party to his death.
- Colossians 3:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the 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.