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Deuteronomy 7:12

in Deuteronomy 7

If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Jehovah thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the lovingkindness which he sware unto thy fathers:

KJV

Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

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This verse in Deuteronomy 7

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them,.... Attentively listen to the declaration made of them, and be careful to observe them: that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers; to bring them into the land of Canaan, and continue them in it; yea, to send the Messiah to them, and bring him the salvation of Israel out of Zion; see Luk 1:68.

This site's exposition

keep unto thee the covenant

on Deuteronomy 7:12-14

The blessings promised here are the seed of chapter 28, where the same items return at length before the curses take over that chapter. Corn, wine and oil is a set phrase in this book, recurring at 11:14, 14:23, 18:4 and at 28:51, where an enemy eats it. Barnes reads the words rendered flocks of thy sheep as a plural of Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians named at 1 Kings 11:5, so a word for fertility taken from the neighbours' religion carries the increase God gives, in a chapter that has just ordered her groves cut down.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

The covenant and the mercy - That is, the covenant of mercy, which he out of his own mere grace made with them.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:82%@v8-12

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Let us be constant in our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God's mercy. That if they would love God and serve him, and devote themselves and theirs to him, he would love them, and bless them, and multiply them greatly,

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

That people accordingly were truly happy as a nation, and found every promise which the faithful God made to them amply fulfilled, so long as they adhered to that obedience which was required of them.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The Lord - shall keep unto thee the covenant - So we find their continuance in the state of favor was to depend on their faithfulness to the grace of God. If they should rebel, though God had chosen them through his love, yet he would cast them off in his justice. The elect, we see, may become unfaithful, and so become reprobates. So it happened to 24,000 of them, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness because they had sinned; yet these were of the elect that came out of Egypt. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS ‘EIKEV’ YE HEARKEN. Eikev means “because.” So also, ‘eikev’ ( because ) that Abraham hearkened to My voice. 1 Genesis:5.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 7:12:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The meaning thereof is that when you will observe the ordinances [i.e., the judgments] out of a love for G-d, He will love you as well.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 7:13:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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. 5 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

20 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.

  • וְהָיָ֣ה׀and it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • עֵ֣קֶבconsequence

    ʾekevH6118 →

  • תִּשְׁמְע֗וּןyou will hear !

    tishmeunH8085 →1159 times

  • אֵ֤ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙the judgments

    hamishpatimH4941 →422 times

  • הָאֵ֔לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥םand you will take care

    ushemartemH8104 →468 times

  • וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖םand you will observe

    vaasitemH6213 →2628 times

  • אֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • וְשָׁמַר֩and he will keep

    veshamarH8104 →468 times

  • יְהוָ֨הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • לְךָ֗to <the> you

    lekha

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַבְּרִית֙the covenant

    haberitH1285 →284 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הַחֶ֔סֶד<the> covenant loyalty

    hachesedH2617 →247 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • נִשְׁבַּ֖עhe swore

    nishba'H7650 →186 times

  • לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃to ancestors your

    laavoteikhaH1 →1212 times

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

Related verses

11 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 8:18But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.59 worksDeuteronomy 28:1–14“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.10 worksDeuteronomy 7:9Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.9 worksLeviticus 26:3–13If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments,8 worksPsalms 105:8–10He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—5 worksLuke 1:72–73to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,4 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Micah 7:20You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.3 worksLuke 1:73the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us3 worksLuke 1:55as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”2 works1 Kings 2:4and so that the LORD may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’2 works2 Samuel 22:23For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes.2 works

The walk

5 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

    Deuteronomy 7:9

    Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 10:23

      Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.

    • 2 Timothy 2:13

      if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

    • 2 Thessalonians 3:3

      But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

    • Daniel 9:4

      And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,

    • 1 Corinthians 1:9

      God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

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 7 →

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.

Read on in Deuteronomy 7 →