Deuteronomy 7:6
in Deuteronomy 7For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
KJV
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 7
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThou art a holy people - And therefore should have no connection with the workers of iniquity. A special people - סגלה segullah, - Septuagint, λαον περιουσιον, - a peculiar people, a private property. The words as they stand in the Septuagint are quoted by the apostle, 1Pe 2:9.
This site's exposition
thou art an holy people
on Deuteronomy 7:6-8
Holy and special render two words, the second of which is segullah, a king's own treasure held apart from the public store. The Septuagint gives it as laon periousion, the phrase Titus 2:14 uses of the church, while 1 Peter 2:9 gathers the same language out of Exodus 19:5-6. Verses 7 and 8 then supply the ground the chapter has withheld, that the choice rested on no quality in Israel, since they were the fewest of all people, but on the love of the LORD and on an oath sworn to their fathers. Calvin reads the election in this chapter as a reason for obedience laid on the people rather than as a warrant for pride.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
From his argument drawn from their dignity, that they ought therefore to labor after holiness, we gather, that in proportion to the abundance of grace with which any one is endued, he is solemnly bound to live piously and justly.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,....
There was such a covenant and communion established between God and Israel as was not between him and any other people in the world. Shall they by their idolatries dishonour him who had thus honoured them?
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If they were to be swept away like the antediluvians or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, as incorrigible sinners who had filled up the measure of their iniquities, it mattered not to them in what way the judgment was inflicted; and God, as the Sovereign Disposer, had a right to employ any instruments that pleased Him for executing His judgments.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God--that is, set apart to the service of God, or chosen to execute the important purposes of His providence.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַ֤ם | ʾam | [are] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| קָדוֹשׁ֙ | kadovosh | holy | H6918 → | 116 times |
| אַתָּ֔ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לַיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בְּךָ֞ | bekha | <in> <the> you | ||
| בָּחַ֣ר׀ | bachar | he has chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לִהְי֥וֹת | lihyot | to become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לוֹ֙ | lo | for <the> him | ||
| לְעַ֣ם | leam | <into> a people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| סְגֻלָּ֔ה | segulah | possession | H5459 → | 8 times |
| מִכֹּל֙ | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָֽעַמִּ֔ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [are] on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ ס | haadamah | the ground | H127 → | 225 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עַ֤ם[are] a people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
קָדוֹשׁ֙holy
kadovoshH6918 →116 times
אַתָּ֔הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
לַיהוָ֖הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
בְּךָ֞<in> <the> you
bekha
בָּחַ֣ר׀he has chosen
bacharH977 →171 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לִהְי֥וֹתto become
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לוֹ֙for <the> him
lo
לְעַ֣ם<into> a people of
leamH5971 →1873 times
סְגֻלָּ֔הpossession
segulahH5459 →8 times
מִכֹּל֙from all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
הָֽעַמִּ֔יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֖רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עַל־[are] on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] surface of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ סthe ground
haadamahH127 →225 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 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:5–6
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 1:6
who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
- Revelation 5:10
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
- Isaiah 61:6
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their…
- 2 Timothy 1:9
He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
- Exodus 19:5–6
Through
Deuteronomy 14:2for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 20:26
You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.
- 1 Peter 2:9
Through
Malachi 3:17“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:5
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Exodus 19:5
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Holiness35 verses
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.