Deuteronomy 8:10
in Deuteronomy 8When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless Jehovah thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
KJV
When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
⋯
This verse in Deuteronomy 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhen thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God,.... For as the Lord would furnish them with plenty of food, they might eat of it liberally, provided they did not indulge to intemperance, as everyone may whom God has blessed with a fulness of good things; and this shows that we are to return thanks to God for a plentiful meal, as well as to ask a blessing on it: for the good land which he hath given thee; which supplied them with such plenty, that they enjoyed full meals every day.
This site's exposition
then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God
on Deuteronomy 8:10-11
The same clause opens verse 10 and verse 12, when thou hast eaten and art full, and it runs to blessing in the first and to forgetting in the second, so fullness is where the road forks. Jewish practice takes verse 10 as the warrant for the blessing said after a meal rather than before it, and the Babylonian Talmud derives the obligation from this verse at Berakhot 48b. Verse 11 then defines forgetting as not keeping his commandments, so memory in this book is something done rather than something felt.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Do you see how it is especially appropriate after the enjoyment of food to set a spiritual meal for yourself lest the soul, after satiety of bodily food, should lose its zest and fall into some disaster and make way for the wiles of the devil, who is always looking for an opportunity and anxious to deliver us a blow at a critical moment?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They must not have any fellowship with those that, when they had eaten and were full, blessed false gods, as the Israelites themselves had done in their worship of the golden calf, Exod. xxxii. Whatever they had the comfort of God must have the glory of.
Bless the Lord - Solemnly praise him for thy food; which is a debt both of gratitude and justice, because it is from his providence and favour that thou receivest both thy food and refreshment and strength by it.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ | veakhalta | and you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ | vesavaeta | and you will be satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ֙ | uverakhta | and you will bless | H1288 → | 330 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֥רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַטֹּבָ֖ה | hatovah | <the> good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָֽתַן־ | natan- | he has given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to <the> you |
וְאָכַלְתָּ֖and you will eat
veakhaltaH398 →810 times
וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּand you will be satisfied
vesavaetaH7646 →97 times
וּבֵֽרַכְתָּ֙and you will bless
uverakhtaH1288 →330 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֥רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הַטֹּבָ֖ה<the> good
hatovahH2896 →538 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נָֽתַן־he has given
natan-H5414 →2011 times
לָֽךְ׃to <the> you
lakh
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
Psalms 103:2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds—
it leads to
- Psalms 116:12
How can I repay the LORD for all His goodness to me?
- Isaiah 63:7
I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great…
- Psalms 105:5
Remember the wonders He has done, His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,
- Psalms 116:12
Through
Proverbs 3:9Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 26:2–15
you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
- 1 Corinthians 16:2
On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed.
- Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- Exodus 23:19
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
- Philippians 4:17–18
Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account.
- Deuteronomy 26:2–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 10:20; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.