Deuteronomy 8:15
in Deuteronomy 8He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
KJV
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
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This verse in Deuteronomy 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Render: “Who brought thee through that great and terrible wilderness, the fiery serpent and the scorpion, and the dry land where are no waters.” On the fiery serpents see Num 21:6 note.
This site's exposition
that great and terrible wilderness
on Deuteronomy 8:15-16
The wilderness gets its own sentence, fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, and the fiery serpents are Numbers 21:6. Water out of the rock is told twice in the Torah, at Horeb in Exodus 17:6 and at Kadesh in Numbers 20:11, and Paul takes up that rock at 1 Corinthians 10:4. Verse 16 repeats the purpose clause of verse 2, humble thee and prove thee, and adds a term the earlier verse did not carry, to do thee good at thy latter end, which sets the forty years inside a longer intention.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions--Large and venomous reptiles are found in great numbers there still, particularly in autumn.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:15w-of-29
Who led thee through that - terrible wilderness - See the account of their journeying in the notes, Exo 16:1 (note), etc.; Numbers 21 (note), etc. Fiery serpents - Serpents whose bite occasioned a most violent inflammation, accompanied with an unquenchable thirst, and which terminated in death. See on Num 21:6 (note).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And you will forget that you were a slave and your heart was downcast.
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. 6 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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַמּוֹלִ֨יכֲךָ֜ | hamolikhakha | who led you | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֣ר׀ | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| הַגָּדֹ֣ל | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְהַנּוֹרָ֗א | vehanora' | and <the> awesome | H3372 → | 315 times |
| נָחָ֤שׁ׀ | nachash | snake | H5175 → | |
| שָׂרָף֙ | saraf | fiery | H8314 → | |
| וְעַקְרָ֔ב | veakrav | and scorpion | H6137 → | |
| וְצִמָּא֖וֹן | vetzimaon | and thirsty ground | H6774 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | [was] water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| הַמּוֹצִ֤יא | hamotzi' | who brought forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לְךָ֙ | lekha | for <the> you | ||
| מַ֔יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִצּ֖וּר | mitzur | from [the] rock of | H6697 → | 78 times |
| הַֽחַלָּמִֽישׁ׃ | hachalamish | <the> flint | H2496 → |
הַמּוֹלִ֨יכֲךָ֜who led you
hamolikhakhaH1980 →1546 times
בַּמִּדְבָּ֣ר׀in the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
הַגָּדֹ֣ל<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
וְהַנּוֹרָ֗אand <the> awesome
vehanora'H3372 →315 times
נָחָ֤שׁ׀snake
nachashH5175 →
שָׂרָף֙fiery
sarafH8314 →
וְעַקְרָ֔בand scorpion
veakravH6137 →
וְצִמָּא֖וֹןand thirsty ground
vetzimaonH6774 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֵֽין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
מָ֑יִם[was] water
mayimH4325 →581 times
הַמּוֹצִ֤יאwho brought forth
hamotzi'H3318 →1067 times
לְךָ֙for <the> you
lekha
מַ֔יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
מִצּ֖וּרfrom [the] rock of
mitzurH6697 →78 times
הַֽחַלָּמִֽישׁ׃<the> flint
hachalamishH2496 →
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
Numbers 20:11Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
Through
Psalms 114:8who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!
it leads to
- Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 107:35
He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.
- Numbers 20:11
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
- Psalms 105:41
He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
- Exodus 17:6
Through
Numbers 21:6So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:9
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Jeremiah 8:17
“For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
- 1 Corinthians 10:9
Through
Jeremiah 2:6They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.