Deuteronomy 8:17
in Deuteronomy 8You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and lest thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.
KJV
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 8
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd thou say in thine heart,.... These words are in connection with the former part of the Deu 8:14, and thou forget the Lord thy God; the author and giver of all the good things enjoyed, and think within themselves, though they might not express it in words at length: my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth; so ascribing that to themselves, their labour, and diligence, which ought to be ascribed to the bounty and blessing of God; see Hos 12:8.
This site's exposition
You might say in your heart
on Deuteronomy 8:17-18
The danger is a sentence said in the heart, "The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me". Verse 18 gives wealth a purpose beyond its holder, "to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers", so the money is covenant business before it is reward. Chapter 9:4-6 presses the same point about the land three times, and the two chapters run one argument.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Ambrose of MilanThe Six Days of Creation, Book 6, Chapter 8, Section 53 · Written before 397.
proposed
Therefore, take heed, oh wealthy person; for you also carry flesh like the poor. ... For it is written: When you have driven out the nations and have taken possession of their land, do not say: My own power and the strength of my own hand have won this possession for me (Deut. VIII, 17). Thus is the one who ascribes his wealth to himself deemed deserving. And in this manner, he does not recognize his own error, but instead drags sin along with a long rope.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is spiritual idolatry thus to sacrifice to our own net, Hab. i. "Then take heed of forgetting God." This follows upon the lifting up on the heart; for it is through the pride of the countenance that the wicked seek not after God, Ps. x.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ | bilvavekha | in heart your | H3824 → | 252 times |
| כֹּחִי֙ | kochi | strength my | H3581 → | 126 times |
| וְעֹ֣צֶם | veotzem | and [the] might of | H6108 → | |
| יָדִ֔י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עָ֥שָׂה | ʾasah | it has acquired | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לִ֖י | li | for <the> me | ||
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַחַ֥יִל | hachayil | the wealth | H2428 → | 246 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וְאָמַרְתָּ֖and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָin heart your
bilvavekhaH3824 →252 times
כֹּחִי֙strength my
kochiH3581 →126 times
וְעֹ֣צֶםand [the] might of
veotzemH6108 →
יָדִ֔יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
עָ֥שָׂהit has acquired
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
לִ֖יfor <the> me
li
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַחַ֥יִלthe wealth
hachayilH2428 →246 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 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 Corinthians 4:7For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
it leads to
- John 3:27
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- 1 Peter 4:10
As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.
- 1 Chronicles 29:11–16
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- Romans 12:6
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
- John 3:27
Through
Hosea 12:8And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”
it leads to
- Revelation 3:17
You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
- Revelation 3:17
Through
Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Proverbs 16:18
Through
Deuteronomy 9:4When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD…
it leads to
- 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.
- 2 Timothy 1:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days of Creation, Book 6, Chapter 8, Section 53; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.