Deuteronomy 18:13
in Deuteronomy 18You must be blameless before the LORD your God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt be perfect with Jehovah thy God.
KJV
Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Perfect - As in Gen 17:1; Job 1:1; Mat 5:48. The sense is that Israel was to keep the worship of the true God wholly uncontaminated by idolatrous pollutions.
This site's exposition
For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD
on Deuteronomy 18:12-13
The dispossession is given a stated ground, and it is these practices. Genesis 15:16 held the land back until the iniquity of the Amorites was full. Leviticus 18:24-25 has the land vomiting out its people for the same acts.
This site's exposition
You must be blameless
Albert Barnes reads blameless here as the worship of the true God kept free of every idolatrous mixture. The line stands between the forbidden practices of verses 10 and 11 and the conjurers of verse 14, so it governs where Israel seeks guidance. Joshua 24:14 asks the same sincerity.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Perfect - Sincerely and wholly his, seeking him and cleaving to him and to his word alone, and therefore abhorring all commerce and conversations with devils.
Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. Sincerely serve and worship him, faithfully adhere to his word, laws, statutes, and ordinances, and walk uprightly before him.
A promise is given them of the spirit of prophecy to continue among them, and to centre at last in Christ the great prophet,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations--(See on Le 18:21; In spite of this express command, the people of Canaan, especially the Philistines, were a constant snare and stumbling block to the Israelites, on account of their divinations and superstitious practices. CHRIST THE PROPHET IS TO BE HEARD.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The meaning thereof is that we are to direct our hearts to Him only, and believe that He alone does everything. It is He Who knows the truth about all future events, and from His prophets, or from His pious ones, in other words the Urim and Thummim.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
כל אלה עשה [FOR] ALL THAT DO THESE THINGS [ARE AN ABOMINATION UNTO THE LORD] — it does not say, “he who does all these things”, but “all who do these things” — who do even only one of them (Sifrei Devarim:1; cf. Makkot 24a).
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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תָּמִ֣ים | tamim | blameless | H8549 → | |
| תִּֽהְיֶ֔ה | tihyeh | you will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עִ֖ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ ס | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
תָּמִ֣יםblameless
tamimH8549 →
תִּֽהְיֶ֔הyou will be
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
עִ֖םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ סGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 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
Matthew 5:48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
- James 1:4
Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
Through
Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
it leads to
- Luke 1:6
Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Luke 1:6
Through
Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.
it leads to
- James 5:11
See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
- Ezekiel 14:14
then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.
- James 5:11
Through
Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:11–12
But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
- 1 Timothy 6:11–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
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About Deuteronomy

This page draws on 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
