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Deuteronomy 19:14

in Deuteronomy 19

You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit, in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.

KJV

Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 19

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark - Before the extensive use of fences, landed property was marked out by stones or posts, set up so as to ascertain the divisions of family estates. It was easy to remove one of these landmarks, and set it in a different place; and thus the dishonest man enlarged his own estate by contracting that of his neighbor. The termini or landmarks among the Romans were held very sacred, and were at last deified. To these termini Numa Pompillus commanded offerings of broth, cakes, and firstfruits, to be made.

This site's exposition

which they of old time have set

One boundary rule sits between the cities of refuge and the law of witnesses, and its ground is that the marks were set by them of old time rather than by the man who holds the field now. Deuteronomy 27:17 lays a curse on whoever moves them and the people answer Amen, Proverbs 22:28 and 23:10 repeat the command, and Hosea 5:10 and Job 24:2 charge princes and the wicked with doing it. Before fences, arable ground was marked by a small cairn or a single upright stone, which is why the theft could be done quietly. The verse names no penalty, and the curse of chapter 27 is the only sanction Scripture attaches to it.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Though gardens and vineyards are surrounded by dry-stone walls or hedges of prickly pear, the boundaries of arable fields are marked by nothing but by a little trench, a small cairn, or a single erect stone, placed at certain intervals.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

This is a warning against changing the boundaries of the division by which the princes apportioned the Land to the tribes. Numbers:16-29. or to any individual among them. Therefore he stated, which they of old time have set, 276 In Verse 14 before us.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 19:14:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
“This means that you shall not say, ‘The first person has already been killed. Why should we kill him also, with the result that two people will be killed?’” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. 265 Sifre, Shoftim.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Deuteronomy 19:13:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

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

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לֹ֤אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַסִּיג֙you will displace

    tasigH5253 →

  • גְּב֣וּל[the] boundary of

    gevulH1366 →240 times

  • רֵֽעֲךָ֔neighbor your

    reakhaH7453 →188 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • גָּבְל֖וּthey set bounds

    gaveluH1379 →

  • רִאשֹׁנִ֑יםancestors

    rishonimH7223 →182 times

  • בְּנַחֲלָֽתְךָ֙in inheritance your

    benachalatekhaH5159 →222 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תִּנְחַ֔לyou will inherit

    tinchalH5157 →59 times

  • בָּאָ֕רֶץin the land

    baaretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֙which

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • נֹתֵ֥ן[is] about to give

    notenH5414 →2011 times

  • לְךָ֖to <the> you

    lekha

  • לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃ סto take possession of it

    lerishtahH3423 →231 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Proverbs 23:10

    Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 22:28

      Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.

      Reached by 4 separate paths from here.

    • Zechariah 7:10

      Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

    • James 1:27

      Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

    • Jeremiah 22:3

      This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…

  • Through

    Proverbs 22:28

    Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 27:17

      ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

      Reached by 4 separate paths from here.

    • Proverbs 23:10

      Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Job 24:2

      Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.

  • Through

    Hosea 5:10

    The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary stones; I will pour out My fury upon them like water.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 32:6

      Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 19 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 19 →