Deuteronomy 30:14
in Deuteronomy 30But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
KJV
But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 30
Commentary
12 notes on this verseBut consider if perhaps all people participate in him insofar as he is Word. This is why the apostle teaches us that he is sought within the seekers by those who choose to find him. He says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who shall ascend into heaven?' that is, to bring Christ down; or, 'Who shall descend into the deep?' that is, to bring Christ up again from the dead. But what does the Scripture say? The Word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart."
This site's exposition
But the word is very near you
Romans 10:8 quotes this verse and names what is near, the word of faith, which we preach. Moses ends on doing, that thou mayest do it, so nearness in this chapter is measured by whether a thing can be obeyed.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Anyone who tries to act high-handedly annoys God," says Scripture. For bombast is a spiritual vice. Scripture tells us to repent from it as from the other vices by turning from disharmony and by linking ourselves to a change for the better through the three instruments of mouth, heart and hands.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 19.77 · Written before 253.
proposed
But what does Scripture say? The Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart. And to these the Savior also kindly points out the matters pertaining to the kingdom of God, that they may not seek it outside themselves or say, "Behold here or behold there." For he says to them, "The kingdom of God is within you."
The "kingdom of God," according to the word of our Lord and Savior, "comes not with observation"; and "neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there"—but "the kingdom of God is within us" (for "the Word is very nigh unto" us, "in our mouth and in our heart"). So it is clear that he who prays for the coming of the kingdom of God rightly prays that the kingdom of God might be established and bear fruit and be perfected in himself.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is not wrapped up in obscure phrases or figures to puzzle and amuse thee, or in hieroglyphics, but it is in thy heart; it is delivered in such a manner as that it is level to thy capacity, even to the capacity of the meanest." 2. "It is not too hard nor heavy for thee:" so the Septuagint reads it,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
In thy mouth - Thou knowest it so well, that it is the matter of thy common discourse. In thy heart - In thy mind, (as the heart is very commonly taken) to understand and believe it. In a word, the Law is plain and easy: but the gospel is much more so.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But the word is very nigh unto thee,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
But the word is very nigh unto thee - The doctrine of salvation preached by the apostles; in thy mouth, the promises of redemption made by the prophets forming a part of every Jew’s creed; in thy heart - the power to believe with the heart unto righteousness, that the tongue may make confession unto salvation. In this way, it is evident, St. Paul understood these passages; see Rom 10:6-8, etc.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, in John's Gospel, in the 46th verse of the fifth chapter, says, "Moses wrote of Me." Hence we may safely interpret much that Moses said, not only of the Law, but also of the Gospel. Indeed, the Law itself was given primarily to drive men to the Gospel. It was meant to show them the impossibility of salvation by their own works and so to shut them up to a salvation which is available even for sinners.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The apostle Paul (Ro 10:6-8) has applied this passage to the Gospel, for the law of Christ is substantially the same as that of Moses, only exhibited more clearly in its spiritual nature and extensive application; and, accompanied with the advantages of Gospel grace, it is practicable and easy. DEATH AND LIFE ARE SET BEFORE THE ISRAELITES.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, in John's Gospel, in the 46th verse of the fifth chapter, says, "Moses wrote of Me." Hence we may safely interpret much that Moses said, not only of the Law, but also of the Gospel. Indeed, the Law itself was given primarily to drive men to the Gospel. It was meant to show them the impossibility of salvation by their own works and so to shut them up to a salvation which is available even for sinners. The types of sacrifice and purification pointed to the method of pardon for the guilty by faith and acceptance for sinners by a righteousness not their own. This is certainly one of the passages in which Moses wrote of the Savior yet to come. We are not, however, left to conjecture this, for the Apostle Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has quoted this passage in the 10th chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. He has given us a sort of paraphrase of it, not quoting it with verbal exactness, but giving its sense—and then inserting his own interpretation of that sense—which interpretation, seeing that he spoke under the direct influence of the Spirit of God, may be accepted as decisive. The Spirit of God best knew what He meant by the Words which He spoke by Moses. Even if Moses, himself, may not altogether have meant the same, the Spirit's own meaning must stand. I believe, however, that Moses did intend that which Paul attributes to him and that he saw in the whole Revelation of God under the ancient dispensation, the spirit, the essential spirit of the Gospel which was more fully declared to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. In this instance he was not speaking of the Law as given upon Sinai, if we view it as a Covenant of Works. I showed you this by reading the first verse of the 29th chapter which is the preface to the passage now before us.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
This explains neither is it far off (v. 11). It is possible that the reference is to the great sea. The Atlantic Ocean.
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. 4 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קָר֥וֹב | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| אֵלֶ֛יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַדָּבָ֖ר | hadavar | the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| מְאֹ֑ד | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
| בְּפִ֥יךָ | befikha | in mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ | uvilvavekha | and in heart your | H3824 → | 252 times |
| לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃ ס | laasoto | to do it | H6213 → | 2628 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
קָר֥וֹב[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
אֵלֶ֛יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
הַדָּבָ֖רthe word
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
מְאֹ֑דvery
meodH3966 →300 times
בְּפִ֥יךָin mouth your
befikhaH6310 →498 times
וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖and in heart your
uvilvavekhaH3824 →252 times
לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃ סto do it
laasotoH6213 →2628 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 7:21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
it leads to
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 2:13
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.
- Luke 6:46
Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?
- James 1:22
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- Luke 11:28
But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- Titus 1:16
Through
John 5:46If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 18:15
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.
- Deuteronomy 18:18–19
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
- John 1:45
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- Deuteronomy 18:15
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1967: “Plain Gospel For Plain People” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 2; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.269; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 19.77 and Origen of Alexandria, ON PRAYER 25.1.