Deuteronomy 30:15
in Deuteronomy 30See, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
KJV
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
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This verse in Deuteronomy 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThere is a certain balance constructed in the interior of each of us by our Creator, on which it is possible to judge the nature of things. "I have set before you life and death, good and evil," two natures contrary to each other. Balance them against each other in your own tribunal.
This site's exposition
See, I have set before you today life and goodness
on Deuteronomy 30:15-16
Moses puts the whole covenant into one pair of choices, “life and goodness, as well as death and disaster”. It is the form of the blessing and the curse at 11:26-28.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Let us ponder the nature of life and of death. Life is the enjoyment of the gift of breath, death the deprivation of it. Further, this gift of breath is considered by most people as a good. And so life is this, the enjoyment of goods, but death is the divestiture of them. And Scripture says, "Behold, I have set before your face life and death, good and evil," for it calls life good and death evil and attributes to each its proper deserts.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
It is now clear that there are ten precepts of the sacred decalogue. In the first three, right ordering toward God is commanded; in the fourth, right ordering and beneficence toward parents; in the other six, right ordering and innocence toward one's neighbor is commanded. …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
See, I have set before thee this day,....
This is the purport of the covenant of grace, it leaves room for repentance in case of misdemeanour, and promises pardon upon repentance, which the covenant of innocency did not. How the repentance is described which is the condition of these promises.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Love of God and compliance with His will are the only ways of securing the blessings and avoiding the evils described. The choice was left to them, and in urging upon them the inducements to a wise choice, Moses warmed as he proceeded into a tone of solemn and impressive earnestness similar to that of Paul to the elders of Ephesus (Ac 20:26, 27).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Life and good - Present and future blessings. Death and evil - Present and future miseries: termed, Deu 30:19, Life and death, blessing and cursing. And why were these set before them? 1. That they might comprehend their import. 2. That they might feel their importance. 3. That they might choose life, and the path of believing, loving obedience, that led to it. 4. That they and their posterity, thus choosing life and refusing evil, might be the favourites of God in time and eternity.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְאֵ֨ה | reeh | see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| נָתַ֤תִּי | natati | I set | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ | lefaneikha | <to> before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַיּ֔וֹם | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַֽחַיִּ֖ים | hachaiyim | <the> life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַטּ֑וֹב | hatov | <the> good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמָּ֖וֶת | hamavet | <the> death | H4194 → | 156 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרָֽע׃ | hara' | <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
רְאֵ֨הsee
reehH7200 →1300 times
נָתַ֤תִּיI set
natatiH5414 →2011 times
לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙<to> before you
lefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
הַיּ֔וֹםthis day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַֽחַיִּ֖ים<the> life
hachaiyimH2416 →498 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַטּ֑וֹב<the> good
hatovH2896 →538 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַמָּ֖וֶת<the> death
hamavetH4194 →156 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָרָֽע׃<the> evil
hara'H7451 →662 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
Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:26
See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
- Deuteronomy 30:1
“When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 119:30
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set Your ordinances before me.
- Joshua 24:15–22
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Proverbs 8:36
But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
- Deuteronomy 11:26
Through
Deuteronomy 11:26See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 30:15–20
See, I have set before you today life and goodness, as well as death and disaster.
- Deuteronomy 30:15–20
Through
Deuteronomy 32:47For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 4:22
For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
- Leviticus 18:5
Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
- Proverbs 4:22
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, DEATH AS A GOOD 1.2; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY ON PSALM 61:4; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.