Deuteronomy 30:20
in Deuteronomy 30and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
KJV
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThat thou mayest love the Lord - Without love there can be no obedience. Obey his voice - Without obedience love is fruitless and dead. And cleave unto him - Without close attachment and perseverance, temporary love, however sincere and fervent - temporary obedience, however disinterested, energetic, and pure while it lasts - will be ultimately ineffectual. He alone who endures to the end, shall be saved. Reader, how do matters stand between God and thy soul? He cannot persevere in the grace of God whose soul is not yet made a partaker of that grace.
This site's exposition
and that you may love the LORD your God
Three verbs close the address, love, obey and hold fast. The words “For He is your life” put the life set before them in a person.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God - Here he shews them in short, what their duty is; To love God as the Lord, a being most amiable, and as their God, a God in covenant with them: as an evidence of their love, to obey his voice in every thing, and by constancy in this love and obedience, to cleave to him all their days.
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God,....
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).
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְאַֽהֲבָה֙ | leahavah | by loving | H157 → | 211 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לִשְׁמֹ֥עַ | lishmoa' | by listening | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּקֹל֖וֹ | bekolo | to voice his | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וּלְדָבְקָה־ | uledavekah- | and by cleaving | H1692 → | 54 times |
| ב֑וֹ | vo | to him | ||
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| ה֤וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| חַיֶּ֙יךָ֙ | chaiyeikha | [is] life your | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וְאֹ֣רֶךְ | veorekh | and [the] length of | H753 → | |
| יָמֶ֔יךָ | yameikha | days your | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לָשֶׁ֣בֶת | lashevet | to dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאֲדָמָ֗ה | haadamah | the land | H127 → | 225 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֩ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִשְׁבַּ֨ע | nishba' | he swore | H7650 → | 186 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ | laavoteikha | to ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לְאַבְרָהָ֛ם | leavraham | to Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| לְיִצְחָ֥ק | leyitzchak | to Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֖ב | uleyaako | and to Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| לָתֵ֥ת | latet | to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ פ | lahem | to <the> them |
לְאַֽהֲבָה֙by loving
leahavahH157 →211 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
לִשְׁמֹ֥עַby listening
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
בְּקֹל֖וֹto voice his
bekoloH6963 →506 times
וּלְדָבְקָה־and by cleaving
uledavekah-H1692 →54 times
ב֑וֹto him
vo
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
ה֤וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
חַיֶּ֙יךָ֙[is] life your
chaiyeikhaH2416 →498 times
וְאֹ֣רֶךְand [the] length of
veorekhH753 →
יָמֶ֔יךָdays your
yameikhaH3117 →2304 times
לָשֶׁ֣בֶתto dwell
lashevetH3427 →1079 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאֲדָמָ֗הthe land
haadamahH127 →225 times
אֲשֶׁר֩which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נִשְׁבַּ֨עhe swore
nishba'H7650 →186 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָto ancestors your
laavoteikhaH1 →1212 times
לְאַבְרָהָ֛םto Abraham
leavrahamH85 →175 times
לְיִצְחָ֥קto Isaac
leyitzchakH3327 →108 times
וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֖בand to Jacob
uleyaakoH3290 →350 times
לָתֵ֥תto give
latetH5414 →2011 times
לָהֶֽם׃ פto <the> them
lahem
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
John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
it leads to
- Acts 4:12
Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
- John 10:9
I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
- Ephesians 2:18
For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
- John 11:25–26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- John 1:4
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
- Acts 4:12
Through
John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
it leads to
- 1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son…
- 1 John 5:11–12
And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
- John 3:17
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
- 1 John 5:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
On this verse
About Deuteronomy

Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsAbrahamCalled out of Ur, the father of all who believe, justified by faith, and the friend of God through whose seed all nations are bles…
- PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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 John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.
