Deuteronomy 31:11
in Deuteronomy 31when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
when all Israel is come to appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
KJV
When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Compare the marginal references. It is not to be supposed that the whole of the Pentateuch was read, nor does the letter of the command require that it should be so. This reading could not be primarily designed for the information and instruction of the people, since it only took place once in seven years; but was evidently a symbolic transaction, intended, as were so many others, to impress on the people the conditions on which they held possession of their privileges and blessings.
This site's exposition
So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests
on Deuteronomy 31:9-11
The law goes into writing and into two sets of hands, the priests who carry the ark and the elders. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown compare the two copies of a contract, one lodged for safekeeping and one left with the parties.
This site's exposition
you are to read this law
Commentators differ on how much was read. Adam Clarke takes this law to mean the book of Deuteronomy, as some Jewish teachers did. Albert Barnes holds that a selection from the Pentateuch was read.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Moses gives the law to the Levites to lay up beside the ark, and bids them assemble the people to hear his song, ver. 24-30. Commentary on Chapter XXXI 1. Went and spake - Continued to speak, an usual Hebrew phrase.
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Thou shalt read - Thou shalt cause it to be read by the priest or Levites; for he could not read it himself in the hearing of all Israel, but this was to be done by several persons, and so the people met in several congregations.
When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God,....
But if he read standing it was thought the more commendable, as (they say) king Agrippa did. Here let me offer it as a conjecture that Solomon is called the preacher, in his Ecclesiastes, because he delivered the substance of that book in a discourse to the people, after his public reading of the law in the feast of tabernacles, according to this appointment here.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It was usual in cases of public or private contract for two copies of the engagement to be made--one to be deposited in the national archives or some secure place for reference, should occasion require. The other was to remain in the hands of the contracting parties (Jer 32:12-14). The same course was followed on this renewal of the covenant between God and Israel.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
THAT THEY MAY HEAR, AND THAT THEY MAY LEARN — that is, the men and the women [mentioned in the first part of the verse], for the women, too, heard and learned to fear the Eternal.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Moshe commanded them, saying: After seven years have ended, on the holy day of the Sh’mittah year, during the Sukkos festival;
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. 3 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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּב֣וֹא | bevo' | when comes | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֵרָאוֹת֙ | leraot | to appear | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| פְּנֵי֙ | penei | [the] presence of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ | ʾeloheikha | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בַּמָּק֖וֹם | bamakom | in the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִבְחָ֑ר | yivchar | he will choose | H977 → | 171 times |
| תִּקְרָ֞א | tikra' | you will read aloud | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַתּוֹרָ֥ה | hatorah | the law | H8451 → | 219 times |
| הַזֹּ֛את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| נֶ֥גֶד | neged | before | H5048 → | 151 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בְּאָזְנֵיהֶֽם׃ | beazeneihem | in ears their | H241 → | 187 times |
בְּב֣וֹאwhen comes
bevo'H935 →2568 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֵרָאוֹת֙to appear
leraotH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
פְּנֵי֙[the] presence of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
בַּמָּק֖וֹםin the place
bamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִבְחָ֑רhe will choose
yivcharH977 →171 times
תִּקְרָ֞אyou will read aloud
tikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַתּוֹרָ֥הthe law
hatorahH8451 →219 times
הַזֹּ֛את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
נֶ֥גֶדbefore
negedH5048 →151 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בְּאָזְנֵיהֶֽם׃in ears their
beazeneihemH241 →187 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 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:11
then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all…
- Deuteronomy 26:2
you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
- 2 Chronicles 7:12
the LORD appeared to him at night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.
- Deuteronomy 16:2
You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- 1 Kings 8:29
May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays…
- Deuteronomy 12:11
Through
2 Kings 23:2And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 22:8
Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
- Deuteronomy 31:10–13
Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles,
- Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their…
- 2 Kings 22:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and The Mishnah, Sotah 7:8.