Deuteronomy 31:20
in Deuteronomy 31When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxed fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.
KJV
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 31
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Now therefore, write down for yourselves this song
on Deuteronomy 31:19-21
The song is commissioned as evidence for a trial that has not opened. Verse 21 says why it will hold: “it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants”.
This site's exposition
they will eat their fill and prosper
Prosper translates a Hebrew word for growing fat. The song that follows takes up the same picture at 32:15, where Jeshurun grows fat and kicks and then abandons the God who made him. The prosperity promised with the land becomes the occasion of the turning this verse forecasts.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): They shall have eaten and filled themselves; this is all they will aim at in eating, to gratify their own appetites, and then they will wax fat, grow secure and sensual; their security will take off their dread of God and his judgments; and their sensuality will incline them to the idolatries of the heathen, which made provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), which would be such manifest indications of God's displeasure against them that they themselves would be constrained to own it: Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us? Those that have sinned away their God will find that thereby they pull all mischiefs upon their own heads.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord said unto Moses, . . . this people will rise up--In this remarkable interview, Moses was distinctly apprised of the infidelity of Israel, their corruptions of the true religion through intercourse with the idolatrous inhabitants of Canaan (Am 5:26), and their chastisements in consequence of those national defections.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
22 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- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲבִיאֶ֜נּוּ | ʾavienu | I will bring it | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאֲדָמָ֣ה׀ | haadamah | the land | H127 → | 225 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתִּי | nishba'ti | I swore | H7650 → | 186 times |
| לַאֲבֹתָ֗יו | laavotav | to ancestors its | H1 → | 1212 times |
| זָבַ֤ת | zavat | flowing of | H2100 → | 42 times |
| חָלָב֙ | chalav | milk | H2461 → | 44 times |
| וּדְבַ֔שׁ | udevash | and honey | H1706 → | 54 times |
| וְאָכַ֥ל | veakhal | and it will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְשָׂבַ֖ע | vesava' | and it will be satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וְדָשֵׁ֑ן | vedashen | and it will grow fat | H1878 → | |
| וּפָנָ֞ה | ufanah | and it will turn | H6437 → | 135 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֤ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִים֙ | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
| וַעֲבָד֔וּם | vaavadum | and they will serve them | H5647 → | 288 times |
| וְנִ֣אֲצ֔וּנִי | veniatzuni | and they will spurn me | H5006 → | |
| וְהֵפֵ֖ר | vehefer | and it will break | H6565 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִיתִֽי׃ | beriti | covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲבִיאֶ֜נּוּI will bring it
ʾavienuH935 →2568 times
אֶֽל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָאֲדָמָ֣ה׀the land
haadamahH127 →225 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתִּיI swore
nishba'tiH7650 →186 times
לַאֲבֹתָ֗יוto ancestors its
laavotavH1 →1212 times
זָבַ֤תflowing of
zavatH2100 →42 times
חָלָב֙milk
chalavH2461 →44 times
וּדְבַ֔שׁand honey
udevashH1706 →54 times
וְאָכַ֥לand it will eat
veakhalH398 →810 times
וְשָׂבַ֖עand it will be satisfied
vesava'H7646 →97 times
וְדָשֵׁ֑ןand it will grow fat
vedashenH1878 →
וּפָנָ֞הand it will turn
ufanahH6437 →135 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֱלֹהִ֤יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִים֙other
ʾacherimH312 →166 times
וַעֲבָד֔וּםand they will serve them
vaavadumH5647 →288 times
וְנִ֣אֲצ֔וּנִיand they will spurn me
veniatzuniH5006 →
וְהֵפֵ֖רand it will break
veheferH6565 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּרִיתִֽי׃covenant my
beritiH1285 →284 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
Exodus 3:8I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and…
it leads to
- Genesis 50:24
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac,…
- Exodus 3:17
And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
- Genesis 15:18–21
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Exodus 13:5
And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites—the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you, a land flowing with milk and…
- Deuteronomy 1:25
They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, carried it down to us, and brought us word: “It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.”
- Genesis 50:24
Through
Jeremiah 5:28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the…
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Isaiah 1:23
Through
Hosea 13:6When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:13–15
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
- Deuteronomy 32:13–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this verse
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Berean Standard Bible, Deuteronomy 32:15; Hebrew text, Deuteronomy 31:20; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
