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Deuteronomy 5:29

in Deuteronomy 5

If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

KJV

O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

This verse in Deuteronomy 5

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

O that there were such a heart in them - Or rather, מי יתן והיה לבבם זה mi yitten vehayah lebabam zeh, Who will give such a heart to them, that they may fear, etc. They refuse to receive such a heart from me; who then can supply it? If they had not been such perfectly free agents as could either use or abuse their liberty, could God have made the complaint or expressed the earnest desire we find in this verse?

This site's exposition

And the LORD heard the words you spoke to me

on Deuteronomy 5:28-29

God calls the request good, "They have done well in all that they have spoken," so the fear behind it draws no rebuke. Verse 29 is a wish, "If only they had such a heart," naming the one thing obedience needs and Israel lacked.

This site's exposition

If only they had such a heart

The Hebrew opens with an idiom of longing, literally who will give. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note from Jeremiah 32:40 that God can bestow such a heart and has promised it. Matthew Henry reads the wish as God's earnest desire for the welfare of sinners.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

. [1.] Such a heart as they should have, a heart to fear God, and keep his commandments for ever. Note, The God of heaven is truly and earnestly desirous of the welfare and salvation of poor sinners.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

O that there were such an heart in them,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Oh, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me--God can bestow such a heart, and has promised to give it, wherever it is asked (Jer 32:40).

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • מִֽי־who?

    mi-H4310 →423 times

  • יִתֵּ֡ןwill he give

    yitenH5414 →2011 times

  • וְהָיָה֩and it will belong

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • לְבָבָ֨םheart their

    levavamH3824 →252 times

  • זֶ֜הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • לָהֶ֗םto them

    lahem

  • לְיִרְאָ֥הto fear

    leyirahH3372 →315 times

  • אֹתִ֛י<obj.> me

    ʾotiH853 →10935 times

  • וְלִשְׁמֹ֥רand to keep

    velishmorH8104 →468 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מִצְוֹתַ֖יcommandments my

    mitzvotaiH4687 →181 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הַיָּמִ֑יםthe days

    haiyamimH3117 →2304 times

  • לְמַ֨עַןso that

    lemaanH4616 →272 times

  • יִיטַ֥בit may go well

    yitavH3190 →117 times

  • לָהֶ֛םfor them

    lahem

  • וְלִבְנֵיהֶ֖םand for children their

    velivneihemH1121 →4930 times

  • לְעֹלָֽם׃for ever

    leolamH5769 →438 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Luke 19:42

    and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 32:29

      If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Matthew 23:37

    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…

    it leads to

    • Luke 13:34–35

      O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you…

    • Psalms 91:4

      He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.

    • Ruth 2:12

      May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

    • Deuteronomy 32:11–12

      As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.

    • Psalms 17:8

      Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings

  • Through

    Isaiah 48:18

    If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 119:165

      Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.

    • Isaiah 66:12

      For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm,…

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.