Deuteronomy 6:20
in Deuteronomy 6In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?
KJV
And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you?
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This verse in Deuteronomy 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd when thy son asketh thee, etc. - “Here,” as Mr. Ainsworth justly remarks, “followeth a brief catechism, containing the grounds of religion.” What mean the testimonies, etc. - The Hebrew language has no word to express to mean or signify, and therefore uses simply the substantive verb what is, i. e., what mean or signify, etc. The seven thin ears Are, i. e., signify, seven years of famine. This form of speech frequently occurs.
This site's exposition
when your son asks
on Deuteronomy 6:20-21
The law is built to be questioned by a child, as the passover was at Exodus 12:26. The son asks what the testimonies mean and the answer he is given is a piece of history. It begins, we were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the L ORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:95%@v3
What is the meaning of the feasts we observe, the sacrifices we offer, and the many peculiar customs we keep up?" Observe, (1.) All divine institutions have a certain meaning, and there is something great designed in them. (2.) It concerns us to know and understand the meaning of them, that we may perform a reasonable service and may not offer the blind for sacrifice.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And when thy son asketh thee in time to come,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2511: “Brought Out to Be Brought In” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
OUR text occurs in the passage where the Israelites are told to personally instruct their children concerning the testimonies and statutes and judgments of the Lord. When they asked the meaning of the various ordinances of God's House, their parents were to tell them—not to refer them to the priest—they were, themselves, to instruct their children in the things of God. In our own case, however much we may love and appreciate the Sunday school system—and we cannot love it too much—I hope we shall never forget that the first duty towards the child belongs to the parent.
The words behind it
14 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 |
| יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥ | yishalekha | he will ask you | H7592 → | 171 times |
| בִנְךָ֛ | vinkha | child your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מָחָ֖ר | machar | tomorrow | H4279 → | |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מָ֣ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| הָעֵדֹ֗ת | haedot | [are] the testimonies | H5713 → | 26 times |
| וְהַֽחֻקִּים֙ | vehachukim | and the statutes | H2706 → | 127 times |
| וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים | vehamishpatim | and the judgments | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוָּ֛ה | tzivah | he commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֶתְכֶֽם׃ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִשְׁאָלְךָ֥he will ask you
yishalekhaH7592 →171 times
בִנְךָ֛child your
vinkhaH1121 →4930 times
מָחָ֖רtomorrow
macharH4279 →
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
מָ֣הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
הָעֵדֹ֗ת[are] the testimonies
haedotH5713 →26 times
וְהַֽחֻקִּים֙and the statutes
vehachukimH2706 →127 times
וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔יםand the judgments
vehamishpatimH4941 →422 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
צִוָּ֛הhe commanded
tzivahH6680 →494 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
אֶתְכֶֽם׃<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 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 6:7And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- Psalms 78:4–6
We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.
- 1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and…
- Deuteronomy 4:9–10
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Through
Exodus 13:14In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:4
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 4:6
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
- Psalms 145:4
Through
Exodus 12:26When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’
it leads to
- Exodus 13:14–15
In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Exodus 13:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
On this verse
On this chapter
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2511: “Brought Out to Be Brought In” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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.