Deuteronomy 6:3
in Deuteronomy 6Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
KJV
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseHear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it - Literally, Ye shall hear, O Israel, and thou shalt keep to do them. 1. God is to be heard; no obligation without law to found it on, and no law in religion but from God. 2. The commandment must be understood in order to be obeyed. 3. It must be observed - attentively considered, in order to be understood. And,
This site's exposition
These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances
on Deuteronomy 6:1-3
The charge states its purpose twice, that they "may fear the LORD your God" and that they "may prosper," so obedience and welfare stand together. It is addressed to three generations at once, "you and your children and grandchildren."
This site's exposition
a land flowing with milk and honey
The promise to multiply greatly recalls what God swore to the fathers. Albert Barnes reads the last clause as the content of the promise, a land flowing with milk and honey.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it,....
15 (For the L ORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the L ORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. 16 Ye shall not tempt the L ORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. A brief summary of religion, containing the first principles of faith and obedience,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In the land - Better: According as the Lord the God of thy fathers promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֤ | veshama'ta | and you will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | O Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְשָׁמַרְתָּ֣ | veshamarta | and you will take care | H8104 → | 468 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת | laasot | to observe [them] | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִיטַ֣ב | yitav | it will go well | H3190 → | 117 times |
| לְךָ֔ | lekha | for you | ||
| וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר | vaasher | and that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תִּרְבּ֖וּן | tirbun | you will increase ! | H7235 → | 227 times |
| מְאֹ֑ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֨ר | diber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֤י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲבֹתֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾavoteikha | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לָ֔ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| אֶ֛רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| זָבַ֥ת | zavat | flowing of | H2100 → | 42 times |
| חָלָ֖ב | chalav | milk | H2461 → | 44 times |
| וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ פ | udevash | and honey | H1706 → | 54 times |
וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֤and you will hear
veshama'taH8085 →1159 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙O Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְשָׁמַרְתָּ֣and you will take care
veshamartaH8104 →468 times
לַעֲשׂ֔וֹתto observe [them]
laasotH6213 →2628 times
אֲשֶׁר֙that
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִיטַ֣בit will go well
yitavH3190 →117 times
לְךָ֔for you
lekha
וַאֲשֶׁ֥רand that
vaasherH834 →5497 times
תִּרְבּ֖וּןyou will increase !
tirbunH7235 →227 times
מְאֹ֑דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
כַּאֲשֶׁר֩just as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֨רhe spoke
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֤י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
אֲבֹתֶ֙יךָ֙ancestors your
ʾavoteikhaH1 →1212 times
לָ֔ךְto you
lakh
אֶ֛רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
זָבַ֥תflowing of
zavatH2100 →42 times
חָלָ֖בmilk
chalavH2461 →44 times
וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ פand honey
udevashH1706 →54 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
Genesis 22:17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
it leads to
- Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 15:5
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—
- 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.”
- 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…
- Genesis 50:24
Through
Genesis 28:14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through…
it leads to
- Acts 3:25
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 3:25
Through
Genesis 15:5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:12
And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Hebrews 11:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.
