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Deuteronomy 9:4

in Deuteronomy 9

When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD is driving out these nations before you because of their wickedness.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Speak not thou in thy heart, after that Jehovah thy God hath thrust them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness Jehovah hath brought me in to possess this land; whereas for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah doth drive them out from before thee.

KJV

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.

This verse in Deuteronomy 9

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Cassian

CONFERENCE 5.15.3-4 · Written before 435.

I ask, what could be said more clearly against that pernicious opinion and presumption of ours, by which we want to attribute everything that we do to our free will and to our own effort? "Do not say in your heart, when the Lord your God has destroyed them in your sight: Because of my righteousness the Lord has led me in to possess this land." Did he not express himself clearly to those whose souls' eyes are open and whose ears hear?

This site's exposition

do not say in your heart

on Deuteronomy 9:4-5

Twice in two verses the text forbids the thought that the land is wages, "do not say in your heart". Two reasons replace it, the wickedness of these nations and the oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); never think it is for thy righteousness or the uprightness of thy heart, that it is in consideration either of thy good conversation or of they good disposition,"

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

Speak not thou in thine heart,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

To make it evident that they had no reason to boast of their own righteousness, he mentions their faults, shows Israel their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

It was not for the sake of the Israelites, but for His own sake, for the promise made to their pious ancestors, and in furtherance of high and comprehensive purposes of good to the world, that God was about to give them a grant of Canaan.

The words behind it

22 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.

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תֹּאמַ֣רyou say

    tomarH559 →5305 times

  • בִּלְבָבְךָ֗in heart your

    bilvavekhaH3824 →252 times

  • בַּהֲדֹ֣ףwhen drives out

    bahadofH1920 →

  • יְהוָה֩Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • אֹתָ֥ם׀<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • מִלְּפָנֶיךָ֮from to before you

    milefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times

  • לֵאמֹר֒<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • בְּצִדְקָתִי֙in righteousness my

    betzidkatiH6666 →157 times

  • הֱבִיאַ֣נִיhe has brought me

    hevianiH935 →2568 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • לָרֶ֖שֶׁתto take possession of

    lareshetH3423 →231 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָאָ֣רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הַזֹּ֑את<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • וּבְרִשְׁעַת֙and in [the] wickedness of

    uverishatH7564 →15 times

  • הַגּוֹיִ֣םthe nations

    hagoyimH1471 →561 times

  • הָאֵ֔לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • מוֹרִישָׁ֥ם[is] dispossessing them

    morishamH3423 →231 times

  • מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃from before you

    mipaneikhaH6440 →2123 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

    2 Timothy 1:9

    He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.

    it leads to

    • Ephesians 2:8–9

      For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

    • Titus 3:4–5

      But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

    • Ephesians 1:3–4

      Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

    • Romans 11:5–6

      In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.

    • Romans 16:25

      Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 4:7

    For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

    it leads to

    • John 3:27

      John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.

    • 1 Peter 4:10

      As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.

    • James 1:17

      Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

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 Cassian, CONFERENCE 5.15.3-4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.