Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy 6:1 “This is the command — the prescriptions and rules – Yahveh your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and take possession of.

Deuteronomy 6:2 Do this so that you may fear Yahveh your God all the days of your life by watching all his prescriptions[1] and commands. I am commanding you, your son, and your grandson so that you may have a long life.

Deuteronomy 6:3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahveh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 6:4 “Listen, Israel: Yahveh our God, Yahveh is one.

Deuteronomy 6:5 Care about Yahveh your God with all your heart, with all your throat, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:6 These words that I am commanding you today are to be in your heart.

Deuteronomy 6:7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you are lying down[2] and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy 6:8 Tie them as a sign onto your hand and let them be a symbol between your eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and your city gates.

Deuteronomy 6:10 “When Yahveh your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you – a land with large and good cities that you did not build,

Deuteronomy 6:11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant– and when you eat and are satisfied,

Deuteronomy 6:12 be careful or else you will forget Yahveh who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

Deuteronomy 6:13 Fear Yahveh your God, worship him and take your oaths in his name.

Deuteronomy 6:14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,

Deuteronomy 6:15 because Yahveh your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise, Yahveh, your God’s nose will burn[3] at you and exterminate you from the face of the land.

Deuteronomy 6:16 Do not test Yahveh your God like you tested him at Massah.

Deuteronomy 6:17 Carefully observe the commands of Yahveh your God, the reminders and prescriptions he has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 6:18 Do what is right and good in Yahveh’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and take possession of the good land Yahveh your God swore to give your fathers,

Deuteronomy 6:19 by pushing away[4] all your enemies before you, as Yahveh has said.

Deuteronomy 6:20 “When your son asks you in the future, and this is what they say: ‘What is the meaning of the reminders, prescriptions, and rules that Yahveh our God has commanded you? ‘

Deuteronomy 6:21 tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but Yahveh brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.

Deuteronomy 6:22 Before our eyes Yahveh inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household,

Deuteronomy 6:23 but he brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that he swore to our fathers.

Deuteronomy 6:24 Yahveh commanded us to follow all these prescriptions and to fear Yahveh our God for our good always and that we may stay alive, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 6:25 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands in the sight of Yahveh our God, like he has commanded us.’


[1] חֻקָּה= prescriptions. Deuteronomy 6:2; 8:11; 10:13; 11:1; 28:15, 45; 30:10, 16.

[2]שָׁכַב = lie down. Deut. 6:7; 11:19; 22:22-23, 25, 28-29; 24:12-13; 27:20-23; 31:16.

[3]חרה = burn (in anger). Deut. 6:15; 7:4; 11:17; 29:27; 31:17.

[4] הָדָף= push away. Deuteronomy 6:19; 9:4.

Deuteronomy 6 quotes:

“The fundamental truth has to do with the nature of God as one (v. 4); the fundamental duty is the response of love which God requires of man (v. 5). Both themes are taken up in the teaching of Jesus.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 168.

“As the heart of Israel’s faith and confession, the Shema at 6:4–5 extends the first two commandments in particular (5:6–10), giving essential expression to Israel’s covenant faith. As such, the Shema can be understood as both a statement about Yahweh’s uniqueness (as an answer to the question, ‘Who is our “one and only” God?’ = Yahweh), and also Israel’s response to this uniqueness implied in the translation ‘alone’.”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 6 links:

ACST 45- The Tempters
DECORATE YOUR DOORPOST
exterminate!
focusing on God alone
he drives out many nations
in retrospect- love and fear
Loving God
Loving Our Neighbours
Making Disciples
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, August 6, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, June 1, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, August 7, 2018
mission statement
redemption and left
the meaning of the rules
trusting, not testing
your God who is among you


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Matthew 1

Matthew 1

Matthew 1:1 A birth[1] record of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, a descendant of Abraham.

Matthew 1:2 Abraham fathered[2] Isaac and Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers,

Matthew 1:3 and Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezron fathered Ram,

Matthew 1:4 and Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon,

Matthew 1:5 and Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse,

Matthew 1:6 and Jesse fathered David, the king. And David fathered Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

Matthew 1:7 and Solomon fathered Rehoboam, and Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asaph,

Matthew 1:8 and Asaph fathered Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah,

Matthew 1:9 and Uzziah fathered Jotham, and Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah,

Matthew 1:10 and Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, and Manasseh fathered Amos, and Amos fathered Josiah,

Matthew 1:11 and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

Matthew 1:12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel,

Matthew 1:13 and Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, and Abiud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor,

Matthew 1:14 and Azor fathered Zadok, and Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud,

Matthew 1:15 and Eliud fathered Eleazar, and Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob,

Matthew 1:16 and Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Matthew 1:17 Now all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Matthew 1:18 and the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When Mary, his mother had been engaged to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be pregnant by the Sacred[3] Breath.[4]

Matthew 1:19 And her husband Joseph, being an honorable man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:20 But as he thought about these things, notice,[5] an agent[6] of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because what has been fathered in her is from the Sacred Breath.

Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their failures.”[7]

Matthew 1:22 All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had predicted through the prophet:

Matthew 1:23 “Notice, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call his name Immanuel” (which translates as ‘God with us’).[8]

Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke up[9] from his sleep, he did as the agent of the Lord had instructed him: he took Mary as his wife,

Matthew 1:25 but did not have intimacy with[10] her until after she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.


[1]γένεσις = birth. Matthew 1:1, 18.

[2]γεννάω = to father (verb). Matthew 1:2-16, 20; 2:1, 4; 19:12; 26:24.

[3]ἅγιος = sacred. Matthew 1:18, 20; 3:11; 4:5; 7:6; 12:32; 24:15; 27:52-53; 28:19.

[4] πνεῦμα = breath. Matthew 1:18, 20; 3:11, 16; 4:1; 5:3; 8:16; 10:1, 20; 12:18, 28, 31-32, 43, 45; 22:43; 26:41; 27:50; 28:19.

[5]  ἰδού = notice. Matthew 1:20, 23; 2:13, 19; 3:16-17; 4:11; 7:4; 8:24, 34; 9:10; 10:16; 11:10, 19; 12:2, 18, 41-42, 46-47, 49; 13:3; 17:3, 5; 19:27; 20:18; 21:5; 22:4; 23:34, 38; 24:23, 25-26; 25:6; 26:45-47, 51; 27:51; 28:2, 7, 9, 20.

[6]ἄγγελος = agent. Matthew 1:20, 24; 2:13, 19; 4:6, 11; 11:10; 13:39, 41, 49; 16:27; 18:10; 22:30; 24:31, 36; 25:31, 41; 26:53; 28:2, 5.

[7] ἁμαρτία = failure. Matthew 1:21; 3:6; 9:2, 5, 6; 12:31; 26:28.

[8] Isaiah 7:14.

[9] ἐγείρω = wake up, raise up, get up. Matthew 1:24; 2:13, 14, 20, 21; 3:9; 8:15, 25, 26; 9:5, 6, 7, 19, 25; 10:8; 11:5, 11; 12:11, 42; 14:2; 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 24:7, 11, 24; 25:7; 26:32, 46; 27:52, 63, 64; 28:6, 7.

[10]  γινώσκω know, have intimacy with. Matthew 1:25; 6:3; 7:23; 9:30; 10:26; 12:7, 15, 33; 13:11; 16:3, 8; 21:45; 22:18; 24:32-33, 39, 43, 50; 25:24; 26:10.

Matthew 1 quotes:

“Matthew offers three forms of proof—or witness—that Jesus qualifies as King. He first cites the lineage of Jesus, and he does it in accountant-like terms. Jesus is shown to be a direct descendant of both Abraham and David. Jesus is clearly proclaimed to be a Jew, with Abraham—the father of all who have faith—as both His spiritual and biological ancestor. (See Romans 4:16.) Jesus is also of the lineage of King David, to whom an everlasting throne was promised. (See 2 Samuel 7:13 and Isaiah 9:7.) Not only does Jesus fit the prescribed identity for Messiah, but, according to Matthew, Jesus appears in history after three sets of fourteen generations—these multiples of seven (in couplets representing the days of the patriarchs, the kings, and the prophets), had special numerical meaning to the Jewish people. Six groups of seven have passed, which puts Jesus at the threshold of the seventh seven—a numerical position of perfect rule, since seven is the biblical number that refers to perfection in Jewish tradition.”

Blackaby, Henry T. The Gospel of Matthew. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2007. p. 15.

“When God made the world in the beginning, we are told that his Spirit was brooding above the waters. In the silence of the world’s non-being, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, most glorious of creatures. Now the Spirit comes again, into the sheltering darkness of the womb of Mary, who was as open to the will of God as were the waters of the uncreated world. There, in a miracle of smallness and silence, Jesus is conceived, who will be the true light of the world, taking flesh to dwell among us. When on the sixth day of creation God made man, he did for Adam what he had not done for any other creature. The beasts were brought forth from the earth, but God himself breathed the breath of life into the dust of Adam, and he became a living soul. So now the new Adam breaks into the world by a breath, by the Spirit of God, so that all who unite themselves with the death and resurrection of Jesus will be new creations, and will have true life within them.”

Cameron, Peter John. Praying with Saint Matthew’s Gospel : Daily Reflections on the Gospel of Saint Matthew. Magnificat, 2010. p. 22.

“In recalling stories of Abraham, David, and the exile (to name but three), the audience learns something of the nature of God. This God constantly intervenes in human affairs. God took initiative in calling Abraham and selecting David. God promised Abraham land and descendants and David an eternal kingdom. God remained faithful to these promises even when both men failed. Abraham and Sarah’s age threatened the promise, as did the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice (Gen 18-22) and the devastating experience of God’s judgment in exile. Yet God remained faithful and acted powerfully to deliver on the promises. Continually God guided Israel forward into a new future.”

Carter, Warren. Matthew : Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist. Rev. ed, Hendrickson Publishers, 2004. p. 108.

“On the two other occasions in Matthew when a single angel appears — significantly, following Jesus’ birth and resurrection (chs. 2 and 28) — the figure is again identified as angelos Kyriou — a servant and messenger of Yahweh. The opening idou prepares readers for the startling and the significant; this will be true to a yet greater degree in 1:23: ‘Behold [Idou, for Hebrew hinéh] the virgin will conceive….’ In this passage, the angel is the only servant of God whose speech is directly reported. He addresses Joseph by name, and identifies him as ‘son of David’ (1:20). Then the angel discloses the manner of Mary’s conception, together with the name and’the mission of the child she will bear.”

Chamblin, J K. Matthew: A Mentor Commentary. Fearn, Tain: Christian Focus Pub, 2010. p. 197.

“Matthew portrays Joseph not as fearing to break the law through failure to divorce Mary, but as fearing to do wrong by taking Mary to wife when she was pregnant by divine causation. Then the statement in v 18, “she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit,’’ does not come as a piece of advance information to the reader, but bears its more natural sense that Joseph found out the reason for, as well as the fact of, Mary’s pregnancy early in the episode (and presumably from Mary; cf. Luke 1:26-45). That , not a wrong deduction, left Joseph in a quandary. In deference to the Holy Spirit he decided to divorce Mary. In consideration of Mary he planned to hand her the certificate of divorce without any witnesses at all. The Mosaic law did not require them, anyway. They had become customary to protect a man from a divorced wife’s false denial of divorce. But, according to Matthew, Joseph intended to waive that precaution. The angel will repeat what Joseph already believed both to assure him of its truth and to provide a basis for the command to marry. Meanwhile, readers of Matthew have no reason to suspect Mary of what not even Joseph suspected her.”

Gundry, Robert H. Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art. , 1983. p. 22.

“Matthew’s Gospel is a story about Jesus’ birth, public ministry, and his passion, death, and resurrection. Even the larger sections of Jesus’ teachings appear in the context of this overall story line. The Evangelist presents himself as a believer in Jesus’ special importance and as the all-knowing narrator whose words can be trusted. He wrote originally for a largely Jewish-Christian audience that wanted greater clarity about how their faith in Jesus related to their identity as Jews in the late first century.”

Harrington, Daniel J. Meeting St. Matthew Today: Understanding the Man, His Mission, and His Message. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2010. p. 15.

“So the decisive moment has arrived. Israel’s long-awaited Shepherd King has come. How will the people respond? Matthew points to a sharp contrast. Jesus’ coming is an intrusion to some but a joy to others. King Herod and the residents of Jerusalem are “disturbed” —troubled, upset, scared—by news about a king of the Jews. By contrast, some strangers from the east joyfully open their hearts and their treasures to the child born to be King and Savior. Ironically, it is these outsiders who model the right way to respond to Jesus arrival. They recognize that something momentous is happening, and so they pursue him and kneel before him and offer him what they value most.”

Hiigel John L. Partnering with the King : Study the Gospel of Matthew and Become a Disciple of Jesus. Paraclete Press 2013. p. 19.

“The Gospel of Matthew does not begin at the birth of Jesus but with Jesus’ origins, with his ancestry and genealogy, going back to the beginnings of faith, to Abraham and his son Isaac. This long line will end with Joseph of the house of David, the earthly, legal father of Jesus. This listing, this history of believers who lived on the Word of God — the Torah — and its promises, is crucial to understanding who Jesus is. He is the culmination of this nation, his race, and the chosen people of Yahweh God. This is the Genesis of Jesus. As a Jew Matthew thinks, breathes, and lives in the shadow and the light of the Torah. Genesis first recounts creation, the beginnings of the heavens and the earth, then the generations of humankind (see Gn 4 and 5). Just so, Matthew’s Gospel begins with Jesus’ own roots in this people: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham….” He is the offspring of all these people. “Genealogy” signifies “origin,” “beginnings.” And Jesus himself will generate and bring forth a new people of God, those born again in his Spirit as his brothers and sisters, to the glory of our one Father.”

McKenna Megan. Matthew : The Book of Mercy. New City Press 2007. p. 34.

“The fact that Matthew never explicitly refers to Joseph as Jesus’ father reminds us that Jesus was born to an adoptive father. After being named and taken into the family by Joseph, legally, Jesus is Joseph’s son. And being Joseph’s son means that this adoption ties Jesus to the line of David as a royal son. Finally, in terms of how Jesus came, Matthew tells us that all of these things happened amidst a fallen world. Jesus came to a world of sin in need of salvation, which is why it is crucial to see that ultimately, Jesus is God’s Son. The problem of sin needed a divine solution.”

Platt, David. Exalting Jesus in Matthew. , 2013. p. 20.

“Herod made many wrong choices. Although he built fortresses and palaces, he destroyed lives. And other people paid dearly for his bad choices. In contrast, Jesus made the right choices. Even though the devil tempted him directly and tried to lure him with offers of fame, power, and authority, Jesus chose correctly in every decision. Likewise, Joseph had only one desire whenever he was faced with decisions: to do what God wanted. Whatever God desired was Joseph’s desire. We learn from these examples that every opportunity to make a wrong choice is also an opportunity to make a right choice. The right choice will always honor God. How often do you consider God in your day-to-day choices?”

Wilson, Neil S. Matthew : Life Application Bible Studies. Tyndale, 2009. p. 92.

“Joseph was a righteous man, but he was also a compassionate man. He cared for Mary. He could not treat this matter lightly, and neither would he act vindictively. He demonstrates the struggle of a soul trying to be faithful. When a person has both convictions about principles and compassion for people, he or she often faces painful choices. At times neither side of a decision seems to be totally good. Joseph could not figure out how to move through this dilemma in a way that would settle his soul. He needed saving.”

Younger, Carol D. The Gospel of Matthew: Hope in the Resurrected Christ : Adult Bible Study Guide. Dallas, Tex: BaptistWay Press, 2008. p. 28.

Matthew 1 links:

ACST 61- The Advents

Don’t miss Jesus this Christmas!

Family History

Family Shame

God with us

Immanuel – part 2

IN A DREAM #1

the earthly family of heaven’s king

the virgin birth of heaven’s king

what has happened to her


Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 30, 2018

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, January 31, 2019

Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, February 1, 2023


The MATTHEW shelf in Jeff’s library

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4:1 “Now, Israel, listen to the prescriptions[1] and rules I am teaching you to follow so that you may stay alive,[2] enter, and take possession of the land Yahveh, the God of your fathers is giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:2 You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it so that you may watch the commands of Yahveh, your God I am giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:3 Your eyes have seen what Yahveh did at Baal-Peor, for Yahveh your God exterminated every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.

Deuteronomy 4:4 But you who have remained faithful to Yahveh your God are all alive today.

Deuteronomy 4:5 Look, I have taught you prescriptions and rules as Yahveh my God has commanded me so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of.

Deuteronomy 4:6 Be careful and do them, because this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the people. When they hear about all these prescriptions, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’

Deuteronomy 4:7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it like Yahveh our God is to us whenever we call to him?

Deuteronomy 4:8 And what great nation has righteous prescriptions and rules like this entire instruction I set before you today?

Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only be careful and diligently watch your throats,[3] or else[4] you will forget the things your eyes have seen and they will slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 4:10 The day you stood before Yahveh your God at Horeb, Yahveh said to me, ‘Collect[5] the people before me, and I will let them hear my words so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the land and may instruct their children.’

Deuteronomy 4:11 You came near and stood below the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heart[6] of the sky and enveloped in a totally black cloud.

Deuteronomy 4:12 Then Yahveh spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.

Deuteronomy 4:13 He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to do the Ten Words,[7] which he wrote on two stone tablets.

Deuteronomy 4:14 At that time, Yahveh commanded me to teach you prescriptions and rules for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and take possession of.

Deuteronomy 4:15 “Diligently watch your throats – because you did not see any form on the day Yahveh spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb –

Deuteronomy 4:16 or else you will act corruptly[8] and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of some figure: a male or female form,

Deuteronomy 4:17 or the form of some animal on the land, some winged creature that flies in the sky,

Deuteronomy 4:18 some creature that crawls on the ground, or some fish in the water under the land.

Deuteronomy 4:19 When you look to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars – all the stars in the sky – or else you might be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them. Yahveh your God has provided them for all people everywhere under the sky.

Deuteronomy 4:20 But Yahveh selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.

Deuteronomy 4:21 “Yahveh was angry with me because of your thing. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land Yahveh your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 4:22 I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.

Deuteronomy 4:23 Be careful, or else you will forget the covenant of Yahveh your God that he established[9] with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you

Deuteronomy 4:24 because Yahveh, your God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:25 “When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of Yahveh your God, angering him,

Deuteronomy 4:26 I call sky and land as witnesses against you today that you will rapidly[10] be destroyed[11] from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to take possession of. You will not live long there, but you will indeed be exterminated.

Deuteronomy 4:27 Yahveh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where Yahveh, your God, will drive you.

Deuteronomy 4:28 There you will worship human-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.

Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there, you will search for Yahveh, your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your throat.

Deuteronomy 4:30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future, you will return to Yahveh, your God, and obey him.

Deuteronomy 4:31 He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them by oath because Yahveh, your God, is a compassionate God.

Deuteronomy 4:32 “Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created humankind on the land and from one end of the sky to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of?

Deuteronomy 4:33 Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and stayed alive?

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as Yahveh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Deuteronomy 4:35 You were shown these things so that you would know that Yahveh is God; there is no other besides him.

Deuteronomy 4:36 He let you hear his voice from the sky to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on the land, and you listened to his words from the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:37 Because he cared about[12] your fathers, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power,

Deuteronomy 4:38 to take possession from nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.

Deuteronomy 4:39 Today, recognize and keep in mind that Yahveh is God in the sky above and on the land below; there is no other.

Deuteronomy 4:40 Watch his prescriptions and commands, which I am giving you today so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land Yahveh your God is commanding you for all the days.”

Deuteronomy 4:41 Then Moses separated[13] three cities across the Jordan to the east.

Deuteronomy 4:42 Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could escape to one of these cities and stay alive:

Deuteronomy 4:43 Bezer in the open country on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.

Deuteronomy 4:44 This is the instruction Moses placed before the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 4:45 These are the reminders,[14] prescriptions, and rules Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt,

Deuteronomy 4:46 across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-Peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 4:47 They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east,

Deuteronomy 4:48 from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon)

Deuteronomy 4:49 and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.


[1]חק = prescription. Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-6, 8, 14, 40, 45; 5:1, 31; 6:1, 17, 20, 24; 7:11; 11:32; 12:1; 16:12; 17:19; 26:16-17; 27:10.

[2]חָיָה = stay alive. Deuteronomy 4:1, 33, 42; 5:24, 26, 33; 6:24; 8:1, 3; 16:20; 19:4-5; 20:16; 30:16, 19; 32:39; 33:6.

[3]נֶפֶשׁ = throat. Deuteronomy 4:9, 15, 29; 6:5; 10:12, 22; 11:13, 18; 12:23; 13:3, 6; 14:26; 19:6, 21; 21:14; 24:6-7, 15; 26:16; 27:25; 28:65; 30:2, 6, 10.

[4]פֵּן = or else. Deuteronomy 4:9, 16; 6:15; 7:25; 8:12; 9:28; 15:9; 19:6; 20:5-7; 22:9; 25:3; 29:18.

[5]קהל = collect. Deuteronomy 4:10; 31:12, 28.

[6]לֵב = heart. Deuteronomy 4:11; 28:65; 29:4, 19.

[7]Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4.

[8]שָׁחַת = corruptly. Deuteronomy 4:16, 25, 31; 9:12, 26; 10:10; 20:19-20; 31:29; 32:5.

[9]כָּרַת = establish. Deuteronomy 4:23; 5:2-3; 7:2; 9:9; 12:29; 19:1, 5; 20:19-20; 23:1; 29:1, 12, 14, 25; 31:16.

[10]מהר = rapidly. Deuteronomy 4:26; 7:4, 22; 9:3, 12, 16; 28:20.

[11]אָבַד = be destroyed. Deuteronomy 4:26; 7:10, 20, 24; 8:19-20; 9:3; 11:4, 17; 12:2-3; 22:3; 26:5; 28:20, 22, 51, 63; 30:18; 32:28.

[12]אָהַב care about, care for. Deuteronomy 4:37; 5:10; 6:5; 7:8-9, 13; 10:12, 15, 18-19; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 15:16; 19:9; 21:15-16; 23:5; 30:6, 16, 20.

[13]בּדל = separate. Deuteronomy 4:41; 10:8; 19:2, 7; 29:21.

[14]עֵדוּת = reminder. Deuteronomy 4:45; 6:17, 20.

Deuteronomy 4 quotes:

“Deut. 4 is in essence a miniature sermon on the covenant and the law, in which historical recollection is employed in a more general didactic fashion. The “sermon” prepares the way for the presentation of the Decalog and the other laws which begins in ch. 5.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 129.

Deuteronomy 4 links:

a consuming fire, a jealous God
are we there yet?
consumed
God of the sky and the land
God’s mercy and the death-state
in retrospect- a great God and a great people
invaded
lesser and weaker
life or death quest
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, August 3, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, August 3, 2024
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, August 4, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 2, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 31, 2023
our responsibility to teach
protective clothing – immortal body
representing the invisible God
respect for life
RETURNING TO THE LORD
The broader scope of the mission
the earlier days
the purpose of obedience
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets
the transjordon possessions
what God has done for you


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 3

Deuteronomy 3

Deuteronomy 3:1 “Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against us with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.

Deuteronomy 3:2 But Yahveh said to me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, because I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’

Deuteronomy 3:3 So Yahveh, our God, also handed over King Og of Bashan and his whole army to us. We struck him until there was no survivor left.

Deuteronomy 3:4 We captured all his cities at that time. There wasn’t a city that we didn’t take from them: sixty cities, the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

Deuteronomy 3:5 All these were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides a large number of rural villages.

Deuteronomy 3:6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon, destroying the men, women, and children of every city.

Deuteronomy 3:7 But we took all the livestock and the spoil from the cities as plunder for ourselves.

Deuteronomy 3:8 “At that time we took the land from the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, from the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Hermon,

Deuteronomy 3:9 which the Sidonians call Sirion, but the Amorites call Senir,

Deuteronomy 3:10 all the cities of the plateau, Gilead, and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

Deuteronomy 3:11 (Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Notice his bed was made of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the Ammonites? It is nine cubits[1] long and four cubits[2] wide by a standard measure.)

Deuteronomy 3:12 “At that time we took possession of this land. I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Aroer by the Arnon Valley and half the hill country of Gilead, along with its cities.

Deuteronomy 3:13 I gave half the tribe of Manasseh, the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og. The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.

Deuteronomy 3:14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took over the entire region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He called Bashan by his name, Jair’s Villages, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 3:15 I gave Gilead to Machir,

Deuteronomy 3:16 and I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.

Deuteronomy 3:17 The Arabah and Jordan are also borders from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

Deuteronomy 3:18 “I commanded you at that time: and this is what I said: Yahveh your God has given you this land to take possession of. All your militarily qualified sons[3] will cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 3:19 But your wives, dependents, and livestock — I know that you have much livestock — will stay in the cities I have given you

Deuteronomy 3:20 until Yahveh gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land Yahveh your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then, each of you may return to his possession that I have given you.

Deuteronomy 3:21 “I commanded Joshua at that time, and this is what I said: Your own eyes have seen everything Yahveh your God has done to these two kings. Yahveh will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to enter.

Deuteronomy 3:22 Don’t be afraid of them, because Yahveh your God fights for you.

Deuteronomy 3:23 “At that time I begged Yahveh, and this is what I said:

Deuteronomy 3:24 Yahveh God, you have begun to show your greatness and your strong hand to your servant, because what god is there in the sky or on the land who can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours?

Deuteronomy 3:25 Please let me cross over and see the beautiful land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and Lebanon.

Deuteronomy 3:26 “But Yahveh was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. Yahveh said to me, ‘That’s enough! Do not speak to me again about this matter.

Deuteronomy 3:27 Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west, north, south, and east, and see it with your own eyes because you will not cross the Jordan.

Deuteronomy 3:28 But command Joshua and make him strong and tough, because he will cross over ahead of the people and enable them to inherit this land that you will see.’

Deuteronomy 3:29 So we stayed in the valley facing Beth-peor.


[1]13 1/2 feet

[2]6 feet

[3] ‎ כָּל־בְּנֵי־חָֽיִל

Deuteronomy 3 quotes:

“The theology is important; there is no doubt that the people were involved in the reality of the battle, but in the recollection of military success, that success was seen as the Lord’s doing.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 119.

“This section highlights the importance of God’s sovereignty and power in delivering the kingdoms of Sihon and Og, identified as Amorites, into the hands of the Israelites. Compared with Numbers 21:21–35, Deuteronomy makes two distinctive points. First, Deuteronomy anticipates the engagement and defeat of Sihon as inevitable from the outset in exodus terms. Secondly, Numbers 21 says nothing about the ban (Heb. ḥērem; Deut. 2:34–35; 3:6–7), suggesting that Deuteronomy viewed the conquest of the Transjordan in the same way as that of Canaan, as part of the Promised Land (cf. Deut. 3:18–20; 20:16–18).”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 3 links:

in retrospect- can’t blame a guy for trying
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, May 31, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, May 29, 2019
no is enough
No, yes, yes
sacrificing for your brothers
Seeing his imprint
success without settling
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets
there will be giants


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 2

Deuteronomy 2

Deuteronomy 2:1 “Then we turned back and headed for the open country by way of the Red Sea, as Yahveh had told me, and we traveled around the hill country of Seir for many days.

Deuteronomy 2:2 Yahveh then spoke to me, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 2:3 ‘You’ve been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north.

Deuteronomy 2:4 Command the people, and this is what you should say: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful.[1]

Deuteronomy 2:5 Don’t provoke them, because I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot-width[2] of it because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession.

Deuteronomy 2:6 You may purchase food from them, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.

Deuteronomy 2:7 You see, Yahveh your God has empowered you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this immense open country. Yahveh, your God has been with you this past forty years, and you have lacked nothing.’

Deuteronomy 2:8 “So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road and Elath and Ezion-Geber. We traveled along the road to the open country of Moab.

Deuteronomy 2:9 Yahveh said to me, ‘Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, because I will not give you any of their lands as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.'”

Deuteronomy 2:10 The Emim, a great and numerous people as tall as the Anakim, had previously lived there.

Deuteronomy 2:11 They were also regarded as Rephaim, like the Anakim, though the Moabites called them Emim.

Deuteronomy 2:12 The Horites had previously lived in Seir, but the descendants of Esau took possession from them, exterminating them entirely and settling in their place, just as Israel did in the land of its possession Yahveh gave them.

Deuteronomy 2:13 “Yahveh said, ‘Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.’ So we crossed the Zered Valley.

Deuteronomy 2:14 The time we spent traveling from Kadesh-Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley was thirty-eight years until the entire generation of fighting men had been finished[3] from the camp, as Yahveh had sworn to them.

Deuteronomy 2:15 Indeed, Yahveh’s hand was against them, to eliminate them from the camp until they had all been finished.

Deuteronomy 2:16 “When all the fighting men had died among the people,

Deuteronomy 2:17 Yahveh spoke to me, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 2:18 ‘Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

Deuteronomy 2:19 When you get close to the Ammonites, don’t show any hostility to them or provoke them, because I will not give you any of the Ammonites’ land as a possession; I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.'”

Deuteronomy 2:20 This, too, used to be regarded as the land of the Rephaim. The Rephaim lived there previously, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummim,

Deuteronomy 2:21 a great and numerous people, tall as the Anakim. Yahveh exterminated the Rephaim at the advance of the Ammonites, so that they took possession from them and settled in their place.

Deuteronomy 2:22 This was just as he had done for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he exterminated the Horites ahead of them; they took possession from them and have lived in their place until now.

Deuteronomy 2:23 The Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, exterminated the Avvites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza and settled in their place.

Deuteronomy 2:24 “Yahveh also said, ‘Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed the Amorites’ King Sihon of Heshbon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession of it; engage him in battle.

Deuteronomy 2:25 Today, I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the people everywhere under the sky. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish upon seeing you.’

Deuteronomy 2:26 “So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to King Sihon of Heshbon from the open country of Kedemoth, and this is what they said:

Deuteronomy 2:27 ‘Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left.

Deuteronomy 2:28 You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot,

Deuteronomy 2:29 just like the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land Yahveh our God is giving us.’

Deuteronomy 2:30 But King Sihon of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, because Yahveh your God had made his breath[4] stubborn, and his heart tough[5] in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place.

Deuteronomy 2:31 “Then Yahveh said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.’

Deuteronomy 2:32 So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz.

Deuteronomy 2:33 Yahveh our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army.

Deuteronomy 2:34 At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors.

Deuteronomy 2:35 We took only the livestock and the spoil[6] from the cities we captured as plunder[7] for ourselves.

Deuteronomy 2:36 No city was inaccessible to us, from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead. Yahveh, our God, gave everything to us.

Deuteronomy 2:37 But you did not go near the Ammonites’ land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River, the cities of the hill country, or any place about which Yahveh our God had commanded.


[1]שָׁמַר = be careful. Deuteronomy 2:4; 4:2, 6, 9, 15, 23, 40; 5:1, 10, 12, 29; 6:2-3, 12, 17, 25; 7:8-9, 11-12; 8:1-2, 6, 11; 10:13; 11:1, 8, 16, 22, 32; 12:1, 13, 19, 28, 30, 32; 13:4, 18; 15:9; 16:1, 12; 17:10; 19:9; 23:9, 23; 24:8; 26:16-18; 27:1; 28:1, 9, 45, 58; 29:9; 30:10, 16; 31:12; 33:9.

[2] מִדְרָךְ = foot-width.

[3] תָּמַם = be finished. Deuteronomy 2:14-16; 31:24, 30; 34:8.

[4]רוּחַ = breath. Deuteronomy 2:30; 34:9.

[5]אָמֵץ = tough. Deuteronomy 2:30; 3:28; 15:7; 31:6-7, 23.

[6]שָׁלָל = spoil. Deuteronomy 2:35; 3:7; 13:16; 20:14.

[7]בָּזָז = capture as plunder. Deuteronomy 2:35; 3:7; 13:16; 20:14.

Deuteronomy 2 quotes:

“The Ammorites were evidently wholly unsuspicious of the fearful harvest for which they were ripening : they thought not of it, until the very hour when the sickle was put in . One more hope appears to have been offered them by Moses, in the merciful proposition that they should permit the Israelites to pass through their land in peace , as had been already done in the case of the Edomites and the Moabites, but even this they scornfully rejected.”

Blunt, Henry. A Family Exposition of the Pentateuch. London: J. Hatchard and Son, 1844. p. 183.

“Now, at last, the command had come to turn again northward, in the direction of the promised land. But there were particular instructions about the route and the procedure the people should follow.”

Craigie Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. Eerdmans 1976. p. 107.

Deuteronomy links:

encountering our enemies
evidence of enmity
exterminate!
his campaign, his limits
in retrospect- no cake walk
long waits
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, July 30, 2018
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, July 29, 2018
not even a foot-width
not our circus, not our monkeys
pine boxes
resources, not enemies
until they had been finished
victory in line with the mission


The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.