Deuteronomy 12:20

Deuteronomy 12:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
• New International Version (NIV)When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“When the Lord your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires.

Context of Deuteronomy 12:20

18You may only eat these offerings in the place that the Lord will choose as his special home. That is true for you, your children, your servants and the Levites who live in your towns. At that place, you should meet with the Lord your God and you should enjoy the results of all your work. 19As long as you live in the land, be careful to take care of the Levites. The Lord your God has promised to give you more and more land. When he does that, perhaps you will say, ‘I would like to eat some meat.’ Then you may eat as much meat as you like. 21The place that God chooses as his special home may be far away from you. If it is, you may kill any of the animals that the Lord has given to you. You may eat the meat at your own town, in the way that I have told you. 22You should eat them in the same way that you eat deer. People who are unclean may eat them, as well as people who are clean.

Deuteronomy 12:20 word by word

כִּֽי־יַרְחִיב֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֥יךָ אֶֽת־גְּבֽוּלְךָ֮ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּר־לָךְ֒ וְאָמַרְתָּ֙ אֹכְלָ֣ה בָשָׂ֔ר כִּֽי־תְאַוֶּ֥ה נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לֶאֱכֹ֣ל בָּשָׂ֑ר בְּכָל־אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשְׁךָ֖ תֹּאכַ֥ל בָּשָֽׂר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• When the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• shall enlargeרָחַבrâchab · to enlargeH7337
• thy borderגְּבוּלgebûl gebûl · border: areaH1366
• as he hath promisedדָבַרdâbar · to speak: promiseH1696
• thee, and thou shalt sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I will eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
• because thy soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• longethאָוָה'âvâh · to desireH183
• lusteth afterאַוָּה'avvâh · desireH185

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 12:20

• 1 Chronicles 4:10Jabez prayed to Israel's God for help. He said, ‘Please bless me very much and give me more land. Please take care of me so that nothing hurts me and I do not have pain.’ God did what Jabez had prayed for.
• Deuteronomy 11:24Every piece of ground that you walk on will belong to you. The borders of your land will go from the desert in the south as far as Lebanon in the north. They will go from the Euphrates river in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
• Deuteronomy 19:8The Lord your God promised your ancestors to give you more land to live in. When all that land belongs to you,
• Genesis 15:18On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram. The Lord promised, ‘I give this land to your descendants. The land starts from the river of Egypt and continues as far as the River Euphrates.
• Genesis 28:14Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will go to the west and to the east. They will go to the north and to the south. Through you and your descendants I will bless all the families of people on the earth.
• Exodus 23:31I will decide where the borders of your land will be. You will have the land from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will put the people who live there under your power. As you move into the land, you will chase those people out.
• Exodus 34:24I will chase the nations out of the land as you move in. I will give you more and more land to live in. Three times each year you must come to worship the Lord your God. When you do that, nobody will try to take your land for themselves.
• Deuteronomy 12:15But you may kill your animals and eat the meat in any of the towns where you live. When the Lord your God blesses you and he gives you animals, you may eat them as often as you want. It is the same as if you are eating meat from deer. Anyone may eat it. That includes people who are clean and people who are unclean.
• Genesis 31:30I know that you want very much to return to your father's house. That is why you have left my home. But why did you take my idols?’
• Numbers 11:4Some foreign people were travelling with the Israelites. Those people wanted very much to eat better food. So the Israelites wept again. They said, ‘We want meat to eat!
• 2 Samuel 13:39By this time, King David had stopped being so upset about Amnon's death. He wanted very much to see Absalom again.
• 2 Samuel 23:15David was very thirsty. He said, ‘I want someone to bring water from the well near Bethlehem's gate for me to drink.’
• Psalms 63:1God, you are my God. I want to be near to you. I need you to give me life, like a thirsty person in a dry desert. As a person needs water to live, that is how I need you.
• Psalms 84:2I want very much to go to the Lord's temple. I very much want to be in the temple yards. With all that I am, and with great joy, I sing to you, the God who lives for ever!
• Psalms 107:9He gives drink to people who are thirsty. He gives plenty of good things to hungry people.
• Psalms 119:20I really want to obey your rules all the time. I want that more than anything else.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12:20

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-32Verses 5-32 The command to bring ALL the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, was now explained with reference to the promised land. As to moral service, then, as now, men might pray and worship every where, as they did in their synagogues. The place which God would choose, is said to be the place where he would put his name. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, he would be found by all who reverently sought him. Now, under the…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2516. ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water--The prohibition against eating or drinking blood as an unnatural custom accompanied the announcement of the divine grant of animal flesh for food (Ge 9:4), and the prohibition was repeatedly renewed by Moses with reference to the great objects of the law (Le 17:12), the prevention of idolatry, and the consecration of the sacrificial blood to God. In regard, however, to the blood of…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 12:20

• Sanitation

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• High place
• Lust
• Rest
• Appetite
• Atonement, Day of
• Choose; Chosen
• Criticism
• Exodus, the Book of

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings