English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 26:5
5"And you shall make response before the Lord your God, 'A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Deuteronomy 26:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
- New International Version (NIV)Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation.
Context of Deuteronomy 26:5
3And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.' 4Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. "And you shall make response before the Lord your God, 'A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
Read all of Deuteronomy 26Deuteronomy 26:5 word by word
וְעָנִ֨יתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ לִפְנֵ֣י׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה וַיָּ֥גָר שָׁ֖ם בִּמְתֵ֣י מְעָ֑ט וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֕ם לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל עָצ֥וּם וָרָֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And thou shalt speakעָנָה‛ânâh · to answerH6030
- and sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- A Syrianאֲרַמִּי'ărammîy · ArameanH761
- ready to perishאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
- my fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
- and he went downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
- into Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
- and sojournedגּוּרgûr · to sojournH1481
- there withמַתmath · manH4962
- a fewמְעַטme‛aţ me‛âţ · littleH4592
- and became there a nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- mightyעָצוּם‛âtsûm ‛âtsûm · mightyH6099
- and populousרַבrab · manyH7227
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 26:5
- Genesis 24:4but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
- Genesis 25:20and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.
- Genesis 28:5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
- Genesis 31:20And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee.
- Hosea 12:12Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep.
- Genesis 27:41Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
- Genesis 31:40There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.
- Genesis 43:1Now the famine was severe in the land.
- Genesis 45:7And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
- Isaiah 51:1"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.
- Genesis 46:1So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
- Psalms 105:23Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
- Acts 7:15And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers,
- Deuteronomy 7:7It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
- Genesis 46:27And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.
- Exodus 1:5All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 26:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5A Syrian ready to perish was my father - This passage has been variously understood, both by the ancient versions and by modern commentators. The Vulgate renders it thus: Syrus persequebatur patrem meum, "A Syrian persecuted my father." The Septuagint thus: ̔ , "My father abandoned Syria." The Targum thus: אבא ית לאובדא בעא ארמאה לבן Laban arammaah bea leobada yath abba, "Laban the Syrian endeavored to destroy my father." The Syriac: "My father was led…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5A Syrian ready to perish was my father - The reference is shown by the context to be to Jacob, as the ancestor in whom particularly the family of Abraham began to develop into a nation (compare Isaiah 43:22, Isaiah 43:28, etc.). Jacob is called a Syrian (literally, Aramaean), not only because of his own long residence in Syria with Laban Matthew 2:23, but because he there married and had his children (compare Hosea 12:12); and might be said accordingly to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, was an Aramean (Genesis 24:10; 25:20, 26). Jacob also lived in Aram for many years (Genesis 31:41–42). His family lived a seminomadic life, moving from place to place. few in number: Jacob’s family was small. Only 70 people went with him to Egypt (see Genesis 46:27; Exodus 1:5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. thou shalt say ... A Syrian ready to perish was my father--rather, "a wandering Syrian." The ancestors of the Hebrews were nomad shepherds, either Syrians by birth as Abraham, or by long residence as Jacob. When they were established as a nation in the possession of the promised land, they were indebted to God's unmerited goodness for their distinguished privileges, and in token of gratitude they brought this basket of first-fruits.Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 26:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 26
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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