English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 31:20
20For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.
Deuteronomy 31:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
- New International Version (NIV)When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.
- New King James Version (NKJV)When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.
- New Living Translation (NLT)For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat. But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant.
Context of Deuteronomy 31:20
18And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. 19"Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give." 22So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.
Read all of Deuteronomy 31Deuteronomy 31:20 word by word
כִּֽי־אֲבִיאֶ֜נּוּ אֶֽל־הָאֲדָמָ֣ה׀ אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתִּי לַאֲבֹתָ֗יו זָבַ֤ת חָלָב֙ וּדְבַ֔שׁ וְאָכַ֥ל וְשָׂבַ֖ע וְדָשֵׁ֑ן וּפָנָ֞ה אֶל־אֱלֹהִ֤ים אֲחֵרִים֙ וַעֲבָד֔וּם וְנִ֣אֲצ֔וּנִי וְהֵפֵ֖ר אֶת־בְּרִיתִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For when I shall have broughtבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
- them into the landאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- which I swareשָׁבַעshâba‛ · to swearH7650
- unto their fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- that flowethזוּבzûb · to flow: flowingH2100
- with milkחָלָבchâlâb · milkH2461
- and honeyדְּבַשׁdebash · honeyH1706
- and they shall have eatenאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- and filledשָׂבֵעַώâba‛ ώâbêa‛ · to satisfyH7646
- themselves, and waxen fatדָּשֵׁןdâshên · to prosperH1878
- then will they turnפָּנָהpânâh · to turnH6437
- unto otherאַחֵר'achêr · anotherH312
- godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- and serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
- them, and provokeנָאַץnâ'ats · to spurnH5006
- me, and breakפָּרַרpârar · to breakH6565
- my covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 31:20
- Deuteronomy 6:10"And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build,
- Deuteronomy 7:1"When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you,
- Deuteronomy 8:7For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,
- Exodus 3:8and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
- Deuteronomy 8:10And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
- Nehemiah 9:25And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
- Deuteronomy 32:15"But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
- Psalms 17:10They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
- Psalms 73:7Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
- Psalms 119:70their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law.
- Jeremiah 5:28they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
- Jeremiah 50:11"Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions,
- Ezekiel 34:16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
- Hosea 13:6but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.
- Deuteronomy 31:16And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 31:20
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14-23Verses 14-23 The transaction recorded in these verses may be regarded as the solemn inauguration of Joshua to the office to which he had some time before Numbers 27:22 been called, and his recognition in it by God, which were manifested by his being summoned into the tabernacle with Moses while the Lord appeared in the pillar of cloud (compare Numbers 11:25; Numbers 12:5). Deuteronomy 31:16 The future apostasy of the people is announced in the presence of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-22Verses 14-22 Moses and Joshua attended the Divine Majesty at the door of the tabernacle. Moses is told again that he must shortly die; even those who are most ready and willing to die, need to be often reminded of its coming. The Lord tells Moses, that, after his death, the covenant he had taken so much pains to make between Israel and their God, would certainly be broken. Israel would forsake Him; then God would forsake Israel. Justly does he cast those…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20land flowing with milk and honey: See study note on 6:3. eat their fill: Fatness suggested blessing and prosperity, not obesity or self-indulgence. reject me: Israel would ignore God and dishonor him by wrongly thinking their prosperity came from their own efforts or the false gods of the land.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2216-22. the Lord said unto Moses, ... this people will rise up--In this remarkable interview, Moses was distinctly apprised of the infidelity of Israel, their corruptions of the true religion through intercourse with the idolatrous inhabitants of Canaan (Am 5:26), and their chastisements in consequence of those national defections.Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 31:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 31
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries