Deuteronomy 9:4

Deuteronomy 9:4 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, 'It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.

Context of Deuteronomy 9:4

2Their people are tall and strong. They’re descendants of Anak. You know all about them. You’ve also heard it said, “Who can oppose the descendants of Anak?” 3Realize today that the Lord your God is the one who is going ahead of you like a raging fire. He will wipe them out and will use you to crush their power. You will take possession of their land and will quickly destroy them as the Lord promised you. When the Lord your God expels these people in front of you, don’t say to yourselves, “Because we’ve been living right, the Lord brought us here to take possession of this land.” No, it’s because these nations are so wicked that the Lord is forcing them out of your way. 5It’s not because you’ve been living right or because you’re so honest that you’re entering to take possession of their land. It’s because these people are so wicked that the Lord your God is forcing them out of your way. It’s also because the Lord wants to confirm the promise he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6So understand this: It’s not because you’ve been living right that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess. You are impossible to deal with!

Deuteronomy 9:4 word by word

אַל־תֹּאמַ֣ר בִּלְבָבְךָ֗ בַּהֲדֹ֣ף יְהוָה֩ אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ אֹתָ֥ם׀ מִלְּפָנֶיךָ֮ לֵאמֹר֒ בְּצִדְקָתִי֙ הֱבִיאַ֣נִי יְהוָ֔ה לָרֶ֖שֶׁת אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את וּבְרִשְׁעַת֙ הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֔לֶּה יְהוָ֖ה מוֹרִישָׁ֥ם מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Speakאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• not thou in thine heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• after that the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• hath cast them outהָדַףhâdaph · to thrustH1920
• from beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• For my righteousnessצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
• hath brought me inבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): bringH935
• to possessיָרַשׁyârash yârêsh · to possess: takeH3423
• this landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• but for the wickednessרִשְׁעָהrish‛âh · wickednessH7564
• of these nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 9:4

• Deuteronomy 9:5It’s not because you’ve been living right or because you’re so honest that you’re entering to take possession of their land. It’s because these people are so wicked that the Lord your God is forcing them out of your way. It’s also because the Lord wants to confirm the promise he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Deuteronomy 7:7The Lord set his heart on you and chose you, even though you didn’t outnumber all the other people. You were the smallest of all nations.
• Deuteronomy 8:17You may say to yourselves, “I became wealthy because of my own ability and strength.”
• Ezekiel 36:22“So tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am about to do something, people of Israel. I will not do this for your sake but for the sake of my holy name, which you have dishonored among the nations wherever you have gone.
• Romans 11:6If they were chosen by God’s kindness, they weren’t chosen because of anything they did. Otherwise, God’s kindness wouldn’t be kindness.
• 1 Corinthians 4:4I have a clear conscience, but that doesn’t mean I have God’s approval. It is the Lord who cross-examines me.
• Ephesians 2:4But God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us.
• 2 Timothy 1:9God saved us and called us to be holy, not because of what we had done, but because of his own plan and kindness. Before the world began, God planned that Christ Jesus would show us God’s kindness.
• Deuteronomy 12:31Never worship the Lord your God in the way they worship their gods, because everything they do for their gods is disgusting to the Lord. He hates it! They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods.
• Deuteronomy 18:12Whoever does these things is disgusting to the Lord. The Lord your God is forcing these nations out of your way because of their disgusting practices.
• Genesis 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the sin of the Amorites will not have run its course until then.”
• Leviticus 18:24“Do not become unclean in any of these ways. By these practices all the nations which I am forcing out of your way have become unclean.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 9:4

• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-64-6. Speak not thou in thine heart, ... saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land--Moses takes special care to guard his countrymen against the vanity of supposing that their own merits had procured them the distinguished privilege. The Canaanites were a hopelessly corrupt race, and deserved extermination; but history relates many remarkable instances in which God punished corrupt and guilty nations by the…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 9:4

• Grace of God
• Humility
• Self-Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Carefully
• Rebellious
• Calf, Golden

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 9

• 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