New English Translation
Deuteronomy 26:5
5Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"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.
- 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.
Context of Deuteronomy 26:5
3You must go to the priest 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 promised to our ancestors to give us.” 4The priest will then take the basket from you and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people. 6But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, forcing us to do burdensome labor. 7So we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he heard us and saw our humiliation, toil, and 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 24:4You must go instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.”
- Genesis 25:20When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
- Genesis 28:5So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
- Genesis 31:20Jacob also deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving.
- Hosea 12:12Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.
- Genesis 27:41So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, “The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!”
- Genesis 31:40I was consumed by scorching heat during the day and by piercing cold at night, and I went without sleep.
- Genesis 43:1Now the famine was severe in the land.
- Genesis 45:7God sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
- Isaiah 51:1“Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, who seek the Lord! Look at the rock from which you were chiseled, at the quarry from which you were dug!
- Genesis 46:1So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. When he came to Beer Sheba he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
- Psalms 105:23Israel moved to Egypt; Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham.
- Acts 7:15So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there, along with our ancestors,
- Deuteronomy 7:7It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord favored and chose you – for in fact you were the least numerous of all peoples.
- Genesis 46:27Counting the two sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy.
- Exodus 1:5All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered seventy. But 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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