New English Translation
Deuteronomy 9:5
5It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 9:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- New International Version (NIV)It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
- New King James Version (NKJV)It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Context of Deuteronomy 9:5
3Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he has told you. 4Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people! 7Remember – don’t ever forget – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him.
Read all of Deuteronomy 9Deuteronomy 9:5 word by word
לֹ֣א בְצִדְקָתְךָ֗ וּבְיֹ֙שֶׁר֙ לְבָ֣בְךָ֔ אַתָּ֥ה בָ֖א לָרֶ֣שֶׁת אֶת־אַרְצָ֑ם כִּ֞י בְּרִשְׁעַ֣ת׀ הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֗לֶּה יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ מוֹרִישָׁ֣ם מִפָּנֶ֔יךָ וּלְמַ֜עַן הָקִ֣ים אֶת־הַדָּבָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֤ע יְהוָה֙ לַאֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Not for thy righteousnessצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
- or for the uprightnessיֹ֫שֶׁרyôsher · uprightnessH3476
- of thine heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
- dost thou goבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- to possessיָרַשׁyârash yârêsh · to possess: takeH3423
- their landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- but for the wickednessרִשְׁעָהrish‛âh · wickednessH7564
- of these nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- from beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- thee, and that he may performקוּםqûm · to arise: establishH6965
- the wordדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- swareשָׁבַעshâba‛ · to swearH7650
- unto thy fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- Abrahamאַבְרָהָם'abrâhâm · AbrahamH85
- Isaacיִצְחָקyitschâq · IsaacH3327
- and Jacobיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 9:5
- Genesis 12:7The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 13:15I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever.
- Genesis 15:7The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
- Genesis 17:8I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”
- Genesis 26:4I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.
- Genesis 28:13and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.
- Exodus 32:13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever.’”
- Ezekiel 20:14I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
- Luke 1:54He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy,
- Acts 3:25You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.’
- Acts 13:32And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors,
- Romans 11:28In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.
- Romans 15:8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers,
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 9:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5For the wickedness of these nations - So then it was not by any sovereign act of God that these people were cast out, but for their wickedness; they had transgressed the law of their Creator; they had resisted his Spirit, and could no longer be tolerated. The Israelites were to possess their land, not because they deserved it, but first, because they were less wicked than the others; and secondly, because God thus chose to begin the great work of his…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5to keep the promise: In the covenant promises made to the patriarchs, God swore that their descendants would inherit the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:14–17; 15:18–21; see Deuteronomy 1:8; 8:18).Read the comment
- 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 9:5
In the dictionaries
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
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