Deuteronomy 12:20

Deuteronomy 12:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because you crave meat, you may eat meat whenever you desire.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“When the Lord your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“When the Lord your God expands your territory as he has promised, and you have the urge to eat meat, you may freely eat meat whenever you want.

Context of Deuteronomy 12:20

18Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to. 19Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land. When the Lord your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, “I would like some meat,” then you may eat as much of it as you want. 21If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want. 22Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat.

Deuteronomy 12:20 word by word

כִּֽי־יַרְחִיב֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֥יךָ אֶֽת־גְּבֽוּלְךָ֮ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּר־לָךְ֒ וְאָמַרְתָּ֙ אֹכְלָ֣ה בָשָׂ֔ר כִּֽי־תְאַוֶּ֥ה נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לֶאֱכֹ֣ל בָּשָׂ֑ר בְּכָל־אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשְׁךָ֖ תֹּאכַ֥ל בָּשָֽׂר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• When the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• shall enlargeרָחַבrâchab · to enlargeH7337
• thy borderגְּבוּלgebûl gebûl · border: areaH1366
• as he hath promisedדָבַרdâbar · to speak: promiseH1696
• thee, and thou shalt sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I will eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
• because thy soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• longethאָוָה'âvâh · to desireH183
• lusteth afterאַוָּה'avvâh · desireH185

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 12:20

• 1 Chronicles 4:10Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
• Deuteronomy 11:24Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.
• Deuteronomy 19:8If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them,
• Genesis 15:18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
• Genesis 28:14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
• Exodus 23:31“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you.
• Exodus 34:24I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God.
• Deuteronomy 12:15Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the Lord your God gives you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.
• Genesis 31:30Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father’s household. But why did you steal my gods?”
• Numbers 11:4The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!
• 2 Samuel 13:39And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.
• 2 Samuel 23:15David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”
• Psalms 63:1You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
• Psalms 84:2My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
• Psalms 107:9for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
• Psalms 119:20My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12:20

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-32Verses 5-32 The command to bring ALL the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, was now explained with reference to the promised land. As to moral service, then, as now, men might pray and worship every where, as they did in their synagogues. The place which God would choose, is said to be the place where he would put his name. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, he would be found by all who reverently sought him. Now, under the…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2516. ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water--The prohibition against eating or drinking blood as an unnatural custom accompanied the announcement of the divine grant of animal flesh for food (Ge 9:4), and the prohibition was repeatedly renewed by Moses with reference to the great objects of the law (Le 17:12), the prevention of idolatry, and the consecration of the sacrificial blood to God. In regard, however, to the blood of…Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 12:20

• Sanitation

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• High place
• Lust
• Rest
• Appetite
• Atonement, Day of
• Choose; Chosen
• Criticism
• Exodus, the Book of

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 12

• 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
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings