New International Version
Deuteronomy 26:5
5Then 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.
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:
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation.
Context of Deuteronomy 26:5
3and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. 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. 6But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, 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 24:4but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
- Genesis 25:20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
- Genesis 28:5Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
- Genesis 31:20Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
- Hosea 12:12Jacob fled to the country of Aram; Israel served to get a wife, and to pay for her he tended sheep.
- Genesis 27:41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
- Genesis 31:40This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
- Genesis 43:1Now the famine was still severe in the land.
- Genesis 45:7But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
- Isaiah 51:1“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
- Genesis 46:1So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
- Psalms 105:23Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
- Acts 7:15Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.
- Deuteronomy 7:7The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
- Genesis 46:27With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.
- Exodus 1:5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; 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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