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.
• New International Version (NIV)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.
• 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 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

18But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands. 19Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land. “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. 21If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much as your heart desires. 22Just as the gazelle and the deer are eaten, so you may eat them; the unclean and the clean alike may eat them.

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 4:10And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
• Deuteronomy 11:24Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory.
• Deuteronomy 19:8“Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers,
• Genesis 15:18On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
• Genesis 28:14Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
• Exodus 23:31And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
• Exodus 34:24For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither will any man covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.
• Deuteronomy 12:15“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike.
• Genesis 31:30And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?”
• Numbers 11:4Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?
• 2 Samuel 13:39And King David longed to go to Absalom. For he had been comforted concerning Amnon, because he was dead.
• 2 Samuel 23:15And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
• Psalms 63:1O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.
• Psalms 84:2My soul longs, yes, 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 longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
• Psalms 119:20My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments 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
• High place
• Lust
• Rest
• Appetite
• Atonement, Day of
• Choose; Chosen
• Criticism
• Exodus, the Book of
• Genesis

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