Deuteronomy 26:5

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 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 you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ 4“Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. 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. 6But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. 7Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression.

Deuteronomy 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 you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
• Genesis 25:20Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.
• Genesis 28:5So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
• Genesis 31:20And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee.
• Hosea 12:12Jacob fled to the country of Syria; Israel served for a spouse, And for a wife he tended sheep.
• Genesis 27:41So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
• Genesis 31:40There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.
• Genesis 43:1Now the famine was severe in the land.
• Genesis 45:7And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
• Isaiah 51:1“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.
• Genesis 46:1So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
• Psalms 105:23Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
• Acts 7:15So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers.
• Deuteronomy 7:7The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
• Genesis 46:27And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
• Exodus 1:5All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).

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

• First Fruits
• Patriotism

In the dictionaries

• Egypt
• God
• Aram
• Heaven
• Meatoffering
• Ready
• Tithe
• Atonement, Day of
• Criticism
• Exodus, the Book of

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