Deuteronomy 31:16

Deuteronomy 31:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
• New International Version (NIV)And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

Context of Deuteronomy 31:16

14And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. 15And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And the LORD said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the harlot with the gods of the strangers of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Have not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? 18And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned to other gods.

Deuteronomy 31:16 word by word

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְּךָ֥ שֹׁכֵ֖ב עִם־אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ וְקָם֩ הָעָ֨ם הַזֶּ֜ה וְזָנָ֣ה׀ אַחֲרֵ֣י׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י נֵֽכַר־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה֤וּא בָא־שָׁ֙מָּה֙ בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ וַעֲזָבַ֕נִי וְהֵפֵר֙ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּרַ֖תִּי אִתּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

• LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• sleepשָׁכַבshâkab · to lie down: lay downH7901
• fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
• peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• upקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
• harlotזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• withאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• strangersנֵכָרnêkâr · foreignH5236
• landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• goבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• amongקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
• forsakeעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• breakפָּרַרpârar · to breakH6565
• covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
• madeכָּרַתkârath · to cut: make(covenant)H3772

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 31:16

• Genesis 25:8Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years ; and was gathered to his people.
• 2 Samuel 7:12And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall proceed out of thy own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
• Isaiah 57:2He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
• Acts 13:36For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption:
• Job 20:11His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.
• Exodus 32:6And they rose early on the next morning, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
• Exodus 34:15Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go astray after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
• Leviticus 20:3And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
• Judges 2:17And yet they would not hearken to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed themselves to them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.
• Psalms 73:27For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go astray from thee.
• Psalms 106:39Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went astray with their own deeds.
• Isaiah 57:3But come here, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
• Jeremiah 3:1They say, If a man shall put away his wife, and she shall go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return to her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
• Ezekiel 16:15But thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and didst play the harlot because of thy renown, and didst pour out thy harlotries on every one that passed by; his it was.
• Ezekiel 23:5And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
• Hosea 2:2Contend with your mother, contend: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her harlotry out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 31:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers - שכב shocheb, thou shalt lie down; it signifies to rest, take rest in sleep, and, metaphorically, to die. Much stress cannot be safely laid on this expression to prove the immortality of the soul, or that the people in the time of Moses had a distinct notion of its separate existence. It was, however, understood in this sense by Jonathan ben Uzziel, who in his Targum paraphrases the word thus: "Thou shalt lie…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14-23Verses 14-23 The transaction recorded in these verses may be regarded as the solemn inauguration of Joshua to the office to which he had some time before Numbers 27:22 been called, and his recognition in it by God, which were manifested by his being summoned into the tabernacle with Moses while the Lord appeared in the pillar of cloud (compare Numbers 11:25; Numbers 12:5). Deuteronomy 31:16 The future apostasy of the people is announced in the presence of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-22Verses 14-22 Moses and Joshua attended the Divine Majesty at the door of the tabernacle. Moses is told again that he must shortly die; even those who are most ready and willing to die, need to be often reminded of its coming. The Lord tells Moses, that, after his death, the covenant he had taken so much pains to make between Israel and their God, would certainly be broken. Israel would forsake Him; then God would forsake Israel. Justly does he cast those…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-29For a covenant document to remain binding and important, it had to be kept in a place where both sides could easily find it. The book of Deuteronomy needed to be preserved for future generations. In this way, Israel would continue to remember to submit to the Lord’s rule.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2216-22. the Lord said unto Moses, ... this people will rise up--In this remarkable interview, Moses was distinctly apprised of the infidelity of Israel, their corruptions of the true religion through intercourse with the idolatrous inhabitants of Canaan (Am 5:26), and their chastisements in consequence of those national defections.Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 31:16

• Backsliders
• Death
• Fellowship
• Idolatry
• Ingratitude
• Minister, Christian
• Whoredom

In the dictionaries

• Moses
• Courage
• Geber
• Hilkiah
• Crime; Crimes
• Daniel, Book of
• Deuteronomy
• God, Strange
• Law in the Old Testament
• Sleep

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 31

• 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