Deuteronomy 8 (NET)

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

1 You must keep carefully all these commandments1 I am giving2 you today so that you may live, increase in number,3 and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors.4 2 Remember the whole way by which he5 has brought you these forty years through the desert6 so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna.7 He did this to teach you8 that humankind9 cannot live by bread10 alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth.11 4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child,12 the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you must keep his13 commandments, live according to his standards,14 and revere him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks,15 springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat food16 in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron17 and from whose hills you can mine copper. 10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.

Exhortation to Remember That Blessing Comes from God

11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 14 be sure18 you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents19 and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow20 from a flint rock and 16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you21 and eventually bring good to you. 17 Be careful22 not to say, “My own ability and skill23 have gotten me this wealth.” 18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors,24 even as he has to this day. 19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all25 and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you26 because you would not obey him.27

18:1tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6). 28:1tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11). 38:1tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.” 48:1tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18). 58:2tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons. 68:2tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15. 78:3tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27). 88:3tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons. 98:3tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”). 108:3tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV). 118:3sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4). 128:5tn Heb “just as a man disciplines his son.” The Hebrew text reflects the patriarchal idiom of the culture. 138:6tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy. 148:6tn Heb “by walking in his ways.” The “ways” of the Lord refer here to his moral standards as reflected in his commandments. The verb “walk” is used frequently in the Bible (both OT and NT) for one’s moral and ethical behavior. 158:7tn Or “wadis.” 168:9tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. NASB, NCV, NLT) or “bread” in particular (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV). 178:9sn A land whose stones are iron. Since iron deposits are few and far between in Palestine, the reference here is probably to iron ore found in mines as opposed to the meteorite iron more commonly known in that area. 188:14tn The words “be sure” are not in the Hebrew text; vv. 12-14 are part of the previous sentence. For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 in the translation and the words “be sure” repeated from v. 11 to indicate the connection. 198:15tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf). 208:15tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons. 218:16tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2. 228:17tn For stylistic reasons a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 17 in the translation and the words “be careful” supplied to indicate the connection. 238:17tn Heb “my strength and the might of my hand.” 248:18tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however. 258:19tn Heb “if forgetting, you forget.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis; the translation indicates this with the words “at all” (cf. KJV). 268:20tn Heb “so you will perish.” 278:20tn Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.