The Fallible Synthetic Study Bible — Deuteronomy 12:1

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Deuteronomy 12:1–28 — One Place for Worship. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Moses, being still deeply impressed with a sense of the great danger his nation would be in of falling into idolatrous practices, after their settlement in the promised land, in the neighbourhood of so many superstitious nations, begins here a new exhortation to them, reminding them of the laws provided against it, as the indispensable conditions of their happy and peaceful enjoyment of that fruitful country.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

These are the statutes and the judgements ] As in Deuteronomy 6:1 but minus the Commandment or Charge (Miṣwah) because this, the introductory enforcement of the religious principles on which the laws are based, is now finished.

Cambridge notes that the opening drops the word “commandment” (Miṣwah) — the principle-setting preamble is over; particular institutions now begin.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

We cannot serve God and mammon; nor worship the true God and idols; nor depend upon Christ Jesus and upon superstitious or self-righteous confidences.

Henry hears the whole gospel in the prohibition: as the Canaanite shrine cannot stand beside the chosen altar, so no self-made confidence can stand beside trust in Christ.

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These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’êl·leh ha·ḥuq·qîm wə·ham·miš·pā·ṭîm tiš·mə·rūn la·‘ă·śō·wṯ kāl- hay·yā·mîm ’ă·šer- ’at·tem ḥay·yîm ‘al- hā·’ă·ḏā·māh bā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê ’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā nā·ṯan lə·ḵā lə·riš·tāh

Word by word21 · parsed

אֵ֠לֶּה’êl·lehThese [are]H428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

הַֽחֻקִּ֣יםha·ḥuq·qîmthe statutesH2706

√ chôq — an enactmentArticleNounmasculine plural

חֻקִּים (ḥuqqîm, “statutes”) are engraved enactments — from a root meaning “to cut in, inscribe.” Paired with מִשְׁפָּטִים (judicial verdicts), the two cover the whole spread of decree and case-law that follows.

וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֮wə·ham·miš·pā·ṭîmand ordinancesH4941

√ mishpâṭ — properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penaltyConjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine plural

תִּשְׁמְר֣וּןtiš·mə·rūnyou must be carefulH8104

√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

The paragogic nun on תִּשְׁמְרוּן lends weight and solemnity — a fuller, more emphatic plural form fitting the opening of a major legal section.

לַעֲשׂוֹת֒la·‘ă·śō·wṯto followH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הַיָּמִ֔יםhay·yā·mîmthe daysH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)ArticleNounmasculine plural

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אַתֶּ֥ם’at·temyouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

חַיִּ֖יםḥay·yîmliveH2416

√ chay — aliveNounmasculine plural

עַל־‘al-H5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הָאֲדָמָֽה׃hā·’ă·ḏā·māhH127

√ ʼădâmâh — soil (from its general redness)ArticleNounfeminine singular

בָּאָ֕רֶץbā·’ā·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁר֩’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֜הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

The covenant name יְהוָה is immediately glossed “the God of your fathers” — the Giver of the land is the same God who swore to the patriarchs; possession rests on an older promise.

אֱלֹהֵ֧י’ĕ·lō·hêthe GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural construct

אֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵāof your fathersH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

נָתַ֨ןnā·ṯanhas givenH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

לְךָ֖lə·ḵāyou

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּlə·riš·tāhto possessH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person feminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“These [are] the-statutes and-the-ordinances you-shall-keep to-do all the-days that you-are alive upon the-ground, in-the-land that Yahweh, the-God-of your-fathers, has-given to-you to-possess-it.”

Where the English smooths the original

תִּשְׁמְר֣וּן The verb is שָׁמַר (shāmar) — its root sense is “to hedge about, guard, keep watch over,” not merely “be careful.” The statutes are to be guarded like a treasure, the same verb later used of keeping the whole Law.
הָאֲדָמָֽה Two different words for “land” sit side by side: אֲדָמָה (’ăḏāmāh, “the ground / soil”) and אֶרֶץ (’ereṣ, “the land”). The BSB flattens both into “the land”; the Hebrew distinguishes the soil you live on from the territory you possess.
לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ יָרַשׁ (yārash) is “to take possession by dispossessing” — to inherit by driving out. The same root governs “dispossessing the nations” in v. 2; the BSB’s “possess” loses the dispossession built into the word.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

to remove out of sight everything that had been associated with idolatry, that it might never be spoken of and no vestige of it remain, was the only effectual way to keep the Israelites from temptations to it. It is observable that Moses does not make any mention of temples, for such buildings were not in existence at that early period.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The presence of a god was suggested not merely by the power of life manifest in the greenness of the tree

Cambridge surveys why hill and tree drew worship — life, shade, and the rustling mobility of the foliage read as the deity’s movement or speech.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The choice of mountains and hills for places of worship by most of the heathen nations, had its origin in the wide-spread belief, that men were nearer to the Deity and to heaven there.

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Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ab·bêḏ tə·’ab·bə·ḏūn ’eṯ- kāl- ham·mə·qō·mō·wṯ ’ă·šer hag·gō·w·yim ’ă·šer ’at·tem yō·rə·šîm ’ō·ṯām ’eṯ- ‘ā·ḇə·ḏū- šām ’ĕ·lō·hê·hem ‘al- hā·rā·mîm he·hā·rîm wə·‘al- hag·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯ wə·ṯa·ḥaṯ kāl- ra·ʿă·nå̄n ‘êṣ

Word by word24 · parsed

אַבֵּ֣ד’ab·bêḏDestroy completelyH6

√ ʼâbad — properly, to wander away, iVerbPielInfinitive absolute

תְּ֠אַבְּדוּןtə·’ab·bə·ḏūn. . .H6

√ ʼâbad — properly, to wander away, iVerbPielImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

אֶֽת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הַמְּקֹמ֞וֹתham·mə·qō·mō·wṯthe placesH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֧ר’ă·šerwhereH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

הַגּוֹיִ֗םhag·gō·w·yimthe nationsH1471

√ gôwy — a foreign nationArticleNounmasculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אַתֶּ֛ם’at·temyouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

יֹרְשִׁ֥יםyō·rə·šîmare dispossessingH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)VerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

יֹרְשִׁים (yārash) — “dispossessing”: the same root as “to possess” in v. 1. Israel takes the land by displacing its prior worship, soil and shrine together.

אֹתָ֖ם’ō·ṯāmH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine plural

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

עָֽבְדוּ־‘ā·ḇə·ḏū-have servedH5647

√ ʻâbad — to work (in any sense)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

שָׁ֣םšām. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם’ĕ·lō·hê·hemtheir godsH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

עַל־‘al-atopH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הָֽרָמִים֙hā·rā·mîmthe highH7311

√ rûwm — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

“The high mountains… the hills… every green tree” is a fixed prophetic formula for illicit worship (Hosea 4:13; Jeremiah 2:20; Ezekiel 6:13). Height was thought to bring the worshipper nearer heaven; the shaded grove, nearer the god.

הֶהָרִ֤יםhe·hā·rîmmountainsH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)ArticleNounmasculine plural

וְעַל־wə·‘al-onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsConjunctive wawPreposition

הַגְּבָע֔וֹתhag·gə·ḇā·‘ō·wṯthe hillsH1389

√ gibʻâh — a hillockArticleNounfeminine plural

וְתַ֖חַתwə·ṯa·ḥaṯand underH8478

√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Conjunctive wawPreposition

כָּל־kāl-everyH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

רַעֲנָן׃ra·ʿă·nå̄ngreenH7488

√ raʻănân — verdantAdjectivemasculine singular

Note the surface form here is vocalized רַעֲנָן; the parse (adjective, ‘green/luxuriant’) governs the divergence above.

עֵ֥ץ‘êṣtreeH6086

√ ʻêts — a tree (from its firmness)Nounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Destroying you-shall-destroy all the-places where the-nations whom you are-dispossessing served there their-gods — upon the-high mountains, and-upon the-hills, and-under every luxuriant tree.”

Where the English smooths the original

אַבֵּ֣ד תְּ֠אַבְּדוּן Hebrew doubles the verb — infinitive absolute plus finite: אַבֵּד תְּאַבְּדוּן, literally “destroying you shall destroy.” The BSB’s “destroy completely” renders the force, but the emphatic Hebrew construction (utter, total annihilation) is a grammatical hammer-blow English can only paraphrase.
רַעֲנָן רַעֲנָן (ra‘ănān) is rendered “green,” but as Cambridge argues at length the root carries “luxuriant, branching, overshadowing,” even “wavy / full of sound” — the LXX renders it “leafy.” Applied to oil in Psalm 92:10 it cannot mean “green.” The shade and rustle of the tree, not its colour, is the point.
הַמְּקֹמ֞וֹת מָקוֹם (māqôm) is the keyword of the whole chapter — “place / standing-place.” Here it is the pagan place; from v. 5 onward it becomes the place Yahweh will choose. The same noun marks both the abolished and the appointed sanctuary.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The substitution in later times of bosheth for baal in the names Jerubbaal (Jerubbesheth), Eshbaal (Ishbosheth), Meribbaal (Mephibosheth), is a curious example of the literal fulfilment of this command

Ellicott reads the renaming of Baal-compounded names (replacing “Baal” with bosheth, “shame”) as Israel literally obliterating the idols’ names from memory.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

perhaps such as were called Baetulia, in imitation of the stone Jacob set up for a pillar at Bethel, Genesis 28:18 . and burn their groves with fire; which were planted about their temples, and under which also their idols were placed

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

they were also to destroy all the idols of the Canaanitish worship, as had already been commanded in Deuteronomy 7:5 , and to blot out even their names, i.e., every trace of their existence

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Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·nit·taṣ·tem ’eṯ- miz·b·ḥō·ṯå̄m wə·šib·bar·tem ’eṯ- maṣ·ṣê·ḇō·ṯām tiś·rə·p̄ūn bā·’êš wa·’ă·šê·rê·hem tə·ḡad·dê·‘ūn ū·p̄ə·sî·lê ’ĕ·lō·hê·hem wə·’ib·baḏ·tem ’eṯ- šə·mām min- ham·mā·qō·wm ha·hū

Word by word18 · parsed

וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣םwə·nit·taṣ·temTear downH5422

√ nâthats — to tear downConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

נָתַץ (nāṯaṣ) — “tear down, pull down”: the standard verb for demolishing altars and walls. A deliberately violent vocabulary runs through the verse: tear down, smash, burn, hew, obliterate.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

מִזְבּחֹתָ֗םmiz·b·ḥō·ṯå̄mtheir altarsH4196

√ mizbêach — an altarNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙wə·šib·bar·temsmashH7665

√ shâbar — to burst (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔םmaṣ·ṣê·ḇō·ṯāmtheir sacred pillarsH4676

√ matstsêbâh — something stationed, iNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּןtiś·rə·p̄ūnburn upH8313

√ sâraph — to be (causatively, set) on fireVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

בָּאֵ֔שׁbā·’êš. . .H784

√ ʼêsh — fire (literally or figuratively)Preposition-b, ArticleNouncommon singular

וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙wa·’ă·šê·rê·hemtheir Asherah polesH842

√ ʼăshêrâh — Asherah (or Astarte) a Phoenician goddessConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

תְּגַדֵּע֑וּןtə·ḡad·dê·‘ūncut downH1438

√ gâdaʻ — to fell a treeVerbPielImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

וּפְסִילֵ֥יū·p̄ə·sî·lêthe idolsH6456

√ pᵉçîyl — an idolConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

פְּסִילִים (pəsîlîm, “carved images”) are idols shaped by the chisel — man-made gods, in pointed contrast to the God who makes man.

אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם’ĕ·lō·hê·hemof their godsH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣םwə·’ib·baḏ·temand wipe outH6

√ ʼâbad — properly, to wander away, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

שְׁמָ֔םšə·māmtheir namesH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

“Their name from that place”: the singular הַמָּקוֹם reappears — the pagan place is unmade so that the chosen place (v. 5) may stand alone.

מִן־min-fromH4480

√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition

הַמָּק֖וֹםham·mā·qō·wmevery placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

הַהֽוּא׃ha·hū. . .H1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)ArticlePronounthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-you-shall-tear-down their-altars, and-smash their-sacred-pillars, and-their-Asherahs you-shall-burn with-fire, and-the-carved-images of-their-gods you-shall-hew-down, and-you-shall-obliterate their-name from that place.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־שְׁמָ֔ם Literally “you shall make their name perish” — the verb אָבַד (’ābaḏ) is the same root as “destroy” in v. 2, now turned against the very names of the gods. To erase the name is to erase the existence; the BSB’s “wipe out their names” is exact in sense.
מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔ם מַצֵּבָה (maṣṣēḇāh) is a standing stone-pillar, often a cult-stone — the same word as the pillar Jacob raised at Bethel (Genesis 28:18). What was once a memorial of God’s presence is, in pagan hands, an object to be shattered.
וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ אֲשֵׁרָה (’ăshērāh) — the BSB “Asherah poles.” The Targum renders it “abominations.” These were wooden cult-objects of the goddess; the singular act of burning them marks them as combustible, hence wood, not stone.

You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō- ṯa·‘ă·śūn Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem kên

Word by word5 · parsed

לֹֽא־lō-You shall notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

תַעֲשׂ֣וּןṯa·‘ă·śūnworshipH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

The plural verb with paragogic nun again — a weighty, formal negation opening the positive law of the single sanctuary.

לַיהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

The covenant name returns: it is precisely Yahweh your God — not a nature-deity — whose worship must not be conformed to Canaanite pattern.

אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

כֵּ֔ןkênin this wayH3651

√ kên — properly, set uprightAdverb

Though listed last by index, כֵּן is the hinge of the sentence; the whole force lands on “so.”

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“You-shall-not do so to-Yahweh your-God.”

Where the English smooths the original

כֵּ֔ן The single word כֵּן (kēn, “so / in this manner”) carries the whole prohibition: do not worship Yahweh in that way — on hilltops, under trees, by your own devising. The BSB’s “in this way” supplies what the terse Hebrew leaves implied by the preceding verses.
תַעֲשׂ֣וּן עָשָׂה (‘āśāh, “do / make”) — the same verb as “follow / do” in v. 1 and the destroying-actions of vv. 2–3, now negated. The BSB chooses “worship” for sense; the Hebrew simply says “you shall not do so.”
לֹֽא־ The verse pivots the chapter on a single לֹא (“not”): everything pagan worship does (vv. 2–3) is exactly what Israel must not do toward the true God. Right object, wrong manner, is still false worship.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

There is not one precept in all the law of Moses so largely inculcated as this, to bring all their sacrifices to that one altar. And how significant was this appointment! They must keep to one place, in token of their belief, that there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Whereas the heathen seeks and worships his nature-gods, wherever he thinks he can discern in nature any trace of Divinity, the true God has not only revealed His eternal power and Godhead in the works of creation, but His personal being, which unfolds itself to the world in love and holiness, in grace and righteousness, He has made known to man

Keil grounds the single sanctuary theologically: nature-religion scatters its shrines wherever it imagines the divine; the true God fixes His Name where He has actually revealed Himself.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

No one who was acquainted with the removal of that “place” from Shiloh to Nob, from Nob to Gibeon, from Gibeon to Jerusalem, could have written with such utter unconsciousness of later history as these words imply.

Ellicott argues from the very vagueness of “the place He will choose” for the antiquity of the law — a later writer would have known and named Jerusalem.

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Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî ’im- ṯiḏ·rə·šū ’el- ham·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem yiḇ·ḥar mik·kāl šiḇ·ṭê·ḵem lā·śūm ’eṯ- lə·šiḵ·nōw šə·mōw šām šām·māh ū·ḇā·ṯā

Word by word18 · parsed

כִּ֠יkîInsteadH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אִֽם־’im-. . .H518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

תִדְרְשׁ֖וּṯiḏ·rə·šūyou must seekH1875

√ dârash — properly, to tread or frequentVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

אֶל־’el-H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

הַמָּק֞וֹםham·mā·qō·wmthe placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֤הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

יִבְחַ֨רyiḇ·ḥarwill chooseH977

√ bâchar — properly, to try, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

The unnamed “place which He will choose” is studiously left blank — Shiloh, then Jerusalem fill it in history; the silence is itself a feature (see Gill’s three reasons).

מִכָּל־mik·kālfrom among allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔םšiḇ·ṭê·ḵemyour tribesH7626

√ shêbeṭ — a scion, iNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

לָשׂ֥וּםlā·śūmto establishH7760

√ sûwm — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹlə·šiḵ·nōwas a dwellingH7931

√ shâkan — to reside or permanently stay (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular

לְשִׁכְנוֹ (root shākan, “to dwell”) — the root behind shekinah. The chosen place is where Yahweh causes his Name to tabernacle; Keil notes the infinitive cannot mean a static “dwelling-place” but the act of His dwelling.

שְׁמ֖וֹšə·mōwfor His NameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

“His Name” (שְׁמוֹ) — the singular sanctuary safeguards the singular God: one place, one Name, one Lord.

שָׁ֑םšāmH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

שָֽׁמָּה׃šām·māhand thereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverbthird person feminine singular

וּבָ֥אתָū·ḇā·ṯāyou must goH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“But rather, to the-place that Yahweh your-God will-choose from-among all your-tribes to-set his-Name there, to-his-dwelling you-shall-seek, and-you-shall-come there.”

Where the English smooths the original

תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ דָּרַשׁ (dārash) is “to seek, inquire, resort to” — the verb of seeking God for an oracle or answer (cf. 2 Chronicles 1:5). The BSB’s “seek the place” captures the resort; the Hebrew also carries the worshipper’s inquiry of God at that place.
לָשׂ֥וּם אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ Literally “to put his Name there.” The Name (שֵׁם, shēm) is not a label but Yahweh’s self-revealed presence; to “put his Name” is to make himself present. The BSB’s “to establish as a dwelling for His Name” folds in the following word לְשִׁכְנוֹ.
יִבְחַ֨ר בָּחַר (bāḥar, “choose”) is the theological pulse of the chapter, repeated six times. The place is not Israel’s to pick (“every place you see,” v. 13) but Yahweh’s to elect — sovereign choice, not human convenience.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

to signify that their sacrifices were not accepted for their own worth, but by God’s gracious appointment, and for the sake of God’s altar, by which they were sanctified, and for the sake of Christ, whom the altar manifestly represented.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The heave offerings are described as of your hand , either because offered by the offerer's own hand, or to indicate such gifts as were made off-hand (so to speak), voluntary offerings made in addition to the legal offerings from an immediate impulse of grateful emotion.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The gifts are classified in four pairs: (1) the sacrifices intended for the altar, burnt-offerings and slain-offerings being particularly mentioned as the two principal kinds

Keil reads the list as four deliberate pairs — altar-sacrifices, tithes/heave-offerings, vows/freewill gifts, and firstlings.

source ↗

To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šām·māh wa·hă·ḇê·ṯem ‘ō·lō·ṯê·ḵem wə·ziḇ·ḥê·ḵem wə·’êṯ ma‘·śə·rō·ṯê·ḵem wə·’êṯ tə·rū·maṯ yeḏ·ḵem wə·niḏ·rê·ḵem wə·niḏ·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem ū·ḇə·ḵō·rōṯ bə·qar·ḵem wə·ṣō·nə·ḵem

Word by word14 · parsed

שָׁ֗מָּהšām·māhTo that placeH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverbthird person feminine singular

וַהֲבֵאתֶ֣םwa·hă·ḇê·ṯemyou are to bringH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

עֹלֹֽתֵיכֶם֙‘ō·lō·ṯê·ḵemyour burnt offeringsH5930

√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְזִבְחֵיכֶ֔םwə·ziḇ·ḥê·ḵemand sacrificesH2077

√ zebach — properly, a slaughter, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְאֵת֙wə·’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

מַעְשְׂרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םma‘·śə·rō·ṯê·ḵemyour tithesH4643

√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

מַעֲשֵׂר (ma‘ăśēr, “tithe”) — the tenth. Keil takes these as the so-called second tithe, eaten at the sanctuary, not the Levitical tithe of Numbers 18.

וְאֵ֖תwə·’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

תְּרוּמַ֣תtə·rū·maṯand heave offeringsH8641

√ tᵉrûwmâh — a present (as offered up), especially in sacrifice or as tributeNounfeminine singular construct

יֶדְכֶ֑םyeḏ·ḵem. . .H3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

“Of your hand” (יֶדְכֶם) attaches to the heave-offering — a gift the hand itself lifts and presents, marking it as personal and deliberate.

וְנִדְרֵיכֶם֙wə·niḏ·rê·ḵemyour vow offeringsH5088

√ neder — a promise (to God)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְנִדְבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םwə·niḏ·ḇō·ṯê·ḵemand freewill offeringsH5071

√ nᵉdâbâh — properly (abstractly) spontaneity, or (adjectively) spontaneousConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּבְכֹרֹ֥תū·ḇə·ḵō·rōṯas well as the firstbornH1060

√ bᵉkôwr — firstbornConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

בְּכוֹר (bəḵôr, “firstborn”) — the firstlings belonged to Yahweh from Exodus 13:2; bringing them to the one place enacts that they were never the owner’s to keep.

בְּקַרְכֶ֖םbə·qar·ḵemof your herdsH1241

√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Nounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

וְצֹאנְכֶֽם׃wə·ṣō·nə·ḵemand flocksH6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-there you-shall-bring your-burnt-offerings and-your-sacrifices, and your-tithes and the-heave-offering of-your-hand, and-your-vows and-your-freewill-offerings, and-the-firstborn of-your-herds and-your-flocks.”

Where the English smooths the original

תְּרוּמַ֣ת יֶדְכֶ֑ם “The heave-offering of your hand” — תְּרוּמָה (tərûmāh) is a gift “lifted off / raised up” and presented. Poole and Benson note the offerer first took it into his hands and heaved it before the Lord. The BSB’s “heave offerings” preserves the gesture the name encodes.
עֹלֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ עֹלָה (‘ōlāh, “burnt offering”) is literally the offering that “goes up” — wholly consumed, ascending in smoke. It heads the list as the principal altar-gift; the English “burnt offering” names the fire but not the ascent.
וְזִבְחֵיכֶ֔ם זֶבַח (zeḇaḥ, “sacrifice”) is specifically the slaughter-offering shared in a meal, distinct from the wholly-burnt ‘ōlāh. The pairing “burnt offerings and sacrifices” spans both kinds; the meal-portion of the zeḇaḥ is what the family later eats (v. 7).

There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šām lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ū·ḇāt·tê·ḵem wa·’ă·ḵal·tem- ū·śə·maḥ·tem bə·ḵōl miš·laḥ yeḏ·ḵem ’at·tem ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bê·raḵ·ḵā

Word by word15 · parsed

שָׁ֗םšāmThereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

לִפְנֵי֙lip̄·nêin the presenceH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּבָתֵּיכֶ֑םū·ḇāt·tê·ḵem[you and] your householdsH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

בָּתֵּיכֶם (“your households,” lit. ‘your houses’) — the meal is corporate: not the offerer alone but his whole house, servants included (vv. 12, 18).

וַאֲכַלְתֶּם־wa·’ă·ḵal·tem-shall eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗םū·śə·maḥ·temand rejoiceH8055

√ sâmach — probably to brighten up, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

The commanded rejoicing recurs as a refrain through the unit (vv. 12, 18) — covenant religion as gladness in God’s presence, shared by the whole household.

בְּכֹל֙bə·ḵōlin allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

מִשְׁלַ֣חmiš·laḥyou doH4916

√ mishlôwach — a sending out, iNounmasculine singular construct

יֶדְכֶ֔םyeḏ·ḵem. . .H3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

אַתֶּ֖ם’at·tem. . .H859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerbecauseH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֥הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

בֵּֽרַכְךָ֖bê·raḵ·ḵāhas blessed youH1288

√ bârak — to kneelVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singularsecond person masculine singular

בֵּרַכְךָ (bāraḵ, “has blessed”) grounds the joy in gift — they rejoice in what God has already given, the harvest returning to its Giver as thanks.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-you-shall-eat there before Yahweh your-God, and-you-shall-rejoice in-all the-sending-forth of-your-hand, you and-your-households, in-which Yahweh your-God has-blessed-you.”

Where the English smooths the original

מִשְׁלַ֣ח יֶדְכֶ֔ם Literally “the sending-forth of your hand” (מִשְׁלַח יָד) — the idiom for all a man undertakes and acquires by his labour (Keil: “that to which the hand is stretched out”). The BSB’s “all you do” is right but loses the vivid hand-reaching-out picture.
וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם שָׂמַח (śāmaḥ, “rejoice”) is commanded, not merely permitted — the same verb that marks the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40). Worship at the one place is to be festival, not drudgery; the imperative joy is the heart of the meal.
לִפְנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה “Before the face of Yahweh” (לִפְנֵי, from pānîm, “face”). To eat “before the LORD” is to eat in the felt presence — the meal is communion, not just consumption. The BSB’s “in the presence of” is faithful to the idiom.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Where the inconvenience of the place, and the uncertainty of their abode, would not permit exact order in sacrifices, and feasts, and ceremonies, which therefore God was then pleased to dispense with

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

if Israel and even Moses— we !—worshipped, where every man thought good

Cambridge presses the first-person plural “we” as evidence that Israel’s wilderness worship was admittedly irregular — a difficulty for any theory of an already-rigorous central ritual.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It was given to him and to Israel at a time when they were not in a position to keep it. It was the law of the land which God would give them.

Ellicott highlights the prophetic, forward-looking character of the law — framed for a settled future Israel did not yet inhabit.

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You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō ṯa·‘ă·śūn kə·ḵōl ’ă·šer ’ă·naḥ·nū ‘ō·śîm pōh hay·yō·wm ’îš kāl- hay·yā·šār bə·‘ê·nāw

Word by word12 · parsed

לֹ֣אlōYou are notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

תַעֲשׂ֔וּןṯa·‘ă·śūnto doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

כְּ֠כֹלkə·ḵōlasH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePrepositionNounmasculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אֲנַ֧חְנוּ’ă·naḥ·nūweH587

√ ʼănachnûw — wePronounfirst person common plural

עֹשִׂ֛ים‘ō·śîmare doingH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

פֹּ֖הpōhhereH6311

√ pôh — this place (French ici), iAdverb

הַיּ֑וֹםhay·yō·wmtodayH3117

“Today” (הַיּוֹם) — the present concession is dated and temporary; the ‘rest’ of v. 9 will end it.

אִ֖ישׁ’îš[where] everyoneH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

אִישׁ (“each man”) — the atomized worship of ‘everyone for himself’ is precisely what the single sanctuary is meant to end.

כָּל־kāl-[does] whatH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הַיָּשָׁ֥רhay·yā·šārseems rightH3477

√ yâshâr — straight (literally or figuratively)ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

יָשָׁר (yāshār, “right / straight”) reappears at the unit’s close (vv. 25, 28) — but there it is “right in the eyes of the LORD.” The chapter moves from self-measured right to God-measured right.

בְּעֵינָֽיו׃bə·‘ê·nāwin his own eyesH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdcthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“You-shall-not do according-to-all that we are-doing here today — each-man [doing] all that-is-right in-his-own-eyes.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַיָּשָׁ֥ר בְּעֵינָֽיו “The right in his own eyes” (הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו) is the exact phrase that damns the era of the Judges — “every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). The BSB’s “what seems right in his own eyes” quietly carries that whole later indictment of self-rule.
פֹּ֖ה פֹּה (pōh, “here”) anchors the contrast in place and time — “here, today,” in the unsettled wilderness camp — against the ordered worship of the coming land. The irregularity was a concession to wandering, not a model to keep.
אֲנַ֧חְנוּ “We are doing” — the emphatic אֲנַחְנוּ includes Moses himself: even the present generation’s practice is provisional. Cambridge notes the startling first-person plural — Moses concedes that current worship is not yet the standard.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

The land of Canaan, which was typical of the rest which remains for the people of God in heaven; for though they now enter into a spiritual rest in Christ, they are not yet come to their eternal rest

Gill reads Canaan’s “rest” typologically toward the believer’s rest in Christ and the rest that yet remains (cf. Hebrews 4:9).

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Nor would the passage of Jordan and the conquest of Joshua bring them to it.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The "rest and safety" of Canaan is significantly laid down Deuteronomy 12:10-11 as the indispensable condition and basis for an entire fulfillment of the Law: the perfection of righteousness coinciding thus with the cessation of wanderings, dangers, and toils.

source ↗

For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî lō- ‘aḏ- bā·ṯem ‘āt·tāh ’el- ham·mə·nū·ḥāh wə·’el- han·na·ḥă·lāh ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā nō·ṯên lāḵ

Word by word14 · parsed

כִּ֥יkîForH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

לֹא־lō-you have notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

עַד־‘aḏ-yetH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

בָּאתֶ֖םbā·ṯemcomeH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine plural

עָ֑תָּה‘āt·tāh. . .H6258

√ ʻattâh — at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletiveAdverb

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

הַמְּנוּחָה֙ham·mə·nū·ḥāhthe resting placeH4496

√ mᵉnûwchâh — repose or (adverbially) peacefullyArticleNounfeminine singular

Rabbinic tradition (Rashi, cited via Gill) reads “the rest” as Shiloh and “the inheritance” as Jerusalem; the fuller rest comes only under David (2 Samuel 7:1).

וְאֶל־wə·’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongConjunctive wawPreposition

הַֽנַּחֲלָ֔הhan·na·ḥă·lāhand the inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iArticleNounfeminine singular

“Rest” and “inheritance” are paired as the twin goal of the Exodus — not merely out of Egypt but into settled, deeded repose.

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-thatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֥הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

נֹתֵ֥ןnō·ṯênis givingH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

נֹתֵן (nāṯan, “is giving”) — present participle: the gift is in process, already underway though not yet possessed.

לָֽךְ׃lāḵyou

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“For you-have not yet come unto the-resting-place and-unto the-inheritance that Yahweh your-God is-giving to-you.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַמְּנוּחָה֙ מְנוּחָה (mənûḥāh, “rest / resting-place”) is more than safety — it is the settled repose of a people brought home. Hebrews 4 builds its whole argument of a remaining sabbath-rest on this Old-Testament “rest”; the BSB’s “resting place” is the seedbed of that theology.
הַֽנַּחֲלָ֔ה נַחֲלָה (naḥălāh, “inheritance”) is the allotted possession passed down as patrimony — the root behind “cause to inherit” in v. 10. The land is not seized wages but a bequeathed estate; the BSB’s “inheritance” rightly keeps the family-heritage note.
עַד־עָ֑תָּה “Not yet, until now” (עַד־עַתָּה) marks the hinge of redemptive timing: the irregular ‘here today’ of v. 8 is permitted only because the rest has not yet come. The whole law of the one place waits on arrival.

When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wa·‘ă·ḇar·tem ’eṯ- hay·yar·dên wî·šaḇ·tem bā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem man·ḥîl ’eṯ·ḵem wə·hê·nî·aḥ lā·ḵem mik·kāl ’ō·yə·ḇê·ḵem mis·sā·ḇîḇ wî·šaḇ·tem- be·ṭaḥ

Word by word17 · parsed

וַעֲבַרְתֶּם֮wa·‘ă·ḇar·temWhen you crossH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

וַעֲבַרְתֶּם אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן — “when you cross the Jordan”: the conditional ‘when,’ not ‘if’ — the entry is certain; only its timing is future.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

הַיַּרְדֵּן֒hay·yar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֣םwî·šaḇ·temand liveH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

בָּאָ֔רֶץbā·’ā·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-thatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֥הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

מַנְחִ֣ילman·ḥîlis giving you as an inheritanceH5157

√ nâchal — to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent), or (generally) to occupyVerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular

The causative manḥîl stresses that the inheritance is conferred, not conquered by Israel’s strength — the same theology as ‘the LORD will choose’ (v. 5).

אֶתְכֶ֑ם’eṯ·ḵemH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markersecond person masculine plural

וְהֵנִ֨יחַwə·hê·nî·aḥand He gives you restH5117

√ nûwach — to rest, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular

“Rest from all your enemies round about” verbally anticipates 2 Samuel 7:1, where David at last enjoys exactly this — Rashi (via Ellicott) fixes the fulfillment in David’s day.

לָכֶ֧םlā·ḵem

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

מִכָּל־mik·kālfrom allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

אֹיְבֵיכֶ֛ם’ō·yə·ḇê·ḵemthe enemiesH341

√ ʼôyêb — hatingVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

מִסָּבִ֖יבmis·sā·ḇîḇaround youH5439

√ çâbîyb — (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environsPreposition-mAdverb

וִֽישַׁבְתֶּם־wî·šaḇ·tem-and you dwellH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

בֶּֽטַח׃be·ṭaḥsecurelyH983

√ beṭach — properly, a place of refugeNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“When you-cross the-Jordan and-dwell in-the-land that Yahweh your-God is-causing-you-to-inherit, and-He-gives-rest to-you from-all your-enemies round-about, and-you-dwell securely —”

Where the English smooths the original

בֶּֽטַח בֶּטַח (beṭaḥ, “securely”) is dwelling in confidence — from the root “to trust.” It is not merely military safety but the freedom from fear that comes of being kept (cf. Judges 18:7). The BSB’s “securely” is right; the word’s trust-coloring is the deeper note.
מַנְחִ֣יל נָחַל in the causative (Hiphil) — “is causing you to inherit.” God is the active Giver of the patrimony; Israel does not take it but receives it. The BSB’s “giving you as an inheritance” renders the causative force.
וְהֵנִ֨יחַ נוּחַ (nûaḥ, “give rest”) — cognate with mənûḥāh (“rest”) in v. 9. The promised rest of v. 9 is here being enacted: God himself causes the rest. The BSB’s “He gives you rest” keeps the divine agency explicit.

then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·hā·yāh ’ă·šer- ham·mā·qō·wm Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem bōw yiḇ·ḥar lə·šak·kên šə·mōw šām šām·māh ṯā·ḇî·’ū ’êṯ kāl- ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·weh ’eṯ·ḵem ‘ō·w·lō·ṯê·ḵem wə·ziḇ·ḥê·ḵem ma‘·śə·rō·ṯê·ḵem ū·ṯə·ru·maṯ yeḏ·ḵem wə·ḵōl miḇ·ḥar niḏ·rê·ḵem ’ă·šer tid·də·rū Yah·weh

Word by word29 · parsed

וְהָיָ֣הwə·hā·yāhH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular

וְהָיָה (“and it shall be”) opens the apodosis of v. 10’s “when” — the whole law of the one place is conditioned on entry and rest first being given.

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

הַמָּק֗וֹםham·mā·qō·wmH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

יְהוָ֨הYah·wehthen the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֥ם’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

בּוֹ֙bōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

יִבְחַר֩yiḇ·ḥarwill chooseH977

√ bâchar — properly, to try, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

יִבְחַר (bāḥar) — the divine choosing, third occurrence; the place is fixed by God’s election, still unnamed.

לְשַׁכֵּ֤ןlə·šak·kêna dwellingH7931

√ shâkan — to reside or permanently stay (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbPielInfinitive construct

שְׁמוֹ֙šə·mōwfor His NameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

שָׁ֔םšāmAnd thereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

שָׁ֣מָּהšām·māh. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverbthird person feminine singular

תָבִ֔יאוּṯā·ḇî·’ūyou are to bringH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbHifilImperfectsecond person masculine plural

אֵ֛ת’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

כָּל־kāl-everythingH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אָנֹכִ֖י’ā·nō·ḵîIH595

√ ʼânôkîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

מְצַוֶּ֣הmə·ṣaw·wehcommand youH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielParticiplemasculine singular

אֶתְכֶ֑ם’eṯ·ḵemH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markersecond person masculine plural

עוֹלֹתֵיכֶ֣ם‘ō·w·lō·ṯê·ḵemyour burnt offeringsH5930

√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְזִבְחֵיכֶ֗םwə·ziḇ·ḥê·ḵemand sacrificesH2077

√ zebach — properly, a slaughter, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

מַעְשְׂרֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ma‘·śə·rō·ṯê·ḵemyour tithesH4643

√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּתְרֻמַ֣תū·ṯə·ru·maṯand special giftsH8641

√ tᵉrûwmâh — a present (as offered up), especially in sacrifice or as tributeConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct

יֶדְכֶ֔םyeḏ·ḵem. . .H3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

וְכֹל֙wə·ḵōland allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

מִבְחַ֣רmiḇ·ḥarthe choiceH4005

√ mibchâr — select, iNounmasculine singular construct

מִבְחַר and יִבְחַר share a root — God chooses the place; the worshipper brings the chosen best. Election answered by devotion.

נִדְרֵיכֶ֔םniḏ·rê·ḵemofferingsH5088

√ neder — a promise (to God)Nounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

תִּדְּר֖וּtid·də·rūyou vowH5087

√ nâdar — to promise (posVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

לַֽיהוָֽה׃Yah·wehto the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“then it-shall-be [that] the-place that Yahweh your-God will-choose to-make his-Name dwell there — there you-shall-bring all that I am-commanding you: your-burnt-offerings and-your-sacrifices, your-tithes and the-heave-offering of-your-hand, and-all the-choice of-your-vows that you-vow to-Yahweh.”

Where the English smooths the original

לְשַׁכֵּ֤ן שְׁמוֹ֙ Literally “to cause his Name to dwell there” — the causative of שָׁכַן (shākan), the ‘shekinah’ root. Where v. 5 said “to put his Name,” here the stress is on permanence: the Name tabernacles, takes up lasting residence. The BSB’s “a dwelling for His Name” conveys this.
מִבְחַ֣ר נִדְרֵיכֶ֔ם “The choice of your vows” (מִבְחַר, miḇḥar) — from the same root bāḥar (“choose”) as God’s choosing of the place. As God chooses the place, the worshipper brings the choicest of what he vowed. Vowed offerings had to be unblemished (Leviticus 22:21); the BSB’s “choice offerings” keeps the word-play.
וּתְרֻמַ֣ת יֶדְכֶ֔ם Again “the heave-offering of your hand,” here the BSB renders it “special gifts” (contrast v. 6’s “heave offerings”) — the same Hebrew תְּרוּמָה; the inconsistency is the translation’s, not the text’s.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

although males only were commanded to appear before God at the annual solemn feasts (Ex 23:17), the women were allowed to accompany them

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

such also were to partake of this entertainment, who were useful in instructing their families in the knowledge of divine things, and serviceable to them on many accounts in the worship of God

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

no share of the land as their hereditary property, and in this respect resembled strangers

Keil explains the Levite’s standing claim on the feast: lacking any landed inheritance, he depended, like the resident alien, on the people’s open table.

source ↗

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·śə·maḥ·tem lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem ’at·tem ū·ḇə·nê·ḵem ū·ḇə·nō·ṯê·ḵem wə·‘aḇ·ḏê·ḵem wə·’am·hō·ṯê·ḵem wə·hal·lê·wî ’ă·šer bə·ša·‘ă·rê·ḵem kî ’ên lōw ḥê·leq wə·na·ḥă·lāh ’it·tə·ḵem

Word by word18 · parsed

וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗םū·śə·maḥ·temAnd you shall rejoiceH8055

√ sâmach — probably to brighten up, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

לִפְנֵי֮lip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵemyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

אַתֶּ֗ם’at·temyouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

וּבְנֵיכֶם֙ū·ḇə·nê·ḵemyour sonsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּבְנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םū·ḇə·nō·ṯê·ḵemand daughtersH1323

√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְעַבְדֵיכֶ֖םwə·‘aḇ·ḏê·ḵemyour menservantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וְאַמְהֹתֵיכֶ֑םwə·’am·hō·ṯê·ḵemand maidservantsH519

√ ʼâmâh — a maidservant or female slaveConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

Wives go unmentioned not by exclusion but by inclusion — Cambridge notes they are among “those to whom the law is addressed”; the household is assumed to feast as one.

וְהַלֵּוִי֙wə·hal·lê·wîand the LeviteH3881

√ Lêvîyîy — a Levite or descendant of LeviConjunctive waw, ArticleNounpropermasculine singular

לֵוִי (Levite) — the recurring care for the landless minister (vv. 18, 19) is a refrain of Deuteronomy: worship-joy must not forget those who have no field.

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בְּשַֽׁעֲרֵיכֶ֔םbə·ša·‘ă·rê·ḵemwithin your gatesH8179

√ shaʻar — an opening, iPreposition-bNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

כִּ֣יkîsinceH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אֵ֥ין’ênhe has noH369

√ ʼayin — a non-entityAdverb

ל֛וֹlōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

חֵ֥לֶקḥê·leqportionH2506

√ chêleq — properly, smoothness (of the tongue)Nounmasculine singular

וְנַחֲלָ֖הwə·na·ḥă·lāhor inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular

נַחֲלָה here — the Levite’s lack of the very ‘inheritance’ promised to Israel (v. 9) is the ground of the command to include him.

אִתְּכֶֽם׃’it·tə·ḵemamong youH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionsecond person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-you-shall-rejoice before Yahweh your-God — you and-your-sons and-your-daughters, and-your-menservants and-your-maidservants, and-the-Levite who is-within-your-gates — since he-has no portion or-inheritance with-you.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְהַלֵּוִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּשַֽׁעֲרֵיכֶ֔ם “The Levite who is within your gates” (בְּשַׁעֲרֶיךָ, “in your gates”) — “gates” is the idiom for one’s town or settlement. The landless Levite, scattered among the tribes, is to be drawn into the household’s joy. The BSB’s “within your gates” keeps the civic image.
חֵ֥לֶק וְנַחֲלָ֖ה “Portion or inheritance” (חֵלֶק וְנַחֲלָה) — the Levite owns no allotted land (naḥălāh, the same word as Israel’s ‘inheritance’ in v. 9). Having no field, he must share the feast; his portion is the Lord himself (Numbers 18). The BSB renders the pair faithfully.
וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם The commanded rejoicing (śāmaḥ) returns from v. 7, now widened to name every member of the house — sons, daughters, servants, the Levite. Covenant gladness is deliberately inclusive; no one in the household is left outside the joy.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The choice of Jehovah makes the place of acceptance. He need not always choose the same spot

Ellicott reconciles this verse with Exodus 20:24 (“in all places where I record my name”): it is God’s choosing, not a fixed location, that makes a place valid for worship.

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

In every place that thou seest, to wit, with complacency and approbation, which thou thinkest very fit and proper for such a work, as one might possibly judge of some high places, or groves, or gardens.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

they were not to indulge their own fancies and imaginations, or follow the customs of others, but keep to the rules prescribed them by the Lord, and to the place fixed by him for his worship.

source ↗

Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hiš·šā·mer lə·ḵā pen- ta·‘ă·leh ‘ō·lō·ṯe·ḵā bə·ḵāl mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer tir·’eh

Word by word9 · parsed

הִשָּׁ֣מֶרhiš·šā·merBe carefulH8104

√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iVerbNifalImperativemasculine singular

לְךָ֔lə·ḵā

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

פֶּֽן־pen-notH6435

√ pên — properly, removalConjunction

פֶּן (pen, “lest”) — the warning particle: the law is fenced against a specific, foreseen temptation, not stated in the abstract.

תַּעֲלֶ֖הta·‘ă·lehto offerH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)VerbHifilImperfectsecond person masculine singular

עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ‘ō·lō·ṯe·ḵāyour burnt offeringsH5930

√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

The burnt offering (‘ōlāh) stands here, as the commentators say, instar omnium — the chief sacrifice named to cover all the rest (so Poole, K&D).

בְּכָל־bə·ḵālin just anyH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

מָק֖וֹםmā·qō·wmplaceH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iNounmasculine singular

מָקוֹם returns once more — ‘every place you see’ set squarely against ‘the place He will choose.’

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

תִּרְאֶֽה׃tir·’ehyou seeH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Guard yourself, lest you-offer-up your-burnt-offerings in-every place that you-see;”

Where the English smooths the original

בְּכָל־מָק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּרְאֶֽה “In every place that you see” (תִּרְאֶה, tir’eh) — the danger is worship chosen by the eye: the spot that looks fitting, a striking hill or grove. It is the exact counter to the place God chooses (v. 5). The BSB’s “just any place you see” catches the self-pleasing glance.
הִשָּׁ֣מֶר שָׁמַר in the reflexive (Niphal) — “guard yourself, take heed.” The same root as “you shall keep” in v. 1: keep the law by keeping watch over yourself. The BSB’s “be careful” is right but milder than the sentinel-image of the verb.
תַּעֲלֶ֖ה עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ A pointed cognate pair: “you offer up (תַּעֲלֶה) your burnt offerings (עֹלֹתֶיךָ)” — both from ‘ālāh, “to go up.” The burnt offering is named for the same ‘ascent’ as the act of offering. English cannot show that the verb and noun are the same word.

you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ta·‘ă·leh ‘ō·lō·ṯe·ḵā wə·šām kî ’im- bam·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer- Yah·weh yiḇ·ḥar bə·’a·ḥaḏ šə·ḇā·ṭe·ḵā šām ta·‘ă·śeh kōl ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·we·kā

Word by word17 · parsed

תַּעֲלֶ֣הta·‘ă·lehyou must offerH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)VerbHifilImperfectsecond person masculine singular

עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ‘ō·lō·ṯe·ḵā[them]H5930

√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

וְשָׁ֣םwə·šām. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenConjunctive wawAdverb

כִּ֣יkîonlyH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אִם־’im-. . .H518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

בַּמָּק֞וֹםbam·mā·qō·wmin the placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

יִבְחַ֤רyiḇ·ḥarwill chooseH977

√ bâchar — properly, to try, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

יִבְחַר (bāḥar) — the divine choosing, fourth occurrence in the chapter; the relentless repetition makes election, not human taste, the rule of worship.

בְּאַחַ֣דbə·’a·ḥaḏin oneH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iPreposition-bNumbermasculine singular construct

שְׁבָטֶ֔יךָšə·ḇā·ṭe·ḵāof your tribal territoriesH7626

√ shêbeṭ — a scion, iNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

שָׁ֖םšāmand thereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

“There… there” (שָׁם) doubled — the chosen place is hammered home; the location is the whole point of the law.

תַּעֲשֶׂ֔הta·‘ă·śehyou shall doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

תַּעֲשֶׂה (‘āśāh, “do”) — the verb of v. 1 (“to follow/do”) and v. 4 (“not do so”) returns: right doing, at the right place.

כֹּ֛לkōlallH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אָנֹכִ֖י’ā·nō·ḵîIH595

√ ʼânôkîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

מְצַוֶּֽךָּ׃mə·ṣaw·we·kācommand youH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielParticiplemasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“rather only in the-place that Yahweh will-choose in-one of-your-tribes — there you-shall-offer-up your-burnt-offerings, and-there you-shall-do all that I am-commanding you.”

Where the English smooths the original

בְּאַחַ֣ד שְׁבָטֶ֔יךָ “In one of your tribes” (בְּאַחַד, “in one”) — a subtle shift from v. 5’s “out of all your tribes.” The election narrows: from among all the tribes, to one. The BSB’s “in one of your tribal territories” marks the chosen tribe’s land as the single site.
כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י מְצַוֶּֽךָּ “All that I am commanding you” — the emphatic אָנֹכִי (“I”) is Moses speaking as Yahweh’s mouth, yet the ‘I command’ ultimately is God’s. The single place gathers the whole obedience: not selective worship but all that is commanded, in one appointed spot.
תַּעֲלֶ֣ה Again the ‘go-up’ verb עָלָה for offering, repeating v. 13 — the negative warning (“do not offer up everywhere”) is answered by the positive command (“offer up there”). Same verb, opposite force.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

This may very possibly be intended as a slight modification of a law made for the wilderness journey ( Leviticus 17:3-4 ). There the “killing ” of an ox, or lamb, or goat is forbidden anywhere except at the door of the tabernacle.

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

Every animal designed for food, whether ox, goat, or lamb, was during the abode in the wilderness ordered to be slain as a peace offering at the door of the tabernacle

JFB explains the change: in the camp every slaughter was a tabernacle peace-offering; settled in the land, the people may now prepare meat at home.

source ↗

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Flesh that was slaughtered for food could be eaten by both clean and unclean, such for example as the roebuck and the hart, animals which could not be offered in sacrifice

source ↗

But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

raq bə·ḵāl nap̄·šə·ḵā ’aw·waṯ tiz·baḥ wə·’ā·ḵal·tā ḇā·śār bə·ḵāl šə·‘ā·re·ḵā kə·ḇir·kaṯ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ’ă·šer nā·ṯan- lə·ḵā wə·haṭ·ṭā·hō·wr haṭ·ṭā·mê yō·ḵə·len·nū kaṣ·ṣə·ḇî wə·ḵā·’ay·yāl

Word by word20 · parsed

רַק֩raqButH7535

√ raq — properly, leanness, iAdverb

רַק (raq, “only”) opens a string of qualifying exceptions (vv. 15, 16, 23, 26) that loosen the strict altar-rule for the settled land.

בְּכָל־bə·ḵālwheneverH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

נַפְשְׁךָ֜nap̄·šə·ḵāyouH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) here means “appetite” — the same word that in v. 23 means “life.” The soul that craves meat must not eat the soul (life) in the meat.

אַוַּ֨ת’aw·waṯwantH185

√ ʼavvâh — longingNounfeminine singular construct

תִּזְבַּ֣ח׀tiz·baḥyou may slaughterH2076

√ zâbach — to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

וְאָכַלְתָּ֣wə·’ā·ḵal·tāand eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

בָשָׂ֗רḇā·śārmeatH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Nounmasculine singular

בְּכָל־bə·ḵālwithin anyH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

שְׁעָרֶ֑יךָšə·‘ā·re·ḵāof your gatesH8179

√ shaʻar — an opening, iNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

כְּבִרְכַּ֨תkə·ḇir·kaṯaccording to the blessingH1293

√ Bᵉrâkâh — benedictionPreposition-kNounfeminine singular construct

יְהוָ֧הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

נָֽתַן־nā·ṯan-has givenH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

לְךָ֖lə·ḵāyou

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

וְהַטָּהוֹר֙wə·haṭ·ṭā·hō·wrBoth the ceremonially cleanH2889

√ ṭâhôwr — pure (in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense)Conjunctive waw, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

הַטָּמֵ֤אhaṭ·ṭā·mêand uncleanH2931

√ ṭâmêʼ — foul in a religious senseArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

יֹאכְלֶ֔נּוּyō·ḵə·len·nūmay eat itH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

כַּצְּבִ֖יkaṣ·ṣə·ḇîas they would a gazelleH6643

√ tsᵉbîy — splendor (as conspicuous)Preposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine singular

צְבִי (gazelle) and אַיָּל (hart) recur as a fixed pair (vv. 22; 14:5) — the standard example of clean-but-non-sacrificial game.

וְכָאַיָּֽל׃wə·ḵā·’ay·yālor deerH354

√ ʼayâl — a stag or male deerConjunctive waw, Preposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Only, in-all the-desire of-your-soul you-may-slaughter and-eat flesh within-all your-gates, according-to-the-blessing of-Yahweh your-God that He-has-given you; the-unclean and-the-clean may-eat-it, like the-gazelle and-like the-deer.”

Where the English smooths the original

אַוַּ֨ת נַפְשְׁךָ֜ “The desire of your soul” (אַוַּת נֶפֶשׁ) — ’awwāh is “craving, longing,” a rare word (only seven verses in all Scripture). It links this permission to v. 20’s “you crave meat.” The BSB’s “whenever you want” flattens the bodily longing the Hebrew names.
תִּזְבַּ֣ח זָבַח (zāḇaḥ) is the sacrificial slaughter-verb — yet here it is granted for ordinary food. This is the very point: what was once permitted only at the altar (Leviticus 17:3–4) may now be done at home. The cultic verb is desacralized for the table.
כַּצְּבִ֖י וְכָאַיָּֽל “Like the gazelle and like the deer” (צְבִי / אַיָּל) — game animals that could never be sacrificed. By naming them, the law says home-slaughtered ox or sheep is now as common as venison; the clean/unclean distinction of the altar simply does not apply.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The blood, which is the life, must be poured upon the earth for God, whether the victim was consigned to the altar or not. It was a continual reminder of the necessity for the sacrifice of the death of Christ

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

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

source ↗

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The blood was to be poured out upon the earth like water, that it might suck it in, receive it into its bosom.

source ↗

but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

raq lō ṯō·ḵê·lū had·dām tiš·pə·ḵen·nū ‘al- hā·’ā·reṣ kam·mā·yim

Word by word8 · parsed

רַ֥קraqbutH7535

√ raq — properly, leanness, iAdverb

רַק (“only”) again — the one limit on the wide grant of v. 15: eat freely, but never the blood.

לֹ֣אlōyou must notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

Plural תֹאכֵלוּ (“ye shall not eat”) amid a singular-address section — Cambridge takes the number-shift as a mark of a later editorial insertion (vv. 15–16).

תֹאכֵ֑לוּṯō·ḵê·lūeatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

הַדָּ֖םhad·dāmthe bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalArticleNounmasculine singular

The blood-prohibition reaches back before Sinai to Noah (Genesis 9:4) and forward into the Church’s decree (Acts 15:20) — one of the longest unbroken threads in Scripture.

תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּtiš·pə·ḵen·nūpourH8210

√ shâphak — to spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metalVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

עַל־‘al-it onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הָאָ֥רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe groundH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

כַּמָּֽיִם׃kam·mā·yimlike waterH4325

√ mayim — waterPreposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Only the-blood you-shall-not eat; upon the-ground you-shall-pour-it like-water.”

Where the English smooths the original

כַּמָּֽיִם “Like water” (כַּמַּיִם) — blood poured out unceremoniously, soaked into the earth, treated as common spillage. The simile insists the blood is not to be hoarded, drunk, or made a private offering; it is surrendered, not used. The BSB keeps the stark image.
הַדָּ֖ם דָּם (dām, “blood”) carries the whole weight: the one absolute reservation amid the new freedom. Flesh is freed to the table; blood is reserved to God. The single noun marks the line that may never be crossed (cf. Genesis 9:4).
תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ שָׁפַךְ (shāp̄aḵ, “pour out, spill”) — the same verb used of shedding blood in violence and of pouring the sacrificial blood at the altar (v. 27). Here it is deliberate release onto the ground: the life is given back, not consumed.

Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

biš·‘ā·re·ḵā ṯū·ḵal lō- le·’ĕ·ḵōl ma‘·śar də·ḡā·nə·ḵā wə·ṯî·rō·šə·ḵā wə·yiṣ·hā·re·ḵā ū·ḇə·ḵō·rōṯ bə·qā·rə·ḵā wə·ṣō·ne·ḵā wə·ḵāl nə·ḏā·re·ḵā ’ă·šer tid·dōr wə·niḏ·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā yā·ḏe·ḵā ū·ṯə·rū·maṯ

Word by word18 · parsed

בִּשְׁעָרֶ֗יךָbiš·‘ā·re·ḵāWithin your gatesH8179

√ shaʻar — an opening, iPreposition-bNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

תוּכַ֞לṯū·ḵalyou mustH3201

√ yâkôl — to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

לֹֽא־lō-notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

לֶאֱכֹ֣לle·’ĕ·ḵōleatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

מַעְשַׂ֤רma‘·śarthe titheH4643

√ maʻăsêr — a tenthNounmasculine singular construct

“Grain, new wine, and oil” (דָּגָן / תִּירוֹשׁ / יִצְהָר) is the standard triad of the land’s produce — the tithe of all three is owed to the place of the Name.

דְּגָֽנְךָ֙də·ḡā·nə·ḵāof your grainH1715

√ dâgân — properly, increase, iNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְתִֽירֹשְׁךָ֣wə·ṯî·rō·šə·ḵāor new wineH8492

√ tîyrôwsh — must or fresh grape-juice (as just squeezed out)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְיִצְהָרֶ֔ךָwə·yiṣ·hā·re·ḵāor oilH3323

√ yitshâr — oil (as producing light)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וּבְכֹרֹ֥תū·ḇə·ḵō·rōṯthe firstbornH1060

√ bᵉkôwr — firstbornConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

בְּכֹרֹת (firstlings) — the firstborn of herd and flock were Yahweh’s from birth (Exodus 13:2); they cannot be privately consumed.

בְּקָרְךָ֖bə·qā·rə·ḵāof your herdsH1241

√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Nounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְצֹאנֶ֑ךָwə·ṣō·ne·ḵāor flocksH6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְכָל־wə·ḵālanyH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

נְדָרֶ֙יךָ֙nə·ḏā·re·ḵāof the offeringsH5088

√ neder — a promise (to God)Nounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

תִּדֹּ֔רtid·dōryou have vowed to giveH5087

√ nâdar — to promise (posVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

וְנִדְבֹתֶ֖יךָwə·niḏ·ḇō·ṯe·ḵāor your freewill offeringsH5071

√ nᵉdâbâh — properly (abstractly) spontaneity, or (adjectively) spontaneousConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

יָדֶֽךָ׃yā·ḏe·ḵā. . .H3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וּתְרוּמַ֥תū·ṯə·rū·maṯor special giftsH8641

√ tᵉrûwmâh — a present (as offered up), especially in sacrifice or as tributeConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct

תְּרוּמַת יָדֶךָ (“heave-offering of your hand”) closes the list — the same lifted gift as vv. 6, 11, here forbidden to the home table.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“You-are-not able to-eat within-your-gates the-tithe of-your-grain or-your-new-wine or-your-oil, or-the-firstborn of-your-herds or-your-flocks, or-any of-your-vows that you-vow, or-your-freewill-offerings or-the-heave-offering of-your-hand.”

Where the English smooths the original

תוּכַ֞ל לֹֽא־ “You are not able” (לֹא־תוּכַל, from yāḵōl, “to be able”) — not “you must not” but a flat legal inability: it is not in your power to eat these at home. The Pulpit Commentary notes the verb of capacity used for prohibition. The BSB’s “you must not eat” renders the binding sense.
בִּשְׁעָרֶ֗יךָ “Within your gates” (שְׁעָרֶיךָ) — your own town, set in pointed contrast to “the place” (v. 18). The holy portions may be eaten, but only there, not here. Benson: “in your private habitations… opposed to the place of God’s worship.”
מַעְשַׂ֤ר דְּגָֽנְךָ֙ “The tithe of your grain” (מַעֲשֵׂר, the tenth) — the consecrated tenth of grain, wine, oil. These holy things, like the firstlings and vows, belong to the sanctuary table; eating them at home would profane what was set apart.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy Scripturec. 1905

What was sacrifice becomes food. The same Person and facts, apprehended by faith, are, in regard to their bearing on the divine government, the ground of pardon, and in regard to their operation within us, the source of spiritual sustenance. Christ for us is our pardon; Christ in us is our life.

Maclaren preaches the peace-offering meal as a type of feeding on Christ — the sacrifice that atones becomes the food that nourishes.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

cheerfully make and keep this feast in the manner directed to, rejoicing with his family and his friends, with the Levites and with the poor, expressing his thankfulness to God for his blessing on his labour.

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The distribution of the Levites throughout the several tribes (ordered in Numbers 35:1-8 ), and carried out by Joshua (Deuteronomy 21), is here anticipated.

source ↗

Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî ’im- tō·ḵə·len·nū lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bam·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bōw yiḇ·ḥar ’at·tāh ū·ḇin·ḵā ū·ḇit·te·ḵā wə·‘aḇ·də·ḵā wa·’ă·mā·ṯe·ḵā wə·hal·lê·wî ’ă·šer biš·‘ā·re·ḵā wə·śā·maḥ·tā lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā bə·ḵōl miš·laḥ yā·ḏe·ḵā

Word by word27 · parsed

כִּ֡יkîInsteadH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אִם־’im-. . .H518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

תֹּאכְלֶ֗נּוּtō·ḵə·len·nūyou must eat themH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

לִפְנֵי֩lip̄·nêin the presenceH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֨הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

בַּמָּקוֹם֙bam·mā·qō·wmat the placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

מָקוֹם + בָּחַר together again — “the place the LORD will choose”: the chapter’s refrain, binding eating, rejoicing, and offering to the single elected site.

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶיךָ֮’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

בּוֹ֒bōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

יִבְחַ֜רyiḇ·ḥarwill chooseH977

√ bâchar — properly, to try, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

אַתָּ֨ה’at·tāhyouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine singular

וּבִנְךָ֤ū·ḇin·ḵāyour sonsH1121

וּבִתֶּ֙ךָ֙ū·ḇit·te·ḵāand daughtersH1323

√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְעַבְדְּךָ֣wə·‘aḇ·də·ḵāyour menservantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וַאֲמָתֶ֔ךָwa·’ă·mā·ṯe·ḵāand maidservantsH519

√ ʼâmâh — a maidservant or female slaveConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְהַלֵּוִ֖יwə·hal·lê·wîand the LeviteH3881

√ Lêvîyîy — a Levite or descendant of LeviConjunctive waw, ArticleNounpropermasculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָbiš·‘ā·re·ḵāwithin your gatesH8179

√ shaʻar — an opening, iPreposition-bNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֗wə·śā·maḥ·tāRejoiceH8055

√ sâmach — probably to brighten up, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

וְשָׂמַחְתָּ — Maclaren reads the eaten peace-offering as the pattern of communion-with-God: what was laid on the altar comes back as food, sacrifice turned to sacrament.

לִפְנֵי֙lip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

בְּכֹ֖לbə·ḵōlin allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

מִשְׁלַ֥חmiš·laḥyou doH4916

√ mishlôwach — a sending out, iNounmasculine singular construct

“The sending-forth of your hand” (מִשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ) repeats v. 7 — they rejoice in the fruit of their labour, offered and returned.

יָדֶֽךָ׃yā·ḏe·ḵā. . .H3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Rather, before Yahweh your-God you-shall-eat-it, in-the-place that Yahweh your-God will-choose — you and-your-son and-your-daughter and-your-manservant and-your-maidservant, and-the-Levite who is-within-your-gates; and-you-shall-rejoice before Yahweh your-God in-all the-sending-forth of-your-hand.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֗ לִפְנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה “You shall rejoice before Yahweh” — the third sounding of the commanded joy (vv. 7, 12). What looked like a restriction (you may not eat at home) is in fact an invitation to the festal table in God’s presence. The eating is communion, the mood is gladness.
תֹּאכְלֶ֗נּוּ אָכַל (’āḵal, “eat”) — the same verb that was forbidden in v. 17 (“not able to eat… within your gates”) is here commanded (“you shall eat it… before the LORD”). Same act, transformed by place: profane at home, holy at the sanctuary.
וְהַלֵּוִ֖י אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ “The Levite within your gates” recurs from v. 12 — the very portions the offerer brings from his gates to the place are to be shared with the landless Levite of his gates. The household’s joy gathers in the one who has no field.

and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hiš·šā·mer lə·ḵā pen- ta·‘ă·zōḇ ’eṯ- hal·lê·wî kāl- yā·me·ḵā ‘al- ’aḏ·mā·ṯe·ḵā

Word by word10 · parsed

הִשָּׁ֣מֶרhiš·šā·merand be carefulH8104

√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iVerbNifalImperativemasculine singular

לְךָ֔lə·ḵā

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

פֶּֽן־pen-notH6435

√ pên — properly, removalConjunction

תַּעֲזֹ֖בta·‘ă·zōḇto neglectH5800

√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

Poole sees the perennial danger plainly: “lest a worldly mind and self-love make thee rob the Levites of their dues” — the abuse Malachi 3:8 later names.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

הַלֵּוִ֑יhal·lê·wîthe LevitesH3881

√ Lêvîyîy — a Levite or descendant of LeviArticleNounpropermasculine singular

לֵוִי — the third mention of the Levite in the unit (vv. 12, 18, 19); the repeated charge makes generosity to him a test of true devotion.

כָּל־kāl-asH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

יָמֶ֖יךָyā·me·ḵā. . .H3117

עַל־‘al-long as you live inH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

אַדְמָתֶֽךָ׃ס’aḏ·mā·ṯe·ḵāyour landH127

√ ʼădâmâh — soil (from its general redness)Nounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

אַדְמָתֶךָ (“your ground”) — the same word as v. 1; the duty is bound to life on the very soil God gives.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Guard yourself, lest you-forsake the-Levite all your-days upon your-ground.”

Where the English smooths the original

תַּעֲזֹ֖ב עָזַב (‘āzaḇ, “forsake, abandon”) — a strong word: not merely “overlook” but leave in the lurch. The same verb of God’s pledge never to “forsake” his own (Deuteronomy 31:6) is here turned into a duty: do not you forsake the Levite. The BSB’s “neglect” is gentler than the Hebrew’s abandonment.
כָּל־יָמֶ֖יךָ “All your days” (כָּל־יָמֶיךָ) — the care for the Levite is not occasional but lifelong, echoing “all the days you live” of v. 1. The whole of the worshipper’s life is to keep the landless minister in view.
הִשָּׁ֣מֶר Again the reflexive guard yourself (shāmar, Niphal), as in v. 13 — the same sentinel-verb that fences against false worship now fences against forgetting the Levite. Right worship and care for the poor are guarded by one watchword.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Being obliged to carry their sacrifices to the place of worship, they might think themselves obliged to carry their other cattle thither to be killed. They are therefore released from all such obligations, and left at liberty to kill them at home

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The frankness of this statement is noteworthy.

Cambridge remarks on the candor of “because thy soul desireth” — the law openly grants the satisfaction of bodily appetite, with the soul named as the seat of craving.

source ↗

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

This extension relates partly to the gradual but complete extermination of the Canaanites ( Deuteronomy 7:22 , comp. with Exodus 23:27-33 ), and partly to the extension of the territory of the Israelites beyond the limits of Canaan Proper, in accordance with the divine promise in Genesis 15:18 .

source ↗

When the LORD your God expands your territory as He has promised, and you crave meat and say, “I want to eat meat,” you may eat it whenever you want.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ’eṯ- yar·ḥîḇ gə·ḇū·lə·ḵā ka·’ă·šer dib·ber- lāḵ kî- nap̄·šə·ḵā ṯə·’aw·weh le·’ĕ·ḵōl bā·śār wə·’ā·mar·tā ’ō·ḵə·lāh ḇā·śār tō·ḵal bā·śār bə·ḵāl nap̄·šə·ḵā ’aw·waṯ

Word by word22 · parsed

כִּֽי־kî-WhenH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

יְהוָ֨הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֥יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

אֶֽת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

יַרְחִיב֩yar·ḥîḇexpandsH7337

√ râchab — to broaden (intransitive or transitive, literal or figurative)VerbHifilImperfectthird person masculine singular

The expansion of the border is a recognized OT promise (Exodus 34:24); Cambridge calls the frank acknowledgment of bodily craving here “noteworthy.”

גְּבֽוּלְךָ֮gə·ḇū·lə·ḵāyour territoryH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רka·’ă·šerasH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative

דִּבֶּר־dib·ber-He has promisedH1696

√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular

לָךְ֒lāḵ

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

כִּֽי־kî-H3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

נַפְשְׁךָ֖nap̄·šə·ḵāand youH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

תְאַוֶּ֥הṯə·’aw·wehcraveH183

√ ʼâvâh — to wish forVerbPielImperfectthird person feminine singular

תְאַוֶּה (’āwāh) — the verb is rare enough (seven verses) that the Verifier flags it as a genuine verbal link to Jeremiah 2:24 and Hosea 10:10.

לֶאֱכֹ֣לle·’ĕ·ḵōl. . .H398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

בָּשָׂ֑רbā·śārmeatH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Nounmasculine singular

וְאָמַרְתָּ֙wə·’ā·mar·tāand sayH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

אֹכְלָ֣ה’ō·ḵə·lāhI want to eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfect Cohortativefirst person common singular

בָשָׂ֔רḇā·śārmeatH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Nounmasculine singular

תֹּאכַ֥לtō·ḵalyou may eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

בָּשָֽׂר׃bā·śāritH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Nounmasculine singular

בְּכָל־bə·ḵālwheneverH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

נַפְשְׁךָ֖nap̄·šə·ḵāyouH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

אַוַּ֥ת’aw·waṯwantH185

√ ʼavvâh — longingNounfeminine singular construct

אַוַּת נֶפֶשׁ — this clustered repetition of the craving-word ties vv. 15, 20, 21 into one law: appetite is permitted, only the blood is reserved.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“When Yahweh your-God enlarges your-border, as He-has-promised you, and-you-say, ‘I-will-eat flesh,’ because your-soul craves to-eat flesh — in-all the-craving of-your-soul you-may-eat flesh.”

Where the English smooths the original

אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשְׁךָ֖ / תְאַוֶּ֥ה Twice the rare root אָוָה (’āwāh, “to crave, long for”): the verb “craves” and the noun “craving of your soul.” This is the same uncommon word (only seven verses) as in v. 15 — and shared with Jeremiah 2:24, where it names the wild donkey’s lust. The BSB’s “crave… whenever you want” renders both, but the bodily longing is the link.
יַרְחִיב֩ גְּבֽוּלְךָ֮ “Enlarges your border” (רָחַב, “to widen”) — the promised expansion of the land (Genesis 15:18; Exodus 34:24). The further the border from the one sanctuary, the more necessary this concession to slaughter at home. Geography drives the law’s mercy.
נַפְשְׁךָ֖ נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) here = “appetite, desire” — the candid Hebrew names the body’s hunger without embarrassment. The same word will mean “life” in v. 23: the soul that craves the flesh must not eat the soul (life) that is in it.

If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî- ham·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā yiḇ·ḥar lā·śūm šə·mōw šām yir·ḥaq mim·mə·ḵā wə·zā·ḇaḥ·tā mib·bə·qā·rə·ḵā ū·miṣ·ṣō·nə·ḵā Yah·weh nā·ṯan ka·’ă·šer lə·ḵā ’ă·šer ṣiw·wî·ṯi·ḵā wə·’ā·ḵal·tā biš·‘ā·re·ḵā bə·ḵōl nap̄·še·ḵā ’aw·waṯ

Word by word25 · parsed

כִּֽי־kî-IfH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

הַמָּק֗וֹםham·mā·qō·wmthe placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

מָקוֹם + the Name — even when distant, the sanctuary remains the place; the home-slaughter is exception, not rival altar.

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerwhereH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶיךָ֮’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

יִבְחַ֜רyiḇ·ḥarchoosesH977

√ bâchar — properly, to try, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

יִבְחַר (bāḥar) — the divine choosing recurs even in the concession: the home-table is allowed precisely because the chosen place is far, not because the choice is dispensable.

לָשׂ֣וּםlā·śūmto putH7760

√ sûwm — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

שְׁמ֣וֹšə·mōwHis NameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

שָׁם֒šām. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

יִרְחַ֨קyir·ḥaqis too farH7368

√ râchaq — to widen (in any direction), iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

מִמְּךָ֜mim·mə·ḵāfrom youH4480

√ min — properly, a part ofPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

וְזָבַחְתָּ֞wə·zā·ḇaḥ·tāthen you may slaughterH2076

√ zâbach — to slaughter an animal (usually in sacrifice)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

מִבְּקָרְךָ֣mib·bə·qā·rə·ḵāany of the herdH1241

√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Preposition-mNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וּמִצֹּֽאנְךָ֗ū·miṣ·ṣō·nə·ḵāor flockH6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-mNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehHeH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

נָתַ֤ןnā·ṯanhas givenH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רka·’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative

לְךָ֔lə·ḵāyou

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerasH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

צִוִּיתִ֑ךָṣiw·wî·ṯi·ḵāI have commanded youH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielPerfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular

“As I have commanded you” refers back to v. 15 (so K&D) — if v. 15 is a later insertion, this cross-reference travels with it.

וְאָֽכַלְתָּ֙wə·’ā·ḵal·tāand you may eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

בִּשְׁעָרֶ֔יךָbiš·‘ā·re·ḵāit within your gatesH8179

√ shaʻar — an opening, iPreposition-bNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

בְּכֹ֖לbə·ḵōlwheneverH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃nap̄·še·ḵāyouH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

אַוַּ֥ת’aw·waṯwantH185

√ ʼavvâh — longingNounfeminine singular construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“If the-place that Yahweh your-God chooses to-set his-Name there is-too-far from-you, then-you-may-slaughter from-your-herd and-from-your-flock that Yahweh has-given you, as I-have-commanded you, and-you-may-eat within-your-gates in-all the-craving of-your-soul.”

Where the English smooths the original

יִרְחַ֨ק מִמְּךָ֜ “Is too far from you” (רָחַק, rāḥaq, “to be distant”) — distance is the stated reason the strict altar-rule (Leviticus 17:3) is relaxed. Barnes renders it “because the place will be too far.” Mercy meets the practical limit of a wide land.
וְזָבַחְתָּ֞ Again the sacrificial verb זָבַח (zāḇaḥ) used for plain slaughter — “as I have commanded you” points back to v. 15. The cultic word is licensed for the kitchen; the act once reserved to the altar is now allowed at home for distance’s sake.
אַוַּ֥ת נַפְשֶֽׁךָ A third time the rare “craving of your soul” (’awwāh + nephesh) — vv. 15, 20, 21 chant the same permission. The repetition is not redundancy but emphasis: the appetite is fully and repeatedly granted, hemmed only by the blood-law to follow.

Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’aḵ yê·’ā·ḵêl ’eṯ- ka·’ă·šer tō·ḵə·len·nū haṣ·ṣə·ḇî wə·’eṯ- hā·’ay·yāl kên yaḥ·dāw haṭ·ṭā·mê wə·haṭ·ṭā·hō·wr yō·ḵə·len·nū

Word by word13 · parsed

אַ֗ךְ’aḵIndeedH389

√ ʼak — a particle of affirmation, surelyAdverb

אַךְ — the affirming particle balances the ‘only’ (raq) of v. 23: free to eat, but absolutely not the blood.

יֵאָכֵ֤לyê·’ā·ḵêlyou may eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular

אֶֽת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רka·’ă·šerit asH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative

תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּtō·ḵə·len·nūyou would eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

הַצְּבִי֙haṣ·ṣə·ḇîa gazelleH6643

√ tsᵉbîy — splendor (as conspicuous)ArticleNounmasculine singular

צְבִי / אַיָּל (gazelle / hart) reappear from v. 15 — the rare animal-pair (Cambridge: covering many kinds of gazelle, antelope, and deer) is the fixed benchmark for clean-but-non-sacrificial food.

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

הָ֣אַיָּ֔לhā·’ay·yālor deerH354

√ ʼayâl — a stag or male deerArticleNounmasculine singular

כֵּ֖ןkên. . .H3651

√ kên — properly, set uprightAdverb

יַחְדָּ֖וyaḥ·dāwbothH3162

√ yachad — properly, a unit, iAdverb

יַחְדָּו — the leveling word: at the table of common food, ritual rank is set aside.

הַטָּמֵא֙haṭ·ṭā·mêthe ceremonially uncleanH2931

√ ṭâmêʼ — foul in a religious senseArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

וְהַטָּה֔וֹרwə·haṭ·ṭā·hō·wrand the cleanH2889

√ ṭâhôwr — pure (in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense)Conjunctive waw, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

יֹאכְלֶֽנּוּ׃yō·ḵə·len·nūmay eat itH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Indeed, as the-gazelle and the-deer is-eaten, so you-may-eat-it; the-unclean and-the-clean together may-eat-it.”

Where the English smooths the original

יַחְדָּ֖ו “Together / alike” (יַחְדָּו, yaḥdāw) — Keil presses the nuance: not that clean and unclean must eat with one another, but that “the one just the same as the other” may eat. The ceremonial barrier simply does not stand at the common table. The BSB’s “both… may eat it” keeps the equality.
הַטָּמֵא֙ וְהַטָּה֔וֹר “The unclean and the clean” (טָמֵא / טָהוֹר) — the cultic categories that govern the altar are suspended for ordinary meat, since this is food, not sacrifice. Benson: “there was no holiness in such meat for which the unclean might be excluded.”
אַ֗ךְ אַךְ (’aḵ, “indeed, surely”) — an emphatic particle confirming the prior grant: yes truly, eat domestic animals as freely as game. It reinforces, not qualifies; the BSB’s “Indeed” is apt.

Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

raq ḥă·zaq lə·ḇil·tî ’ă·ḵōl had·dām kî had·dām hū han·nā·p̄eš wə·lō- ṯō·ḵal han·ne·p̄eš ‘im- hab·bā·śār

Word by word14 · parsed

רַ֣קraqOnlyH7535

√ raq — properly, leanness, iAdverb

חֲזַ֗קḥă·zaqbe sureH2388

√ châzaq — to fasten uponVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

חֲזַק (“be strong”) used for a dietary law is striking — it names appetite as a power requiring resolve to master, the same verb of courage given to leaders and soldiers.

לְבִלְתִּי֙lə·ḇil·tînotH1115

√ biltîy — properly, a failure of, iPreposition-l

אֲכֹ֣ל’ă·ḵōlto eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalInfinitive construct

הַדָּ֔םhad·dāmthe bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalArticleNounmasculine singular

כִּ֥יkîbecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

הַדָּ֖םhad·dāmthe bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalArticleNounmasculine singular

ה֣וּאhūisH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular

הַנָּ֑פֶשׁhan·nā·p̄ešthe lifeH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iArticleNounfeminine singular

“The blood is the life” is the seed of Levitical atonement theology (Leviticus 17:11) — the life given in the blood is what makes blood the means of atonement on the altar.

וְלֹא־wə·lō-and you must notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

תֹאכַ֥לṯō·ḵaleatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁhan·ne·p̄ešthe lifeH5315

√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iArticleNounfeminine singular

The double נֶפֶשׁ (life, here) versus its earlier sense (appetite) is the chapter’s most pointed word-turn — craving mastered by reverence for life.

עִם־‘im-withH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition

הַבָּשָֽׂר׃hab·bā·śārthe meatH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)ArticleNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Only be-strong not to-eat the-blood, because the-blood — it is the-life; and-you-shall-not eat the-life with the-flesh.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַדָּ֖ם ה֣וּא הַנָּ֑פֶשׁ “The blood — it is the life” (הַדָּם הוּא הַנֶּפֶשׁ) — a flat identification: blood is nephesh, the life-soul. This is the theological reason for the whole prohibition (cf. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:11). To consume the blood is to consume the life that belongs to God alone.
חֲזַ֗ק לְבִלְתִּי֙ אֲכֹ֣ל “Be strong not to eat” (חֲזַק, ḥăzaq) — the imperative of strength, the same word charged on Joshua (Joshua 1:6). Keil: “steadfastly resist the temptation.” The pull toward blood was real (1 Samuel 14:32); the BSB’s “be sure” softens the call to resolute resistance.
הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh) here means “life” — the very word that meant “appetite / craving” in vv. 15, 20, 21. The chapter’s key word turns: the soul that craved the flesh must not eat the soul that is the life in it.

You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō tō·ḵə·len·nū tiš·pə·ḵen·nū ‘al- hā·’ā·reṣ kam·mā·yim

Word by word6 · parsed

לֹ֖אlōvvvH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

The near-identical repeat of v. 16 frames the “blood is the life” verse (v. 23) between two identical commands — a deliberate envelope around the reason.

תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּtō·ḵə·len·nūYou must not eat [the blood]H398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּtiš·pə·ḵen·nūpourH8210

√ shâphak — to spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metalVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

תִּשְׁפְּכֶנּוּ — the same verb (v. 16) and the same verb used at the altar (v. 27): blood is always ‘poured,’ whether onto the ground or against the altar.

עַל־‘al-it onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הָאָ֥רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe groundH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

כַּמָּֽיִם׃kam·mā·yimlike waterH4325

√ mayim — waterPreposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine plural

“Like water” — Gill: “signifying it was not to be used, and no account to be made of it” — release, not ritual, at the common table.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“You-shall-not eat-it; upon the-ground you-shall-pour-it like-water.”

Where the English smooths the original

תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ שָׁפַךְ (shāp̄aḵ, “pour out”) — the verse repeats v. 16 almost verbatim, the blood-law restated for emphasis after the “blood is the life” of v. 23. The repetition is itself the message: this command is not to be eased. The BSB keeps the exact echo of v. 16.
כַּמָּֽיִם “Like water” again (כַּמַּיִם) — the second time the simile lands: blood is to be treated as the most common, valueless spillage, poured away, never gathered. What is most sacred to God is to be most freely surrendered by man.
לֹ֖א תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ “You shall not eat it” — a curt, absolute negation, the third in the unit’s blood-sequence (vv. 16, 23, 24). The terse Hebrew leaves no room for exception; the BSB’s flat “You must not eat the blood” matches the bluntness.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Very possibly, the physical as well as the moral effect of the rule is contemplated here.

Ellicott suggests the blood-prohibition may carry a bodily good as well as a moral one — “that it may go well with thee.”

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

That they and their posterity might be spared, and continue long, and enjoy much prosperity; for those that eat blood, contrary to this command of God, it is threatened that he would set his face against them, and they should be cut off, Leviticus 7:27

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

On the promise for doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord, see Deuteronomy 6:18 .

Keil links the verse’s motive-clause — “that it may go well with thee” — to the standing Deuteronomic promise of 6:18.

source ↗

Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō tō·ḵə·len·nū lə·ma·‘an yî·ṭaḇ lə·ḵā ū·lə·ḇā·ne·ḵā ’a·ḥă·re·ḵā kî- ṯa·‘ă·śeh hay·yā·šār bə·‘ê·nê Yah·weh

Word by word12 · parsed

לֹ֖אlōDo notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּtō·ḵə·len·nūeat itH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

לְמַ֨עַןlə·ma·‘anso thatH4616

√ maʻan — properly, heed, iConjunction

יִיטַ֤בyî·ṭaḇit may go wellH3190

√ yâṭab — to be (causative) make well, literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

יִיטַב (“go well”) — the standing Deuteronomic motive-clause (cf. v. 28; 4:40); covenant blessing follows covenant obedience.

לְךָ֙lə·ḵāwith you

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

וּלְבָנֶ֣יךָū·lə·ḇā·ne·ḵāand your childrenH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

“Children after you” — the long horizon of Deuteronomy: today’s obedience is the next generation’s welfare.

אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ’a·ḥă·re·ḵāafter youH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

כִּֽי־kî-becauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

תַעֲשֶׂ֥הṯa·‘ă·śehyou will be doingH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

הַיָּשָׁ֖רhay·yā·šārwhat is rightH3477

√ yâshâr — straight (literally or figuratively)ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

יָשָׁר (yāshār, “right”) closes the loop opened at v. 8 — the same word, now measured by “the eyes of the LORD,” not one’s own.

בְּעֵינֵ֥יbə·‘ê·nêin the eyesH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdc

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“You-shall-not eat-it, so-that it-may-go-well with-you and-with-your-children after-you, because you-will-be-doing the-right in-the-eyes of-Yahweh.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַיָּשָׁ֖ר בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהוָֽה “The right in the eyes of Yahweh” (הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה) — the exact phrase of v. 8 (“right in his own eyes”) is now redeemed: the standard is no longer the self’s eye but God’s. The chapter’s arc lands here — from autonomy to obedience. The BSB keeps the deliberate echo.
יִיטַ֤ב לְךָ֙ “That it may go well with you” (יָטַב, yāṭaḇ, “be good, go well”) — the Deuteronomic promise: obedience and well-being are bound together for “your children after you.” Ellicott even hears a physical good in abstaining from blood. The BSB’s “go well” is exact.
וּלְבָנֶ֣יךָ אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ “And your children after you” — the blessing is generational, reaching past the obedient one to his line. Obedience to the blood-law is not private but covenantal, securing the future; the BSB renders the forward reach faithfully.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The holy things probably mean the firstlings, which were necessarily holy, and must be made burnt offerings ( Deuteronomy 12:6 ). The second tithe was also considered holy.

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

they are other extraordinary tithes or gifts, which the people carried to the sanctuary to be presented as peace offerings, and on which, after being offered and the allotted portion given to the priest, they feasted with their families and friends

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

"hallowed things"

The Pulpit Commentary glosses the “holy things” as the offerings prescribed by the Law — the “hallowed things” of Numbers 18:8 that are binding on the worshipper.

source ↗

But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

raq tiś·śā qā·ḏā·še·ḵā ’ă·šer- yih·yū lə·ḵā ū·nə·ḏā·re·ḵā ū·ḇā·ṯā ’el- ham·mā·qō·wm ’ă·šer- Yah·weh yiḇ·ḥar

Word by word13 · parsed

רַ֧קraqButH7535

√ raq — properly, leanness, iAdverb

רַק (“only”) — the qualifying particle pivots back from the home-table freedom to the one obligation that remains: holy things to the holy place.

תִּשָּׂ֣אtiś·śāyou are to takeH5375

√ nâsâʼ — to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relativeVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

קָֽדָשֶׁ֛יךָqā·ḏā·še·ḵāyour holy thingsH6944

√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

Ellicott takes the “holy things” as the firstlings (which must be burnt offerings) and the second tithe — not the ordinary Levitical tithe, which was not reckoned holy in this sense.

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יִהְי֥וּyih·yūH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

לְךָ֖lə·ḵā. . .

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

וּנְדָרֶ֑יךָū·nə·ḏā·re·ḵāand your vow offeringsH5088

√ neder — a promise (to God)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

וּבָ֔אתָū·ḇā·ṯāand goH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

הַמָּק֖וֹםham·mā·qō·wmthe placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

מָקוֹם + בָּחַר — the chapter’s defining phrase returns at its close: whatever is loosed, the chosen place still governs the sacred.

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

יִבְחַ֥רyiḇ·ḥarwill chooseH977

√ bâchar — properly, to try, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Only your-holy-things that are yours, and-your-vows, you-shall-take and-go to the-place that Yahweh will-choose.”

Where the English smooths the original

קָֽדָשֶׁ֛יךָ “Your holy things” (קָדָשִׁים, qŏḏāshîm) — the consecrated gifts “set apart” for Yahweh (Numbers 18:8). These, unlike common meat, may not be eaten at home: what is holy must go to the holy place. The BSB’s “holy things” keeps the set-apartness the root carries.
תִּשָּׂ֣א נָשָׂא (nāśā’, “lift, carry, take up”) — you are to take up and bear the holy things to the place. The verb of carrying matches the journey: the gifts are physically borne to the one sanctuary, not consumed where they lie. The BSB’s “take… and go” is right.
יִבְחַ֥ר בָּחַר (bāḥar, “choose”) — the sixth and final sounding of the divine choosing in the chapter. After all the concessions for common food, the refrain returns: the holy gifts still belong to the place He will choose. The exception proves the rule.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

i.e., peace offerings, the only kind of which the worshipper as well as the priest might partake.

Ellicott identifies “thy sacrifices” (whose flesh may be eaten) as the peace offerings — the one class shared by worshipper and priest alike.

source ↗

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

the flesh and blood of the burnt-offerings were to be placed upon and against the altar (see at Leviticus 1:5-9 ). Of the slain-offerings, i.e., the shelamim, the blood was to be poured out against the altar

source ↗

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Thou shalt eat the flesh — Excepting what shall be burned to God’s honour, and given to the priest, according to his appointment.

Benson notes the worshipper eats the flesh of the peace-offering only — the altar-portion and the priest’s share excepted.

source ↗

Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā hab·bā·śār wə·had·dām ‘ō·lō·ṯe·ḵā ‘al- miz·baḥ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā wə·ḏam- zə·ḇā·ḥe·ḵā yiš·šā·p̄êḵ ‘al- miz·baḥ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā tō·ḵêl wə·hab·bā·śār

Word by word17 · parsed

וְעָשִׂ֤יתָwə·‘ā·śî·ṯāPresentH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

הַבָּשָׂ֣רhab·bā·śārthe meatH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)ArticleNounmasculine singular

וְהַדָּ֔םwə·had·dāmand bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalConjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine singular

עֹלֹתֶ֙יךָ֙‘ō·lō·ṯe·ḵāof your burnt offeringsH5930

√ ʻôlâh — a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending)Nounfeminine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

עַל־‘al-onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

מִזְבַּ֖חmiz·baḥthe altarH4196

√ mizbêach — an altarNounmasculine singular construct

מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbēaḥ, “altar”) is literally “the place of slaughter / sacrifice” — from zāḇaḥ; the noun for altar and the verb for sacrifice share one root.

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

וְדַם־wə·ḏam-The bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

זְבָחֶ֗יךָzə·ḇā·ḥe·ḵāof your other sacrificesH2077

√ zebach — properly, a slaughter, iNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

זֶבַח (zeḇaḥ) — the peace/shared-meal offering, never an atoning sacrifice in the Pentateuch (Oehler, via the Pulpit Commentary); hence its flesh may be eaten.

יִשָּׁפֵךְ֙yiš·šā·p̄êḵmust be poured outH8210

√ shâphak — to spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metalVerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular

יִשָּׁפֵךְ (“poured out”) at the altar — the same verb as the ground-pouring (vv. 16, 24): the blood is always surrendered, the altar simply consecrates the surrender.

עַל־‘al-besideH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

מִזְבַּח֙miz·baḥthe altarH4196

√ mizbêach — an altarNounmasculine singular construct

יְהוָ֣הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

תֹּאכֵֽל׃tō·ḵêlbut you may eatH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

וְהַבָּשָׂ֖רwə·hab·bā·śārthe meatH1320

√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Conjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-you-shall-offer your-burnt-offerings, the-flesh and-the-blood, upon the-altar of-Yahweh your-God; and-the-blood of-your-sacrifices shall-be-poured-out upon the-altar of-Yahweh your-God, but-the-flesh you-may-eat.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַבָּשָׂ֣ר וְהַדָּ֔ם “The flesh and the blood” — of the burnt offering, both go on the altar; nothing is eaten. This is the contrast that orders the whole chapter: at home, flesh is eaten and blood poured to the ground (v. 24); at the altar, the burnt offering’s flesh and blood alike are given wholly to God.
יִשָּׁפֵךְ֙ “Shall be poured out” (שָׁפַךְ, shāp̄aḵ) — the same verb as “pour it on the ground” (vv. 16, 24), now directed against the altar. Same act, opposite destination: blood released to the earth at home, blood dashed on the altar at the sanctuary. The BSB’s “poured out beside the altar” renders the ritual placement.
וְהַבָּשָׂ֖ר תֹּאכֵֽל “But the flesh you may eat” — only of the zeḇaḥ (peace-offering), not the burnt offering. The Pulpit note: zeḇaḥ in the Pentateuch always denotes an offering that furnishes a meal. The BSB rightly limits the eating to the sacrifices that yield a shared table.

Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

šə·mōr wə·šā·ma‘·tā ’êṯ kāl- hā·’êl·leh ’ă·šer had·də·ḇā·rîm ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·we·kā lə·ma·‘an yî·ṭaḇ ‘aḏ- ‘ō·w·lām lə·ḵā ū·lə·ḇā·ne·ḵā ’a·ḥă·re·ḵā kî ṯa·‘ă·śeh haṭ·ṭō·wḇ wə·hay·yā·šār bə·‘ê·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā

Word by word23 · parsed

שְׁמֹ֣רšə·mōrBe carefulH8104

√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

שָׁמֹר (shāmar, “guard/keep”) brackets the whole unit — the same verb as v. 1 — framing chapter 12 as one sustained call to keep these statutes.

וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֗wə·šā·ma‘·tāto obeyH8085

√ shâmaʻ — to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

אֵ֚ת’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

כָּל־kāl-allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הָאֵ֔לֶּהhā·’êl·lehtheseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseArticlePronouncommon plural

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

הַדְּבָרִ֣יםhad·də·ḇā·rîmthingsH1697

√ dâbâr — a wordArticleNounmasculine plural

אָנֹכִ֖י’ā·nō·ḵîIH595

√ ʼânôkîy — IPronounfirst person common singular

מְצַוֶּ֑ךָּmə·ṣaw·we·kācommand youH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielParticiplemasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

לְמַעַן֩lə·ma·‘anso thatH4616

√ maʻan — properly, heed, iConjunction

יִיטַ֨בyî·ṭaḇit may always go wellH3190

√ yâṭab — to be (causative) make well, literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular

עַד־‘aḏ-. . .H5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

עוֹלָ֔ם‘ō·w·lām. . .H5769

√ ʻôwlâm — properly, concealed, iNounmasculine singular

לְךָ֜lə·ḵāwith you

Prepositionsecond person masculine singular

וּלְבָנֶ֤יךָū·lə·ḇā·ne·ḵāand your childrenH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

אַחֲרֶ֙יךָ֙’a·ḥă·re·ḵāafter youH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

כִּ֤יkîbecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

תַעֲשֶׂה֙ṯa·‘ă·śehyou will be doingH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular

הַטּ֣וֹבhaṭ·ṭō·wḇwhat is goodH2896

√ ṭôwb — good (as an adjective) in the widest senseArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

טוֹב (ṭôḇ, “good”) joined to “right” — the wholeness of covenant obedience, good and right together, in God’s sight.

וְהַיָּשָׁ֔רwə·hay·yā·šārand rightH3477

√ yâshâr — straight (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive waw, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

יָשָׁר (“right”) returns a third time (vv. 8, 25, 28) — the chapter’s moral spine: self-measured right at the start, God-measured right at the end.

בְּעֵינֵ֖יbə·‘ê·nêin the eyesH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdc

יְהוָ֥הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ס’ĕ·lō·he·ḵāyour GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Guard and-hear all these words that I am-commanding you, so-that it-may-go-well with-you and-with-your-children after-you forever, because you-will-be-doing the-good and-the-right in-the-eyes of-Yahweh your-God.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַטּ֣וֹב וְהַיָּשָׁ֔ר “The good and the right” (הַטּוֹב וְהַיָּשָׁר) — v. 25 said only “the right”; the unit’s close adds “good.” The pairing becomes a Deuteronomic motto (cf. 6:18). The standard, twice over, is “in the eyes of Yahweh” — the final answer to “right in his own eyes” (v. 8).
שְׁמֹ֣ר וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֗ “Guard and hear” (שָׁמֹר + שָׁמַע) — the two great Deuteronomic verbs, nearly a pun (shāmōr / shāma‘). The chapter opened with “you shall keep” (v. 1, shāmar) and closes with it: obedience is to guard the word by hearing it. The BSB’s “be careful to obey” fuses both.
עַד־עוֹלָ֔ם “Forever” (עַד־עוֹלָם, ‘aḏ-‘ôlām) — the blessing’s reach is extended beyond v. 25: not merely “with your children after you” but “forever.” The covenant horizon opens to perpetuity. The BSB’s “always go well” carries the ‘ôlām.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. Tear down, then build up — the war on the ‘place’ — 1–4

The chapter opens not with worship but with demolition. Abbēḏ tə’abbəḏûn — “destroying you shall destroy” — an emphatic doubled verb commanding the utter erasure of every Canaanite shrine “upon the high mountains, on the hills, and under every ra‘ănān tree.” The Cambridge editor labors over that last word: not “green” but luxuriant, overshadowing, even “full of sound,” for “the rustling of the tree… suggested the movement or speech of the deity.” Keil agrees the hill and grove drew worship from “the wide-spread belief, that men were nearer to the Deity and to heaven there.” Albert Barnes names the deepest fault: “The religion of the Canaanites was human; its modes of worship were of man’s devising… But such superstitious appliances were not worthy of the true religion.” The pivot is a single Hebrew word, kēn (“so”), in v. 4: “You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.” As the Geneva margin puts it, “You shall not serve the Lord with superstitions.” Right object, wrong manner, is still false worship.

ii. The place He will choose — one Name, one altar — 5–7, 11, 14

Against the scattered pagan “places” stands the place. Six times the verb bāḥar (“choose”) tolls through the chapter: the site is not Israel’s to pick but Yahweh’s to elect, “to set his Name there” and “to make his Name dwell” (shākan, the shekinah-root). Keil draws the theology out: “Whereas the heathen seeks and worships his nature-gods, wherever he thinks he can discern in nature any trace of Divinity, the true God… has made known” his personal presence where He fixes his Name. Joseph Benson sees the doctrine the single altar guards: “There is not one precept in all the law of Moses so largely inculcated as this… They must keep to one place, in token of their belief, that there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man.” Ellicott finds in the very vagueness of “the place He will choose” a mark of the law’s antiquity: “No one who was acquainted with the removal of that ‘place’ from Shiloh to Nob, from Nob to Gibeon, from Gibeon to Jerusalem, could have written with such utter unconsciousness of later history.” And the worship there is no grim duty: three times Israel is commanded to rejoice (śāmaḥ), to “eat before the LORD” and be glad in “the sending-forth of your hand.”

iii. Right in whose eyes? — from self-rule to God-rule — 8–10, 25, 28

The unit’s moral spine is a single phrase repeated and redeemed. In v. 8 the wilderness camp is the place where “every man [does] what is right in his own eyes” (hayyāshār bə‘ênāw) — the very words that will damn the age of the Judges (Judges 17:6). Cambridge is struck that Moses includes himself: “if Israel and even Moses—we!—worshipped, where every man thought good.” This is concession, not standard — permitted only “because ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance” (v. 9). Ellicott notes the law “was given… at a time when they were not in a position to keep it… the law of the land which God would give them.” By the unit’s close the phrase is transfigured: do “what is right in the eyes of the LORD” (vv. 25, 28). The same word yāshār; the measuring eye has changed from the self’s to God’s. That is the whole movement of the chapter in one repeated clause.

iv. Freedom and the fence — the blood that is the life — 15–16, 20–27

Settled in a wide land, Israel is granted a striking new freedom: raq — “only” — in “all the craving of your soul” (’awwāh, a rare word) you may slaughter and eat meat at home, “like the gazelle and like the deer,” clean and unclean alike. JFB explains the change: in the camp “every animal designed for food… was… ordered to be slain as a peace offering at the door of the tabernacle”; now the people may prepare meat in their own towns. But the freedom has one fence, and it is absolute: “Only be strong (ḥăzaq) not to eat the blood, because the blood — it is the life (nephesh).” The chapter’s key word turns on its hinge: the nephesh that craved the flesh (v. 20) must not eat the nephesh that is the life in it (v. 23). The Pulpit Commentary traces it: the blood was “the seat” of life, so that to shed blood was to take it. The blood is poured to the ground “like water” at home, dashed against the altar at the sanctuary (v. 27) — surrendered either way, for it belongs to God alone. Even Maclaren, preaching the peace-offering meal, hears the gospel rhythm in the eaten sacrifice: “What was sacrifice becomes food… Christ for us is our pardon; Christ in us is our life.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority, three things stand out from this chapter — offered as a fallible reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted. First, God reserves the right to define his own worship. The relentless drumbeat — not the place you see, but the place He will choose; not after the manner of the nations; not what is right in your own eyes — says that acceptable worship is revealed, never invented. Barnes’ verdict on Canaanite religion (“its modes of worship were of man’s devising”) is the standing warning against every self-made piety, however sincere. Second, the one place guards the one God. Benson is surely right that the single altar was a confession of monotheism in stone: one place, one Name, one Mediator. The unity of worship preached the unity of God. Third, blood is never common. Across the whole canon — from Noah (Genesis 9:4) through this chapter to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:20) — the life-in-the-blood is reserved to God; and the reason given here, “the blood is the life,” is the very ground on which Leviticus builds atonement (Leviticus 17:11) and on which the New Testament rests redemption “by his blood.” The chapter that forbids eating blood is quietly teaching why blood, poured out, can save.

The whole chapter turns on a single word redeemed — from ‘right in his own eyes’ to ‘right in the eyes of the LORD.’

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

“The place the LORD will choose” — the law’s own refrain structural / thematic — confirmed

The defining phrase of this chapter — māqôm (“place”) joined to bāḥar (“choose”) and the verb shākan (“cause to dwell”) — recurs verbatim across the central laws of Deuteronomy: the place of the tithe-feast (14:23) and the place to which the Levite may resort (18:6). The Verifier records the shared lexemes bāḥar (in 164 vv) and māqôm (in 379 vv), with shākan (124 vv) added at 14:23. These are common, high-frequency words, so the link is recorded as structural, not a rare quotation: the same legal formula, deliberately repeated, binding worship, tithe, and ministry to the one chosen sanctuary.

Deuteronomy 12:5 · Deuteronomy 12:11 · Deuteronomy 14:23 · Deuteronomy 18:6

basis: shared Strong's lexemes (Verifier): H977 bâchar (164 vv), H4725 mâqôwm (379 vv), with H7931 shâkan (124 vv) at 14:23 — common words, a repeated legal formula, not a rare quotation

“The craving of your soul” — a rare word for longing verbal / quotation — confirmed

The permission to eat meat “in all the craving of your soul” (vv. 15, 20, 21) turns on the uncommon noun-and-verb ’awwāh / ’āwāh (H185), which the Verifier finds in only seven verses of the whole Hebrew Bible. That rarity makes the verbal echoes pointed rather than coincidental: the same word names the wild donkey’s ungoverned lust “in the desire of her soul” (Jeremiah 2:24) and Israel’s self-willed turning in Hosea 10:10. Deuteronomy grants the bodily appetite outright — and fences it: you may have the craving of your soul, only not the blood. The shared low-frequency lexeme is the recorded basis for tiering this a confirmed verbal link.

Deuteronomy 12:20 · Jeremiah 2:24 · Hosea 10:10

basis: rare shared lexeme (Verifier): H185 ʼavvâh — found in only 7 verses canon-wide; same craving-word at Deut 12:15/20/21, Jer 2:24, Hos 10:10

Gazelle and hart — the benchmark of clean, non-sacrificial food verbal / quotation — confirmed

Twice (vv. 15, 22) the law measures permitted home-slaughter by an animal-pair: “like the gazelle (ṣəḇî, H6643) and like the deer (’ayyāl, H354).” Both are relatively rare lexemes (the hart in only 11 verses), and the same fixed pair governs the clean-animal list of Deuteronomy 14:5. The Verifier confirms both shared lexemes, yielding a verbal link: these game animals, clean to eat but never offered in sacrifice, are the deliberate standard by which the new freedom is defined — domestic ox and sheep may now be eaten as freely as venison, with the altar’s clean/unclean rules set aside for the table.

Deuteronomy 12:15 · Deuteronomy 12:22 · Deuteronomy 14:5

basis: rare shared lexemes (Verifier): H354 ʼayâl (11 vv) + H6643 tsᵉbîy (32 vv) — the same gazelle/hart pair at Deut 12:15, 12:22, 14:5

“The blood is the life” — from Noah to the altar structural / thematic — confirmed

The reason given for the blood-prohibition — “the blood is the life (nephesh)” (v. 23) — is one of the most sustained threads in the Torah, clustering the words dām (blood, H1818), nephesh (life, H5315), and bāśār (flesh, H1320). The Verifier records these shared lexemes with the foundational charter to Noah (Genesis 9:4) and the atonement-law of Leviticus 17:11, where the same identification grounds sacrifice: “the life of the flesh is in the blood… it is the blood that makes atonement.” Because these are moderate-to-high frequency words shared as a cluster (not a single rare term), the link is recorded as structural/thematic — the same theology of blood-as-life running from the post-flood covenant, through this dietary fence, to the altar that saves.

Deuteronomy 12:23 · Genesis 9:4 · Leviticus 17:11

basis: shared lexeme cluster (Verifier): H1818 dâm + H5315 nephesh + H1320 bâsâr — moderate-frequency words shared as a set across Gen 9:4, Lev 17:11, Deut 12:23; thematic, not a rare quotation

“The blood is the life” — carried into the Church’s decree flagged — verify source

The reservation of blood reaches past the Old Testament into the Apostolic decree of Acts 15:20, 29, where Gentile believers are asked to abstain “from blood.” This is a cross-Testament link: it cannot be scored by shared Hebrew Strong’s numbers, since Acts is Greek and Deuteronomy Hebrew — so it is tiered structural / thematic, never “verbal,” on the strength of the continuous motif (the life-in-the-blood reserved to God) rather than a lexical match. Held honestly: the Jerusalem Council’s “blood” clause is widely read as drawing on the Noachic and Levitical blood-laws that this verse restates; the connection is real and ancient, but the bridge is thematic and the precise scope of the Acts decree is debated.

Deuteronomy 12:16 · Deuteronomy 12:23 · Genesis 9:4 · Acts 15:20

basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew) — no shared Strong's possible; thematic continuity of the blood-prohibition only, and the scope/derivation of the Acts 15 decree is debated

“Right in his own eyes” — the verdict on the Judges structural / thematic — confirmed

Verse 8’s description of unregulated worship — each man doing “what is right in his own eyes” (hayyāshār bə‘ênāw) — is the very formula that frames the book of Judges as its closing verdict (Judges 17:6; 21:25). Keil names the link explicitly, citing those verses. The shared phrase pivots on yāshār (“right/straight,” H3477) and ‘ayin (“eye”), common words shared as a set idiom — so the link is structural/thematic: Deuteronomy 12 permits this self-measured worship only as a wilderness concession (v. 8) and then redeems the phrase to “right in the eyes of the LORD” (vv. 25, 28); Judges shows what happens when the concession becomes the norm.

Deuteronomy 12:8 · Deuteronomy 12:25 · Judges 17:6 · Judges 21:25

basis: shared idiom (Keil cites Judg 17:6; 21:25): H3477 yâshâr + 'eye' — common words as a set phrase; a deliberate verbal motif, not a rare single lexeme

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The blood that is the life — poured out for many widely-held

The chapter’s one absolute reservation — “the blood is the life… you must not eat the life” (v. 23) — teaches that life-in-the-blood belongs to God alone, given back to him and never consumed. The New Testament turns that reservation inside out at the Supper: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Matthew 26:28), and the one drink the Lord commands is the cup of his own blood. The very thing forbidden under the Law — to take the blood that is the life into oneself — becomes, in the blood of Christ freely given, the source of life: “whoever drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54). The reason given here (“the blood is the life”) is exactly why his blood can save: in pouring it out he gives his life. This reading is widely held; weigh it against the text.

Deuteronomy 12:23 · Leviticus 17:11 · Matthew 26:28 · John 6:54

The place where He sets his Name — fulfilled in the Son widely-held

The heart of the chapter is “the place the LORD will choose to set his Name… to make his Name dwell there” (vv. 5, 11) — the single sanctuary where God’s presence is found. Matthew Henry, reading from within the gospel, says it plainly: “under the gospel, we have no temple or altar that sanctifies the gift but Christ only,” and the true worshippers now worship “without regard either to this mountain or Jerusalem” (John 4:21). The Name that dwelt (shākan) in the chosen place takes flesh in the One of whom John writes, “the Word became flesh and dwelt (eskēnōsen, ‘tabernacled’) among us” (John 1:14). Christ is himself the temple (John 2:19–21), the chosen place where the Name dwells and to which the worshipper comes. The ancient single sanctuary was pointing all along to a Person. This is a widely-held reading; test it against the text.

Deuteronomy 12:5 · Deuteronomy 12:11 · John 1:14 · John 4:21

The rest not yet come — and the rest that remains ancient/widely-held

“You have not yet come to the rest (mənûḥāh) and to the inheritance” (v. 9) names a rest still future even on the edge of Canaan. John Gill reads it typologically: Canaan’s rest figures “the rest which remains for the people of God… though they now enter into a spiritual rest in Christ, they are not yet come to their eternal rest.” Hebrews makes the move explicit: the land-rest under Joshua did not exhaust the promise, for “there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:8–9). The “not yet” of Deuteronomy 12:9 is answered finally not by a place on the map but by the rest Christ gives — “come to me… and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The typology is ancient and widely held; weigh it against the text.

Deuteronomy 12:9 · Hebrews 4:8 · Matthew 11:28

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). The named voices are verbatim excerpts from public-domain commentaries — Ellicott, Benson, Matthew Henry, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Poole, Gill, the Geneva Study Bible, the Cambridge Bible, the Pulpit Commentary, Keil & Delitzsch, and Alexander Maclaren — each attributed in place; nothing in a voice has been paraphrased or stitched. The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition; transliterations, literal renderings, and the “where the English smooths the Hebrew” notes are this tool’s own work (⚙), careful but fallible — check them against a lexicon (BDB, HALOT) and a standard grammar.

On the cross-references. Every thread badge records the Verifier’s computed basis. The strongest links here rest on genuinely rare shared lexemes: ’awwāh (“craving,” only 7 verses, tying v. 20 to Jeremiah 2:24 and Hosea 10:10) and the gazelle/hart pair (to 14:5). The repeated “place the LORD will choose” formula and the “blood is the life” cluster are deliberately tiered structural, not verbal, because their shared words (māqôm, bāḥar, dām, nephesh) are common — a repeated legal pattern, not a quotation. The link to Acts 15 is flagged: it is cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong’s number is even possible, and the precise derivation and scope of the Apostolic blood-clause is debated. On a known difficulty: the critical tradition (Cambridge, and Keil in rebuttal) reads vv. 15–16 and the second-tithe arrangements as later editorial insertions and debates whether Deuteronomy’s tithe-law contradicts Numbers 18; the parses and voices preserve both sides rather than adjudicating. The Christ-readings are theological and marked widely-held; they are offered to be tested against the text, not asserted over it.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

i. Tear down, then build up — the war on the &lsquo;place&rsquo; — 1–4

ii. The place He will choose — one Name, one altar — 5–7, 11, 14

iii. Right in whose eyes? — from self-rule to God-rule — 8–10, 25, 28

iv. Freedom and the fence — the blood that is the life — 15–16, 20–27

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

&ldquo;The place the LORD will choose&rdquo; — the law&rsquo;s own refrain structural / thematic — confirmed

&ldquo;The craving of your soul&rdquo; — a rare word for longing verbal / quotation — confirmed

Gazelle and hart — the benchmark of clean, non-sacrificial food verbal / quotation — confirmed

&ldquo;The blood is the life&rdquo; — from Noah to the altar structural / thematic — confirmed

&ldquo;The blood is the life&rdquo; — carried into the Church&rsquo;s decree flagged — verify source

&ldquo;Right in his own eyes&rdquo; — the verdict on the Judges structural / thematic — confirmed

The blood that is the life — poured out for many widely-held

The place where He sets his Name — fulfilled in the Son widely-held

The rest not yet come — and the rest that remains ancient/widely-held

Apparatus & Provenance

i. Tear down, then build up — the war on the ‘place’ — 1–4

“The place the LORD will choose” — the law’s own refrain structural / thematic — confirmed

“The craving of your soul” — a rare word for longing verbal / quotation — confirmed

“The blood is the life” — from Noah to the altar structural / thematic — confirmed

“The blood is the life” — carried into the Church’s decree flagged — verify source

“Right in his own eyes” — the verdict on the Judges structural / thematic — confirmed