Deuteronomy - 6:12



12 then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Deuteronomy 6:12.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And thou shalt have eaten and be full:
Then beware lest thou shouldst forget the LORD, who brought thee forth from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
'Take heed to thyself lest thou forget Jehovah who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants;
Then take care that you keep your hearts true to the Lord, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
and when you will have eaten and been satisfied:
Cave tibi ne obliviscaris Jehovae, qui eduxit te e terra Aegyptie domo servorum.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Beware lest thou forget the Lord - In earthly prosperity men are apt to forget heavenly things. While the animal senses have every thing they can wish, it is difficult for the soul to urge its way to heaven; the animal man is happy, and the desires of the soul are absorbed in those of the flesh. God knows this well; and therefore, in his love to man, makes comparative poverty and frequent affliction his general lot. Should not every soul therefore magnify God for this lot in life? "Before I was afflicted," says David, "I went astray;" and had it not been for poverty and affliction, as instruments in the hands of God's grace, multitudes of souls now happy in heaven would have been wretched in hell. It is not too much to speak thus far; because we ever see that the rich and the affluent are generally negligent of God and the interests of their souls. It must however be granted that extreme poverty is as injurious to religion as excessive affluence. Hence the wisdom as well as piety of Agur's prayer, Proverbs 30:7-9 : "Give me neither poverty nor riches, lest I be full and deny thee, or lest I be poor and steal," etc.

(e) [Then] beware lest thou shouldest forget the LORD, who brought thee forth from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (bondage: Hebrews. bondmen or, servants)
(e) Do not let wealth and ease cause you to forget God's mercies, by which you were delivered out of misery.

Then beware lest thou forget the Lord,.... To love, fear, and worship him, and keep his commands; creature enjoyments being apt to get possession of the heart, and the affections of it; Proverbs 30:9.
which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; into a land abounding with all the above good things, and therefore under the highest obligations to remember the Lord and his kindnesses, and to serve and glorify him: Exodus 20:2.

"House of bondage," as in Exodus 13:3. "Not forgetting" is described from a positive point of view, as fearing God, serving Him, and swearing by His name. Fear is placed first, as the fundamental characteristic of the Israelitish worship of God; it was no slavish fear, but simply the holy awe of a sinner before the holy God, which includes love rather than excludes it. "Fearing" is a matter of the heart; "serving," a matter of working and striving; and "swearing in His name," the practical manifestation of the worship of God in word and conversation. It refers not merely to a solemn oath before a judicial court, but rather to asseverations on oath in the ordinary intercourse of life, by which the religious attitude of a man involuntarily reveals itself.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


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