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Deuteronomy 11

KJV · Chapter 11/34

1Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

2And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

3And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

4And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day;

5And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

6And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

7But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.

8Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

9And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

10For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

11But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

12A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

16Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

17And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.

18Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

20And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

21That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

22For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

23Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

24Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

25There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

26Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

28And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

29And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

30Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

31For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

32And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Moses contrasts the land of Egypt, artificially irrigated, with the promised land, which depends directly on rain sent by God — making faithfulness to God literally vital to Israel's agricultural fertility and prosperity. He repeats the appeal to teach these words to their children and presents the blessing of Mount Gerizim and the curse of Mount Ebal.

Explanation

The geographical comparison between Egypt (irrigated by the predictable Nile) and Canaan (dependent on unpredictable seasonal rain) carries significant theological weight: the promised land would require continuous, active dependence on God, unlike Egypt, where agricultural prosperity did not require particular faith. This explains why idolatry (seeking out Canaanite rain and fertility gods like Baal) would be such a persistent temptation throughout Israel's history — natural agricultural anxiety sought alternative spiritual answers. The promise of blessing on Gerizim and curse on Ebal, ritually fulfilled later in Joshua 8, visually and geographically establishes the same choice between obedience and rebellion that runs through the whole book.

Fun facts

  • Mounts Gerizim and Ebal sit on opposite sides of a narrow valley near Shechem, creating a remarkable natural amphitheater where voices from one side can be clearly heard from the other — a perfect geographical setting for the ceremony of blessings and curses that would take place there.
  • The observation that the 'eyes of the Lord' are 'always' upon the promised land 'from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year' (v. 12) contrasts with a common belief in the ancient Near East that different regional gods had limited jurisdictions — here, God's care is described as constant and complete, not seasonal.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronomy 11:1It sums up the expected response to everything that has been said: love God and keep His commandments every day, without exception.
  2. Deuteronomy 11:2Moses makes a point of speaking to the generation that lived through the events, not to the children who only heard about God’s greatness secondhand.
  3. Deuteronomy 11:3It specifically recalls the signs done against Pharaoh and all of Egypt, seen live by that generation.
  4. Deuteronomy 11:4It also cites the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea as concrete proof of God’s power, still visible “unto this day.”
  5. Deuteronomy 11:5It includes everything God did during the crossing of the wilderness, right up to their arrival at that point in the journey.
  6. Deuteronomy 11:6It brings up a specific, shocking example: Dathan and Abiram, swallowed alive by the earth along with their families and tents, for rebelling against God.
  7. Deuteronomy 11:7It stresses that this generation saw all of it with their own eyes — it is not secondhand history, it is lived experience.
  8. Deuteronomy 11:8From that evidence comes the practical appeal: keeping the commandments gives them the strength to go in and take possession of the land.
  9. Deuteronomy 11:9The reward for obedience is a long life in the promised land, again described as a land “that floweth with milk and honey.”
  10. Deuteronomy 11:10The comparison with Egypt, watered “with thy foot,” recalls the foot-powered irrigation systems used along the banks of the Nile. Canaan, by contrast, would depend only on rain, which made faithfulness to God, who controls the rain, even more central to survival there.
  11. Deuteronomy 11:11Unlike Egypt, irrigated by canals, the new land depends on rain falling from the sky — a direct dependence on God.
  12. Deuteronomy 11:12Because of that dependence on rain, the land is described as cared for by God all year round, from beginning to end.
  13. Deuteronomy 11:13The condition for receiving rain is clear: obey the commandments, loving and serving God with the whole heart and the whole soul.
  14. Deuteronomy 11:14The promise is the right rain in each season, guaranteeing a harvest of grain, wine, and oil.
  15. Deuteronomy 11:15It also includes plentiful pasture for the animals, besides enough food for the people.
  16. Deuteronomy 11:16The opposite warning: be careful that the heart does not let itself be deceived and turn aside to serve other gods.
  17. Deuteronomy 11:17The consequence of idolatry would be God’s anger shutting up the heavens — no rain, no harvest, and quick expulsion from the good land.
  18. Deuteronomy 11:18The same instruction to bind the words of the law as a sign on the hand and between the eyes, already seen in chapter 6, is repeated here. Repeating the formula reinforces that this constant remembrance of the law was considered essential, not a one-time detail.
  19. Deuteronomy 11:19It repeats the instruction to teach these words to their children, talking about them at home, on the road, when lying down, and when rising up.
  20. Deuteronomy 11:20It also repeats the instruction to write the words on the doorposts of the house, keeping the law always visible.
  21. Deuteronomy 11:21The final promise of this section is multiplied long life, both for the people and for their children, in the promised land.
  22. Deuteronomy 11:22It reaffirms the repeated condition: keep the commandments, love God, and follow His ways closely.
  23. Deuteronomy 11:23As a reward, God would drive out before Israel nations bigger and more powerful than themselves.
  24. Deuteronomy 11:24It promises a broad territory: every place the people set foot would be theirs, from the wilderness to Lebanon, from the Euphrates to the western sea.
  25. Deuteronomy 11:25It guarantees that no one would be able to stand against them, because God would spread terror and fear of the people over the whole land.
  26. Deuteronomy 11:26The blessing and the curse to be pronounced on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, at the entrance to the land, repeat the classic structure of ancient treaties: after the laws always comes the list of what happens if the agreement is kept or broken. The full ritual is only spelled out later, in chapter 27.
  27. Deuteronomy 11:27It spells out the blessing: it would come if the people listened and obeyed God’s commandments.
  28. Deuteronomy 11:28On the opposite side, the curse would come if the people turned aside from the commanded path to follow unknown gods.
  29. Deuteronomy 11:29It instructs that, upon entering the land, the blessing would be proclaimed on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal — a ritual detailed further ahead, in chapter 27.
  30. Deuteronomy 11:30It places these two mountains geographically, near Gilgal and the oaks of Moreh, on the west side of the Jordan, in Canaanite land.
  31. Deuteronomy 11:31It stresses that crossing the Jordan is the final step before actually taking possession of the promised land.
  32. Deuteronomy 11:32The chapter closes with a general call: to be careful to carry out all the statutes and judgments Moses is about to spell out.

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