Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren. Only be on your guardThe Hebrew word for "guard" is "שָׁמַר" (shamar), which means to keep, watch, or preserve. This word conveys a sense of vigilance and careful attention. In the context of Deuteronomy, it emphasizes the importance of being spiritually alert and protective over one's faith and obedience to God. Historically, the Israelites were surrounded by pagan nations, and the call to "guard" was a reminder to remain distinct and faithful to God's commandments amidst external influences. and diligently watch yourselves
The phrase "diligently watch" uses the Hebrew word "מְאֹד" (me'od), which intensifies the action, suggesting an earnest and thorough effort. This reflects a proactive stance in maintaining one's spiritual integrity. The Israelites were to be introspective and self-aware, ensuring that their actions aligned with God's laws. This vigilance is a timeless principle, urging believers to continually assess their spiritual walk and commitment to God's ways. so that you do not forget
The Hebrew root "שָׁכַח" (shakach) means to forget or neglect. Forgetting, in this context, is not merely a lapse in memory but a failure to keep God's works and commandments at the forefront of one's life. The historical context of Deuteronomy is crucial here, as Moses was addressing a generation that had witnessed God's mighty acts. The admonition to remember is a call to keep God's faithfulness and laws central in life, preventing spiritual amnesia. the things your eyes have seen
This phrase refers to the miraculous events and divine interventions the Israelites witnessed, such as the Exodus and the giving of the Law at Sinai. These were not just historical events but foundational experiences that shaped their identity as God's chosen people. The emphasis on "eyes" underscores the personal and communal witness of God's power, serving as a tangible reminder of His covenant and faithfulness. and so that they do not slip from your heart
The Hebrew word for "slip" is "סוּר" (sur), meaning to turn aside or depart. The heart, in Hebrew thought, is the center of one's being, encompassing mind, will, and emotions. The warning against letting these truths "slip" from the heart highlights the danger of spiritual drift and the need for constant renewal and commitment to God's word. It is a call to internalize God's commandments deeply, ensuring they influence every aspect of life. as long as you live
This phrase underscores the lifelong commitment required in following God. The covenant relationship with God is not temporary but enduring, demanding continual faithfulness and obedience. It serves as a reminder that the journey of faith is ongoing, requiring perseverance and dedication throughout one's life. Teach them to your children and grandchildren
The Hebrew word "לָמַד" (lamad) means to teach or instruct. This command highlights the importance of generational faith transmission. The Israelites were to pass down their knowledge and experiences of God's faithfulness to ensure that future generations would remain faithful to the covenant. This principle is foundational in a conservative Christian perspective, emphasizing the role of family and community in nurturing faith and ensuring its continuity across generations. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe speaker of this verse, Moses is addressing the Israelites, reminding them of their covenant with God and the importance of remembering His laws and deeds. 2. IsraelitesThe audience of Moses' address, they are the chosen people of God, who have witnessed His mighty works and are about to enter the Promised Land. 3. Mount SinaiAlthough not directly mentioned in this verse, it is the place where the Israelites received the Law, which they are being urged to remember and teach. 4. Promised LandThe destination of the Israelites, representing the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 5. GenerationsThe children and grandchildren of the Israelites, who are to be taught the laws and deeds of God to ensure the continuity of faith. Teaching Points Guarding the HeartThe Hebrew word for "guard" (shamar) implies careful attention and protection. Believers are called to actively protect their hearts and minds from forgetting God's works and commands. Diligent RemembranceThe act of remembering is not passive. It requires intentional reflection and meditation on God's Word and His deeds in our lives. Generational ResponsibilityTeaching the next generation is a biblical mandate. Parents and grandparents have a responsibility to pass on their faith and knowledge of God to their children and grandchildren. Vigilance Against ForgetfulnessForgetting God's works can lead to spiritual drift. Regular study, prayer, and community worship help keep God's deeds fresh in our minds. Living TestimoniesOur lives should be living testimonies of God's faithfulness, serving as examples for others, especially the younger generation. Bible Study Questions 1. What practical steps can you take to "diligently watch" yourself and ensure you do not forget God's works in your life? 2. How can you incorporate the teaching of God's laws and deeds into your family life, especially with children and grandchildren? 3. In what ways can the community of believers support each other in remembering and living out God's commands? 4. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's faithfulness. How can sharing this testimony encourage others in their faith journey? 5. How does the warning in Deuteronomy 4:9 about not letting God's words slip from your heart relate to the New Testament teachings on perseverance in faith? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 19-20These chapters describe the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, which the Israelites are urged to remember. Psalm 78This psalm emphasizes the importance of teaching the next generation about God's deeds and laws. Proverbs 4:23This verse speaks about guarding one's heart, which connects to the idea of diligently watching oneself. 2 Timothy 1:5Paul speaks of the faith passed down from Timothy's grandmother and mother, illustrating the importance of generational teaching. Hebrews 2:1This verse warns against drifting away, similar to the warning in Deuteronomy 4:9 about not letting God's words slip from the heart. | An Important Admonition | R. Treffry. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Diligent Soul Keeping | The Weekly Pulpit | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Instruction of Children | The Lantern. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Israel Admonished | Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Lest We Forget | Thomas Spurgeon. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Memory Aided by Sight and Instruction | J. Parker, D. D. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Memory in Religion | W. Park, M. A. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | On Experience -- its Use, its Neglect, and its Abuse | H. W. Beecher. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | On the Benefits of Experience and Reflection | J. Hewlett, B. D. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Take Heed to Thyself, Etc | T. Arnold, D. D. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | The Echo of Childhood's Years | Great Thoughts | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | The Religious Education of Children | J. Orr | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | The Spiritual Benefits of Retrospection | C. E. Tisdall. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | Training of Children | Cawdray. | Deuteronomy 4:9 | | The Sacredness of the Divine Law | D. Davies | Deuteronomy 4:1-13 | | Obedience the Secret of Success | R.M. Edgar | Deuteronomy 4:1-14 | | The Curse of Idolatry | D. Davies | Deuteronomy 4:1-28 | | God's Dealings with His People | H. J. Hastings, M. A. | Deuteronomy 4:1-40 | | Hearken | J. Parker, D. D. | Deuteronomy 4:1-40 | | Moses' Discourse | Henry, Matthew | Deuteronomy 4:1-40 | | The Bible the Wisdom of Nation | S. Hayman, B. A. | Deuteronomy 4:1-40 | | A Nation's Glory | J. Orr | Deuteronomy 4:6-10 |
People Amorites, Baalpeor, Bezer, Gadites, Israelites, Manasseh, Manassites, Moses, Og, Reubenites, SihonPlaces Arabah, Aroer, Bashan, Beth-baal-peor, Bezer, Egypt, Gilead, Golan, Hermon, Heshbon, Horeb, Jordan River, Mount Sion, Peor, Pisgah, Ramoth, Sea of the Arabah, Valley of the ArnonTopics Aside, Care, Children's, Closely, Depart, Diligently, Exceedingly, Fear, Forget, Grandsons, Hast, Heart, Heed, Lest, Memory, Shouldst, Slip, Sons, Soul, Teach, Thyself, Turn, Watch, YourselvesDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 4:9 4963 past, the
5017 heart, renewal
5330 guard
5666 children, needs
5682 family, significance
5685 fathers, responsibilities
5694 generation
8232 discipline, family
8493 watchfulness, believers
8763 forgetting
8764 forgetting God Deuteronomy 4:9-10 5302 education
5588 traditions
5854 experience, of God
5887 inexperience
7793 teachers
8313 nurture Deuteronomy 4:9-14 8336 reverence, and obedience Library February the Sixteenth Crowding Out God
"Lest thou forget." --DEUTERONOMY iv. 5-13. That is surely the worst affront we can put upon anybody. We may oppose a man and hinder him in his work, or we may directly injure him, or we may ignore him, and treat him as nothing. Or we may forget him! Opposition, injury, contempt, neglect, forgetfulness! Surely this is a descending scale, and the last is the worst. And yet we can forget the Lord God. We can forget all His benefits. We can easily put Him out of mind. We can live as though He were …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling YearDeuteronomy
(Third Sunday after Easter.) Deut. iv. 39, 40. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Thou shall keep therefore his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever. Learned men have argued much of late as to who wrote …
Charles Kingsley—The Gospel of the Pentateuch Political and Religious Life of the Jewish Dispersion in the West - their Union in the Great Hope of the Coming Deliverer.
It was not only in the capital of the Empire that the Jews enjoyed the rights of Roman citizenship. Many in Asia Minor could boast of the same privilege. [327] The Seleucidic rulers of Syria had previously bestowed kindred privileges on the Jews in many places. Thus, they possessed in some cities twofold rights: the status of Roman and the privileges of Asiatic, citizenship. Those who enjoyed the former were entitled to a civil government of their own, under archons of their choosing, quite independent …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Of the Cities of Refuge.
Hebron, the most eminent among them, excites us to remember the rest. "The Rabbins deliver this; Moses separated three cities of refuge beyond Jordan, [Deut 4:41-43;] and, against them, Joshua separated three cities in the land of Canaan, [Josh 20:7,8]. And these were placed by one another, just as two ranks of vines are in a vineyard: Hebron in Judea against Bezer in the wilderness: Shechem in mount Ephraim against Ramoth in Gilead: Kedesh in mount Napthali against Golan in Basan. And these three …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica That the Devout Soul Ought with the Whole Heart to Yearn after Union with Christ in the Sacrament
The Voice of the Disciple Who shall grant unto me, O Lord, that I may find Thee alone, and open all my heart unto Thee, and enjoy Thee as much as my soul desireth; and that no man may henceforth look upon me, nor any creature move me or have respect unto me, but Thou alone speak unto me and I unto Thee, even as beloved is wont to speak unto beloved, and friend to feast with friend? For this do I pray, this do I long for, that I may be wholly united unto Thee, and may withdraw my heart from all created …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ The First Covenant
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me."--EX. xix. 5. "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments."--DEUT. iv. 13.i "If ye keep these judgments, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant,"--DEUT. vii. 12. "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake."--JER. xxxi. 31, 32. WE have …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants The Unity of God
Q-5: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE? A: There is but one only, the living and true God. That there is a God has been proved; and those that will not believe the verity of his essence, shall feel the severity of his wrath. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' Deut 6:6. He is the only God.' Deut 4:49. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath, there is none else.' A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Northern Coasts of Galilee. Amanah. The Mountain of Snow.
This coast is described by Moses, Numbers 34:7: "From the Great Sea to mount Hor: from mount Hor to the entrance of Hamath," &c. Mount Hor, in the Jewish writers, is Amanah; mention of which occurs, Canticles 4:8, where R. Solomon thus: "Amanah is a mount in the northern coast of the land of Israel, which in the Talmudical language is called, The mountainous plain of Amanon; the same with mount Hor." In the Jerusalem Targum, for mount 'Hor' is the mount Manus: but the Targum of Jonathan renders it …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III Epistle cxxvii. From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory .
From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory [89] . To the holy lord, and father in Christ, the Roman [pope], most fair ornament of the Church, a certain most august flower, as it were, of the whole of withering Europe, distinguished speculator, as enjoying a divine contemplation of purity (?) [90] . I, Bargoma [91] , poor dove in Christ, send greeting. Grace to thee and peace from God the Father [and] our [Lord] Jesus Christ. I am pleased to think, O holy pope, that it will seem to thee nothing extravagant …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments "They have Corrupted Themselves; their Spot is not the Spot of his Children; they are a Perverse and Crooked Generation. "
Deut. xxxii. 5.--"They have corrupted themselves; their spot is not the spot of his children; they are a perverse and crooked generation." We doubt this people would take well with such a description of themselves as Moses gives. It might seem strange to us, that God should have chosen such a people out of all the nations of the earth, and they to be so rebellious and perverse, if our own experience did not teach us how free his choice is, and how long-suffering he is, and constant in his choice. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning A Reformer's Schooling
'The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2. That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Second visit to Nazareth - the Mission of the Twelve.
It almost seems, as if the departure of Jesus from Capernaum marked a crisis in the history of that town. From henceforth it ceases to be the center of His activity, and is only occasionally, and in passing, visited. Indeed, the concentration and growing power of Pharisaic opposition, and the proximity of Herod's residence at Tiberias [3013] would have rendered a permanent stay there impossible at this stage in our Lord's history. Henceforth, His Life is, indeed, not purely missionary, but He has …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Subjects of Study. Home Education in Israel; Female Education. Elementary Schools, Schoolmasters, and School Arrangements.
If a faithful picture of society in ancient Greece or Rome were to be presented to view, it is not easy to believe that even they who now most oppose the Bible could wish their aims success. For this, at any rate, may be asserted, without fear of gainsaying, that no other religion than that of the Bible has proved competent to control an advanced, or even an advancing, state of civilisation. Every other bound has been successively passed and submerged by the rising tide; how deep only the student …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Wisdom and Revelation.
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness …
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul Links Deuteronomy 4:9 NIVDeuteronomy 4:9 NLTDeuteronomy 4:9 ESVDeuteronomy 4:9 NASBDeuteronomy 4:9 KJV
Deuteronomy 4:9 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
