Deuteronomy 8:3
New International Version
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

New Living Translation
Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

English Standard Version
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

King James Bible
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

New King James Version
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

New American Standard Bible
And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the LORD.

NASB 1995
“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

NASB 1977
“And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

Legacy Standard Bible
And He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.

Amplified Bible
He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

Christian Standard Bible
He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

American Standard Version
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he humbled you and he famished you and he fed you manna that you had not known, neither had your fathers known it, that He would show you that it is not by bread only a son of man lives, but by everything that comes out of the mouth of LORD JEHOVAH a person lives.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he afflicted thee and straitened thee with hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that he might teach thee that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live.

Contemporary English Version
so he made you go hungry. Then he gave you manna, a kind of food that you and your ancestors had never even heard about. The LORD was teaching you that people need more than food to live--they need every word that the LORD has spoken.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He afflicted thee with want, and gave thee manna for thy food, which neither thou nor thy fathers knew: to shew that m not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.

English Revised Version
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So he made you suffer from hunger and then fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had seen before. He did this to teach you that a person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that the LORD speaks.

Good News Translation
He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the LORD says.

International Standard Version
He humbled you, causing you to be hungry, yet he fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone—instead human beings are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Literal Standard Version
And He humbles you, and causes you to hunger, and causes you to eat the manna (which you have not known, even your fathers have not known), in order to cause you to know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything proceeding [from] the mouth of YHWH.

Majority Standard Bible
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

New American Bible
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

NET Bible
So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the LORD's mouth.

New Revised Standard Version
He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

New Heart English Bible
He humbled you, and allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but humankind lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

World English Bible
He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s mouth.

Young's Literal Translation
'And He doth humble thee, and cause thee to hunger and doth cause thee to eat the manna (which thou hast not known, even thy fathers have not known), in order to cause thee to know that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every produce of the mouth of Jehovah man doth live.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Remember the LORD Your God
2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments. 3He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.…

Cross References
Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone.'"

1 Corinthians 10:3
They all ate the same spiritual food

Exodus 16:31
Now the house of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

Deuteronomy 9:9
When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.

Deuteronomy 29:6
You ate no bread and drank no wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 32:47
For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess."


Treasury of Scripture

And he humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.

fed thee

Exodus 16:2,3,12-35
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: …

Psalm 78:23-25
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, …

Psalm 105:40
The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

doth

Psalm 37:3
Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Psalm 104:27-29
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season…

Matthew 4:4
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

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Allowed Bread Humbled Hunger Hungry Knewest Live Manna Mouth Proceedeth Proceeds Suffered Understand Word
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Allowed Bread Humbled Hunger Hungry Knewest Live Manna Mouth Proceedeth Proceeds Suffered Understand Word
Deuteronomy 8
1. An exhortation to obedience in regard to God's mercy and goodness to Israel.














(3) And he . . . suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee.--A process naturally humbling. He might easily have fed them without "suffering them to hunger." But He did not give them the manna until the sixteenth day of the second month of the journey (see Exodus 16:1; Exodus 16:6-7); and for one whole month they were left to their own resources. When it appeared that the people had no means of providing sustenance during their journey, "they saw the glory of the Lord" in the way in which He fed them; and for thirty-nine years and eleven months "He withheld not His manna from their mouth."

Manna, which thou knewest not.--Its very name (but see Note on Exodus 16:15) commemorates the fact "unto this day." All the natural things which have been called manna (and Dr. Cunningham Geikie, in "Hours with the Bible," has described several) do not afford the least explanation of the bread which God gave Israel to eat.

That man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord.--Not here alone, but throughout the Law, as in the Gospel, we are taught that life is to do the will of God. Our Saviour called that "My meat." What the visible means of subsistence may be is a secondary matter. Man's life is to do the will of God: "My commandments, which, if a man do, he shall even live in them." "He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

But the special interest of these words arises from our Lord's use of them in the hour of temptation. He also was led forty days (each day for a year of the Exodus) in the wilderness, living upon the word of God. At the end of that time it was proposed to Him to create bread for Himself. But He had learnt the lesson which Israel was to learn; and so, even when God suffered Him to hunger, He still refused to live by His own word. He preferred that of His Father. "And the angels came and ministered unto Him." It is noticeable that all our Lord's answers to the tempter are taken from this exhortation upon the Decalogue in Deuteronomy 6-10.

Verse 3. - God humbled the Israelites by leaving them to suffer hunger from the want of food, and then supplying them with food in a miraculous manner. They were thus taught that their life depended wholly on God, who could, by his own creative power, without any of the ordinary means, provide for the sustaining of their life. And fed thee with manna (cf. Exodus 16:15). It is in vain to seek to identify this with any natural product. It was something entirely new to the Israelites - a thing which neither they nor their fathers knew; truly bread from heaven, and which got from them the name of manna or man, because, in their wondering ignorance, they knew not what to call it, and so they said one to another, Manhoo? (מָן הוּא), What is it? and thenceforward called it man. That he might make thee know, etc. "Bread," which the Jews regarded as "the staff of life," stands here, as in other places, for food generally; and the lesson taught the Israelites was that not in one way or by. one kind of means alone could life be sustained, but in the absence of these God could, by his own fiat, provide for the sustenance of his children. Every word - literally, all, everything whatever - that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, i.e. all means which God has by his word provided, or by his word can provide, for the sustenance of life. So our Lord cites this passage in replying to the tempter, who had suggested that if he was the Son of God he might relieve himself from the pangs of hunger by commanding the stones which lay around to become bread. Our Lord's reply to this is virtually." I have this power, and could use it, but I will not; for this would imply impatience and distrust of God, who has engaged to sustain the life of his servants, and who can, by the mere word of his mouth, by his creative will, provide in an extraordinary way for the sustenance of life when the ordinary means of life are wanting." "Jesus means to say, ' I leave it with God to care for the sustaining of my life, and I will not arbitrarily and for selfish ends help myself by a miracle'" (De Wette, note on Matthew 4:4; see also Meyer on the place).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
He humbled you,
וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ (way·‘an·nə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6031: To be bowed down or afflicted

and in your hunger
וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ֒ (way·yar·‘i·ḇe·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7456: To be hungry

gave you manna
הַמָּן֙ (ham·mān)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4478: Manna (a kind of bread)

to eat,
וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ (way·ya·’ă·ḵil·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

which
אֲשֶׁ֣ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

neither
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

you [nor] your fathers
אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ (’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1: Father

had known,
יָדַ֔עְתָּ (yā·ḏa‘·tā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3045: To know

so that
לְמַ֣עַן (lə·ma·‘an)
Conjunction
Strong's 4616: Purpose -- intent

you might understand
יָדְע֖וּן (yā·ḏə·‘ūn)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 3045: To know

that
כִּ֠י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

man
הָֽאָדָ֔ם (hā·’ā·ḏām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

does not
וְלֹ֥א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

live
יִחְיֶ֣ה (yiḥ·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2421: To live, to revive

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

bread
הַלֶּ֤חֶם (hal·le·ḥem)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

alone,
לְבַדּוֹ֙ (lə·ḇad·dōw)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 905: Separation, a part of the body, branch of a, tree, bar for, carrying, chief of

but
כִּ֛י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

every
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

word that comes from
מוֹצָ֥א (mō·w·ṣā)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4161: A place or act of going forth, issue, export, source, spring

the mouth
פִֽי־ (p̄î-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

of the LORD.
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 8:3 He humbled you and allowed you (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 8:2
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