BOOK 5 OF 66 · LAW · KING JAMES BIBLE

Deuteronomy 8

Deuteronomy book home•Chapter 8 of 34•20 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Deuteronomy 8 Overview

Moses tells Israel to remember the forty-year wilderness journey, where God humbled and proved them, fed them with manna, and taught them that man does not live by bread only. He then describes the abundance of Canaan and warns that full stomachs, good houses, and increasing wealth can lead Israel to forget the LORD and claim, 'My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.'

DeuteronomyBook

8Chapter

20Verses

LawDivision

Before you read Deuteronomy 8

Coming from

Chapter 7 told Israel not to fear the nations and not to let Canaan’s idolatry turn them from the LORD.

In this chapter

The wilderness is interpreted as purposeful divine training, and the future prosperity of the land is presented as a test of memory and humility.

Leads into

Chapter 9 removes another source of pride by insisting that Israel will not possess the land because of its own righteousness.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The wilderness years were not meaningless delay. Moses explains that God used hunger, manna, discipline, and dependence to expose what was in Israel’s heart and teach reliance on his word. The good land is described concretely—water, crops, minerals, and abundance. The danger changes once Israel enters it: scarcity can test trust, but abundance can produce self-sufficiency and forgetfulness.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God can use material need to teach dependence on his word and provision.

Truth 2

Prosperity is not self-created; Israel’s ability to gain wealth is itself received from God.

Truth 3

Remembering the LORD includes remembering both his provision and his fatherly discipline.

Truth 4

Forgetting God in prosperity can lead to the same idolatry that Israel is warned to destroy.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4 record Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 in the wilderness temptation.

Connection 2

Exodus 16 records the giving of manna that Moses interprets here.

Connection 3

John 6 discusses manna and then directs hearers beyond the wilderness bread to Christ, the true bread from heaven.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Moses’ statement about being proved does not mean God needed information he lacked; in the narrative, testing exposes and demonstrates Israel’s heart in lived history.

Keep this clear 2

The chapter’s promise of land abundance belongs to Israel’s covenant inheritance and should not be converted into a universal prosperity guarantee.

Keep this clear 3

Do not reduce 'every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD' to a slogan detached from the chapter’s lesson about dependence on God.

Read Deuteronomy 8 watching for…

The purposes Moses assigns to the wilderness experience.

The contrast between hunger in the wilderness and abundance in Canaan.

The repeated commands to remember and not forget.

The danger of saying, 'My power... hath gotten me this wealth.'

How God’s covenant promise to the fathers frames Israel’s coming prosperity.

Chapter outline2 sections

1-9Israel must remember God’s leading through the wilderness and the good land ahead 10-20Israel must not forget the LORD when they prosper

All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.

And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

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.

Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.

Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

STUDY THIS VERSE

Deuteronomy 8:13

Back to verse ↑

Cross References

Cross-reference storage is active. This passage does not yet have curated references loaded.

Related TWBC Resources

The Scripture resource graph is active. Sermons, Bible Overviews, courses, questions, and studies can attach here without changing the Bible text.