Deutoronomy 30: 20

[Ta-An]

Please give me your understanding of this verse in Scripture.

Unfortunately I am on my phone and don't know how to copy and paste this verse from different translations here for now.
Thank you

Edit by Athanasius:

Deutoronomy 30:20
Loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

[RabbiKnife]

A reiteration of the conditional promise (based on obedience) of the land to the COI

[Fenris]

A reiteration of the conditional promise (based on obedience) of the land to the COI

I would say not conditional, based on context.

The magnificent chapter 30 of Deuteronomy:

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,  and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.  He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.  The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live  and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


The chapter doesn't begin with an "if", but a "when". I used the NIV because it's a good, readable translation. In the Hebrew, the chapter begins with "וְהָיָה֩" "And it will be". The next verse starts "and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul". It's not a conditional contract; it's a prophecy of the distant future (which I believe we are experiencing now!)

[Fenris]

Interestingly enough, this is from the Torah portion we will be reading this Sabbath.

[Ta-An]

Interestingly enough, this is from the Torah portion we will be reading this Sabbath.

I would love to hear what the teaching was... waiting in anticipation.
The punctuation in the KJV differes from the NIV which to some degree has an effect on the meaning of the verse.

[Ta-An]

A reiteration of the conditional promise (based on obedience) of the land to the COI

I would say not conditional, based on context.

The magnificent chapter 30 of Deuteronomy:

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,  and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.  He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.  The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live  and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.


The chapter doesn't begin with an "if", but a "when". I used the NIV because it's a good, readable translation. In the Hebrew, the chapter begins with "וְהָיָה֩" "And it will be". The next verse starts "and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul". It's not a conditional contract; it's a prophecy of the distant future (which I believe we are experiencing now!)

Yes, I understand this.
It is not and IF statement... it is a WHEN statement.
And it is about relationship and obedience.
The translation I use starts with IF

[Fenris]

Yes, I understand this.
It is not and IF statement... it is a WHEN statement.
And it is about relationship and obedience.
The translation I use starts with IF

Your translation is faulty. The Hebrew doesn't say "if".

Verse 2

וְשַׁבְתָּ֞ עַד־יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ֙

"And you will return to the Lord, your God."

It's a prophecy about (what was then) the distant future.

[Fenris]

Chapter 28, with the blessings and the curses, begins with:

וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע֙ בְּקוֹל֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ

"And it shall be, if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God...

The word אִם means "if".

Verse 15 says

וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמַע֙ בְּקוֹל֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ

"And it shall be, if you don't listen to the voice of the Lord your God.


This word doesn't appear in verse 1 or 2 of chapter 30. This isn't a conditional statement. God is saying what will happen "When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart..." ..." then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you".

[Fenris]

We are told elsewhere in Deuteronomy "You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it."

Random bible translator: "I'm going to add the word "if" here, so that the verse fits with my preconceived notion of what the bible should be saying".

Strange thing to do with the word of God, you know?

[Ta-An]

We are told elsewhere in Deuteronomy "You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it."

Random bible translator: "I'm going to add the word "if" here, so that the verse fits with my preconceived notion of what the bible should be saying".

Strange thing to do with the word of God, you know?

Yes, this sometimes happens when translating into a different language. 

[Ta-An]

It's not a conditional contract; it's a prophecy of the distant future (which I believe we are experiencing now!)

Would you link this to the Jubilee year that has been announced by the Pope?
Does this Jubilee Year announced by the Pope of the RCC have any effect on the Hebrew calendar?

[teddyv]

It's not a conditional contract; it's a prophecy of the distant future (which I believe we are experiencing now!)

Would you link this to the Jubilee year that has been announced by the Pope?
Does this Jubilee Year announced by the Pope of the RCC have any effect on the Hebrew calendar?

The RCC Jubilee uses the same general intent but does not appear to be related directly to the traditional Hebrew jubilee. It appear the RCC has these jubilees every 25 years, assuming the birth of Christ as 0 AD. I'd not heard of this prior to you bringing it up.

[Fenris]

Would you link this to the Jubilee year that has been announced by the Pope?
Does this Jubilee Year announced by the Pope of the RCC have any effect on the Hebrew calendar?

The Pope is a non-entity in Judaism.

[Ta-An]

Would you link this to the Jubilee year that has been announced by the Pope?
Does this Jubilee Year announced by the Pope of the RCC have any effect on the Hebrew calendar?

The Pope is a non-entity in Judaism.

Yeah... that much I know, just thought he might have been pushing something to confuse the Hebrew calendar...?
When is the next Jubilee year according to the Hebrew calendar?

[Fenris]

Yeah... that much I know, just thought he might have been pushing something to confuse the Hebrew calendar...?

We don't care what he says, so he can't confuse us, either.

When is the next Jubilee year according to the Hebrew calendar?

We only keep the Shmittah (seventh) year, not the Yovel (Jubilee) year.