Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 1:11
May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite congregation on the plains of Moab, recalling the wilderness journey after God fulfilled the promise to multiply them like the stars (Deuteronomy 1:10). He frames this blessing immediately before his complaint about the impossibility of single-handedly judging the now-numerous people (Deuteronomy 1:12).
The words — The Hebrew יֹסֵף (yo.Sef) literally means "may he add," paired with אֶלֶף (E.lef) "a thousand" and פְּעָמִים (pe.'a.Mim) "times" to form the phrase "increase you a thousand times over." The verb וִיבָרֵךְ (vi.va.Rekh) translates as "may he bless," directly echoing the covenantal promise motif.
The thread — This blessing language echoes the Abrahamic covenant where God pledges to multiply descendants like stars and sand (Genesis 22:17). It also parallels the priestly blessing formula where God commits to blessing Israel (Numbers 6:27) and the psalmist's prayer for generational increase (Psalms 115:14).
Why it lands — The text records Moses pronouncing a covenantal wish for exponential growth and divine favor before confronting the logistical reality of leading a multiplied nation. It requires the reader to acknowledge that numerical increase brings operational strain, demanding reliance on God's promised blessing rather than human capacity alone.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
(The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
Cross-references
- Psalms 115:14 May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children.
- Genesis 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Numbers 6:27 So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
- Genesis 26:4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,
- Genesis 15:5 And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Genesis 49:25 by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.
- 2 Samuel 24:3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the LORD your God multiply the troops a hundred times over, and may the eyes of my lord the king see it. But why does my lord the king want to do such a thing?”
- Exodus 32:13 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
- Numbers 22:12 But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”
- 1 Chronicles 21:3 But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”