Deuteronomy 1:39

And the little ones you said would become captives—your children who on that day did not know good from evil—will enter the land that I will give them, and they will possess it.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites at the plains of Moab, recounting the failed reconnaissance at Kadesh Barnea and contrasting their exile with the inheritance promised to the next generation.

The words — The text highlights טַפְּכֶם (ta'ppechem, "your little ones") and לֹא־ (lo'-, "not") with יָדְעוּ (yada'u, "know") to establish that the children lacked the moral discernment required for the rebellion's liability.

The thread — The declaration that the children will possess the land directly fulfills the reassurance in Numbers 14:31 and aligns with the developmental marker in Isaiah 7:15 regarding the threshold of moral knowledge.

Why it lands — The text states that the children will enter and possess the land despite the generation's failure, requiring the reader to acknowledge that divine inheritance bypasses those who rejected the promise while securing it for those who did not consent to the rebellion.

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

וְטַפְּכֶם֩ve./ta.pe./Khemand/ little one[s]/ your אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sherwho אֲמַרְתֶּ֜ם'a.mar.Temyou said לָבַ֣זla./Vaz<into>/ plunder יִהְיֶ֗הyih.Yehhe will become וּ֠בְנֵיכֶםU./ve.nei./khemand/ children/ your אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sherwho לֹא־lo'-not יָדְע֤וּya.de.'Uthey know הַיּוֹם֙hai./yOmthis/ day ט֣וֹבTovgood וָרָ֔עva./Ra'and/ evil הֵ֖מָּהHe.mahthey יָבֹ֣אוּya.Vo.'uthey will go שָׁ֑מָּהSha.ma/hthere/ towardsוְלָהֶ֣םve./la./Hemand/ to/ themאֶתְּנֶ֔נָּה'et.te.Ne./nahI will give/ it וְהֵ֖םve./Hemand/ they יִירָשֽׁוּהָ׃yi.ra.Shu./hathey will take possession of/ it

King James Version

Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

Cross-references

Isaiah 7:15 By the time He knows enough to reject evil and choose good, He will be eating curds and honey.
Numbers 14:3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
Numbers 14:31 But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
Romans 9:11 Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s plan of election might stand,
Jonah 4:11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
Ephesians 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.