Deuteronomy 11:19

Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, instructing them to internalize and transmit the covenant laws before they cross the Jordan.

The words — The directive hinges on לִמַּדְתֶּם (limmadtem), literally "you will teach," and בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ (beshibtecha), literally "when you are sitting," anchoring the command in ordinary domestic and travel rhythms.

The thread — This formulation repeats the Shema instruction in Deuteronomy 6:7, aligns with the generational warning in Deuteronomy 4:9, and echoes the pedagogical summons of Psalm 34:11.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to embed instruction into daily routines, ensuring transmission occurs continuously across generations without restriction to specific times or locations.

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

וְלִמַּדְתֶּ֥םve./li.mad.Temand/ you will teach אֹתָ֛ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them אֶת־'et-<obj.>בְּנֵיכֶ֖םbe.nei./Khemchildren/ your לְדַבֵּ֣רle./da.Berby/ speakingבָּ֑םBa/min <the>/ themבְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤be./shiv.te./Khawhen/ sitting/ you בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙be./vei.Te./khain/ house/ your וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣u./ve./lekh.te./Khaand/ when/ walking/ you בַדֶּ֔רֶךְva./De.rekhon the/ road וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖u./ve./sha.khe.be./Khaand/ when/ lying down/ you וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃u./ve./ku.Me./chaand/ when/ rising up/ you

King James Version

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 6:7 And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Psalms 34:11 Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Isaiah 38:19 The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
Proverbs 2:1 My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
Proverbs 4:1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
Psalms 78:5 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,