Deuteronomy 11:2

Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, linking the command to love God in verse 1 with the historical record of His power. He speaks to the generation standing ready to enter the land, contrasting their direct experience with that of their descendants.

The words — The Hebrew verb וִֽידַעְתֶּם (vi’datem) means “you will know,” anchored by הַיּוֹם (hayyôm) for “this day.” The noun בְּנֵיכֶם (beneikhem) explicitly identifies “your children” as the ones who have not yet known or seen these events.

The thread — The passage recalls the divine demonstrations recorded in Deuteronomy 4:34 and 7:19, while Deuteronomy 5:24 similarly notes the people’s direct encounter with God’s visible glory and greatness. These references collectively anchor the covenant in witnessed acts rather than inherited memory.

Why it lands — The text commands the current generation to personally acknowledge God’s discipline and power because their children have not yet witnessed it. It requires readers to ground their obedience in direct, observable reality rather than secondhand tradition.

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

And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?
Deuteronomy 5:24 and you said, “Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him.
Deuteronomy 7:19 the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.
Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
Deuteronomy 8:19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
Deuteronomy 9:26 And I prayed to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
Deuteronomy 29:10 All of you are standing today before the LORD your God—you leaders of tribes, elders, officials, and all the men of Israel,
Proverbs 22:19 So that your trust may be in the LORD, I instruct you today—yes, you.
Acts 26:22 But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen: