Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 29:13
and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites assembled at Moab, reiterating the covenant terms before they cross the Jordan into Canaan.
The words — הָקִֽים־ (ha.kim-) means "to establish," and לְ/עָ֗ם (le./'Am) means "to a people."
The thread — This covenantal language echoes Genesis 17:7, Exodus 6:7, and Deuteronomy 28:9, where God binds Himself to a people as their God.
Why it lands — The text states God will establish the Israelites as His people and be their God as sworn to the patriarchs. It requires the reader to accept covenant membership as a settled reality grounded in divine promise rather than human achievement.
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
That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Cross-references
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Exodus 6:7 I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
- Deuteronomy 28:9 The LORD will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.
- Genesis 26:3 Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.
- Genesis 28:13 And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 26:18 And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,
- Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Jeremiah 32:38 They will be My people, and I will be their God.
- Hebrews 11:16 Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.