Deuteronomy 29:5

For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses speaks to the Israelites assembled on the plains of Moab, reviewing the forty-year wilderness journey before they enter Canaan. He addresses the entire covenant community as he recounts their history.

The words — בָל֤וּ (va.Lu) means "they wore out," and שַׂלְמֹֽתֵי/כֶם֙ (sal.mo.tei./Khem) translates to "your clothes." The text states these garments and sandals did not deteriorate despite decades of travel.

The thread — This account of preserved clothing appears in Deuteronomy 8:4 and Nehemiah 9:21, which also note God’s sustained provision in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 8:2 records the same forty-year period as a time when God led the nation to humble and test them.

Why it lands — The verse states God’s physical provision continued uninterrupted while the people remained spiritually dull. It asks the reader to recognize that daily sustenance is a divine act, not a natural guarantee, and to respond with attentive obedience.

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

וָאוֹלֵ֥ךְva./'o.Lekhand/ I led אֶתְכֶ֛ם'et./Khem<obj.>/ you אַרְבָּעִ֥ים'ar.ba.'Imforty שָׁנָ֖הsha.Nahyear[s]בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רba./mid.Barin the/ wilderness לֹֽא־lo'-not בָל֤וּva.Luthey wore out שַׂלְמֹֽתֵיכֶם֙sal.mo.tei./Khemclothes/ your מֵעֲלֵיכֶ֔םme./'a.lei./Khemfrom/ on <the>/ you וְנַֽעַלְךָ֥ve./na.'al./Khaand/ sandal/ your לֹֽא־lo'-not בָלְתָ֖הval.Tahit wore out מֵעַ֥לme./'Alfrom/ on רַגְלֶֽךָ׃rag.Le./khafoot/ your

King James Version

And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 8:4 Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
Nehemiah 9:21 For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
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 1:3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.
Matthew 6:31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Matthew 10:10 Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.
Joshua 9:5 They put worn, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy.
Joshua 9:13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”