Deuteronomy 34:4

And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD speaks to Moses at the end of his life, revealing the territory from the Negev to Zoar immediately before Moses dies in Moab. This declaration occurs after Moses has viewed the land from a distance and before his death is recorded.

The words — The Hebrew verb נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי (nishba'ti) translates literally as "I swore," directly linking the present moment to the ancestral covenant. This term anchors the land grant in a binding divine oath rather than a conditional grant.

The thread — The prohibition against crossing the boundary reappears in Deuteronomy 32:52, which repeats that Moses will see the land but not enter it. The foundational oath to the patriarchs is first recorded in Genesis 12:7 and reaffirmed in Genesis 28:13.

Why it lands — The text states that Moses saw the promised land with his eyes but was forbidden from crossing into it. It requires the reader to accept that divine timing and human limitation operate independently of personal merit or prior faithfulness.

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

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said יְהוָ֜הYah.wehYahweh אֵלָ֗יו'e.La/vto/ him זֹ֤אתzotthis הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ha./'A.retz[is] the/ land אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich נִ֠שְׁבַּעְתִּיNish.ba'.tiI swore לְאַבְרָהָ֨םle./'av.ra.Hamto/ Abraham לְיִצְחָ֤קle./yitz.Chakto/ Isaac וּֽלְיַעֲקֹב֙u./le./ya.'a.Koand/ to/ Jacob לֵאמֹ֔רle./Mor<to>/ saying לְזַרְעֲךָ֖le./zar.'a./Khato/ offspring/ your אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּה'et.te.Ne./nahI will give/ it הֶרְאִיתִ֣יךָher.'i.Ti./khaI have let see [it]/ you בְעֵינֶ֔יךָve./'ei.Nei./khawith/ own eyes/ your וְשָׁ֖מָּהve./Sha.ma/hand/ there/ towards לֹ֥אlo'not תַעֲבֹֽר׃ta.'a.Voryou will pass over

King James Version

And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 32:52 Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”
Genesis 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
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 3:26 But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.
Genesis 13:15 for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
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.
Numbers 20:12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Psalms 105:9 the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.
John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

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