Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 4:31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, preparing them for life inside the Promised Land. He speaks to a generation that will experience future distress and spiritual apostasy.
The words — The text highlights רַחוּם (rachum), rendered "compassionate" or "merciful," alongside the verb יַרְפֶּה (yarpeh), meaning "he will not abandon." These lexical choices ground the declaration of covenant fidelity in specific Hebrew roots.
The thread — The assurance of non-abandonment reappears in Deuteronomy 31:8, where Yahweh promises He will never leave His people. Nehemiah 9:31 also traces Israel's preservation to this same attribute of divine compassion.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to anchor future hope in God's sworn oath rather than in Israel's immediate obedience. It demands a shift from circumstantial anxiety to reliance on unchanging covenant character.
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
(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
- Psalms 116:5 The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
- Nehemiah 9:31 But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- Jonah 4:2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
- 2 Chronicles 30:9 For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
- Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Leviticus 26:42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
- Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Leviticus 26:45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.”