Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 5:3
He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites gathered at Horeb, declaring that the covenant is not restricted to past generations but applies directly to the living generation present on the mountain.
The words — כָּרַת (ka.Rat) denotes the formal act of cutting or establishing a covenant, while אֲבֹתֵינוּ ('a.vo.Tei.nu) specifically isolates the patriarchs to contrast them with the current audience.
The thread — This insistence on present-tense covenant obligation appears in Deuteronomy 29:10 and operates alongside the ancestral promises detailed in Genesis 17:7 and Genesis 17:21.
Why it lands — The text requires each listener to treat the covenant as personally binding rather than inherited tradition, demanding immediate accountability from those standing before God.
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
The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Cross-references
- 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,
- 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.
- Genesis 17:21 But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
- Psalms 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
- Jeremiah 32:38 They will be My people, and I will be their God.
- Matthew 13:17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
- Galatians 3:17 What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.
- Hebrews 8:8 But God found fault with the people and said: “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.