Deuteronomy 8:18

But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel at the plains of Moab, on the threshold of Canaan, warning them against the self-congratulatory thought in the preceding verse.

The words — כֹּחַ (koach, H3581) is "strength" or "capacity," not wealth itself; God gives the ability to acquire, not a passive windfall. The verb נָתַן (natan, H5414) "gives" makes Yahweh the sole agent behind Israel's prosperity.

The thread — Hosea 2:8 records the same failure in reverse: Israel enjoyed grain, wine, oil, silver, and gold yet "does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her." Proverbs 10:22 states the principle positively; Deuteronomy 7:8 grounds the covenant oath that v. 18 invokes.

Why it lands — The verse strips the reader of the credit they would naturally claim for their own success and reassigns it to God's covenant faithfulness, making self-congratulation an act of forgetting.

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

וְזָֽכַרְתָּ֙ve./za.khar.Taand/ you will remember אֶת־'et-<obj.>יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your כִּ֣יkithat ה֗וּאHu'he הַנֹּתֵ֥ןha./no.Ten[is] the/ [one who] givesלְךָ֛le./Khato <the>/ youכֹּ֖חַKo.achstrength לַעֲשׂ֣וֹתla./'a.Sotto/ acquire חָ֑יִלCha.yilwealth לְמַ֨עַןle.Ma.'anso as הָקִ֧יםha.Kimto carry out אֶת־'et-<obj.>בְּרִית֛וֹbe.ri.T/ocovenant/ his אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which נִשְׁבַּ֥עnish.Ba'he swore לַאֲבֹתֶ֖יךָla./'a.vo.Tei./khato/ ancestors/ your כַּיּ֥וֹםka/i.Yomas the/ day הַזֶּֽה׃ פha./Zeh<the>/ this

King James Version

But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Cross-references

Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
Hosea 2:8 For she does not acknowledge that it was I who gave her grain, new wine, and oil, who lavished on her silver and gold—which they crafted for Baal.
Deuteronomy 7:8 But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Psalms 127:1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
Deuteronomy 7:12 If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.
Psalms 144:1 Of David. Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.