Deuteronomy 8:3

Easy-to-Read Version

He humbled you and let you be hungry. Then he fed you with manna—something you did not know about before. It was something your ancestors had never seen. Why did the Lord do this? Because he wanted you to know that it is not just bread that keeps people alive. People's lives depend on what the Lord says.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.

King James Version
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

Lexham English Bible
And he humbled you and let you go hungry, and then he fed you with that which you did not know nor did your ancestors know, in order to make you know that not by bread alone but by all that goes out of the mouth of Yahweh humankind shall live.

English Standard Version
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord .

New Century Version
He took away your pride when he let you get hungry, and then he fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live on bread alone, but by everything the Lord says.

New English Translation
So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord 's mouth.

Amplified Bible
"He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

New American Standard Bible
"And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the LORD.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore he humbled thee, and made thee hungry, and fed thee with MAN, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know it, that he might teache thee yt man liueth not by bread onely, but by euery worde that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, doth a man liue.

Legacy Standard Bible
And He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.

Contemporary English Version
so he made you go hungry. Then he gave you manna, a kind of food that you and your ancestors had never even heard about. The Lord was teaching you that people need more than food to live—they need every word that the Lord has spoken.

Complete Jewish Bible
He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with man, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of Adonai .

Darby Translation
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with the manna, which thou hadst not known, and which thy fathers knew not; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by everything that goeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.

George Lamsa Translation
And he humbled you and suffered you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you to understand that man does not live by bread alone; but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.

Good News Translation
He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the Lord says.

Christian Standard Bible®
He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Literal Translation
And He has humbled you, and caused you to hunger, and caused you to eat the manna, which you had not known, and your fathers had not known, in order to cause you to know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man shall live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He chastened the, and let the hunger, and fed the with Manna (which thou and thy fathers knewe not) to make the knowe, that man lyueth not by bred onely, but by all that proceadeth out of the mouth of the LORDE.

American Standard Version
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.

Bible in Basic English
And he made low your pride and let you be without food and gave you manna for your food, a thing new to you, which your fathers never saw; so that he might make it clear to you that bread is not man's only need, but his life is in every word which comes out of the mouth of the Lord.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, & fed thee with Manna, which neither thou nor thy fathers knewe of, to make thee knowe that a man doth not lyue by bread only: but by euery [worde] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lorde, doth a man lyue.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

King James Version (1611)
And he humbled thee, and suffred thee to hunger, and fed thee with Manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know: that he might make thee know, that man doth not liue by bread onely, but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man liue.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he afflicted thee and straitened thee with hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that he might teach thee that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall man live.

English Revised Version
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Berean Standard Bible
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he turmentide thee with nedynesse, and he yaf to thee meete, manna which thou knewist not, and thi fadris `knewen not, that he schulde schewe to thee, that a man lyueth not in breed aloone, but in ech word that cometh `out of the Lordis mouth, `that is, bi manna, that cam down `at the heest of the Lord.

Young's Literal Translation
`And He doth humble thee, and cause thee to hunger and doth cause thee to eat the manna (which thou hast not known, even thy fathers have not known), in order to cause thee to know that not by bread alone doth man live, but by every produce of the mouth of Jehovah man doth live.

Update Bible Version
And he humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

World English Bible
He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live.

New King James Version
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

New Living Translation
Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord .

New Life Bible
He let you be hungry which helped you to not have pride. Then He fed you with bread from heaven which you and your fathers had not known. He did this to make you understand that man does not live by bread alone. But man lives by everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.

New Revised Standard
He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord .

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou hadst not known, neither had thy fathers' known, - that he might lead thee to consider that not on bread alone, shall the son of earth live, but on whatsoever cometh from the bidding of Yahweh, shall the son of earth live.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He afflicted thee with want, and gave thee manna for thy food, which neither thou nor thy fathers knew: to shew that not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.

Revised Standard Version
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.

Contextual Overview

¹ "You must obey all the commands that I give you today, because then you will live and grow to become a great nation. You will get the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ² And you must remember the entire trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. He was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know what is in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. ³ He humbled you and let you be hungry. Then he fed you with manna—something you did not know about before. It was something your ancestors had never seen. Why did the Lord do this? Because he wanted you to know that it is not just bread that keeps people alive. People's lives depend on what the Lord says. ⁴ These past 40 years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. ⁵ You must remember that the Lord your God teaches and corrects you as a father teaches and corrects his son. ⁶ "You must obey the commands of the Lord your God. Follow him and respect him. ⁷ The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with rivers and pools of water. Water flows out of the ground in the valleys and hills. ⁸ It is a land with wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It is a land with olive oil and honey. ⁹ There you will have plenty of food and everything you need. It is a land where the rocks are iron. You can dig copper out of the hills.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

fed thee: Exodus 16:2, Exodus 16:3, Exodus 16:12-35, Psalms 78:23-25, Psalms 105:40, 1 Corinthians 10:3

doth: Psalms 37:3, Psalms 104:27-29, Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4, Luke 12:29, Luke 12:30, Hebrews 13:5, Hebrews 13:6

Reciprocal: Exodus 16:14 - the dew Exodus 16:15 - It is manna Exodus 16:22 - General Exodus 16:35 - forty years Deuteronomy 6:24 - he might Deuteronomy 8:16 - fed thee Deuteronomy 29:6 - eaten bread Deuteronomy 33:8 - prove at Nehemiah 9:15 - gavest Psalms 78:24 - had rained Psalms 104:15 - bread Psalms 143:5 - remember Psalms 144:13 - our sheep Proverbs 29:23 - honour Ecclesiastes 7:14 - but Isaiah 38:16 - General Jeremiah 31:2 - found Daniel 1:12 - pulse to eat Daniel 11:35 - to try Mark 6:42 - General Luke 22:35 - lacked John 6:31 - fathers Romans 8:28 - we know Philippians 4:19 - supply 1 Timothy 6:8 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 7:11
On the 17th day of the second month, when Noah was 600 years old, the springs under the earth broke through the ground, and water flowed out everywhere. The sky also opened like windows and rain poured down. The rain fell on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. That same day Noah went into the boat with his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.

Genesis 7:24
The water continued to cover the earth for 150 days.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he humbled thee,.... Or afflicted thee with want of bread:

and suffered thee to hunger; that there might be an opportunity of showing his mercy, and exerting his power:

and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; a sort of food they had never seen before, and when they saw it, knew not what it was, but asked, what is it? Exodus 16:15. Thus the Lord humbles his people by his Spirit and grace, and brings them to see themselves to be in want, and creates in them desires after spiritual food, and feeds them with Christ the hidden manna, whose person, office, and grace, they were before ignorant of:

that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only; which is the stay and staff of life, and which strengthens man's heart, and is the main support of it, being the ordinary and usual food man lives upon, and is put for all the rest:

but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live: not so much by the food he eats as by the blessing of God upon it, and who can make one sort of food as effectual for such a purpose as another; for every creature of God is good being received with thankfulness, and sanctified by the word and prayer; and particularly he could and did make such light food as manna was to answer all the purposes of solid bread for the space of forty years in the wilderness; the Targum of Jonathan is,

"but by all which is created by the Word of the Lord is the life of man;''

which seems to agree with 1Ti 4:3,4 for the meaning is not that the Israelites in the wilderness, and when come into the land of Canaan, should not live by corporeal food only, but by obedience to the commands of God, by means of which they should continue under his protection, which was indeed their case; nor that man does not live in his body only by bread, but in his soul also by the word of God, and the doctrines of it, which is certainly true; spiritual men live a spiritual life on Christ, the Word of God, and bread of life, and on the Gospel and the truths of it, the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus, and are nourished up with the words of faith and sound doctrine, by means of which their spiritual life is supported and maintained; but this is not what is here intended.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord - literally, “every outgoing of the mouth of the Lord.” Compare Deuteronomy 29:5-6. The term “word” is inserted by the King James Version after the Septuagint, which is followed by Matthew and Luke (see the marginal references). On the means of subsistence available to the people during the wandering, see Numbers 20:1 note. The lesson was taught, that it is not nature which nourishes man, but God the Creator by and through nature: and generally that God is not tied to the particular channels (“bread only,” i. e. the ordinary means of earthly sustenance) through which He is usually pleased to work.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 8:3. He - suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee — God never permits any tribulation to befall his followers, which he does not design to turn to their advantage. When he permits us to hunger, it is that his mercy may be the more observable in providing us with the necessaries of life. Privations, in the way of providence, are the forerunners of mercy and goodness abundant.