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King James Version

Deuteronomy 26:5

And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - First Fruits;   Patriotism;   Thompson Chain Reference - Generosity;   Liberality;   Liberality-Parsimony;   Sojourners;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - First Fruits, the;   Syria;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Aram;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Feasts and Festivals of Israel;   Hospitality;   Legalism;   Tithe, Tithing;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Aram;   Meat-Offering;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Alms;   Meat;   Passover;   Phoenice;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Aramean;   Exodus;   Firstfruits;   History;   Mission(s);   Syria;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   Israel;   Jacob;   Pentecost, Feast of;   Prayer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Boyhood of Jesus;   Passover (I.);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Gentiles;   Syria, Syrian ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Alms;   First-fruits;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Perish;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Other Laws;   Property Given to Religion;   Priesthood, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Criticism (the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis);   First-Fruits;   Jacob (1);   Languages of the Old Testament;   Prayer;   Syrians;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Agriculture;   Aram;   Aramaic Language among the Jews;   Bikkurim;   Commandments, the 613;   First-Fruits;   Haggadah (Shel Pesaḥ);   Hebrew Language;   Israel, People of;   Liturgy;   Seder;   Semites;   Tabernacles, Feast of;   Taḳḳanah;  

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
"And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Update Bible Version
And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
English Revised Version
And thou shalt answer and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
New Century Version
Then you shall announce before the Lord your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with only a few people, but they became a great, powerful, and large nation there.
New English Translation
Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.
Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish [was] my father, and he went down to Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
World English Bible
You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Amplified Bible
"And you shall say before the LORD your God, 'My father [Jacob] was a wandering Aramean, and he [along with his family] went down to Egypt and lived there [as strangers], few in number; but while there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thou schalt speke in the siyt of thi Lord God, Sirus pursuede my fadir, `which fadir yede doun in to Egipt, and was a pilgrym there in feweste noumbre; and he encreesside in to a greet folk, and strong, and of multitude without noumbre.
Young's Literal Translation
`And thou hast answered and said before Jehovah thy God, A perishing Aramaean [is] my father! and he goeth down to Egypt, and sojourneth there with few men, and becometh there a nation, great, mighty, and numerous;
Berean Standard Bible
and you are to declare before the LORD your God, "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
Contemporary English Version
Then, standing there in front of the place of worship, you must pray: My ancestor was homeless, an Aramean who went to live in Egypt. There were only a few in his family then, but they became great and powerful, a nation of many people.
American Standard Version
And thou shalt answer and say before Jehovah thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Bible in Basic English
And these are the words which you will say before the Lord your God: My father was a wandering Aramaean, and he went down with a small number of people into Egypt; there he became a great and strong nation:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And thou shalt aunswere and say before the Lorde thy God: The Syrians went about to destroy my father, and he went downe into Egypt, and so soiourned there with a fewe folke, and grewe there vnto a nation great, mightie, and full of people.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Then, in the presence of Adonai your God, you are to say, ‘My ancestor was a nomad from Aram. He went down into Egypt few in number and stayed. There he became a great, strong, populous nation.
Darby Translation
And thou shalt speak and say before Jehovah thy God, A perishing Aramean was my father, and he went down to Egypt with a few, and sojourned there, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then there before the Lord your God you will say: ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean. He went down into Egypt and stayed there. When he went there, he had only a few people in his family. But in Egypt he became a great nation—a powerful nation with many people.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God: 'A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
King James Version (1611)
And thou shalt speake and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and hee went downe into Egypt, and soiourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
New Life Bible
And you will say before the Lord your God, ‘My father was a traveling Aramean. He went to Egypt, few in number, and stayed there. But there he became a nation, great, powerful, and with many people.
New Revised Standard
you shall make this response before the Lord your God: "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And thou shalt respond and say before Yahweh thy God - A Syrian ready to perish, was my father, so he went down to Egypt, and became a sojourner there with men only few; but he became there a nation great, mighty and numerous;
Geneva Bible (1587)
And thou shalt answere and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian was my father, who being ready to perish for hunger, went downe into Egypt, and soiourned there with a smal company, and grew there vnto a nation great, mightie and full of people.
George Lamsa Translation
And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, My father was led to Aram and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there for a short time, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous;
Good News Translation
Then, in the Lord 's presence you will recite these words: ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number when they went there, but they became a large and powerful nation.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: The Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned there in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong and of an infinite multitude.
Revised Standard Version
"And you shall make response before the LORD your God, 'A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and he shall answer and say before the Lord thy God, My father abandoned Syria, and went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a small number, and became there a mighty nation and a great multitude.
Christian Standard Bible®
You are to respond by saying in the presence of the Lord your God:
Hebrew Names Version
You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, A Arammian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Mitzrayim, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Lexham English Bible
And you shall declare and you shall say before your God, ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
Literal Translation
And you shall speak and say before Jehovah your God, My father was a perishing Aramean! And he went down to Egypt with few men, and lived there, and became a nation there, great, mighty and many.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then shalt thou answere and saye before the LORDE thy God: The Syrians wolde haue destroyed my father, which wete downe in to Egipte, and was a strauger there with a small folke, and became there a nacio greate, mightie & full of people.
New American Standard Bible
"And you shall respond and say before the LORD your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and resided there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty, and populous nation.
New King James Version
And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: 'My father was a Syrian, [fn] about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
New Living Translation
"You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.
Legacy Standard Bible
And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty, and populous nation.

Contextual Overview

1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. 5 And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7 And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: 8 And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord , hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

A Syrian: Jacob being called a Syrian from his long residence in Padan-aram. Genesis 24:4, Genesis 25:20, Genesis 28:5, Genesis 31:20, Genesis 31:24, Hosea 12:12

ready: Genesis 27:41, Genesis 31:40, Genesis 43:1, Genesis 43:2, Genesis 43:12, Genesis 45:7, Genesis 45:11, Isaiah 51:1, Isaiah 51:2

he went down: Genesis 46:1-7, Psalms 105:23, Psalms 105:24, Acts 7:15

a few: Deuteronomy 7:7, Genesis 46:27, Exodus 1:5

became: Deuteronomy 10:22, Genesis 47:27, Exodus 1:7, Exodus 1:12

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:2 - General Genesis 46:3 - I will Genesis 46:6 - into Egypt Genesis 47:4 - For to Deuteronomy 6:21 - We were Joshua 24:2 - Your fathers Job 29:13 - ready Psalms 68:10 - thou Psalms 105:12 - a few

Cross-References

Genesis 12:4
So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Genesis 17:23
And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
Genesis 18:19
For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord , to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Genesis 22:16
And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord , for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Genesis 22:18
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 26:1
And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
Genesis 26:2
And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
Genesis 26:6
And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
Matthew 5:19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:24
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God,.... Speak with a loud voice, lifting up the voice, as Jarchi interprets it; or "answer" e, to the question the priest will ask, saying, what is this thou hast brought? as Aben Ezra remarks; and this being said in the tabernacle, and before the priest of the Lord, and as in the presence of the Lord, is represented as said before him, which is as follows:

a Syrian ready to perish [was] my father; meaning Jacob, who though born in Canaan, his mother was a Syrian, and his grandfather Abraham was of Chaldea, a part of Syria; and Jacob married two wives in Syria, and all his children were born there but Benjamin, and where he lived twenty years; and sometimes persons are denominated, as from the place of their birth, so from the place of their dwelling, as Christ was called a Nazarene from Nazareth, where he dwelt, though he was born at Bethlehem, Matthew 2:23; and Jether, though an Israelite, as Aben Ezra observes, is called an Ishmaelite, perhaps because he dwelt some time among that people, 1 Chronicles 2:17. Now Jacob might be said to be ready to perish when he fled for his life from his brother Esau, and was poor and penniless when he came to Laban; so the last mentioned writer interprets this phrase; to which may be added, that when in his service he was exposed to cold and heat, and had his wages frequently changed, and afterwards, when obliged to flee from Laban, was pursued by him with an intention to do him mischief, had not the Lord prevented him. The reason of this part of the confession was to show that it was not owing to the greatness of their ancestors from whence they sprung, whose condition was mean, but to the gift of God, and his goodness, that they enjoyed the land of Canaan. So every sensible soul, when he brings his sacrifice of praise to God for his mercies, especially spiritual ones, frankly acknowledges his lost perishing condition by nature, of which he is sensible; and that in order to magnify the riches of the grace of God in his salvation, to endear Christ as a Saviour the more, and to keep humble, and make thankful:

and he went down into Egypt; not directly, but some years after his former afflicted circumstances; so the Targum of Jonathan expresses it,

"after these things he went down into Egypt;''

after he had been in perishing circumstances in Syria, and when he was sore pressed with famine in Canaan:

and sojourned there with a few; with seventy souls, as Jarchi:

and became there a great nation, mighty and populous; insomuch that the king of Egypt was jealous of them, lest through their strength and numbers they should get away from them, when any favourable incident happened; they being when they came out from thence six hundred thousand men able to bear arms, besides women and children.

e וענית "et respondebis", Montanus, Vatablus; "et respondens dices", Munster.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A Syrian ready to perish was my father - The reference is shown by the context to be to Jacob, as the ancestor in whom particularly the family of Abraham began to develop into a nation (compare Isaiah 43:22, Isaiah 43:28, etc.). Jacob is called a Syrian (literally, Aramaean), not only because of his own long residence in Syria with Laban Gen. 29–31, as our Lord was called a Nazarene because of his residence at Nazareth Matthew 2:23, but because he there married and had his children (compare Hosea 12:12); and might be said accordingly to belong to that more than to any other land.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 26:5. A Syrian ready to perish was my father — This passage has been variously understood, both by the ancient versions and by modern commentators. The Vulgate renders it thus: Syrus persequebatur patrem meum, "A Syrian persecuted my father." The Septuagint thus: Συριαν απεβαλεν ὁ πατηρ μου, "My father abandoned Syria." The Targum thus: לבן ארמאה בעא לאובדא ית אבא Laban arammaah bea leobada yath abba, "Laban the Syrian endeavoured to destroy my father." The Syriac: "My father was led out of Syria into Egypt." The Arabic: "Surely, Laban the Syrian had almost destroyed my father." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel: "Our father Jacob went at first into Syria of Mesopotamia, and Laban sought to destroy him."

Father Houbigant dissents from all, and renders the original thus: Fames urgebat patrem meum, qui in AEgyptum descendit, "Famine oppressed my father, who went down into Egypt." This interpretation Houbigant gives the text, by taking the י yod from the word ארמי arammi, which signifies an Aramite or Syrian, and joining it to יאבד yeabud, the future for the perfect, which is common enough in Hebrew, and which may signify constrained; and seeking for the meaning of ארם aram in the Arabic [Arabic] arama, which signifies famine, dearth, &c., he thus makes out his version, and this version he defends at large in his notes. It is pretty evident, from the text, that by a Syrian we are to understand Jacob, so called from his long residence in Syria with his father-in-law Laban. And his being ready to perish may signify the hard usage and severe labour he had in Laban's service, by which, as his health was much impaired, so his life might have often been in imminent danger.


 
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