Deuteronomy 8:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Deuteronomy 8:3
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.
to depress literally or figuratively · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
hunger
וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ֒vai.yar.'i.ve.Kha
H7456
to hunger · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
fed
וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤vai.ya.'a.khil.Kha
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
manna
הַמָּן֙ha.Man
H4478
literally a whatness (so to speak) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
knewest
יָדַ֔עְתָּya.Da'.ta
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
fathers
אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ'a.vo.Tei.kha
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor fo…
Exodus 16:2-3 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
Psalms 78:23-25 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
Exodus 16:12-35 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be f…
Luke 12:29-30 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 8:1-9
The charge here given them is the same as before, to keep and do all God's commandments. Their obedience must be, 1. Careful: Observe to do. 2. Universal: To do all the commandments, Deu 8:1. And, 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their God, and particularly with a holy fear of him (Deu 8:6), from a reverence of his majesty, a submission to his authority, and a dread of his wrath. To engage them to this obedience, besides the great advantages of it, which he sets before them (that they should live and multiply, and all should be well with them, Deu 8:1), he directs them,
I. To look back upon the wilderness through which God had now brought them: Thou shalt remem…
thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness--The recapitulation of all their checkered experience during that long period was designed to awaken lively impressions of the goodness of God. First, Moses showed them the object of their protracted wanderings and varied hardships. These were trials of their obedience as well as chastisements for sin. Indeed, the discovery of their infidelity, inconstancy, and their rebellions and perverseness which this varied discipline brought to light, was of eminently practical use to the Israelites themselves, as it has been to the church in all subsequent ages. Next, he enlarged on the goodness of God…
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 b…
The Church Fathers
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goeth forth from the mouth of God." Now He said "shall live," and not, "shall be sound," nor, "shall be strong," nor, "shall be filled its lust's need;" and although this word is of little importance in its utterance, yet a great distinction is apparent therein. For He taught us clearly by that word that not by bread alone should man live, but that he should eat only to live, and not for the sake of lust, or strength, or healthy condition; for according to these things is life stablished also in sickness, and in weakness a man liveth unto them in the world.
One who possesses the Word, who is almighty God, needs nothing and never lacks any of the things he desires, for the Word is an infinite possession and the source of all our wealth. However, someone may object and insist that he has often seen the just in need of food. This is rare and happens only where no one else is just. Besides, let him read the beautiful sentence, "It is not by bread alone that the just man lives, but by the Word of the Lord," who is the true bread, the bread of heaven. The good man is never really in want as long as he keeps intact his adherence to faith in God. For he can ask for and receive whatever he needs from the Father of all, and he can enjoy whatever belongs to him, if only he obey his Son. Then too, he has this advantage, that he can be free from feeling any want. The Word, who acts as our educator, gives us riches. There is no need to envy the wealth of others with those who have gained freedom from want through him. He who possesses this sort of wealth will inherit the kingdom of God.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Man — (1.) Heb. ‘Adam, used as the proper name of the first man. The name is derived from a word meaning “to be red,” and thus the first man was called Adam because he was formed from the red earth. It is…
Manna — Heb. man-hu, “What is that?” the name given by the Israelites to the food miraculously supplied to them during their wanderings in the wilderness (Ex. 16:15-35). The name is commonly taken as derived…
Afflictions Made Beneficial · In humbling us — In humbling us
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Continued forty years: To teach them to live on God’s word — Continued forty years: To teach them to live on God’s word
Humility · Afflictions intended to produce — Afflictions intended to produce
Life, Spiritual · Is maintained by: The word of God — Is maintained by: The word of God
Manna · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Obedience · ENJOINED — ENJOINED
Quotations And Allusions · IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT — IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT
Scriptures, The · Designed for: Supporting life — Designed for: Supporting life
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
H1
father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
know
יָדְע֖וּןya.de.'Un
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + paragogic nun
know
הוֹדִֽעֲךָ֗ho.di.'a.Kha
H3045
to know (properly · verb, hiphil infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
man
הָֽאָדָ֔םha.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
live
יִחְיֶ֣הyich.Yeh
H2421
to live · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
bread
הַלֶּ֤חֶםha.Le.chem
H3899
food (for man or beast) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
only
לְבַדּוֹ֙le.va.Do
H905
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
proceedeth
מוֹצָ֥אmo.Tza'
H4161
a going forth · noun, common masculine singular construct
mouth
פִֽיfi-
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
man
הָאָדָֽםha.'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
live
יִחְיֶ֥הyich.Yeh
H2421
to live · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Deuteronomy 8:1-6
1. All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.
1. Omne praeceptum quod ego praecipio tibi hodie, custodietis ut faciatis, ut vivatis, et multiplicemini, et ingrediamini ut possideatis terram de qua juravit Jehova patribus vestris.
2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
2. Meminerisque totius vim per quam deduxit to Jehova Deus tuus jam quadraginta anni…
In addition to the danger of being drawn aside to transgress the covenant, by sparing the Canaanites and their idols out of pusillanimous compassion and false tolerance, the Israelites would be especially in danger, after their settlement in Canaan, of falling into pride and forgetfulness of God, when enjoying the abundant productions of that land. To guard against this danger, Moses set before them how the Lord had sought to lead and train them to obedience by temptations and humiliations during their journey through the desert. In order that his purpose in doing this might be clearly seen, he commenced (Deu 8:1) with the renewed admonition to keep the whole law which he commanded them that…
The word manna is derived from the Hebrew words man hu (meaning “what is it?”). God miraculously provided this food to teach his people total dependence on him (Exod 16:1-30; Num 11:4-9). Manna represented the word of God, which is even more essential to life and well-being than food is. • people do not live by bread alone: Jesus quoted this phrase to rebut Satan (Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4).
Rashi on Deuteronomy 8:2
התשמר מצותו [THAT HE MIGHT KNOW WHAT WAS IN THY HEART] WHETHER THOU WOULDST KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS — viz., the commandment that ye should not put Him to the test, and that you should not doubt Him (i.e. His ways).
