Deuteronomy 26:15

Deuteronomy 26:15

Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

a. ASV: Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the ground which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

b. YLT: Look from Thy holy habitation, from the heavens, and bless Thy people Israel, and the ground which Thou hast given to us, as Thou hast sworn to our fathers -- a land flowing with milk and honey.

c. Amplified Bible Classic: Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

d. Septuagint: Look down from thy holy house, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given them, as thou didst swear to our fathers, to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Gaze down from Your holy abode, from the heavens, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground that You gave us, as You swore to our forefathers, a Land flowing with milk and honey.

1. “Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel…”

a. Look [down] [Strong: 8259 shâqaph, shaw-kaf'; a primitive root; properly, to lean out (of a window), i.e. (by implication) peep or gaze (passively, be a spectacle):—appear, look (down, forth, out).]

b. [from thy] holy [Strong: 6944 qôdesh, ko'-desh; from H6942; a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity:—consecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, (× most) holy (× day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.]

c. habitation [Strong: 4583 mâʻôwn, maw-ohn'; or מָעִין mâʻîyn; (1 Chronicles 4:41), from the same as H5772; an abode, of God (the Tabernacle or the Temple), men (their home) or animals (their lair); hence, a retreat (asylum):—den, dwelling((-) place), habitation.]

d. from [Strong: 4480 min min or minniy {min-nee'}; or minney (constructive plural) {min-nay'}; (Isaiah 30:11); for  4482; properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses (as follows):--above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.]

e. heaven [Strong: 8064 shâmayim, shaw-mah'-yim; dual of an unused singular שָׁמֶה shâmeh; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve):—air, × astrologer, heaven(-s).]

f. [and] bless [Strong: 1288  bârak, baw-rak'; a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason):—× abundantly, × altogether, × at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, × greatly, × indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, × still, thank.]

g. [thy] people [Strong: 5971 ʻam, am; from H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:—folk, men, nation, people.]

h. Israel [Strong: 3478 Yisrâʼêl, yis-raw-ale'; from H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisraël, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity:—Israel.]

2. “...and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers…”

a. and [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

b. [the] land [Strong: 127 ʼădâmâh, ad-aw-maw'; from H119; soil (from its general redness):—country, earth, ground, husband(-man) (-ry), land.]

c. which [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

d. [thou hast] given [us] [Strong: 5414 nâthan, naw-than'; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):—add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, × avenge, × be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, × doubtless, × without fail, fasten, frame, × get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), × have, × indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), lie, lift up, make, O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, × pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), sing, slander, strike, (sub-) mit, suffer, × surely, × take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, weep, willingly, withdraw, would (to) God, yield.]

e. as [thou] [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

f. swarest [Strong: shâbaʻ, shaw-bah'; a primitive root; properly to be complete, but used only as a denominative from H7651; to seven oneself, i.e. swear (as if by repeating a declaration seven times):—adjure, charge (by an oath, with an oath), feed to the full (by mistake for H7646), take an oath, × straitly, (cause to, make to) swear.]

g. [unto our] father’s [Strong: 1 ʼâb, awb; a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application:—chief, (fore-) father(-less), × patrimony, principal.]

3. “...a land that floweth with milk and honey.”

a. [a] land [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

b. [that] floweth [Strong: 2100 zûwb, zoob; a primitive root; to flow freely (as water), i.e. (specifically) to have a (sexual) flux; figuratively, to waste away; also to overflow:—flow, gush out, have a (running) issue, pine away, run.]

c. [with] milk [Strong: 2461 châlâb, khaw-lawb'; from the same as H2459; milk (as the richness of kine):— cheese, milk, sucking.]

d. [and] honey [Strong: 1706 dᵉbash, deb-ash'; from an unused root meaning to be gummy; honey (from its stickiness); by analogy, syrup:—honey(-comb).]

1). Some believe that this confession was made just for this particular tithe. I believe it could have been said at the time this tithe was given but was a general confession that concerned all of the three tithes.

2). Louis Goldberg, Professor of Theology and Jewish studies at Moody Bible Institute, wrote in his commentary on Deuteronomy: “Because these tithes (the third tithe) were not directly controlled by the priests, Moses gave instructions to avoid their misuse. The Israelites had to make a statement (Deuteronomy 26:13-15), before the LORD that the tithes were used as He had specified.”