Deuteronomy 11:1-7

Why does Moses appeal to what the hearers have seen?

Berean Standard Bible

1 You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. 2 Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm; 3 the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land; 4 what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day; 5 what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place; 6 and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them. 7 For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.

What is the context?

Moses calls Israel to love the Lord and keep His commands, then distinguishes the adults’ remembered experience from that of their children. He recalls Egypt, the sea, the wilderness, and the judgment on Dathan and Abiram.

The appeal concerns responsibility arising from witnessed gifts and judgments. It does not let knowledge of those events remain a detached family story: the hearers are to respond in the life they now live and the teaching they pass on.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley explains that some hearers had seen the earlier events as children, while others knew later events firsthand. This avoids assuming that every listener was an adult in Egypt or that nobody younger than the earlier military generation had survived. The emphasis is the people’s own experience and its bearing on obedience.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

Where can I study this further?

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