Deuteronomy 30:20
And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,) that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.
Open Deuteronomy 30:20 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- et diligas Dominum Deum tuum, atque obedias voci ejus, et illi adhæreas (ipse est enim vita tua, et longitudo dierum tuorum), ut habites in terra, pro qua juravit Dominus patribus tuis, Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob, ut daret eam illis.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἀγαπᾷν Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου, εἰσακούειν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔχεσθαι αὐτοῦ· ὅτι τοῦτο ἡ ζωή σου καὶ ἡ μακρότης τῶν ἡμερῶν σου· τὸ κατοικεῖν σε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἧς ὤμοσεν Κύριος τοῖς πατράσιν σου Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ δοῦναι αὐτοῖς.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- לְאַֽהֲבָה֙ אֶת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לִשְׁמֹ֥עַ בְּקֹל֖וֹ וּלְדָבְקָה ב֑וֹ כִּ֣י ה֤וּא חַיֶּ֨יךָ֙ וְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמֶ֔יךָ לָשֶׁ֣בֶת עַל הָאֲדָמָ֗ה אֲשֶׁר֩ נִשְׁבַּ֨ע יְהוָ֧ה לַאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֛ם לְיִצְחָ֥ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לָתֵ֥ת לָהֶֽם
Haydock's commentary
He is. From God all advantages are derived. We may render the Hebrew, with the Septuagint, "Because this is thy life (Calmet)....to dwell," &c. By observing the law of God, long life and possession of the promised land can be alone attained. (Haydock)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Irenaeus Against Heresies: Book IV, Chapter XVI. Perfect righteousness
4. And therefore does the Scripture say, “These words the Lord spake to all the assembly of the children of Israel in the mount, and He added no more;” for, as I have already observed, He stood in need of nothing from them. And again Moses says: “And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul?” Now these things did indeed make man glorious, by supplying what was wanting to him, namely, the friendship of God; but they profited God nothing, for God did not at all stand in need of man’s love. For the glory of God was wanting to man, which he could obtain in no other way than by serving God. …
Clement of Alexandria The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Chapter XIV. Greek Plagiarism from the Hebrews
Further, the Barbarian philosophy recognises good as alone excellent, and virtue as sufficient for happiness, when it says, “Behold, I have set before your eyes good and evil, life and death, that ye may choose life.” For it calls good, “life,” and the choice of it excellent, and the choice of the opposite “evil.” And the end of good and of life is to become a lover of God: “For this is thy life and length of days,” to love that which tends to the truth. And these points are yet clearer. …