Deuteronomy 6 · Verse 13

Deuteronomy 6:13

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Deuteronomy 6:13, King James Version

Deuteronomy 6:13 in other translations

BSBFear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
WEBYou shall fear the LORD your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
ASVThou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name.
YLTJehovah thy God thou dost fear, and Him thou dost serve, and by His name thou dost swear;
DARBYThou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
BBELet the fear of the Lord your God be in your hearts, and be his servants, taking your oaths by his name.
WebsterThou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

What does Deuteronomy 6:13 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God - Thou shalt respect and reverence him as thy Lawgiver and Judge; as thy Creator, Preserver, and the sole object of thy religious adoration. And serve him - Our blessed Lord, in Mat 4:10; Luk 4:8, quotes these words thus: And him Only (αυτῳ μονῳ) shalt thou serve. It appears, therefore, that לבדו lebaddo was anciently in the Hebrew text, as it was and is in the Septuagint, (αυτῳ μονῳ), from which our Lord quoted it. The Coptic preserves the same reading; so do also the Vulgate, (illi soli), and the Anglo-Saxon. Dr. Kennicott argues, that without the word only the text would not have been conclusive for the purpose for which our Lord advanced it; for as we learn from Scripture that some men worshipped false gods in conjunction with the true, the quotation here would not have been full to the point without this exclusive word. It may be proper to observe that the omitted word לבדו lebaddo, retained in the above versions, does not exist in the Hebrew printed text, nor in any MS. hitherto discovered. Shalt swear by his name - תשבע tishshabea, from שבע shaba, he was full, satisfied, or gave that which was full or satisfactory. Hence an oath and swearing, because appealing to God, and taking him for witness in any case of promise, etc., gave full and sufficient security for the performance; and if done in evidence, or to the truth of any particular fact, it gave full security for the truth of that evidence. An oath, therefore, is an appeal to God, who knows all things, of the truth of the matter in question: and when a religious man takes such an oath, he gives full and reasonable satisfaction that the thing is so, as stated; for it is ever to be presumed that no man, unless in a state of the deepest degradation, would make such an appeal falsely, for this would imply an attempt to make God a party in the deception.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 6:6-16

Here are means for maintaining and keeping up religion in our hearts and houses. 1. Meditation. God's words must be laid up in our hearts, that our thoughts may be daily employed about them. 2. The religious education of children. Often repeat these things to them. Be careful and exact in teaching thy children. Teach these truths to all who are any way under thy care. 3. Pious discourse. Thou shalt talk of these…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 6:6-16 →

Deuteronomy 6:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
יְהוָ֧הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430
תִּירָ֖אti.Ra'you will fearH3372
וְאֹת֣וֹve.'o.Toand <obj.> himH853
תַעֲבֹ֑דta.'a.Vodyou will serveH5647
וּבִשְׁמ֖וֹu.vish.Moand in name hisH8034
תִּשָּׁבֵֽעַ\׃ti.sha.Ve.a'you will swear oathsH7650

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 6:13

  • Luke 4:8

    And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

  • Deuteronomy 10:20

    Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

  • Deuteronomy 13:4

    Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

  • Matthew 4:10

    Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

  • Leviticus 19:12

    And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

  • Psalms 63:11

    But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

  • Deuteronomy 10:12

    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,

  • Jeremiah 12:16

    And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.

  • Isaiah 65:16

    That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.

  • Isaiah 45:23

    I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

  • Joshua 2:12

    Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token:

  • Jeremiah 4:2

    And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
fear.
2; 5:29; 10:12,20; 13:4; Mt 4:10; Lu 4:8
and serve him.Our Saviour quotes these words thus: "And him only [autó monó,] shalt thou serve;" from which it would appear, that the word {levaddo} was anciently in the Hebrew text, as it was in the Septuagint, Coptic, Vulgate (illi soli), and Anglo-Saxon. Dr. Kennicott argues that without the word only, the text would not have conclusive for the purpose for which our Lord advanced it. It is proper, however, to observe, that the word {levaddo} is not found in any MS. yet collated, though retained in the above versions.
shalt swear.
Le 19:12; Jos 2:12; Ps 15:4; 63:11; Isa 45:23; 65:16; Jer 4:2; 5:2,7
Jer 12:16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 6:12

    Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

  • Deuteronomy 6:13

    Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

  • Deuteronomy 6:14

    Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

Read all of Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy 6:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		A Jehová tu Dios temerás, y á él servirás, y por su nombre jurarás.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Tu craindras l’ Éternel, ton Dieu, et tu le serviras, et tu jureras par son nom.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Jehova, deinen Gott, sollst du fürchten und ihm dienen, und bei seinem Namen sollst du schwören.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		cave diligenter ne obliviscaris Domini, qui eduxit te de terra Ægypti, de domo servitutis. Dominum Deum tuum timebis, et illi soli servies, ac per nomen illius jurabis.