Deuteronomy 5:29

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!

World English Bible · Public Domain

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יִיטַ֥ב

yâṭab

H3190

“to be good”

Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 112× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 4:7

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 863

to be good, be pleasing, be well, be glad - (Qal) - to be glad, be joyful - to be well placed - to be well for, be well with, go well with - to be pleasing, be pleasing to - (Hiphil) - to make glad, rejoice - to do good to, deal well with - to do well, do thoroughly - to make a thing good or right or beautiful - to do well, do right

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

19: words
15: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
7 nouns
1 pronoun
3 prepositions
3 particles

Verb forms

יִתֵּ֡ן Qal · Imperfect
וְהָיָה֩ Qal · Sequential Perfect
לְיִרְאָ֥ה Qal · Infinitive Construct
וְלִשְׁמֹ֥ר Qal · Infinitive Construct
יִיטַ֥ב Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

כָּל all H3605 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 32 words from the Hebrew and 32 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 19 Hebrew tokens and 30 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Deuteronomy 5:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Isaiah 48:18 Oh that you had listened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:
Ezekiel 33:31–32 They come to you as the people comes, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don't do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
Deuteronomy 11:1 Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
Matthew 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!
Luke 19:42 saying, "If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes.
Deuteronomy 4:40 You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever.
Deuteronomy 5:16 "Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
Deuteronomy 32:29–30 Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, That they would consider their latter end!

Psalms 81:13–15 Oh that my people would listen to me, That Israel would walk in my ways!
Psalms 119:1–5 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, Who walk according to Yahweh's law.
2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together, we entreat also that you not receive the grace of God in vain,
Ephesians 6:3 "that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth."
James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous "Good!" For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

Jeremiah 22:14–15 who says, I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is ceiling with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Jeremiah 44:4 However I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, don't do this abominable thing that I hate.
Luke 11:28 But he said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it."
John 15:14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 6:18 You shall do that which is right and good in the sight of Yahweh; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers,
Deuteronomy 12:25 You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.
Deuteronomy 12:28 Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.

Deuteronomy 19:13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
Deuteronomy 22:7 you shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days.
Ruth 3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you?
Psalms 19:11 Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.
Psalms 106:3 Blessed are those who keep justice. Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
Hebrews 12:25 See that you don't refuse him who speaks. For if they didn't escape when they refused him who warned on the Earth, how much more will we not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Deuteronomy 5:29 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

מִֽי יִתֵּ֡ן וְהָיָה֩ לְבָבָ֨ם זֶ֜ה לָהֶ֗ם לְיִרְאָ֥ה אֹתִ֛י וְלִשְׁמֹ֥ר אֶת כָּל מִצְוֺתַ֖י כָּל הַיָּמִ֑ים לְמַ֨עַן יִיטַ֥ב לָהֶ֛ם וְלִבְנֵיהֶ֖ם לְעֹלָֽם

Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Deuteronomy 5:29 Septuagint · lemma form

τίς δίδωμι οὕτως εἰμί ὁ καρδία αὐτός ἐν αὐτός ὥστε φοβέω ἐγώ καί φυλάσσω ὁ ἐντολή ἐγώ πᾶς ὁ ἡμέρα ἵνα εὖ εἰμί αὐτός καί ὁ υἱός αὐτός διά αἰών

O that there were such a heart in them, that they should fear me and keep my commands always, that it might be well with them and with their sons for ever.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְתִטְרוּן לְמֶעְבַּד כְּמָא דִי פַקִיד יְיָ אֱלָהֲכוֹן יָתְכוֹן לָא תִסְטוּן יַמִינָא וּשְׂמָאלָא

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וּכְדוֹן טוּרוּ לְמֶעֱבַד הֵיכְמָא דְפַקֵּיד יְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן יַתְכוֹן לָא תִסְטוּן לְיַמִינָא וְלִשְמָאלָא

And now observe to do as the Lord your God hath commanded you; decline not to the right hand or to the left.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Deuteronomy 5:29 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Deu 5:29. O that there were such a heart in them! — A heart to fear God, and keep his commandments for ever! The God of heaven is truly and earnestly desirous of the salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he is so. He gives us time and space to repent; by his mercies he invites us to repentance, and waiteth to be gracious; he has sent his Son to redeem us, published a general offer of pardon, promised his Spirit to those that pray for it; and he has said, yea, and sworn, that he hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

He requireth of us nothing but obedience, showing also that of ourselves we are unwilling thereunto.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

Oh, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me--God can bestow such a heart, and has promised to give it, wherever it is asked (Jer 32:40). But the wish which is here expressed on the part of God for the piety and steadfast obedience of the Israelites did not relate to them as individuals, so much as a nation, whose religious character and progress would have a mighty influence on the world at large.

Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 6

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 29. O that there were such a heart in them] Or rather, מי יתן והיה לבבם זה mi yitten vehayah lebabam zeh, Who will give such a heart to them, that they may fear, c. They refuse to receive such a heart from me who then can supply it? If they had not been such perfectly free agents as could either use or abuse their liberty, could God have made the complaint or expressed the earnest desire we find in this verse? He made the human will free; and in spite of all the influence of sin and Satan, he preserves its liberty. Had man no free will, he could neither be punished nor rewarded, because a mere machine, and consequently no more accountable for his actions than the fire for its consuming quality, or the stone for its gravity; the one having burned the house of the righteous, the other having crushed the innocent to death. See Clarke on De 29:4.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

29. Oh that there were such an heart in them, etc.] heart is in antithesis to the said and spoken of the previous verse. Approving their present mood as evinced in their words, God doubts its constancy.

all my commandments] Sam. and LXX omit all.

always] Heb. all the days. One of the many points of similarity between Hosea and Deut. is doubt, if not of the sincerity, yet of the constancy, of the nation’s feeling of repentance or obedience; cp. Hos_5:15 to Hos_6:3, Israel’s repentant prayer, with Deu_6:4-6, God’s rejection of it: your goodness is as a morning cloud and as the dew that goeth early. See on Deu_1:41. Both the prophet and D insist upon heart in religion.

that it might be well with them] Deu_5:16; Deu_5:33, Deu_4:40.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you,.... None are to be avoided or departed from on any consideration whatever; see Psa 119:6 an instance of this we have in Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luk 1:6 that ye may live; corporeally, comfortably, in all the outward enjoyments of life needful for them, particularly in the possession of the land of Canaan, and the benefits of it; for these promises of life upon obedience seem to reach no further, unless as types and emblems of what is enjoyed through the obedience and righteousness of Christ, as the following phrases show:

and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess; the land of Canaan; though the Jewish writers (m) carry it further, even to heaven and eternal happiness; and so may we in the sense before given.

(m) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 27. p. 418.

Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 6

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

A mind. God speaks like men, and insinuates how agreeable to him is a disposition influenced by a salutary fear. He does not mean that He cannot convert the heart of man. (Estius) --- God exerts his power over our will by persuasive invitations. (Maimonides)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Heb. Who will give them such an heart? This is spoken of God after the manner of men, to show that such a heart is desirable to him, and required by him; otherwise it is certain that God can give such a heart, and hath promised to give it, Jer 32:40; Eze 36:27. And if God will work, who can hinder him? Job 11:10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

29. Oh that there were such a heart — In the Hebrew the words are very emphatic — Who will give that their heart may be this to them. “Here the Christian fathers recognised a prophetic declaration of the doctrine of justification through faith working by love produced by God’s grace writing the law on the fleshly tables of the heart. 2Co_3:3.” — Wordsworth.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

O that there were such an heart in them! - A heart to fear God, and keep his commandments forever! The God of heaven is truly and earnestly desirous of the salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he is so: he gives us time and space to repent; by his mercies invites us to repentance, and waiteth to be gracious: has sent his son to redeem us, published a general offer of pardon, promised his spirit to those that pray for him; and has said, yea and sworn, that he hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Scofield Reference Notes

C. I. Scofield

fear

(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ramban (Nachmanides)

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides)

YE SHALL OBSERVE TO DO, THEREFORE, AS THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D COMMANDED YOU. This warning alludes to the Ten Commandments which G-d Himself communicated to them directly, and afterwards he admonished them with respect to the rest of the commandments which they said they [preferred to] hear from Moses and [they promised] to perform them. Therefore, he said, And this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances which the Eternal your G-d commanded to teach you, since G-d agreed to your request and He commanded me to teach you the entire balance of the Torah, that ye may live, that He may fulfill the number of your days, and that it may be well with you with all the good that He promised you in the section of If ye walk in My statutes and other sections besides; and that ye may prolong your days in the Land that you will inherit for your children forever.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Deuteronomy, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 19 words (15 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is yâṭab (“to be good”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “to be good” (yâṭab) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does Isaiah 48:18, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “all” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«יִתֵּ֡ן» is a Qal Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 19 Hebrew ↔ 30 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 16 words in this verse.
“all” occurs 2× in this single verse.
15 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 19 words in this verse.