The Meaning of Deuteronomy 11:22 Explained

Deuteronomy 11:22

KJV: For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

YLT: For, if ye diligently keep all this command which I am commanding you -- to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him,

Darby: For if ye diligently keep all this commandment which I command you this day to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him,

ASV: For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For if ye shall diligently  keep  all these commandments  which I command  you, to do  them, to love  the LORD  your God,  to walk  in all his ways,  and to cleave  unto him; 

What does Deuteronomy 11:22 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 11:18-32 - The Blessing And The Curse
Never in this world do we reach a position from which it is impossible to fall away. The dew and the rain of God's blessing are contingent on obedience; and one of the strongest incentives to obedience is devout meditation on the Word of God. It is through the letter that we arrive at the spirit; and through the written words at the Eternal Word. We must store up the sacred words of God as a farmer stores up his grain, keeping them before us, making them the familiar topics of home-talk, and exercising ourselves in them. Let us specially ponder Deuteronomy 11:22-25, appropriating them in a spiritual sense, and claiming their equivalents in the inner life.
All along our lives are Ebals and Gerizims, with their "Come, ye blessed" and "Depart, ye cursed." Always we are arriving at the crossways, on the one of which lies the smile, and on the other the frown, of God. Let us be attracted by the one and dissuaded from the other, till we climb the spiral staircase into the land where there is no cooling love or faltering faith. [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 11

1  Another exhortation to obedience
2  by their own experience of God's great works
8  by promise of God's great blessings
16  and by threatenings
18  A careful study is required in God's words
26  The blessing and curse set before them

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 11:22 mean?

For if carefully you keep - all commandment this which I command you to do to love Yahweh your God to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him
כִּי֩ אִם־ שָׁמֹ֨ר תִּשְׁמְר֜וּן אֶת־ כָּל־ הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֗את אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם לַעֲשֹׂתָ֑הּ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם לָלֶ֥כֶת בְּכָל־ דְּרָכָ֖יו וּלְדָבְקָה־ בֽוֹ

שָׁמֹ֨ר  carefully 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: שָׁמַר  
Sense: to keep, guard, observe, give heed.
תִּשְׁמְר֜וּן  you  keep 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural, Paragogic nun
Root: שָׁמַר  
Sense: to keep, guard, observe, give heed.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַמִּצְוָ֣ה  commandment 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְוָה  
Sense: commandment.
הַזֹּ֗את  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
מְצַוֶּ֥ה  command 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.
לַעֲשֹׂתָ֑הּ  to  do 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
לְאַהֲבָ֞ה  to  love 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
יְהוָ֧ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
לָלֶ֥כֶת  to  walk 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
בְּכָל־  in  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
דְּרָכָ֖יו  His  ways 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
וּלְדָבְקָה־  and  to  hold  fast 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person feminine singular
Root: דָּבַק  
Sense: to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch.
בֽוֹ  to  Him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular