The Meaning of Deuteronomy 11:19 Explained

Deuteronomy 11:19

KJV: And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

YLT: and ye have taught them to your sons, by speaking of them in thy sitting in thy house, and in thy going in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up,

Darby: And ye shall teach them unto your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up;

ASV: And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And ye shall teach  them your children,  speaking  of them when thou sittest  in thine house,  and when thou walkest  by the way,  when thou liest  down, and when thou risest up. 

What does Deuteronomy 11:19 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 11:19 mean?

And You shall teach them - to your children speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up
וְלִמַּדְתֶּ֥ם אֹתָ֛ם אֶת־ בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם לְדַבֵּ֣ר בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ

וְלִמַּדְתֶּ֥ם  And  You  shall  teach 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: לָמַד  
Sense: to learn. teach, exercise in.
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.
בְּנֵיכֶ֖ם  to  your  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
לְדַבֵּ֣ר  speaking 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
בָּ֑ם  of  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤  when  you  sit 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙  in  your  house 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣  and  when  you  walk 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ  by  the  way 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖  and  when  you  lie  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine singular
Root: שָׁכַב  
Sense: to lie down.
וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ  and  when  you  rise  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine singular
Root: קוּם 
Sense: to rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up.