The Meaning of Deuteronomy 8:12 Explained

Deuteronomy 8:12

KJV: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

YLT: lest thou eat, and hast been satisfied, and good houses dost build, and hast inhabited;

Darby: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built and inhabited fine houses,

ASV: lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Lest [when] thou hast eaten  and art full,  and hast built  goodly  houses,  and dwelt  [therein]; 

What does Deuteronomy 8:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 8:1-20 - Beware Of Forgetting God
"Thou shalt remember," Deuteronomy 8:2; "thou shalt consider," Deuteronomy 8:5; "thou shalt bless," Deuteronomy 8:10.
The lessons of hunger, Deuteronomy 8:1-9 : "Suffered to hunger." "Blessed are they that hunger." "Man doth not live by bread only;" he hungers for knowledge, opportunity, society, love. How many wan faces around us bear witness to the gnawing within. But the Father suffered His Son to fast; and so he deals with us, to prove us. It is only through the discipline of the soul, in learning to go without, that it can be trusted with spiritual opulence and power. See Deuteronomy 8:7-9.
The perils of prosperity, Deuteronomy 8:10-20 : It is harder to walk with God in the sunshine of success than in the nipping frosts of failure. When Paul said, "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound," he put the hardest last. The one secret is to give all the glory to God, and to look always to the Cross, where we were crucified to the pride of the flesh, Philippians 2:7-11; Philippians 4:12. "I lay in dust life's glory dead!" [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 8

1  An exhortation to obedience in regard to God's mercy and goodness to Israel

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 8:12 mean?

lest [when] you have eaten and are full and houses beautiful have built and dwell [in them]
פֶּן־ תֹּאכַ֖ל וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ וּבָתִּ֥ים טוֹבִ֛ים תִּבְנֶ֖ה וְיָשָֽׁבְתָּ

פֶּן־  lest  [when] 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: פֶּן  
Sense: lest, not, beware lest adv.
תֹּאכַ֖ל  you  have  eaten 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ  and  are  full 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: שָׂבַע  
Sense: to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled, be surfeited.
וּבָתִּ֥ים  and  houses 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
טוֹבִ֛ים  beautiful 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
תִּבְנֶ֖ה  have  built 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: בָּנָה  
Sense: to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue.
וְיָשָֽׁבְתָּ  and  dwell  [in  them] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.