What Does Deuteronomy 7:9 Mean in the King James?
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse pictures faithfulness as a bond held firm and actively guarded across a thousand generations.
THE MEANING
The LORD your God is God now: firm and reliable, guarding covenant and faithful love with those who love him and keep his commandments. That care reaches across a thousand generations, exceeding any single lifetime while remaining rooted in relationship.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that God’s covenant love is fleeting or exhausted within one generation; the verse describes its reach as a thousand generations.
THE ROOT
נֶאֱמָן
ne'eman
GROWS FROM
א־מ־ן
ʾ-m-n
To be firm, reliable, established; to support.
“faithful” in this verse is ne'eman. The Hebrew adjective describes God as steady and dependable. Its root family links that firmness with trust that can lean its full weight on what is firm.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāmēn: Firm, sure; truly.
אָמֵן
The shared root makes Amen an affirmation of what is firm and trustworthy.
ʾĕmûnāh: Steadiness; trust that leans full weight on what is firm.
אֱמוּנָה
This branch shows how God’s steadiness grounds the trust named in the verse.
שֹׁמֵר
shomer
GROWS FROM
ש־מ־ר
sh-m-r
To guard, watch over, keep.
The word translated “keepeth” pictures watching over and safeguarding. Covenant and faithful love are held as something guarded across time.
ALSO GROWS
shamar: To guard, keep watch, observe.
שָׁמַר
This is the verb behind “keepeth”: the verse depicts covenant as guarded.
mishmeret: Guard duty; a charge entrusted to someone’s care.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch extends keeping into sustained care, not a momentary act.
חֶסֶד
ḥesed
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful, loyal love expressed through commitment and action.
“mercy” in this verse is ḥesed. This is covenantal faithful love, not just a passing soft feeling. Paired with covenant, it names the loyal care that keeps the bond living.
ALSO GROWS
ḥasadim: Acts or expressions of faithful love.
חֲסָדִים
The plural form evokes faithful love expressed in acts, not held as an abstraction.
ḥasid: A loyal, devoted, faithful one.
חָסִיד
This related form names a person marked by loyalty, echoing the relational bond in the verse.
THE PATTERN
God’s trustworthiness takes the form of keeping covenant love active across generations.
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)THE THREAD
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (ḥesed, faithful love) is the same in both verses, though the KJV renders it “mercy.” Deuteronomy pairs it with covenant; Exodus says this love is kept for thousands while also naming guilt and consequences.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us