Deuteronomy 5:10 says that God shows steadfast love to a very large number of people who love him and keep his commandments. The verse is a promise of God’s faithful kindness, and it is set in the middle of the Ten Commandments as they were restated to Israel before they entered the land. Moses speaks these words to the people of Israel on the plains of Moab, on behalf of the LORD who gave the law.
And showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:10 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 5:10 Means
The verse has two halves that balance each other. The first half, the one that comes just before it in the surrounding text, warns that God is jealous and that the effects of rebellion can reach into later generations. The second half, this verse, sets the other side beside it: God’s kindness is far larger in scope and in duration than his warning. The word translated “loving kindness” points to a faithful, committed love that keeps its promises, the kind of love that stays in place when the relationship is tested.
The phrase “to thousands” is a striking measure. It does not promise a set number of generations or a fixed reward for each act of obedience. Instead it describes a love that reaches far past what a single family or a single lifetime could account for. The verse makes no promise that obedience will make life easy, shield a person from hardship, or guarantee any particular outcome in daily life. Its claim is about God’s character and the direction of his faithfulness toward those who are loyal to him.
The Context of Deuteronomy 5:10
The book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ final set of addresses to Israel, delivered just before the people cross the Jordan River into Canaan. Traditionally Moses is named as its author, and the audience is the second generation of Israelites, most of whom were children or were not yet born when the law was first given at Sinai. Moses retells the commandments so that this new generation will hear them as their own covenant with the LORD.
Read in its surroundings, verses 7 through 13 walk through the basic commandments: no other gods, no carved images, no misuse of God’s name, Sabbath rest, and the rest that follow. Verse 9 and verse 10 are placed side by side, so the warning about jealousy and the promise of steadfast love are meant to be read together. The contrast shows the reader that God takes loyalty seriously, and that his kindness is the more lasting of the two realities.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 5:10
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
(WEB)
This psalm repeats the refrain that God’s steadfast love endures forever, showing the same theme of lasting kindness that Deuteronomy 5:10 highlights. Reading the two together reinforces that God’s faithfulness is a settled attribute of his character.
Exodus 34:6
The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD! The LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth…
(WEB)
This verse describes the LORD as merciful, gracious, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, a self-description that stands behind many of the Old Testament’s references to covenant love. It helps explain where the kindness in Deuteronomy 5:10 comes from.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 5:10
Lord, you are faithful in your love, and your kindness reaches further than I can measure. Help me to love you with a whole heart and to keep the commitments I have made to you, even when they are hard to hold. Where I have fallen short or let my family drift from you, remind me that your steadfast love is larger than my failures. Shape my days around your word, and let my obedience be a grateful response to your faithfulness. Amen.
