Deuteronomy 10:22
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The verse doesn't just state a large number of people, but highlights an incredible transformation from a mere seventy individuals to a multitude as vast as the stars, underscoring God's power to bring about impossible growth from the smallest beginnings. This dramatic shift from scarcity to abundance is a testament to God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, even when circumstances seem overwhelmingly against it.
Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse appears after Moses recounts God's commands and Israel's rebellious history, emphasizing God's faithfulness despite their unfaithfulness. He's preparing to pass leadership to Joshua, urging the people to remember God's power and promises as they stand on the brink of possessing the land. The preceding context highlights their humble beginnings in Egypt, directly setting up this reminder of God's astonishing multiplication of their numbers.
Imagine starting with just a handful of people, barely a family. That was the humble beginning of an entire nation!
Moses reminds the Israelites that their ancestors, Jacob's family, went down to Egypt numbering only seventy souls.
From a mere seventy to a multitude like the stars – this isn't just about numbers, it's about divine power!
The verse contrasts the small beginning with the astonishing present reality: 'now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.'
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Understand the original words
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The covenant name of God, revealed to Moses, emphasizing His eternal self-existence, faithfulness, and His active role in the redemption of His people.
ab · Hebrew Noun
A reference to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). It denotes the ancestral line through whom God established His covenant promises.
kowkab shamayim · Hebrew Noun phrase
An imagery used to describe the fulfillment of God’s promise to multiply His people. It denotes vast, uncountable numbers, emphasizing God’s faithfulness to the Abrahamic covenant.
This passage directly echoes God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, a promise that is clearly being fulfilled for Israel in Deuteronomy 10:22.
Genesis 46:26-27This passage provides the specific number 'seventy persons' that descended into Egypt with Jacob, underscoring the incredible growth and multiplication of Israel mentioned in Deuteronomy 10:22.
Exodus 12:37This verse gives the census of the men of Israel who left Egypt, totaling over 600,000, which highlights the immense multitude God made Israel to be from their small beginnings, as stated in Deuteronomy 10:22.
Nehemiah 9:23This prayer recalls God's fulfillment of His promise to increase Israel's numbers greatly, comparing them again to the stars of heaven, mirroring the sentiment of awe and gratitude found in Deuteronomy 10:22.
clarkeDeuteronomy 10:22: "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude."
With threescore and ten persons - And now, from so small a beginning, they were multiplied to more than 600,000 souls; and this indeed in the space of forty years, for the 603,000 which came out of Egypt were at this time all dead but Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. How easily can God increase and multiply, and how easily diminish and bri…
gillDeuteronomy 10:22: "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude."
Thy fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons,.... That is, in all; for there were not seventy besides Jacob and the patriarchs his sons, but with them; see Genesis 46:26 and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude; as he promised they should be, Genesis 15:5 .
The verse doesn't just state a large number of people, but highlights an incredible transformation from a mere seventy individuals to a multitude as vast as the stars, underscoring God's power to bring about impossible growth from the smallest beginnings. This dramatic shift from scarcity to abundance is a testament to God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, even when circumstances seem overwhelmingly against it.
This verse appears after Moses recounts God's commands and Israel's rebellious history, emphasizing God's faithfulness despite their unfaithfulness. He's preparing to pass leadership to Joshua, urging the people to remember God's power and promises as they stand on the brink of possessing the land. The preceding context highlights their humble beginnings in Egypt, directly setting up this reminder of God's astonishing multiplication of their numbers.
This verse appears after Moses recounts God's commands and Israel's rebellious history, emphasizing God's faithfulness despite their unfaithfulness. He's preparing to pass leadership to Joshua, urging the people to remember God's power and promises as they stand on the brink of possessing the land. The preceding context highlights their humble beginnings in Egypt, directly setting up this reminder of God's astonishing multiplication of their numbers.
"Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven." — The verse doesn't just state a large number of people, but highlights an incredible transformation from a mere seventy individuals to a multitude as vast as the stars, underscoring God's power to b…
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Last reviewed October 2026
