“And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.”
My Notes
What Does Deuteronomy 32:46 Mean?
Moses is delivering his final words to Israel. He has finished the Song of Moses, and now he speaks directly to the people with an urgency that only a dying man's last speech can carry: "Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day." The Hebrew simu l'vavchem — literally "place your hearts upon" — means to give full, weighty attention. Not passive hearing. Not polite acknowledgment. Heart-level engagement with every word.
The instruction extends beyond the current generation: "which ye shall command your children to observe to do." Moses sees clearly that the survival of the covenant depends on intentional transmission. The truth won't survive on autopilot. Each generation must deliberately teach the next — not just inform them but command them, with the authority of people who have staked their lives on what they're passing down.
Moses calls it "all the words of this law" — not selected highlights, not the comfortable parts, not a curated version. All of it. The blessings and the curses. The promises and the warnings. The parts that inspire and the parts that unsettle. A partial transmission produces a partial faith, and partial faith doesn't survive real testing.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does it look like to 'set your heart' on God's word — not just read it, but let it become weighty and central?
- 2.How are you intentionally passing faith to the next generation — your children, your mentees, the younger people watching your life?
- 3.Moses said 'all the words' — not just the comforting ones. Are there parts of Scripture you've been avoiding or editing out?
- 4.If these were your last words to the people you love most, what would you say? How close is that to what you're actually saying now?
Devotional
"Set your hearts" is not the same as "hear these words" or even "remember these words." It's deeper. It's the difference between knowing something and weighing it — between information that passes through your mind and truth that settles into the core of who you are. Moses isn't asking for intellectual agreement. He's asking them to let the word of God become heavy in their chest. To feel its weight. To carry it like something precious and irreplaceable.
The instruction to command your children is striking because it doesn't say "suggest" or "offer" or "make available." It says command. That's uncomfortable in an age that values letting children find their own path. And there's wisdom in not forcing faith through fear. But Moses' point isn't about coercion — it's about conviction. If you believe this is the word of the living God, you don't leave it on the shelf and hope your kids pick it up. You put it in their hands with the full weight of your own life behind it.
These are a dying man's last words. That changes everything about how you should hear them. Moses has nothing left to gain. No reputation to build. No audience to impress. He's standing at the edge of death saying: this is what matters. Set your hearts on it. Teach it to your children. Don't let a single word fall to the ground. When someone speaks with that kind of urgency at the end of their life, you lean in.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the Lord spake unto Moses the selfsame day,.... On which he finished the reading of the law, and the above song,…
These verses were, no doubt, added by the author of the supplement to Deuteronomy. For the statements contained in them,…
Here is, I. The solemn delivery of this song to the children of Israel, Deu 32:44, Deu 32:45. Moses spoke it to as many…
Set your heart So Exo 9:21, and with another vb Deu 7:23. On heart= mindsee Deu 6:6; Deu 11:18; Deu 29:4.
I testify…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture