Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
- KJV And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
- NKJV I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.
- NASB And I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God.
- NLT Then I will live among the people of Israel and be their God,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God promises to dwell among the Israelites and be their God. The heart of the covenant is God's gracious presence with His people.
Overview
This is the climactic purpose of the tabernacle: that the holy God would live in the midst of His redeemed people. The covenant formula 'I will be their God' captures the intimacy God intends with Israel. This dwelling theme runs through Scripture to its fulfillment in Christ, who tabernacled among us, and to the new creation where God dwells with His people forever (John 1:14; Revelation 21:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Lev 26:12I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.
- Exod 25:8And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
- 2 Cor 6:16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- Zech 2:10“Shout for joy and be glad, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming to dwell among you,” declares the LORD.
- Rev 21:3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
- John 14:17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.
- Exod 15:17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.
- John 14:23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- Ps 68:18You have ascended on high; You have led captives away. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.
- Eph 2:22And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.
- John 14:20On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 29:45 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.