where your fathers tested me by proving me, and saw my deeds for forty years.
Parallel translations
- KJV When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
- BSB where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works.
- NKJV Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
- NASB Where your fathers put Me to the test, And saw My works for forty years.
- NLT There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.
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
In the wilderness Israel tested God for forty years even while seeing His mighty works. Persistent unbelief in the face of God's deeds provoked Him.
Overview
The quotation recalls how the exodus generation repeatedly put God to the test despite witnessing His acts of deliverance and provision. Their unbelief was inexcusable, given the evidence before them. This serves as a warning that exposure to God's works does not guarantee faith; the heart must respond.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Acts 7:36This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.
- Deut 4:9Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;
- Deut 8:4Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.
- Deut 4:3Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you.
- Exod 19:4‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself.
- Acts 13:8But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith.
- Deut 8:2You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
- Exod 20:22Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
- Luke 7:22Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
- Deut 29:2Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;
- Josh 23:3You have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is Yahweh your God who has fought for you.
- Amos 2:10Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
- Num 14:33Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness.
- Josh 24:7When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days.
- Deut 11:7but your eyes have seen all of Yahweh’s great work which he did.
- Josh 5:6For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice. Yahweh swore to them that he wouldn’t let them see the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
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
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 3:9 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.