Deuteronomy 6:20 describes a future moment when a child asks a parent why God’s laws matter, and it tells the parent what to do with that question. The verse is a setup for the answer that follows in verses 21 through 23, where parents are told to retell the story of how God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. Moses is speaking to the whole nation of Israel on the plains of Moab, just before they enter the promised land, and he is anticipating the questions their children will ask.
When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the LORD our God has commanded you mean?”
Deuteronomy 6:20 (WEB)
What Deuteronomy 6:20 Means
The verse begins with “When your son asks you in time to come.” Moses is not imagining a rare event. He expects curiosity to arise naturally in the next generation, and he treats that curiosity as an opening for teaching rather than a nuisance. The phrase “in time to come” points to a future the people have not yet lived, which means the verse is really about passing faith forward across years, not about one conversation.
The child’s question has three parts: “the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances.” These are three words for the commands of God, each with a slightly different emphasis. Testimonies point to what God has declared and witnessed to, statutes to what he has decreed as binding, and ordinances to the rules that shape daily life. Together they cover the whole body of God’s instruction. The question “What do they mean?” asks for purpose, not just content. The child wants to know why the rules exist and what they are for.
What the verse does not promise is that children will automatically understand or embrace these commands. It assumes they will ask, and it prepares the parent to answer. It also does not give a complete theology of the law in one sentence. It simply establishes that a question is coming and that the parent is responsible to answer it honestly.
The Context of Deuteronomy 6:20
Deuteronomy is presented as Moses’ final addresses to Israel before he dies and before the people cross the Jordan River. Traditionally Moses is named as its author, and the book is written for a generation that did not personally stand at Sinai and did not witness the Exodus as adults. Many of the listeners were children or had not yet been born when God delivered them from Egypt, so the question of why the law matters is built into their situation from the start.
The verses immediately before, in 6:17 to 19, call the people to keep God’s commandments diligently so that things will go well for them in the land. The verses that follow, 6:21 to 23, give the answer the parent is to speak: “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt,” followed by the account of God’s deliverance. Read in this setting, the law is never presented as arbitrary. It is the response of a people who have been rescued, and the reason for obedience is the story of that rescue.
Key Phrases in Deuteronomy 6:20
Psalm 78:4
We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done.
(WEB)
This psalm echoes the same concern that the next generation should know God’s praiseworthy deeds and his commands. It shows that passing the story of God’s works to children was a shared responsibility across Israel’s worship, not just a single instruction in Deuteronomy.
Ephesians 6:4
You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
(WEB)
Paul addresses fathers and asks them to bring children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. This New Testament command carries forward the same concern: parents are to teach children the Lord’s ways, not merely expect them to absorb faith by accident.
A Short Prayer From Deuteronomy 6:20
Lord, you have given us your commands, and you have given us a story of how you rescued your people. Help us to be ready when our children ask us why these things matter. Give us honest words and patient hearts, and let our answers point back to your faithfulness. Keep us from treating your instructions as empty habit, and help us to live in such a way that the next generation sees your goodness. Amen.
