Deuteronomy 6:21 (LSB)

Passage

then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us from Egypt with a strong hand.

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 6:19 by driving out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

Deuteronomy 6:20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which Yahweh our God commanded you?’

Deuteronomy 6:21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us from Egypt with a strong hand.

Deuteronomy 6:22 Moreover, Yahweh showed great and calamitous signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household;

Deuteronomy 6:23 But He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "slaves", "pharaoh", "egypt", "yahweh", "brought", and "strong". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "slaves", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "When your son asks you in time..." into verse 22's "Moreover Yahweh showed great and calamitous signs...", so "shall" and "slaves" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "slaves" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.