Deuteronomy 6:21 (WEB)

Passage

then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 6:19 to thrust 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, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?”

Deuteronomy 6:21 then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;

Deuteronomy 6:22 and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes;

Deuteronomy 6:23 and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "tell", "pharaoh", "slaves", "egypt", "yahweh", and "brought". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "tell", 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 "and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs...", so "shall" and "tell" 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 "tell" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.