^4:1Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances¹ I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors,² is giving you. ^4:2Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to³ you. ^4:3You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor,⁴ how he⁵ eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor.⁶^4:4But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you. ^4:5Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in⁷ the land you are about to enter and possess. ^4:6So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding⁸ to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise⁹ people.” ^4:7In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? ^4:8And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just¹⁰ as this whole law¹¹ that I am about to share with¹² you today?

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

^4:9Again, however, pay very careful attention,¹³ lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. ^4:10You¹⁴ stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he¹⁵ said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands.¹⁶ Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” ^4:11You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it¹⁷ and yet dark with a thick cloud.¹⁸^4:12Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything—only a voice was heard.¹⁹^4:13And he revealed to you the covenant²⁰ he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments,²¹ writing them on two stone tablets. ^4:14Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess.²²

Read in Logos

Deuteronomy 4:7: For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

Footnotes

1 These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.
2 Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).
3 Heb “commanding.”
4 The and read “to Baal Peor,” that is, the god worshiped at that place; see note on the name “Beth Peor” in .
5 Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
6 Or “followed the Baal of Peor” (so , , ), referring to the pagan god Baal.
7 Heb “in the midst of” (so ).
8 Heb “it is wisdom and understanding.”
9 Heb “wise and understanding.”
10 Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”
11 The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.
12 Heb “place before.”
13 Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”
14 The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.
15 Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in .
16 Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”
17 Heb “a mountain burning with fire as far as the heart of the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
18 Heb “darkness, cloud, and heavy cloud.”
19 The words “was heard” are supplied in the translation to avoid the impression that the voice was seen.
20 This is the first occurrence of the word בְּרִית (bérit, “covenant”) in the Book of Deuteronomy but it appears commonly hereafter (4:23, 31; 5:2, 3; 7:9, 12; 8:18; 9:9, 10, 11, 15; 10:2, 4, 5, 8; 17:2; 29:1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 25; 31:9, 16, 20, 25, 26; 33:9). Etymologically, it derives from the notion of linking or yoking together. See M. Weinfeld, 2:255.
21 Heb “the ten words.”
22 Heb “to which you are crossing over to possess it.”