^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

The Nature of Israel’s God

^4:15Be very careful,²³ then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. ^4:16I say this²⁴ so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, ^4:17any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, ^4:18anything that crawls²⁵ on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth.²⁶^4:19When you look up²⁷ to the sky²⁸ and see the sun, moon, and stars—the whole heavenly creation²⁹—you must not be seduced to worship and serve them,³⁰ for the Lord your God has assigned³¹ them to all the people³² of the world.³³^4:20You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace,³⁴ to be his special people³⁵ as you are today.

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

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.”
23 Heb “give great care to your souls.”
24 The words “I say this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 16 is subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
25 Heb “creeping thing.”
26 Heb “under the earth.”
27 Heb “lest you lift up your eyes.” In the Hebrew text vv. 16–19 are subordinated to “Be careful” in v. 15, but this makes for an unduly long sentence in English.
28 Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
29 Heb “all the host of heaven.”
30 In the Hebrew text the verbal sequence in v. 19 is “lest you look up … and see … and be seduced … and worship them … and serve them.” However, the first two actions are not prohibited in and of themselves. The prohibition pertains to the final three actions. The first two verbs describe actions that are logically subordinate to the following actions and can be treated as temporal or circumstantial: “lest, looking up … and seeing …, you are seduced.” See 2: §168.h.
31 Or “allotted.”
32 Or “nations.”
33 Heb “under all the heaven.” The OT views the heavenly host as God’s council, which surrounds his royal throne ready to do his bidding (see 1 Kgs 22:19). God has given this group, sometimes called the “sons of God” (cf. Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps 89:6), jurisdiction over the nations. See Deut 32:8 (). Some also see this assembly as the addressee in Ps 82. While God delegated his council to rule over the nations, he established a theocratic government over Israel and ruled directly over his chosen people via the Mosaic covenant. See v. 20, as well as Deut 32:9.
34 A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, 2:); cf. “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.
35 Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.