Deuteronomy 4:25-35

25 "When you have had children and {grandchildren} and you have grown old in the land and you act corruptly and you make a divine image [of] the form of anything and you do evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God, [thus] provoking him to anger,
26 I call to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you [are] crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; {you will not live long on it}, but you will be completely destroyed.
27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left {few in number} among the nations {to where Yahweh will lead you}.
28 And you will there serve gods {made by human hands}, [of] wood and stone, [gods] that cannot see and cannot hear and cannot eat and cannot smell.
29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God and will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30 {In your distress} when all these things have found you in the {latter days}, then you will return to Yahweh your God, and you will listen to his voice.
31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; he {will not abandon you}, and he will not destroy you, and he will not forget the covenant of your ancestors that he swore to them.
32 "Yes, ask, please, about former days that {preceded you} from the day that God created humankind on the earth; [ask even] from [one] end of the heaven up to the [other] end of heaven {whether anything ever happened} like this great thing or {whether anything like it was ever heard}.
33 Has a people [ever] heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, [just] as you heard [it], and lived?
34 Or has a god [ever] attempted to go to take for himself a nation from the midst of a nation, [using] trials and signs and wonders and war, with an outstretched arm and with great and awesome deeds, like all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35 You [yourselves] were shown [this wonder] in order [for you] to acknowledge that Yahweh [is] the God; there is no other [God] {besides him}.

Deuteronomy 4:25-35 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 4

This chapter contains an exhortation to Israel to keep the commands, statutes, and judgments of God, urged from the superior excellency of them to those of all other nations, De 4:1-8, from the manner in which they were delivered, out of the midst of fire, by a voice of words, but no similitude seen, De 4:9-15, and particularly the Israelites are cautioned against idolatry, from the consideration of the goodness of God to them, in bringing them out of Egypt, De 4:16-20, and the rather Moses is urgent upon them to be diligent in their obedience to the laws of God, because he should quickly be removed from them, De 4:21-24, and should they be disobedient to them, it would provoke the Lord to destroy them, or to carry them captive into other lands, De 4:25-28 though even then, if they repented and sought the Lord, and became obedient, he would be merciful to them, and not forsake them, De 4:29-31 and they are put in mind again of the amazing things God had done for them, in speaking to them out of fire, and they alive; in bringing them out of another nation, and driving out other nations to make room for them; all which he improves, as so many arguments to move them to obedience to the divine commands, De 4:32-40 and then notice is taken of the three cities of refuge, separated on this side Jordan, De 4:41-43, and the chapter is concluded with observing, that this is the law, and these the testimonies, Moses declared and repeated to the children of Israel in the country of Sihon and Og, who were delivered into their hands, and their lands possessed by them, which laid them under fresh obligations to yield obedience to God, De 4:44-49.

Footnotes 20

  • [a]. Literally "children of children"
  • [b]. Or "I shall call to witness"
  • [c]. Literally "you will not extend days"
  • [d]. Literally "people of number," as opposed to people without number
  • [e]. Literally "[he] will lead Yahweh you there"
  • [f]. Literally "the work of the hands of human"
  • [g]. Or "inner self"
  • [h]. Literally "In [the] distress for you"
  • [i]. Hebrew "and"
  • [j]. Literally "in the last of the days"
  • [k]. Hebrew "and"
  • [l]. Literally "will not leave you alone"
  • [m]. Or "fathers"
  • [n]. Literally "that [they] were to the face of you"
  • [o]. Literally "was it [ever]"
  • [p]. Literally "was it [ever] heard as it"
  • [q]. Hebrew "for him"
  • [r]. Emphatic use of pronoun; plural meaning implied
  • [s]. The definite article indicates that Israel's God is alone the true God and the one who revealed himself to them
  • [t]. Literally "except him" or "to him alone"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.