Deuteronomy 4:32

The LORD Is God

32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?

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Deuteronomy 4:32 in Other Translations

KJV

32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

ESV

32 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.

NLT

32 “Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before?

MSG

32 Ask questions. Find out what has been going on all these years before you were born. From the day God created man and woman on this Earth, and from the horizon in the east to the horizon in the west - as far back as you can imagine and as far away as you can imagine - has as great a thing as this ever happened? Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

CSB

32 "Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created man on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event [ever] happened, or has anything like it been heard of?

Deuteronomy 4:32 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:32

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee,
&c.] Inquire into and consult the annals of former times, of ages past:

since the day that God created man upon the earth;
trace them quite up to the creation of the world, and men in it:

and [ask] from the one side of heaven to the other;
traverse the whole globe, and examine the records of every nation in it in both hemispheres:

whether there hath been any such [thing] as this great thing is, or
hath been heard like it?
whether they can give any account of anything seen, heard, or done like what follows; suggesting that they cannot furnish out an instance to be mentioned with it.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Deuteronomy 4:32 In-Context

30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.

31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?

34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Cross References 4

1. Deuteronomy 32:7; Job 8:8
2. S Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 45:12
3. Deuteronomy 28:64; Deuteronomy 30:1; Jeremiah 9:16; Matthew 24:31
4. ver 7; 2 Samuel 7:23