Deuteronomy 4:20

20 Forsooth the Lord took you, and led you out of the iron furnace, or strong tribulation, of Egypt, that he should have a people of heritage, as it is in [the] present day. (But the Lord took you, and led you out of the iron furnace, that is, out of thy strong tribulation, in Egypt, so that he would have a people of inheritance, as ye be to this present day.)

Deuteronomy 4:20 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:20

But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the
iron furnace
The allusion is to the trying and melting of metals, and fleeing them from dross, by putting them into furnaces strongly heated, some of which are of earth, others of iron; the word, as the Jewish writers ^F7 observe, signifies such an one in which gold and silver and other things are melted; see ( Psalms 12:6 ) ( Proverbs 17:3 ) even "out of Egypt"; which is here compared to an iron furnace, because of the cruelty with which the Israelites were used in it, the hardships they were put under, and the misery and bondage they were kept in; but out of all the Lord brought them, as he does all his people sooner or later out of their afflictions, sometimes called the furnace of affliction, ( Isaiah 48:10 ) where their graces are tried, and they are purged, purified, and refined from their dross and tin. This the Lord did to Israel, he brought them out of their distressed state and condition:

to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day:
to be the Lord's inheritance, as they now were, ( Deuteronomy 32:9 ) as well as they were quickly to inherit the land of Canaan, for which they were brought out of the land of Egypt; and indeed they were already, even that day, entered on their inheritance, the kingdom of the Amorites being delivered into their hands.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Celim. c. 8. sect. 9. & Jarchi in loc.

Deuteronomy 4:20 In-Context

18 either of creeping beasts that be moved in the earth, either of fishes that dwell under the earth in waters; (or of any creeping beast that moveth on the ground, or of any fish that liveth in the waters under the earth;)

19 lest peradventure, when thine eyes be raised up to heaven, thou see the sun, and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and thou be deceived by error, and worship those things, and honour them, the which things thy Lord God made of nought, into the service of all folks that be under heaven. (lest, when thine eyes be raised up to the heavens, and thou see the sun, and the moon, and all the stars in the sky, that is, the host of heaven, thou be deceived by error, and thou worship those things, and honour them, which things the Lord thy God made out of nothing, for the service of all the peoples who be under heaven.)

20 Forsooth the Lord took you, and led you out of the iron furnace, or strong tribulation, of Egypt, that he should have a people of heritage, as it is in [the] present day. (But the Lord took you, and led you out of the iron furnace, that is, out of thy strong tribulation, in Egypt, so that he would have a people of inheritance, as ye be to this present day.)

21 And the Lord was wroth against me for your words, and swore that I should not pass (the) Jordan, and that I should not enter into the best land, which he shall give to you. (But because of you, the Lord was angry with me, and he swore that I would not cross over the Jordan River, and that I would not enter into that best land, which he shall give to you.)

22 Lo! I die in this land; I shall not pass (the) Jordan; ye shall pass it, and shall wield the noble land. (Lo! I shall die here in this land; I shall not cross over the Jordan River, but ye shall cross over it, and ye shall possess the noble land.)