Deuteronomy 4:36

36 He let you hear His voice from heaven to instruct you.^[a] He showed you His great fire on earth, and you heard His words from the fire.^[b]

Deuteronomy 4:36 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:36

Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might
instruct thee
Thunder is the voice of God, and by which he instructs men in the greatness of his power, ( Job 26:14 ) ( 40:9 ) ( Psalms 29:3 ) , &c. unless his voice in giving the law, which was for the instruction of Israel, is meant; for that was heard on earth, on Mount Sinai, to which the following refers:

and upon earth he showed thee his great fire;
on Mount Sinai, which burned with it:

and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire;
the ten commands, and therefore may well be called, a fiery law; see ( Deuteronomy 4:12 Deuteronomy 4:15 Deuteronomy 4:33 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:36 In-Context

34 Or has a god [ever] attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of [another] nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 You were shown [these things] so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him.

36 He let you hear His voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you His great fire on earth, and you heard His words from the fire.

37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,

38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ex 20:22
• [b]. Ex 19:18