Deuteronomy 4:36

36 "¹Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice ²to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.

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 tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

35 "To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD , He is God; there is no other besides Him.

36 "Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.

37 "Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,

38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 19:9, 19; Exodus 20:18, 22; Deuteronomy 4:33; Nehemiah 9:13; Hebrews 12:25
• 2. Deuteronomy 8:5