Deuteronomy 4:32

32 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon 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.

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.

Deuteronomy 4:32 In-Context

30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice,
31 for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them.
32 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon 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.
33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live?
34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.