Deuteronomy4
New American Standard
1“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you will live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
2You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you.
3Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you.
4But you who clung to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.
5“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it.
6So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?
8Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?
9“Only be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.
10Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may have them hear My words so that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
11You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire to the heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud, and thick gloom.
12Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—there was only a voice.
13So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
14The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so that you would perform them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it.
15“So be very careful yourselves, since you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire,
16so that you do not act corruptly and make a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, a representation of male or female,
17a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
18a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth.
19And be careful not to raise your eyes to heaven and look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the heavenly lights, and allow yourself to be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
20But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people of His own possession, as today.
21“Now the Lord was angry with me on your account, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22For I am going to die in this land; I am not crossing the Jordan, but you are going to cross, and you will take possession of this good land.
23So be careful yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you.
24For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25“When you father children and have grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger,
26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.
27The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you.
28There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything.
29But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.
30When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.
31For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
32“Indeed, ask now about the earlier days that were before your time, since the day that God created mankind on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?
33Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?
34Or has a god ventured to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, just as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.
36Out 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.
37Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,
38driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today.
39Therefore know today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
40So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
41Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east,
42for one to flee there who unintentionally killed his neighbor, without having hatred for him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.
44Now this is the Law which Moses set before the sons of Israel;
45these are the testimonies and the statutes, and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,
46across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt.
47And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east,
48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon),
49with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 4.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Earnest exhortations to obedience, and dissuasives from idolatry. (1–23). Warnings against disobedience, and promises of mercy. (24–40). Cities of refuge appointed. (41–49).
vv1-23
The power and love of God to Israel are here made the ground and reason of a number of cautions and serious warnings; and although there is much reference to their national covenant, yet all may be applied to those who live under the gospel. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed? Our obedience as individuals cannot merit salvation; but it is the only evidence that we are partakers of the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ, Considering how many temptations we are compassed with, and what corrupt desires we have in our bosoms, we have great need to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright, who walk carelessly. Moses charges particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry. He shows how weak the temptation would be to those who thought aright; for these pretended gods, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord their God had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to worship them; shall we serve those that were made to serve us? Take heed lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God. We must take heed lest at any time we forget our religion. Care, caution, and watchfulness, are helps against a bad memory.
vv24-40
Moses urged the greatness, glory, and goodness of God. Did we consider what a God he is with whom we have to do, we should surely make conscience of our duty to him, and not dare to sin against him. Shall we forsake a merciful God, who will never forsake us, if we are faithful unto him? Whither can we go? Let us be held to our duty by the bonds of love, and prevailed with by the mercies of God to cleave to him. Moses urged God's authority over them, and their obligations to him. In keeping God's commandments they would act wisely for themselves. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Those who enjoy the benefit of Divine light and laws, ought to support their character for wisdom and honour, that God may be glorified thereby. Those who call upon God, shall certainly find him within call, ready to give an answer of peace to every prayer of faith. All these statutes and judgments of the Divine law are just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations. What they saw at mount Sinai, gave an earnest of the day of judgment, in which the Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire. They must also remember what they heard at mount Sinai. God manifests himself in the works of the creation, without speech or language, yet their voice is heard, Ps 19:1, 3; but to Israel he made himself known by speech and language, condescending to their weakness. The rise of this nation was quite different from the origin of all other nations. See the reasons of free grace; we are not beloved for our own sakes, but for Christ's sake. Moses urged the certain benefit and advantage of obedience. This argument he had begun with, verse 1, That ye may live, and go in and possess the land; and this he concludes with, verse 40, That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee. He reminds them that their prosperity would depend upon their piety. Apostacy from God would undoubtedly be the ruin of their nation. He foresees their revolt from God to idols. Those, and those only, shall find God to their comfort, who seek him with all their heart. Afflictions engage and quicken us to seek God; and, by the grace of God working with them, many are thus brought back to their right mind. When these things are come upon thee, turn to the Lord thy God, for thou seest what comes of turning from him. Let all the arguments be laid together, and then say, if religion has not reason on its side. None cast off the government of their God, but those who first abandon the understanding of a man.
vv41-49
Here is the introduction to another discourse, or sermon, Moses preached to Israel, which we have in the following chapters. He sets the law before them, as the rule they were to work by, the way they were to walk in. He sets it before them, as the glass in which they were to see their natural face, that, looking into this perfect law of liberty, they might continue therein. These are the laws, given when Israel was newly come out of Egypt; and they were now repeated. Moses gave these laws in charge, while they encamped over against Beth-peor, an idol place of the Moabites. Their present triumphs were a powerful argument for obedience. And we should understand our own situation as sinners, and the nature of that gracious covenant to which we are invited. Therein greater things are shown to us than ever Israel saw from mount Sinai; greater mercies are given to us than they experienced in the wilderness, or in Canaan. One speaks to us, who is of infinitely greater dignity than Moses; who bare our sins upon the cross; and pleads with us by His dying love.
Key Words
עַתָּה: at this time, whether adverb, conjunction or expletive
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
חֹק: an enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage)
מִשְׁפָּט: properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
לָמַד: properly, to goad, i.e. (by implication) to teach (the rod being an Oriental incentive)
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
מַעַן: properly, heed, i.e. purpose; used only adverbially, on account of (as a motive or an aim), teleologically, in order that
חָיָה: to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive
Cross References
Deuteronomy 4Direct parallel forbidding adding to or diminishing from God's commands.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The historical account of the judgment at Baal-peor referenced by Moses.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Directly quotes 'our God is a consuming fire' in the context of the Sinai revelation.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Direct historical fulfillment of Moses setting apart these three specific cities of refuge east of Jordan.
Explicitly links Egypt with the metaphor of the iron furnace.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Solomon's prayer repeating the 'iron furnace' description of the Exodus.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels God's self-revelation as a 'jealous God' who demands exclusive worship.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Deuteronomy's ultimate promise of restoration and gathering when seeking God from captivity.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophetic fulfillment of finding God when searched for with all the heart in exile.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The original command from Yahweh to designate three cities of refuge on this side of Jordan.
Wisdom literature parallel warning against adding to God's words.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jesus condemns teaching human commandments as divine doctrines.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The original historical account of the fire, thick cloud, and darkness at Sinai.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The explicit covenant warning of being scattered and serving gods of wood and stone.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Classic polemic detailing the utter helplessness of idols made by human hands.
Supported by Matthew Henry
New Testament comparison to the terrifying sights and sounds of the fire at Sinai.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Expands on election based purely on God's love and oath to the patriarchs.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Stresses that driving out mightier nations was God's work, not Israel's righteousness.
Supported by John Calvin
Elaborates the legal definition of manslaughter without prior hatred or intent, matching the terminology here.
Historical account of the defeat of Sihon, king of the Amorites, in the land mentioned here.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Historical account of the defeat of Og, king of Bashan, whose land was possessed.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Queen of Sheba's confession exemplifies nations recognizing Israel's wisdom.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Wisdom literature defining the fear of the Lord as true understanding.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Internal repetition warning against forgetting the covenant and making graven images.
Supported by Matthew Henry
New Testament description of the terrifying physical phenomena at Sinai/Horeb.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Second Commandment prohibiting the creation of any graven image.
Supported by JFB
Paul describes the pagan corruption of God's glory into animal images.
Supported by JFB
Provides the background for Moses being barred from Jordan because of the people.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Moses formally summons heaven and earth as perpetual legal witnesses against Israel.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Affirms God's merciful nature and commitment to covenant loyalty despite rebellion.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The historical account of the voice speaking out of the thick cloud.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The foundational Shema affirming that the Lord is one and there is none else.
Supported by JFB
Reiterates the core Deuteronomic promise of prolonged life and blessing through obedience.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the introductory statement of Moses declaring or setting forth the law beyond Jordan.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel geographical description of the Salt Sea under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.
Parallel summary of Israel's duty to fear, walk with, and serve God.
Supported by Matthew Henry