Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Deuteronomy 4:32

in Deuteronomy 4

Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

KJV

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?

⋯

This verse in Deuteronomy 4

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

ask now from one end of the heavens to the other

on Deuteronomy 4:32-33

Moses sets no limit on the search, reaching back to "the day that God created man on earth" and across "from one end of the heavens to the other" for evidence. The claim tested is narrow and checkable, that a whole people "heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire" and lived. Exodus 20:19 records their plea for Moses to speak instead, and 5:24-26 repeats it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Here was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord. Secondly, They heard it out of the midst of the fire, which showed that it was God himself that spoke to them, for who else could dwell with devouring fire? God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, which was terrible; but to Israel out of the fire, which was more terrible.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

This singular honour done them called for singular obedience from them. It might justly be expected that they should do more for God than other people, since God had done so much more for them.

The words behind it

28 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • שְׁאַל־ask

    sheal-H7592 →171 times

  • נָא֩please

    na'H4994 →

  • לְיָמִ֨יםto days

    leyamimH3117 →2304 times

  • רִֽאשֹׁנִ֜יםformer

    rishonimH7223 →182 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הָי֣וּthey were

    hayuH1961 →3559 times

  • לְפָנֶ֗יךָ<to> before you

    lefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times

  • לְמִן־<to> from

    lemin-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַיּוֹם֙the day

    haiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩when

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • בָּרָ֨אhe created

    bara'H1254 →

  • אֱלֹהִ֤ים׀God

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אָדָם֙humankind

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאָ֔רֶץthe earth

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וּלְמִקְצֵ֥הand to from [the] end of

    ulemiktzehH7097 →97 times

  • הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וְעַד־and to

    vead-H5704 →1261 times

  • קְצֵ֣ה[the] end of

    ketzehH7097 →97 times

  • הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • הֲנִֽהְיָ֗ה¿ has it happened

    hanihyahH1961 →3559 times

  • כַּדָּבָ֤רlike the thing

    kadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • הַגָּדוֹל֙<the> great

    hagadolH1419 →526 times

  • הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • א֖וֹor

    ʾoH176 →321 times

  • הֲנִשְׁמַ֥ע¿ has it been heard

    hanishma'H8085 →1159 times

  • כָּמֹֽהוּ׃like it

    kamohuH3644 →143 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Job 8:8Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.7 worksDeuteronomy 32:7Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.7 worksJoel 2:21Do not be afraid, O land; rejoice and be glad, for the LORD has done great things.6 worksMatthew 24:31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.4 worksPsalms 44:1We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.4 worksJoel 1:2Hear this, O elders; and give ear, all who dwell in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?3 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 1:27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.3 worksJeremiah 27:5By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.3 worksMark 13:27And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.2 worksDeuteronomy 30:4Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there.2 worksMark 13:19For those will be days of tribulation unmatched from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 24:31

    And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:16

      For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…

    • Mark 13:27

      And He will send out the angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

    • Isaiah 27:13

      And in that day a great ram’s horn will sound, and those who were perishing in Assyria will come forth with those who were exiles in Egypt. And they will worship the LORD on…

    • 1 Corinthians 15:52

      in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

    • Isaiah 11:12

      He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 32:7

    Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 78:3–4

      that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

    • Job 8:8–10

      Please inquire of past generations and consider the discoveries of their fathers.

    • Psalms 44:1

      We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 4 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 4 →