Deuteronomy 4:8
in Deuteronomy 4And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
KJV
And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
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This verse in Deuteronomy 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
For what nation is great enough
on Deuteronomy 4:7-8
Two questions carry the argument, each opening with "what nation is great enough". The first answer is nearness, a god "as near to them as the LORD our God is to us." The second is the law itself, "righteous statutes and ordinances."
This site's exposition
righteous statutes and ordinances
The second question takes in this entire law as one body. John Wesley draws from it that the true greatness of a nation lies in the righteousness of its laws, over pomp, power or empire.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
So righteous - Whereby he implies that the true greatness of a nation doth not consist in pomp or power, or largeness of empire, as commonly men think, but in the righteousness of its laws.
And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous,.... Founded in justice and equity, and so agreeable to right reason, and so well calculated and adapted to lead persons in the ways of righteousness and truth, and keep them from doing any injury to each other's persons and properties, and to maintain good order, peace, and concord among them: as all this law which I set before you this day? which he then repeated, afresh declared, explained and instructed them in; for otherwise it had been delivered to them near forty years ago.
Our communion with God (which is the highest honour and happiness we are capable of in this world) is kept up by the word and prayer; in both these Israel were happy above any people under heaven. [1.] Never were any people so privileged in speaking to God,
This also was the grandeur of Israel above any people. What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous? Observe, First, That all these statutes and judgments of the divine law are infinitely just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The former, their national advantages, are described (De 4:7, 8), and they were twofold: 1. God's readiness to hear and aid them at all times; and 2. the excellence of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the "statutes and judgments so righteous" which the law of Moses contained.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִי֙ | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| גּ֣וֹי | goy | [is] a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| גָּד֔וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | [belongs] to it | ||
| חֻקִּ֥ים | chukim | statutes | H2706 → | 127 times |
| וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֖ים | umishpatim | and judgments | H4941 → | 422 times |
| צַדִּיקִ֑ם | tzadikim | righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| כְּכֹל֙ | kekhol | like all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַתּוֹרָ֣ה | hatorah | the law | H8451 → | 219 times |
| הַזֹּ֔את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָנֹכִ֛י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| נֹתֵ֥ן | noten | [am] setting | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם | lifneikhem | <to> before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַיּֽוֹם׃ | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וּמִי֙and who?
umiH4310 →423 times
גּ֣וֹי[is] a nation
goyH1471 →561 times
גָּד֔וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
ל֛וֹ[belongs] to it
lo
חֻקִּ֥יםstatutes
chukimH2706 →127 times
וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֖יםand judgments
umishpatimH4941 →422 times
צַדִּיקִ֑םrighteous
tzadikimH6662 →206 times
כְּכֹל֙like all
kekholH3605 →5413 times
הַתּוֹרָ֣הthe law
hatorahH8451 →219 times
הַזֹּ֔את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָנֹכִ֛יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
נֹתֵ֥ן[am] setting
notenH5414 →2011 times
לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם<to> before you
lifneikhemH6440 →2123 times
הַיּֽוֹם׃this day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach 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
Psalms 119:86All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted without cause—help me!
it leads to
- Psalms 70:5
But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
- Psalms 35:19
Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
- Psalms 119:78
May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie; I will meditate on Your precepts.
- Psalms 35:7
For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
- Psalms 109:26
Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.
- Psalms 70:5
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.