God’s Word Translation
Deuteronomy 4:36
36He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire.
Deuteronomy 4:36 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
- New International Version (NIV)From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.
Context of Deuteronomy 4:36
34Or has any god ever tried to come and take one nation away from another for himself? The Lord your God used his mighty hand and powerful arm to do this for you in Egypt. He did this using plagues, miraculous signs, amazing things, and war. He did his great and awe-inspiring deeds in front of you. 35You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God. There is no other god. He let you hear his voice from heaven so that he could instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard him speak from the column of fire. 37Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants, he was with you as he brought you out of Egypt by his great power. 38He forced nations greater and stronger than you out of your way to bring you into their land and give it to you. This land is your own possession today.
Read all of Deuteronomy 4Deuteronomy 4:36 word by word
מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם הִשְׁמִֽיעֲךָ֥ אֶת־קֹל֖וֹ לְיַסְּרֶ֑ךָּ וְעַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ הֶרְאֲךָ֙ אֶת־אִשּׁ֣וֹ הַגְּדוֹלָ֔ה וּדְבָרָ֥יו שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֵֽשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Out of heavenשָׁמַיִםshâmayim shâmeh · heavenH8064
- he made thee to hearשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- his voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
- that he might instructיָסַרyâsar · to disciplineH3256
- thee: and upon earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- he shewedרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- thee his greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- his wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- out of the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 4:36
- Deuteronomy 4:33Have any ⌞other⌟ people ever heard God speak from a fire and lived? You did!
- Exodus 19:9The Lord said to Moses, “I am coming to you in a storm cloud so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always believe you.” Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
- Exodus 20:18All the people heard the thunder and saw the lightning. They heard the blast of the ram’s horn and saw the mountain covered with smoke. So they shook with fear and stood at a distance.
- Exodus 24:16The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud.
- Nehemiah 9:13You came from heaven to Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them fair rules, trustworthy teachings, and good laws and commandments.
- Hebrews 12:18You have not come to something that you can feel, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, to a storm,
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4:36
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 29-40Verses 29-40 Unwilling, as it might seem, to close his discourse with words of terror, Moses makes a last appeal to them in these verses in a different strain. Deuteronomy 4:34 Temptations - Compare Deuteronomy 7:18-19; Deuteronomy 29:2-3; not, “i. e.” the tribulations and persecutions undergone by the Israelites, out the plagues miraculously inflicted on the Egyptians. Deuteronomy 4:37 He chose their seed after them - literally, “his seed after him.”…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-40Verses 24-40 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 36great fire: God revealed the covenant law at Mount Sinai with an amazing and terrifying display of power and glory. It was like the eruption of a great volcano (see study note on 1:33; see Exodus 3:1–4; 24:16–18).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-4015. Take ... good heed ... for ye saw no manner of similitude--The extreme proneness of the Israelites to idolatry, from their position in the midst of surrounding nations already abandoned to its seductions, accounts for their attention being repeatedly drawn to the fact that God did not appear on Sinai in any visible form; and an earnest caution, founded on that remarkable circumstance, is given to beware, not only of making representations of false…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 4:36
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries