Ulangan 4:8

4:8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just ¹  as this whole law ²  that I am about to share with ³  you today?

Ulangan 4:32

The Uniqueness of Israel’s God

4:32 Indeed, ask about the distant past, starting from the day God created humankind ⁴  on the earth, and ask ⁵  from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.

[4:8]  ¹ tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”

[4:8]  ² tn The Hebrew phrase הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (hattorah hazzo’t), in this context, refers specifically to the Book of Deuteronomy. That is, it is the collection of all the חֻקִּים (khuqqim, “statutes,” 4:1) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “ordinances,” 4:1) to be included in the covenant text. In a full canonical sense, of course, it pertains to the entire Pentateuch or Torah.

[4:8]  ³ tn Heb “place before.”

[4:32]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term אָדָם (’adam) may refer either to Adam or, more likely, to “man” in the sense of the human race (“mankind,” “humankind”). The idea here seems more universal in scope than reference to Adam alone would suggest.

[4:32]  ⁵ tn The verb is not present in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification. The challenge has both temporal and geographical dimensions. The people are challenged to (1) inquire about the entire scope of past history and (2) conduct their investigation on a worldwide scale.