Deuteronomy 4:7-8

4:7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 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?

Deuteronomy 4:36-38

4:36 From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth he showed you his great fire from which you also heard his words. ⁴  4:37 Moreover, because he loved ⁵  your ancestors, he chose their ⁶  descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power 4:38 to dispossess nations greater and stronger than you and brought you here this day to give you their land as your property. ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 5:25

5:25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die!

Deuteronomy 8:15

8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents ⁸  and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow ⁹  from a flint rock and

Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ¹⁰  a numerous ¹¹  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 10:21

10:21 He is the one you should praise; ¹²  he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen.

Deuteronomy 28:59

28:59 then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of your descendants – great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses.

Deuteronomy 29:24

29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ¹³  all about?”

Deuteronomy 29:28

29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”

¹ tn Or “pure”; or “fair”; Heb “righteous.”

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.

³ tn Heb “place before.”

¹ tn Heb “and his words you heard from the midst of the fire.”

¹ tn The concept of love here is not primarily that of emotional affection but of commitment or devotion. This verse suggests that God chose Israel to be his special people because he loved the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) and had promised to bless their descendants. See as well Deut 7:7-9.

² tc The LXX, Smr, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read a third person masculine plural suffix for the MT’s 3rd person masculine singular, “his descendants.” Cf. Deut 10:15. Quite likely the MT should be emended in this instance.

¹ tn Heb “(as) an inheritance,” that is, landed property that one can pass on to one’s descendants.

¹ tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).

² tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.

¹ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

² tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

¹ tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).

¹ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”