# Deuteronomy 4.12-19 **Book:** [Deuteronomy](/codex/deuteronomy/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 10. the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said unto me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11. And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. > > **12. And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice. 13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14. And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. 16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17. the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flieth in the heavens, 18. the likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 19. and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.** > > 20. But Jehovah hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as at this day. 21. Furthermore Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: (Deuteronomy 4:10-21, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 10. the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 11. You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. > > **12. Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13. He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. 14. Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. 15. Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, 16. lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17. the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18. the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 19. and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.** > > 20. But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today. 21. Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance; (Deuteronomy 4:10-21, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 10. Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11. And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. midst: Heb. heart > > **12. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. only: Heb. save a voice 13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17. The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18. The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. divided: or, imparted** > > 20. But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21. Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: (Deuteronomy 4:10-21, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 10. 'The day when thou hast stood before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, in Jehovah's saying unto me, Assemble to Me the people, and I cause them to hear My words, so that they learn to fear Me all the days that they are alive on the ground, and their sons they teach; 11. and ye draw near and stand under the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire unto the heart of the heavens, darkness, cloud, yea, thick darkness: > > **12. 'And Jehovah speaketh unto you out of the midst of the fire; a voice of words ye are hearing and a similitude ye are not seeing, only a voice; 13. and He declareth to you His covenant, which He hath commanded you to do, the Ten Matters, and He writeth them upon two tables of stone. 14. 'And me hath Jehovah commanded at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, for your doing them in the land whither ye are passing over to possess it; 15. and ye have been very watchful of your souls, for ye have not seen any similitude in the day of Jehovah's speaking unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16. lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female 17. a form of any beast which [is] in the earth, a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens 18. a form of any creeping thing on the ground, a form of any fish which [is] in the waters under the earth; 19. 'And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens.** > > 20. 'And you hath Jehovah taken, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people, an inheritance, as [at] this day. 21. 'And Jehovah hath shewed himself wroth with me because of your words, and sweareth to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going in unto the good land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, an inheritance; (Deuteronomy 4:10-21, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [God Is Not a Man Objection Defeater](/codex/god-is-not-a-man-objection-defeater/) - [OT Polytheism Objection Defeater](/codex/ot-polytheism-objection-defeater/), via [Deuteronomy 4.19](/codex/deuteronomy-4-19/) **Concepts:** - [Genesis Hermeneutics](/codex/genesis-hermeneutics/), via [Deuteronomy 4.19](/codex/deuteronomy-4-19/) - [Idolatry](/codex/idolatry/), via [Deuteronomy 4.15-19](/codex/deuteronomy-4-15-19/) - [Pentecost](/codex/acts-2/), via [Deuteronomy 4.11-12](/codex/deuteronomy-4-11-12/) **Lexicon:** - [H6635 - tzevaot](/codex/h6635-tzevaot/), via [Deuteronomy 4.19](/codex/deuteronomy-4-19/) **Other pages:** - [G3667 - homoioma](/codex/g3667-homoioma/), via [Deuteronomy 4.15-18](/codex/deuteronomy-4-15-18/), [Deuteronomy 4.16](/codex/deuteronomy-4-16/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ --- ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.