Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 4:8
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?
8. And what great nation hath statutes so righteous ] This challenge is as just as the preceding. Other great codes and systems of ethics there undoubtedly were in Israel’s world (e.g. the Code of ammurabi and various systems in Egypt). But the deuteronomic Torah is rightly exalted above them because of its pure religious fervency, its revelation of the Divine character, and its enforcement, in the details of human conduct, of the example of God Himself. Moreover, the Law of no other nation in Israel’s world has exerted so practical an influence on the ethics of mankind. How necessary it was to impress Israel, both immediately before and during the Exile, with the distinction which the Law gave them among the nations is seen from such passages as Eze 20:32; Eze 25:8. The heathen said Israel is like all the nations, and Israelites were tempted to fall back upon the easier ethics of their neighbours, we will be as the heathen. This is the temptation of all recipients of high ideals and duties; none are more exposed to it than Christians; they must remind themselves, as this discourse insists, of the privilege and responsibility of those who having known the better dare not be content with the easier. The substance of these verses then is, Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye have been called. The abuse of such a conscience is the self-righteousness born of a merely formal fulfilment of the Law (Luk 18:11). ‘Pharisaism and Deuteronomy came into the world the same day’ (A. B. Davidson, Hastings DB. ii. 577).
set before you ] Not prescribe or enforce; but offer for your decision and acceptance. So Deu 11:26; Deu 11:32; Deu 30:1; Deu 30:15; Deu 30:19. The affirmation of the people’s responsibility is characteristic of D.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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. Now there was not any nation then in being, nor any since, to be compared with the nation of the Jews, for the wise and wholesome laws given unto them; no, not the more cultivated and civilized nations, as the Grecians and Romans, who had the advantage of such wise lawgivers as they were accounted, as Solon, Lycurgus, Numa, and others; and indeed the best laws that they had seem to be borrowed from the Jews.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(8) What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous?These words direct our attention to the law of Moses, as distinctly in advance of the time when it was given.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Ver. 8. What nation is there so great, &c. That which constitutes the principal glory of a nation, is a pure worship, sincerely offered to the true God, and a right administration of justice. Upon this principle, what nation was there so great as that of the Jews? For, though their country was but small, and they were often oppressed by enemies who desired their extirpation; yet they recovered themselves, and kept their laws in their worst condition, when, commonly, they best observed them: insomuch that, as a very learned person of the Church of England long ago observed, after so many changes and alterations as there were in their state, from better to worse, and back again; after so many victories gained by them over others, and so many captivities of their persons, and desolations of their country, as others had wrought;they continued still one and the same people, governed by the same laws, under several great and potent monarchies; the successive rise and fall of three of which they were preserved to behold; and, in their declining state, were able to stand out a great while against a fourth, the mightiest that ever was on earth, and that, when this monarchy was in its full strength. This is a plain demonstration of the truth of these words of Moses, that no nation was so great as they. See Dr. Jackson on the Creed, Book I. chap. 21:
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 4:8 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?
Ver. 8. So righteous. ] See Trapp on “ Deu 1:1 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
so righteous. See App-15. Compare 2Sa 7:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Deu 10:12, Deu 10:13, Psa 19:7-11, Psa 119:86, Psa 119:96, Psa 119:127, Psa 119:128, Psa 147:19, Psa 147:20, Rom 7:12-14, 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17
Reciprocal: Exo 21:1 – which Lev 15:2 – unto the Deu 1:5 – to declare Deu 4:1 – unto the statutes Deu 4:16 – corrupt Deu 26:19 – high above Deu 33:29 – Happy 2Sa 1:19 – beauty 2Sa 7:23 – what one 1Ki 2:3 – statutes Neh 9:13 – gavest Psa 19:9 – judgments Psa 76:1 – In Judah Psa 119:39 – for thy Psa 119:62 – thy Psa 119:98 – through Psa 119:138 – testimonies Isa 1:2 – I have Jer 26:4 – which Lam 1:7 – all her Eze 16:7 – excellent ornaments Eze 20:11 – I gave Rom 2:18 – knowest Rom 3:2 – because 2Co 3:7 – was Gal 3:19 – It was added