Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.
- BSB Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
- NKJV “Rememberthe days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you:
- NASB “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.
- NLT Remember the days of long ago; think about the generations past. Ask your father, and he will inform you. Inquire of your elders, and they will tell you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses calls the people to remember the days of old and learn from previous generations through their fathers and elders. It matters because faithful memory of God's past dealings shapes present obedience.
Overview
Recalling history and consulting elders were means of preserving the knowledge of God's acts. Israel's identity and obligations rest on what God has done, which must be deliberately remembered and taught. This emphasis on remembering God's mighty works continues in the church, which proclaims and remembers the saving work of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 78:3–4Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
- Ps 44:1We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
- Job 8:8–10For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
- Ps 77:5–6I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.
- Isa 46:9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
- Deut 4:32For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
- Exod 13:14And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:
- Isa 63:11Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
- Judg 6:13And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
- Ps 77:11–12I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
- Ps 119:52I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.
- Ps 77:8Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?
- Ps 10:6He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 32:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.