Limitless Word
Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?
Deuteronomy 4:8 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you today?
  • KJV 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?
  • BSB And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
  • NKJV And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?
  • NLT And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?

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

No nation has laws as righteous as God's law given to Israel. It exalts the moral excellence of God's commands.

Overview

Moses points to the righteousness of God's statutes as without equal among the nations. The law reflects the character of the God who gave it and orders life toward justice and goodness. Such praise of the law anticipates the New Testament's affirmation that the law is holy, righteous, and good.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 147:19–20He shows his word to Jacob; his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
  • Rom 7:12–14Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
  • 2 Tim 3:16–17Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness,
  • Ps 119:127–128Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.
  • Ps 119:86All of your commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help me!
  • Ps 19:7–11Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
  • Deut 10:12–13Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
  • Ps 119:96I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commands are boundless. MEM

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 4:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 4:8 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.