What Does Deuteronomy 4:7 Mean?
For what nation is there so great, that has God so near to them, as the LORD our God is in all that we call upon him for?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?THE KEY
A people’s greatness is seen in the nearness of the God they can call upon.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to you as part of a people who can call on the LORD: in every matter you bring to him, he is near. Your asking takes place within that nearness, and the people’s distinction is their access to God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that access to God belongs only to the powerful or exceptional: the verse ties nearness to the people who call on him.
THE ROOT
קְרֹבִים
qerovim
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
Approach, come near.
“nigh” in this verse is qerovim. This root describes approach: something comes near or is brought near. Here, God’s nearness is relational, present in the many occasions the people call to him.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: to approach or draw near
קָרַב
This verb makes nearness a movement into relation, the same closeness the verse names between God and the people.
korban: an offering, something brought near
קָרְבָּן
The word for offering carries the sense of being brought near, echoing the access to God described here.
קָרָא
qara
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־א
q-r-ʾ
Call out, summon, or proclaim; also read aloud.
“call upon” in this verse is qara. The verb translated call can also describe reading aloud or proclaiming. This gives the verse’s nearness the shape of address: the people call to God, and he is near.
ALSO GROWS
qore: one who calls out or reads aloud
קוֹרֵא
The related form presents calling as an expressed act of address, matching the people’s direct appeal to God.
miqra: a convocation or reading
מִקְרָא
This branch can name a gathered assembly or a reading, showing how calling can draw people together around an address.
THE PATTERN
God’s nearness is expressed as an open relation of calling and approach.
The LORD is near to all who call out to him, to all who call out to him in truth.Seek the LORD while he may be found, call out to him while he is near.THE THREAD
The LORD is near to all who call out to him, to all who call out to him in truth.The same Hebrew roots for near (קָרוֹב, qarov) and call (קָרָא, qara) appear together here. Psalm 145 makes the relation unmistakable: the LORD is near to those who call on him.
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