Deuteronomy 4:34
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Study Note
Study Note
The rhetorical question 'Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders... as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt?' establishes the Exodus as a historically unprecedented divine act. Moses's summary of the Exodus miracle (tentations, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm, and by great terrors) becomes the standard covenantal 'credential formula' by which God's right to Israel's exclusive devotion is grounded (Deuteronomy 26:8; Psalm 136). The uniqueness claim ('nor any god attempted') is polemically directed against all rival deities: no other national god has extracted a people from the most powerful empire in the world. Acts 7:36 and Hebrews 11:29 both revisit the Exodus in light of the new exodus accomplished in Christ, reading baptism and the cross as the anti-typical counterparts to the Red Sea crossing.
Other Translations
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Or hath God tried to go in to take to Himself, a nation from the midst of a nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors--according to all that Jehovah your God hath done to you, in Egypt, before your eyes?
Has God ever before taken a nation for himself from out of another nation, by punishments and signs and wonders, by war and by a strong hand and a stretched-out arm and great acts of wonder and fear, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes?
Cross References
And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of …
And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the …
And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the …
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the …
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee …
And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.
And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, …
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a …