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Deuteronomy 32:7

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Deuteronomy 32:7 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
Deuteronomy 32:7 — American Standard Version

Context — Deuteronomy 32

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
4The Rock, his work is perfect; For all his ways are justice: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right is he.
5They have dealt corruptly with him, [they are] not his children, [it is] their blemish; [They are] a perverse and crooked generation.
6Do ye thus requite Jehovah, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? He hath made thee, and established thee.
7Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
8When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
9For Jehovah`s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10He found him in a desert land, And in the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye.
← Deuteronomy 32:6Deuteronomy 32:8 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations, etc.] That went before the times of Christ, and the Jews’ rejection of him, and observe the instances of divine goodness to them; as in the time of the Maccabees, whom God raised up as deliverers of them, when oppressed by the Syrians and others; and in the time of the Babylonish captivity, how they were delivered out of it; in the times of David and Solomon, when they enjoyed great prosperity; and in the times of the judges, by whom they were often saved out of the hands of their enemies; and in the times of Moses and Joshua, how they were led, by the one out of Egypt and through the wilderness, and by the other into the land…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Song of Moses If Deuteronomy 32:1-3 be regarded as the introduction, and Deuteronomy 32:43 as the conclusion, the main contents of the song may be grouped under three heads, namely, (1) Deuteronomy 32:4-18, the faithfulness of God, the faithlessness of Israel; (2) Deuteronomy 32:19-33, the chastisement and the need of its infliction by God; (3) Deuteronomy 32:34-42, God’s compassion upon the low and humbled state of His people. The Song differs signally in diction and idiom from the preceding chapters; just as a lyrical passage is conceived in modes of thought wholly unlike those which belong to narrative or exhortation, and is uttered in different phraseology. There are, however, in the…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“The days of old - The events of ancient days or former ages, and thou wilt find that I had a respect unto thee not only in Abraham's time, but long before it. Deuteronomy 32:8”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“32:7 Ask your father: History instructs those who are willing to learn from it. In the wisdom tradition of the Old Testament, the father was given the task of teaching his children the lessons that had previously been transmitted to him (see, e.g., Prov 1:8; 2:1; 3:1).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Remember: Psa 44:1, Psa 77:5, Psa 119:52; Isa 63:11 many generations: Heb. generation and generation, Psa 10:6, Psa 77:8 \*marg. ask: Deu 4:32; Exo 13:14; Jdg 6:13; Job 8:8-10; Psa 44:1, Psa 77:5, Psa 77:6, Psa 77:11, Psa 77:12; Psa 78:3, Psa 78:4; Isa 46:9 Deuteronomy 32:8”
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Related study paths

Read Deuteronomy 32 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification