신명기 4:32의 주석

לימים ראשנים is the same as על ימים ראשנים [ASK NOW] REGARDING THE FORMER DAYS.

FOR ASK NOW OF THE DAYS PAST. He states “G-d will not forgive you, nor will He be long-suffering with you for idolatry and corruption with graven images and all forms of likenesses, for He has done with you what He has never done with any nation. He has made you hear the voice of G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire¹⁰⁶Verse 33. so that His fear may be before you¹⁰⁷Exodus 20:17. and that you declare His Unity and not corrupt yourselves. He has taken you to Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and by wonders¹⁰⁸Verse 34. so that you should not worship anything beside Him. Thus you have been shown all this with your eyes that thou mightest know that the Eternal, He is G-d,¹⁰⁹Verse 35. that He is One, and His Name One,¹¹⁰Zechariah 14:9. and there is none else beside Him.¹⁰⁹Verse 35. For out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice¹¹¹Verse 36. to teach you the discipline of wisdom;¹¹²Proverbs 1:3. and upon the earth He made thee to see His great fire¹¹¹Verse 36. burning unto the heart of heaven,¹¹³Above, Verse 11. and all His words thou didst hear out of the midst of the fire.¹¹¹Verse 36. And He brought thee out ‘b’phanav’ (with His presence),¹¹⁴Verse 37. similar to ‘al panav’ (before His presence), with His great power which is in His presence. And since the Great Name is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth beneath, and there is none else¹¹⁵Verse 39. you shall keep His commandments and His statutes so that it may be well with thee¹¹⁶Verse 40. in heaven above, and that thou mayest prolong thy days¹¹⁶Verse 40. upon the earth beneath.”

כי שאל נא, the proof of what I said that G’d will not forget the covenant made with your forefathers is that at Mount Sinai during the revelation all of you had been elevated to the level of prophecy. When I took you to be My people this did not mean that each and everyone of you by their own merits had deserved to be elevated to that spiritual status. I did this on account of the patriarchs. The difference between you and the gentile nations is that although the exceptional gentile may have experienced prophetic insights, there never has been a nation who have experienced something similar as a whole nation as you did at Mount Sinai.