Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 30:12
It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses Israel in the plains of Moab, concluding his instructions before they cross into the Promised Land. He frames the commandment as immediately accessible rather than a distant or impossible task.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא (lo') means "not," and בַ/שָּׁמַ֖יִם (va./sha.Ma.yim) translates to "[is] in the/ heavens." Together they establish the geographical impossibility the text explicitly denies.
The thread — Deuteronomy 30:12 denies the need to ascend to heaven, a motif Romans 10:6 quotes as a rhetorical question about faith, Proverbs 30:4 uses in a series of rhetorical questions about divine action, and John 3:13 states declaratively that only the Son of Man has ascended.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that obedience requires no impossible journey, only immediate attention to what is already given.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Cross-references
- Romans 10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down)
- Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!
- John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.