The Meaning of Deuteronomy 32:7 Explained

Deuteronomy 32:7

KJV: Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

YLT: Remember days of old -- Understand the years of many generations -- Ask thy father, and he doth tell thee; Thine elders, and they say to thee:

Darby: Remember the days of old, Consider the years of generation to generation; Ask thy father, and he will shew thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Remember  the days  of old,  consider  the years  of many  generations:  ask  thy father,  and he will shew  thee; thy elders,  and they will tell  thee. 

What does Deuteronomy 32:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 32:1-14 - Moses' Song: The Lord's Favor Upon Israel
The song of Moses, like the fabled song of the swan, was his last and sweetest. It is probably the noblest ode in the whole compass of the Bible, and is the source from which subsequent singers derived suggestions for their noblest outbursts. The marginal references prove how deeply it dyed the national sentiment.
It excels in the names and designations of the Almighty. He is the Rock: Deuteronomy 31:4; Deuteronomy 31:15; Deuteronomy 31:18; Deuteronomy 31:30; Jehovah: Deuteronomy 31:6; Father: Deuteronomy 31:6; the Most High: Deuteronomy 31:8; God: El, the strong, Deuteronomy 31:15, etc. What a study are the names of God, scattered through the Bible! Each was coined to meet some need of the human soul. What the rocks of the desert are to its shifting sands God is amid the changes of this mortal existence.
This earlier part of the song is very tender. We are God's portion; the apple of His eye; as young eaglets, whom the mother-bird is carefully teaching to fly, the favored recipients of God's richest gifts, Deuteronomy 31:13, etc. [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 32

1  Moses' song, which sets forth God's mercy and vengeance
46  He exhorts them to set their hearts upon it
48  God sends him up to mount Nebo to see the land, and to die

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 32:7 mean?

Remember the days of old Consider the years of and many generations Ask your father and he will show you Your elders and they will tell you
זְכֹר֙ יְמ֣וֹת עוֹלָ֔ם בִּ֖ינוּ שְׁנ֣וֹת דּוֹר־ וָד֑וֹר שְׁאַ֤ל אָבִ֙יךָ֙ וְיַגֵּ֔דְךָ זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ וְיֹ֥אמְרוּ לָֽךְ

זְכֹר֙  Remember 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
יְמ֣וֹת  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
עוֹלָ֔ם  of  old 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
בִּ֖ינוּ  Consider 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: בִּין  
Sense: to discern, understand, consider.
שְׁנ֣וֹת  the  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
וָד֑וֹר  and  many  generations 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: דֹּור 
Sense: period, generation, habitation, dwelling.
שְׁאַ֤ל  Ask 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: שָׁאַל 
Sense: to ask, enquire, borrow, beg.
אָבִ֙יךָ֙  your  father 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
וְיַגֵּ֔דְךָ  and  he  will  show  you 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular, second person masculine singular
Root: נָגַד  
Sense: to be conspicuous, tell, make known.
זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ  Your  elders 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: זָקֵן  
Sense: old.
וְיֹ֥אמְרוּ  and  they  will  tell 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.