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In accordance with the Divine injunction, Moses composed an ode, which he recited in the hearing of the people, and committed to writing, to remain with them as a witness for God against them. With this end in view, the ode is directed principally to a contrasting of the unchanging faithfulness of the Almighty with the anticipated perversity and unfaithfulness of his people. The poem may be divided into six parts.
1. An introduction (Deu_32:1-3), in which the importance of the doctrine to be delivered is announced.
2. The blamelessness and excellency of Jehovah are placed in contrast with the corruptness and perversity of Israel (Deu_32:4, Deu_32:5).
3. The folly and ingratitude of the rebellious people is dwelt upon (Deu_32:7-18).
4. The purpose of God to punish and reject the rebellious generation is declared (Deu_32:19-23).
5. The fulfillment of this purpose in the judgments which should come upon the rebels, whilst mercy and favor should be showed to those that repented and were humbled under the hand of God (Deu_32:24-34).
6. And finally, the judgment which God would execute on the enemies of Israel, and the mercy he would show to his servants (Deu_32:35-43).
In this ode—"carmine plane divino" (Lowth)—Moses displays the genius of the poet, as in the other parts of this book he has showed the sagacity of the legislator and the skill of the orator. Vigor of diction, elevation of sentiment, vivacity of representation, beauty and sublimity of imagery, characterize this ode throughout. Nor is the piety less noticeable than the poetry; zeal for God, earnest desire far his honor, and devout reverence of his majesty pervade and inspire the whole. Remarkable also is this ode in relation to the later prophetic utterances in Israel. "It is the compendious anticipatory sketch and the common watchword of all prophecy, and stands related to it as fundamentally as the Decalogue to all laws, and the Lord's Prayer to all prayers. The legislator has here condensed in a song the prophetic contents of his last address (Deu_27:1-26; Deu_28:1-68; Deu_29:1-29; Deu_30:1-20.), wherewith he lives on in the memory and mouth of the people. He here sets before them their whole history to the end of the days. In this ode, each age of Israel has a mirror of its present condition and future fate. This mirror prophecy holds up before its contemporaries" (Delitzsch, 'Jesaias,' s. 33).
Deu_32:1
Heaven and earth are summoned to hearken to his words, both because of their importance, and because heaven and earth were interested, so to speak, as witnesses of the manifestation of God's righteousness and faithfulness about to be celebrated (cf. Deu_4:26; Deu_30:19; Deu_31:28, Deu_31:29; Isa_1:2; Jer_2:12; Jer_22:29).
Deu_32:2
My doctrine shall drop as the rain. The Hebrew verb here and in Deu_33:28 is properly rendered by" drop;" it expresses the gentle falling of a genial shower or the soft distillation of dew. The clause is best taken imperatively, as it is by the LXX; the Vulgate, and Onkelos: Let my doctrine drop as the rain, let my speech distil, etc. The point of comparison hero is not the quickening, fructifying, vivifying influence of the rain and dew, so much as the effective force of these agents as sent from heaven to produce results. So might his doctrine come with power into the minds of his hearers. Doctrine ( ìÆ÷Çä from ìÈ÷Çç to take); that which takes one (Pro_7:21, "fair speech," By which one is captivated), or which one takes or receives, viz. instruction (Pro_4:2; Isa_29:24). Small rain; gentle showers, such as conduce to the growing of herbs. The Hebrew word ( ùÀÒòÄéãÄéí ) primarily means hairs, and is hare used of rain coming down in thin streams like hair. Showers; heavy rain ( øÄáÄéáÄéí from øÈáÇá , to be much or many, equal to multitude of drops).
Deu_32:3
I will publish the name of the Lord; literally, I will call, i.e. proclaim, or celebrate, etc. Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. The hearers of the song are summoned to join in the celebration of the Divine majesty. The word rendered" greatness" occurs only in this book (Deu_3:24; Deu_5:21; Deu_9:26; Deu_11:2), and in Psa_150:2. It is the greatness of God as the Almighty that is here celebrated.
Deu_32:4, Deu_32:5
He is the Rock, his work is perfect; rather, The Rock! his work is perfect, i.e. blameless, without fault. God is called "the Rock" ( äÇöåÌø ), as the unchangeable Refuge and Stronghold of his people, by which they are sustained, and to which they can resort for defense and protection at all times. The epithet is applied to God four times besides in this song (Deu_32:15, Deu_32:18, Deu_32:30, Deu_32:31); it occurs also frequently in the Psalms (cf. Psa_19:14; Psa_28:1; Psa_31:2, Psa_31:3; Psa_62:2, Psa_62:7; etc.). The Hebrew word, tsur, cur or zur, appears in several proper names of the Mosaic period, as e.g. Pedahzur, "Rock delivers" (Num_1:10), a name of the same import as Pedahel, "God delivers" (Num_34:28); Elizur, "God is a Rock" (Num_1:5); Zuriel (Num_3:35) and Zurishaddai, "the Almighty is Rock" (Num_1:6; Num_2:12). "Jehovah," says Baumgarten, "is here called Rock, without any qualification, the reason is that he is the only true rock, and all the strength and firmness of earth's stones is but an ectype of his unchangeable faithfulness and rectitude. If one cleaves to the dualism of spirit and nature, and regards the figure as a merely subjective, arbitrary union of the two, such an expression is simply unintelligible; but if we would understand Scripture and religious speech, we must with all earnestness accustom ourselves to recognize the spiritual ground in nature, and apprehend this in the Biblical expression." It is remarkable that none of the ancient versions have retained this epithet here. The LXX. have Θεὸς : the Vulgate, Deus ("Dei opera"); the Targum of Onkelos, úÇÌ÷ÄéôÈà , "Mighty;" while the Peshito has simply the pronoun "his" appended to "works," see word. For all his ways are judgment; i.e. accordant with rectitude (cf. Psa_145:17). A God of truth; rather, of faithfulness ( àÀîÆåÌðÈú , from àÈîÇï , to stay, or be stayed, to be firm). They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Of this difficult passage the following seems the best construction and rendering:—A perverse and crooked generation not his children, [but] their spot—has become corrupt towards him. The subject of the verb at the beginning of the verse is the "perverse and crooked generation," at the end of it, and between the verb and its subject there is interjected parenthetically the clause, "not his children, but their spot." Spot is here used in a moral sense, as in Job_11:15; Job_31:7; Pro_9:7. These corrupt persons claimed to be children of God, but they were not; they were rather a stain and a reproach to them (cf. 2Pe_2:13; Isa_1:4). The rendering above given is substantially that of De Wette, Knobel, Keil, and Herxheimer, by all of whom the "perverse generation "is regarded as the subject of the sentence. This is the view adopted also in the 'Speaker's Commentary.' Some would make "God" the subject, and render, "He hath corrupted to him, or to himself" (margin, Authorized Version; Ibn Ezra, etc.). Others take "spot" as the subject, thus: "Their spot or blemish hath corrupted before him children not his" (Lowth, Dathe); but such renderings are forced, and proceed on constructions of the text which are illegitimate. Donaldson, following Lowth's construction, appeals to áÈÌðÄéí ìàÉ àÅîËï áÈÌí (verse 20) as a similar inversion. But the two cases are not parallel. To make them so, we must have here áÈðÈéå ìàÉ îåÌí áÈÌí , "his children in whom is no spot." Ewald takes îåÌîÆä as the noun here, instead of îåÌí , and tracing it to the Syriac, see Arabic word, juravit, renders "to him they, his not sons, have corrupted their oath," i.e. have broken it; and this Furst approves. But the phrase, "to corrupt an oath" is unexampled in the Old Testament, and there is no ground for changing the noun. The ancient versions vary considerably here: LXX; ἡμάρτοσαν οὐκ αὐτῷ τέκνα μωμητά : Aq; διέφθειραν αὐτῷ οὐκ δι υἱοὶ αὐτου : Sym; διέφθειραν πρὸς αὔτον οὐχ οἱυἱοι τὸ σύνολον : Vulgate, peccaverunt ei et non filii ejus in sordibus; Vert. Itala; peeca verunt non ei filii maculati; Syriac, "They corrupted but not him, children of defilement." These various renderings indicate that probably the text is and has long been corrupt. Some of the older English versions are worth noting on this verse. Rogers [Matthew], "The frowarde and overthwart generation hath marred them selves to himward, and are not his sonnes for their deformitie's sake;" Bishop's Bible, "Frowardly have they done agaynst him by their vices, not being his own children, but a wicked and froward generation;" Geneva Version, "They have corrupted themselves towards him by their vice, not being his children, but a froward and crooked generation."
Deu_32:6, Deu_32:7
Instead of gratefully acknowledging the Divine beneficence, and dutifully obeying the Divine will, Israel had perversely and foolishly requited the Lord for all his benefits, by apostasy from him. Do ye thus requite? The verb here signifies primarily to do to any one either good or evil, whether in return for what he has done or not (cf. Gen_1:15; 1Sa_24:18; Pro_3:30); then, as a secondary meaning, to reward, repay, requite, as here and Psa_18:21. To bring more forcibly to their view the ingratitude and folly of their conduct, Moses dwells upon what God was and had been to the nation: their Father, in that he had, in his love, chosen, them to be his people (cf. Isa_63:16; Isa_64:7; Mal_2:10); their Purchaser, who had acquired possession of them by delivering them out of Egypt (cf. Psa_74:2); their Maker, who had constituted them a nation; and their Establisher, by whom they had been conducted through the wilderness and settled in Canaan. Days of old; the times of Israel's deliverance from bondage, and the times during which successive generations had lived and experienced the goodness of the Lord. The form of the word rendered "days" is poetical, and is found only here and in Psa_90:15, which is also ascribed to Moses. The years of many generations; literally, years of generation and generation; "aetatum singularum annos" (Rosenmüller).
Deu_32:8, Deu_32:9
From the very beginning, when God first allotted to the nations a place and a heritage, he had respect in his arrangements to the sons of Israel, who were his portion, and had as it were kept their interest in view in all that he appointed and ordered. According to the number of the children of Israel. When the Most High portioned out to the nations the heritage of each, he reserved for Israel, as the people of his choice, an inheritance proportioned to its numbers. The LXX. has "according to the number of the angels of God," an arbitrary departure from the original text, in accommodation, probably, to the later Jewish notion of each nation having its guardian angel. The Lord's portion is his people (cf. Exo_15:16; Exo_19:5; 1Sa_10:1; Psa_78:71). The lot of his inheritance; literally, the cord, etc; the allusion being to the measuring of land by a cord, equivalent to the portion by measure which Jehovah allotted to himself as his inheritance (cf. Psa_16:6).
Deu_32:10
God's fatherly care of Israel. In the desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; literally, in the land of the desert, in the waste (the formless waste; the word used is that rendered, Gen_1:2, "without form"), the howling of the wilderness. "Israel is figuratively represented as a man without food or water, and surrounded by howling, ferocious beasts, and who must needs have perished had not God found him and rescued him" (Herxheimer). The apple of his eye; literally, the mannikin ( àÄéùÑåÉï ) of his eye, the pupil; so called because in it, as in a mirror, a person sees his own image reflected in miniature (Gesenius), or because, being the tenderest part of the eye, it is guarded as one would a babe (cf. Psa_17:8; Pro_7:2; Zec_2:12). By Delitzsch and others this explanation of the word is rejected as not philologically justified, there being no evidence that the termination åÉï had a diminutive force; and as not in keeping with the earnestness of the passages in which this word occurs. They prefer the explanation man image to mannikin. Anyhow, the use of the word here must be taken as indicating that Israel is ever in the eye of the Lord, the object of his constant and tenderest care.
Deu_32:11
God's treatment of his people is compared to that of an eagle towards its young (cf. Exo_19:4). In the Authorized Version, the apodosis of the sentence is made to begin at Deu_32:12, and Deu_32:11 is wholly understood of the eagle and its young. To this arrangement it has been objected that it overlooks the fact that the suffixes to the verbs "taketh" and "beareth" are singulars, and are to be understood consequently, not of the eaglets, but of Israel. It has, therefore, been proposed to render the passage thus: As an eagle which stirreth up its nest, fluttereth over its young, he spread out his wings, took him up, and carried him on his pinions. The Lord alone did lead him, etc. The comparison is thus made to pass into a metaphorical representation of the Lord's dealing with Israel. One feels that there is something violent in this, for whilst God's care for Israel might be fittingly compared to that of an eagle towards her young, it is less fit to speak of God himself as if he were an eagle with wings which he spread abroad and on which he bare Israel. The rendering in the Authorized Version is on this account to be preferred, if it can be grammatically vindicated. And this it may on the ground that the suffixes may be understood of the "nest" as containing the young; or the young may be referred to individually, "taketh it, beareth it," i.e. each of them; or, if the nest be understood, the whole body of them as therein contained. Stirreth up her [its] nest i.e. its nestlings; provocans ad volandum pullos suos, Vulgate. This is the explanation usually given of the initial clause of this verse; but its accuracy has been questioned, Furst would render the verb by "watchesover; "but though äÅòÄéø , as the Hiph. of òåÌø , to watch, may have this meaning, it is undoubtedly used generally in the sense of rousing, exciting, stirring up. Knobel retains this meaning, but understands the clause of the exciting of the nestlings by the parent bird coming to them with food. This is certainly more in keeping with what follows; for when the eagle nestles or broods over her young, she does not excite them to fly. Fluttereth over her young; rather, broods over, nestles, or cherishes ( éÀøÇçÅó ). Spreadeth abroad her wings, etc. "I once saw a very interesting sight above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, as I was going in pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the maneuvers of flight. They began by rising from the top of a mountain, in the eye of the sun;—it was about midday, and bright for this climate. They at first made small circles, and the young imitated them; they paused on their wings, waiting till they had made their first flight, holding them on their expanded wings when they appeared exhausted, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight, so as to make a gradually ascending spiral" (Davy, 'Salinertia;' see also Bochart, 'Hierozoicon,' 2.181). The general reference is to God's fostering care of Israel, and especially his dealing with them when "he suffered their manners in the wilderness" (Act_13:18), disciplined them, and trained them for what they were appointed to do.
Deu_32:12
The Lord alone did lead him (cf. Exo_13:21; Exo_15:13). With him; i.e. along with Jehovah, as aiding him.
Deu_32:13
He made him ride on the high places of the earth. To ride over or drive over the heights of a country is figuratively to subjugate and take possession of that country (cf. Deu_33:29; Isa_58:14). Israel, having subjugated Canaan, could eat of its produce, the increase of the fields, as his own. Honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Canaan abounded in wild bees, which had their hives in crevices of the rock, and in olive trees, which grew on a rocky soil; as is still the case in Palestine.
Deu_32:14
Butter of kine. The Hebrew word ( çÆîÀàÈä ) here used designates milk in a solid or semi-solid state, as thick cream, curd, or butter. As distinguished from this is the milk of sheep; where the word used ( çÈìÈá ) properly denotes fresh milk, milk in a fluid state, and with all its richness ( çÆìÆá , fatness) in it (cf. Gen_18:8; Isa_7:22). Fat of lambs; lambs of the best, "fat" being a figurative expression for the best (Num_18:12). Rams of the breed of Bashan; literally, rams, sons of Bashan; i.e. reared in Bashan, a district famous for its cattle. With the fat of kidneys of wheat; with the kidney-fat of wheat; i.e. the richest fat, the best and most nutritious wheat. And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. The blood of the grape is the expressed juice of the grape, which, being red, is compared to blood. The rendering "pure" here is not inapt. The original word ( çÆîÆø , from çÈîÇø , to boil up, to foam, to rise in bubbles) describes this juice as it appears when pressed into a vessel, when the surface of the liquid is covered with froth or foam. There is no ground for the explanation "fery wine" (Keil); wine in such a state was never among the Hebrews counted a blessing. That they had and used fermented wine is certain; but what they specially esteemed as a luxury was the pure unadulterated juice of the grape freshly pressed out and drunk with the foam on it.
Deu_32:15-18
Israel's ungrateful return for the Lord's benefits.
Deu_32:15
Jeshurun. This name, formed from éÈùÇÒø , righteous, designates Israel as chosen to be a righteous nation; and in the use of it here lies the keenest reproach of apostate Israel, as fallen into a state the opposite of that to which it was destined. "By using the name righteous in place of Israel, Moses ironically censures those who had swerved from rectitude; by recalling to memory with what dignity they had been endowed, he the more sharply rebukes the perfidy which was their crime" (Calvin). This name appears also in Deu_33:5, Deu_33:26, and in Isa_44:2; but in these places without any implied censure. By some the word is regarded as a diminutive from éÈùÒåÌø , the same as éÈùÈÒø , in the sense of rectulus, justulus, "the good little people" (Gesenius); others as a diminutive from éÄùÀÒøÈàÆì , Israel, as a sort of term of endearment (Grotius). But the latter of these derivations is impossible; and as to the former, there lacks evidence of the termination un having a diminutive significance in Hebrew. Besides, neither here nor in Deu_33:5 would a term of endearment be suitable. Waxed fat, and kicked (cf. Deu_6:11; Deu_8:10; Deu_31:20). The allusion is to an ox that had grown fat through good feeding, and had become unmanageable in consequence (cf. 1Sa_2:26 : Hos_10:4). Lightly esteemed. The Hebrew is strongly expressive here: Thou hast treated as a fool ( ðÄáÅÌì , from ðÈáÇì to be foolish (cf. Mic_7:6).
Deu_32:16
They provoked him to jealousy. God had bound Israel to himself as by the marriage bond, and they by their unfaithfulness had incited him to jealousy (cf. Deu_31:16; Exo_34:15; Isa_54:5; Hos_1:1-11; etc.). Strange gods (cf. Jer_2:25; Jer_3:13).
Deu_32:17
Devils; shedim, a word which occurs only here and Psa_106:37. It stands connected with the verb ùÑåÌã , to rule, and means primarily "lords." The LXX. render by δαιμόνια , demons. In Assyrian it is said to be a name for demigods. Not to God; rather, to a not God, a composite term in apposition to shedim; the meaning is rightly given in the margin of the Authorized Version, "which were not God." To new gods that came newly up. The word rendered by "newly" ( ÷ÈøåÉá ) properly means "near;" it is an adjective both of place and of time; here it is the latter, equal to of a near time, recently—gods recently invented or discovered.
Deu_32:18
Moses here returns to the thought of Deu_32:15, for the purpose of expressing it with greater force, and also of leading on to the description he is about to give of the Lord's acts towards the nation who had so revolted from him. Thou art unmindful; LXX; ἐγκατέλιπες : Vulgate, dereliquisti. The Hebrew word ùÈÑéÈä occurs only here, and the meaning is doubtful. From the rendering of the versions, it would seem to be allied to the Arabic, see Arabic word, saha, oblitus est. That formed thee; literally, that brought thee forth or caused thee to be born; "qui te eduxit ex utero materno" (Jarchi. Cf. for the use of the verb, Psa_29:9). In the Samaritan Codex, îäììê , "who hath glorified or praised thee," is the reading, instead of îçììê ; and this the Syriac also expresses. The other versions, however, support the Masoretic reading.
Deu_32:19-33
Because of their rebellion. God would cast them off and visit them with terrible calamities.
Deu_32:19
When the Lord saw how they had departed from him to serve idols, he abhorred (rather, spurned or rejected) them in consequence of the provocation which their unworthy conduct had given him.
Deu_32:20
God himself comes forth to announce his resolution to withdraw his favor from them, and to inflict chastisement upon them; he would withdraw his protecting care of them, and see how they would fare without that; and he would also send on them the tokens of his displeasure. A very froward generation, etc.; literally, a generation of perversities, an utterly perverse and faithless race.
Deu_32:21
(Cf. Deu_5:16.) Because they had moved God to jealousy and provoked him to anger by their vanities, their nothingnesses, mere vapors and empty exhalations ( äÄáÀìÈéí ; cf. Jer_10:6; Joh_2:8; 1Co_8:4); as they had forsaken him for a no-God, he would send retribution on them by adopting as his a no-people, and giving to a foolish nation, i.e. a nation not before possessed of that true wisdom the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord, the privileges and blessings which Israel had forfeited by their apostasy. By "a no-people" is not to be understood a savage tribe not yet formed into a community, but a people without God, and not recognized by him as in covenant union with him (cf. Rom_10:19; Eph_2:12; 1Pe_2:10).
Deu_32:22
(Cf. Jer_15:14; Jer_17:4; Lam_4:11.) The lowest hell; the lowest sheol, the uttermost depth of the under-world. The Hebrew sheol ( ùÀÑàåÉì ) answering to the Greek ἅδης , by which it is usually rendered by the LXX; is a general designation of the unseen state, the place of the dead. By some the word is derived from ùÈÑàÇì , to ask, because sheol is ever asking, is insatiable (Pro_30:16); but more probably it is from a root signifying to excavate, to hollow, and, like the German holle, means primarily a hollow place or cavern. The Divine wrath kindles a consuming fire, that burns down to the lowest depths—to the deepest part of sheol—consumes the earth's produce, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. This does not refer to any particular judgment that was to befall the national Israel, but is a general description of the effects of the Divine wrath when that is poured forth in judgments on men.
Deu_32:23
I will spend mine arrows upon them; I will inflict on them so many calamities that none shall remain. The evils sent on men by God are represented as arrows shot on them from above. (Cf. Deu_32:42; Job_6:4; Psa_7:13; Psa_38:2; Psa_45:5; Psa_58:7; Zec_9:14; Homer, 'Iliad,' 1.45, etc.)
Deu_32:24, Deu_32:25
The evils threatened are famine, pestilence, plague, wild beasts, poisonous reptiles, and war. They shall be burnt with hunger, etc.; render: Sucked out by hunger, consumed with pestilential heat, and bitter plague; I will send against them the tooth of beasts and the poison of things that crawl in the dust. When hunger, pestilence, and contagious disease had wasted and exhausted them, then God would send on them wild beasts and poisonous reptiles. Shall be burnt. The Hebrew word occurs only here; it is a verbal adjective, meaning, literally, sucked out, i.e. utterly exhausted; LXX; τηκομένοι λιμῷ . Tooth of beasts and poison of serpents; poetical for ravenous and poisonous animals (cf. Lev_26:22). Shall destroy; literally, shall make childless, shall bereave, viz. the land which is thought of as a mother whose children were destroyed. The verb is here sensu prsegnanti, shall bereave by destroying, etc. (cf. 1Sa_15:23; Lam_1:20; Jer_18:21).
Deu_32:26, Deu_32:27
Israel's desert was to be utterly destroyed, but God refrained from this for his own Name's sake. I said, I would scatter them into corners; rather, I should say, I trill blow them away, i.e. disperse them as by a mighty wind. The verb here is the Hiph, of ôÈàÈä , to breathe, to blow, and is found only here. The rabbins make it a denominative from ôÅàÈä , a corner, and this the Authorized Version follows; others trace it to an Arabic root, ôàà , amputavit, excidit, and render, "will cut them off." The idea intended to be conveyed is obviously that of entire destruction, and this is not satisfied by the representation of their being scared or driven into corners. Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy. Various renderings and interpretations of this passage have been given.
1. Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, i.e. that I should be provoked to wrath by the enemy ascribing the destruction of Israel to their own prowess.
2. Were it not that I feared a wrath upon the enemy, with much the same meaning.
3. Were it not that I feared the fury of the enemy, i.e. against Israel—feared lest the enemy should be encouraged to rise up against Israel and ascribe their destruction to their own valor. Of these that most generally approved is the first. (On this reason for sparing Israel, see Deu_9:28; Exo_32:12; Num_14:13, etc.; Isa_10:5, etc.; Eze_20:13, Eze_20:14.) Should behave themselves strangely; rather, should mistake or falsely pretend. The verb is the Piel of ðÈëÇø , to look upon, to mark, and conveys the idea of looking on askance or prejudicially, hence being ignorant of, mistaking, feigning, or falsely pretending. Our hand is high; rather, was high, i.e. was mighty in power.
Deu_32:28-33
The cause of Israel's rejection was that they were a people utterly destitute of counsel and without understanding. Had they been wise, they would have looked to the end, and acted in a way conducive to their own welfare, instead of rushing upon ruin.
Deu_32:29
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this; rather, If they were wise they would understand this. They would consider their latter end! i.e. the end to which they were going, the inevitable issue of the course they were taking.
Deu_32:30
If Israel were wise, they could easily overcome all their foes through the help of the Almighty (Le Deu_26:8); but having forsaken him, they were left by him, and so came under the power of the enemy.
Deu_32:31
The heathen had also a rock in which they trusted—their idol-gods; but even they knew and felt that their rock was not as the Rock of Israel, for, having often experienced the almighty power of God, they could not but acknowledge that he was mightier far than the gods whom they worshipped (cf. Exo_14:25; Num_33:1-56; Num_34:1-29.; Jos_2:9; 1Sa_5:7). Moses is here himself again the speaker.
Deu_32:32
If the Rock of Israel was so much mightier than the rock of their enemies, how came it that Israel was beaten and put to flight by their enemies? The reason is here given: It was because Israel had become wholly corrupt and vitiated that they were forsaken of the Lord and left to the power of their enemies. Their vine; i.e. Israel itself (cf. Psa_80:9, etc.; Isa_5:2; Jer_2:21; Hos_10:1 ). The vine of Sodom. It has been supposed that there is reference here to a particular plant, and different plants have been suggested as deserving to be so named. But it is more probable that Sodom and Gomorrah are here advanced as types of what is depraved, and to the moral taste nauseous (cf. Isa_1:10; Jer_23:14). Gall (cf. Deu_29:18).
Deu_32:33
The wine of these grapes is poison and venom. Dragons; tannin (cf. Exo_7:9, Exo_7:10). Cruel [deadly] venom of asps. The pethen, one of the most poisonous of snakes, the bite of which was immediately fatal (Kitto, 'Bibl. Cycl.,' 3.494; Smith's 'Dict.,' 1.21). These figures express the thought that Israel had utterly corrupted their way and become abominable; probably also it is intimated that, as they had imitated the impiety of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, they deserved to perish as they did (J.H. Michaelis).
Deu_32:34-43
Notwithstanding the iniquity of Israel and the judgments that should come upon them, God would have compassion upon them for his Name's sake, and would appear for their vindication and defense. The "this" in Deu_32:34 is by some understood of the sinful doings of the Israelites which God should not forget or overlook. So the Targum of Onkelos: "Are not all their works manifest before me, kept against the day of judgment in my treasures?" So also Calvin, "Quanquam de poenis hunc versum quidam exponunt, acsi Deus assereret diversas earum species apud se paratas esse, quas depromat quoties libuerit: rectius tamen est de sceleribus intelligere." But there is a more 'comprehensive reference here. Not only the deeds of the transgressors, but the judgments that should come on Israel, and also God's interposition on their behalf, were laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures. All that had been done had been noted, and all that should happen was decreed, and should certainly come to pass. The "this' has thus both a retrospective and a prospective reference; it includes both the sin of the nation and God's dealing with them afterwards, as well as his judgments on their enemies.
Deu_32:34
My treasures. God's treasures contain not only a store of blessing, but also instruments of punishment, which as he sees meet, he sends forth on men (cf. Deu_28:12; Job_38:22, Job_38:23; Psa_135:7).
Deu_32:35
Render: Vengeance is mine, and retribution for the time when their feet shall totter; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and that which is prepared for them maketh haste. The tottering of the feet represents the incipient fall. God would manifest himself as the Avenger when their calamity began to come upon them.
Deu_32:36
The Lord shall judge his people (cf. Psa_135:14; 1Pe_4:17). And repent himself for his servants; rather, and have compassion upon his servants. And there is none shut up, or left. The words rendered "shut up or left" are a proverbial expression for "every one, men of all sorts" (cf. 1Ki_14:10; 1Ki_21:21; 2Ki_9:8; 2Ki_14:26); but how the words are to be rendered or explained is uncertain. Rosenmüller renders as in the Authorized Version; Gesenius has, "the shut up and the let go free, the bond and the flee;" so also Furst and De Wette; De Dieu, "married and single, conjugatus et coelebs," referring to the Arabic usage in support of his conclusion, and this Keil approves. Ewald has "kept in (by legal impurity) or at large." The explanation of Gesenius and Furst seems best.
Deu_32:37
The Lord would show his people the utter worthlessness of idols, and bring them to acknowledge him as the only true God. Their gods; the idols to which Israel had turned, the strange gods which they had foolishly and sinfully preferred to Jehovah.
Deu_32:39
See now that I am, even I am he. The Hebrew is more expressive, See now that I, I am; LXX; ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι (cf. Isa_41:4; Isa_48:12; Joh_8:24 Joh_18:5). Their own experience of the utter impotency of these idol-gods to help them or to protect themselves from the stroke of the Almighty was enough to convince them that they were no gods, and that he alone was to be feared and worshipped.
Deu_32:40, Deu_32:41
These verses should be read continuously: For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, As I live forever, if I whet my glittering sword, and if my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, etc. Lifting up the hand to heaven was a gesture intended to express that the person taking an oath appealed to God as a witness of his oath, and who would perish for falsehood (cf. Gen_14:22); and "as the Lord liveth" was a common formula in taking an oath (cf. Num_14:21; 1Sa_14:39, 1Sa_14:45; Jer_5:2). As God could swear by none greater, he swore by himself (cf. Exo_6:8; Num_14:30; Isa_45:23; Jer_22:5; Heb_6:17), that if he did come forth to avenge himself of his enemies, he would not spare, but would do thoroughly what he had come forth to do.—Glittering sword; literally, lightning of sword (cf. Eze_21:10 [15]).
Deu_32:42
My sword shall devour flesh; literally, shall eat flesh; "the edge of the sword is called its mouth, because, like a mouth, it is said to eat and devour" (Gesenius). From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. Different renderings of this have been given: LXX; ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς ἀρχόντων ἐχθρῶν , "from the head of the hostile princes;" "from the head of the chiefs of the enemy" (Geseuius, Furst, Rosenmüller); "from the hairy head of the foe" (Keil, Herxheimer, Knobel). ôÀøÇòåÉú , the plural of ôÆøÇò , hair, locks, signifies primarily hairs, and a head of hairs, and may be taken as equivalent to "a hairy head;" but the word is also used in the sense of "princes" or "chiefs" (probably because such were distinguished by copious flowing locks; cf. Jdg_5:2); hence the rendering, "head of the chiefs." The former is to be preferred here, for why chiefs or princes should be referred to in this connection does not appear (cf. Psa_68:22). The rendering of the Authorized Version is wholly unauthorized. This verse presents an instance of alternate parallelism; each half falls into two members, and of the four members thus constituted, the third corresponds to the first, and the fourth to the second; thus—
a "I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
b And my sword shall devour flesh;
a' With the blood of the slain and the captives,
b' From the hairy head of the foe."
Deu_32:43
"As this song commenced with an appeal to heaven and earth to give glory to the Lord (Deu_32:1-3), so it very suitably closes with an appeal to the heathen to rejoice with his people on account of the acts of the Lord" (Keil). Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people. The Authorized Version here follows the LXX; εὐφράνθητε ἔθνη μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ , and so St. Paul cites the passage in Rom_15:10. The Jewish interpreters generally render, Praise his people, O nations; and this several Christian interpreters adopt. But as Rosenmüller remarks, it is the Divine righteousness manifested in the vindication of his people from their enemies that is to be celebrated, and not the people themselves, as what follows shows. Here as elsewhere the nations and the people are in contrast.
Deu_32:44-47
Moses, having composed this song, came, accompanied by Joshua, and they together spoke it in the hearing of the people; after which Moses took occasion to urge upon them anew the importance of keeping the commandments of God.
Deu_32:44
Hoshea the son of Nun. Moses invariably writes this name Jehoshuah (Jehovah is help; cf. Num_13:1-33; Deu_31:3, Deu_31:7, Deu_31:14, Deu_31:20, etc.). The use of Hoshea here is due to the fact that this account is part of the supplement added by another writer to the writing of Moses.
Deu_32:46
(Cf. Deu_6:7; Deu_11:19.)
Deu_32:47
It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life; these are not mere empty words; they are of vital import (cf. Deu_30:20).
Deu_32:48-52
On the day on which Moses rehearsed this song in the hearing of the people, his death was announced to him by God, and the command was again given to him to ascend Mount Nebo, thence to survey the Promised Land, and there to be gathered to his people. The same in substance, the command as given here differs slightly in form and in some minor particulars from that as recorded by Moses himself (Num_27:12-14).
Deu_32:49
Abarim (cf. Num_21:10, Num_21:20). Nebo (cf. Num_32:3, Num_32:38). An idol Nebo was worshipped by the Moabites (Isa_46:1).
Deu_32:50
And be thou gathered unto thy people. "To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This signifies," saith R. Isaac, "that he should be associated and joined to the souls of the just who are called his people. For the people of Moses were not buried in Mount Abarim, and therefore he doth not speak of gathering his body to their bodies, but of his soul to their souls ('Chissute Emuna,' 1. 11)" (Patrick).
Deu_32:51
(Cf. Num_20:13, Num_20:24.) Because ye sanctified me not (cf. Num_27:14; 1Pe_3:15).
Deu_32:52
Yet thou shalt See the land (cf. Heb_11:13).
I. THERE IS HERE A REVEALED DOCTRINE CONCERNING GOD. In the last song which the old man utters ere he climbs the mount of Nebo to die, he declares, "I will publish the Name of the Lord."
1. This Name is "Jehovah." The word involves self-existence, self-sufficiency, immutability, pure being, personality. "I am that I am" expresses all this. It would be a burning shame for any one to apply the term "anthropomorphic" to such a revelation as this. Such a conception may be revealed to man, but assuredly it borrows naught from him.
2. To this Being, greatness is ascribed; i.e. royal magnificence and splendor. The sovereignty of heaven and earth is there!
3. All moral perfections are in the" Name "of God (cf. Exo_34:6, Exo_34:7).
4. His work is perfect. The revealed attributes of God warrant us in drawing this conclusion. The intention of Moses here is to set the perfection of God's work over against the sin of man's.
5. His ways are judgment; i.e. they are according to justice.
6. He is the Rock. This epithet is a "piece of Mosaic." It was indeed used by others long after. But the use of it began with Moses. On the rocks of Sinai was the Law proclaimed. In the rock-cleft was Moses hidden. From the smitten rock the waters gushed forth. How natural for Moses to apply this figure to the eternal God! In Deu_32:31, Moses speaks of God as "our Rock." He was known to Israel as theirs, their own firm, changeless ground of strength, through all the changing years!
II. THIS DOCTRINE OF THE LIVING GOD AS THE ROCK IS FRAUGHT WITH COMFORT AND REFRESHMENT FOR MAN (Deu_32:2); i.e. what the rain is to the herb, what the showers are to the grass, that is this teaching concerning God to the soul of man.
1. Our heart wants God (Psa_84:2).
2. Such a God—this God is as rain and as dew: refreshing, enlivening, restoring.
3. This doctrine of God is meant to make the heart productive of holiness. God's revelation of himself is meant to draw men to himself; in doing this God saves them!
III. THE DOCTRINE THUS PROPOUNDED DESERVES TO BE UNIVERSALLY HEARD, LISTENED TO, AND BELIEVED. (Deu_32:1.) Moses would summon all to hear it. It is—
1. For all classes.
2. For all lands.
3. For all the ages.
The day will never come when this doctrine of God will be obsolete—never!
Deu_32:5-14
I. HERE IS A REHEARSAL OF THE DIVINE LOVING-KINDNESS AND TENDER MERCIES.
1. There is the mercy of redemption. "Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee?"
2. There is the mercy of Divine choice of Israel as a people. "Hath he not made thee, and established thee?" (see also Deu_32:7, Deu_32:8).
3. There is Divine leadership. "He led him about," etc.
4. There is Divine guardianship. "He kept him as the apple of his eye."
5. There is Divine help and training of the most tender kind. A wonderful description is given thereof in Deu_32:11.
6. There is abundant Divine provision for the wants of the ransomed ones (Deu_32:13, Deu_32:14). Each one of these six points may be enlarged upon, as applicable to present gospel blessings and providential mercies.
II. HERE IS A STRANGE RESPONSE TO SUCH ABOUNDINGS OF MERCY, The burden of Moses here is not unlike that of a far later prophet, even Isaiah (see Isa_1:2-4). The moan of many of God's prophets has been the same ever since; it is so now. The contrast between God's bounty and man's perversity causes a grief almost too heavy to be borne. Here are at least five complaints.
1. They are corrupt.
2. They are perverse, or false.
3. They are crooked, twisted.
4. They are foolish, not acting as reasonable men.
5. Instead of being like his children, they are a spot upon them—a stain (see Hebrew).
The question may fairly be asked, Who are they of whom similar complaints may be made now?
We reply:
1. Those who profess to be the people of God, and who show no signs whatever that their profession is real.
2. Those of God's children who are but half-hearted in their love and zeal.
3. Those who are ready with lip-service, but are grievously defective in Christian morality.
4. Those who have neither yielded themselves to God nor yet made any profession thereof. Of all such, similar complaints may be made to those here laid against Israel of old.
III. HERE IS A REASONABLE QUESTION. It is, indeed, a reproachful one. And if ever the servants of God now take it up and apply it to the heart and conscience of their hearers, it should be done with the utmost tenderness, even unto tears; remembering, on the one hand, how infinitely greater the mercies of God are now, compared with aught that Moses knew; and also considering themselves, how often they have been as ungrateful Israel of old, and that, if it had not been for almighty grace, would have been ungrateful still. The solemn and sorrowful interrogative—"Do ye thus requite the Lord?"—may be pressed home in a series of cumulative inquiries. It may be asked:
1. Is this the natural return for mercies so great?
2. Do not such love and care demand a holy and grateful life?
3. Can any reason whatever justify so poor a response as God has yet received?
4. Have men no remorse in the review of the contrast between God's mercies and their sin?
5. Should not remorse lead on to repentance?
6. And shall not this penitent life begin now? It is quite certain that, though God is long-suffering, "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance," he will not always allow his mercies to be thus trifled with (see Amo_4:1-13.). But why, why should men compel us to present thus "the terrors of the Lord?" He would rather win by love. Judgment is "his strange work."
Deu_32:15.-18
I. HERE IS A GRIEVOUS PICTURE OF SPIRITUAL DEGENERATION IN THE MIDST OF WORLDLY PROSPERITY. There are four steps in the descent.
1. Prosperity generates willfulness, and a resistance to the Divine claims. If men can have their own way entirely, for a while, and secure precisely their own ends, such success, if not sanctified, will but create a self-will and self-assertion stronger than ever. "Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked." The restraints of duty, conscience, God, will be irksome, and will provoke to resistance. Men will "kick against the pricks."
2. Another stage will surely follow on. The irritation which was at first felt will subside, and insensibility will steal over the soul. "Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick." Stubborn obstinacy without the former stings of conscience. "Past feeling." The terrible symptom of a moral and spiritual paralysis!
3. To this there will follow a third stage. "He forsook God … and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." Here there sets in a thinking lightly of God altogether, and a forsaking of him. How true is the picture here given to the actual progress of sin in the soul everywhere!
4. To this succeeds not only neglect of God, but the substitution of other gods (Deu_32:16, Deu_32:17)! This actually came about (see Jer_2:1-37; specially Jer_2:13). The heart of man must have a supreme object of love; and if God be not enthroned in the heart, some rival will be seated there.
Note—How very little all possible worldly good can do for a man unless there is a process of spiritual renewal and culture going on, which will enable him to sanctify all to the highest purposes! Yea, more. If worldly prosperity is not sanctified to God and by him, it will be as a dead weight upon the spirit. It will engender, first resistance, then deadness, then estrangement, then idolatry! This is the sure and certain effect of an accumulation of worldly good, when its possessor is not led by Divine grace to use it wisely and piously. It is an evil much to be lamented that so many glory in the accumulation of things, while neglecting the culture and education of their souls. Why, even in common life, there are no more awkward, ungainly, and impracticable beings than those who have grown rich while neglecting to educate themselves. They have acquired a prodigious strength of self-will, without the knowledge of self-government. And of all men in the world, they are of the least use to their generation.
II. HERE IS A STRANGE EFFECT OF SUCH DEGENERACY ON THE DIVINE BEING. "They provoked him to jealousy" (see remark in "anthropomorphism," ut supra, and also Homily on Deu_4:24). Of all the attributes or epithets applied to God, there is no one which endears him to us more than this: "jealousy!" What does it mean?
1. That God has a heart of love.
2. That his love yearns to be reciprocated.
3. That the reciprocation of love for which he yearns is the whole undivided love of our hearts.
4. That if such devoted love is not accorded to him, he feels wronged.
5. That if supreme love is bestowed on any other than God, his holy love is outraged; his pure indignation is "jealousy." And consider how great the wrong is which is thus committed against a gracious God. What would an earthly father think if his children, who lived on his bounty, thought only of eating and drinking, and cared not for him? What if the children thought more of their toys than of their father? Ought he not to be jealous? Would he—could he be a good father, and not be jealous? Surely not. It is easy to apply this in such a case. Christ teaches us to learn of the heavenly Father by means of earthly ones. Consider, moreover,
(1) the wrong done to God,
(2) the misplacement of things,
(3) the injustice and injury done to ourselves, and
(4) the injurious effect of wealth, brought about by such misuse of God's benefits.
III. TWO INQUIRIES CANNOT BUT SUGGEST THEMSELVES.
1. How may such evil be guarded against? This question supposes that the evil has not yet been fallen into. "Prevention is better than cure."
(1) Let us regard ourselves as of infinitely more moment than our possessions. What we are is beyond measure of more concern than what we have. Our culture for eternity is of the first importance.
(2) Let us from the outset of life regard God as the Author of all good, and as therefore having the first claim on our regard.
(3) Let us cultivate the devotional habit of receiving all our temporal comforts as from God. If we have used means to secure them, he it is who has given us the means to use; who has given us the power to use them, and who has made those means a success.
(4) Let us seek wisdom from above to hallow all our good for God, and to "honor the Lord with our substance, and with the firstfruits of all our increase" (see Homily on Deu_14:22).
(5) Conscious of the deceitfulness of the human heart, let us entreat our God to fill us with the power of the Spirit, as well as to give us providential mercies. Then, the first will ensure the sanctification of the second. The larger our possessions, the more we need of the Spirit of God, to ensure their becoming a blessing, and to prevent their becoming a snare.
2. If we have fallen into such evil, how may we be recovered therefrom?
(1) Let the very suggestion that a spiritual paralysis may have stolen over the soul, startle us into the inquiry. Is this the case with us?
(2) Let us inquire solemnly, "What shall it profit a man, if be shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?"
(3) Let us repent before God of the wrong we have done to him in seeking from creature comforts the joy which he alone can give.
(4) Taught by long and sad experience how a perverted nature may pervert all things, let us implore his rene