The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Song of Moses
Deuteronomy 32:1–47 — The Song of Moses. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ha·’ă·zî·nū haš·šā·ma·yim wa·’ă·ḏab·bê·rāh wə·ṯiš·ma‘ hā·’ā·reṣ ’im·rê- p̄î
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Give-ear, O-heavens, and-let-me-speak; and-let-hear the-earth the-sayings of-my-mouth.
Where the English smooths the original
That this Ode must on every ground take the very first rank in Hebrew poetry is universally allowed.
The magnificence of the exordium, the grandeur of the theme, the frequent and sudden transitions, the elevated strain of the sentiments and language, entitle this song to be ranked amongst the noblest specimens of poetry to be found in the Scriptures.
The Universe cannot silence, but must listen to, the spiritual truth.
Comp. the opening of Isaiah 1:2 , which is almost identical, excepting that the two words for “hearing” are transposed.
2Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
liq·ḥî ya·‘ă·rōp̄ kam·mā·ṭār ’im·rā·ṯî tiz·zal kaṭ·ṭal kiś·‘î·rim ‘ă·lê- ḏe·še wə·ḵir·ḇî·ḇîm ‘ă·lê- ‘ê·śeḇ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Let-drop like-the-rain my-teaching, let-distil like-the-dew my-saying; like-gentle-showers upon grass, and-like-copious-showers upon herb.
Where the English smooths the original
The point of comparison lies in the refreshing, fertilizing, and enlivening power of the dew and rain. Might the song exert the same upon the hearts of the hearers.
Everything that comes down from the “Father of lights” is handed on by one heavenly messenger to another, until it falls upon the heart of man, in just that form in which he can best receive it.
Look what effect rain and dew have upon herbs and grass, which they make fresh and fragrant and growing, the same effect I may justly expect and hope that my discourse will have upon your hearts, i.e. to make them soft and pliable and fruitful.
Thus the Song strikes its keynote—the note to which it returns in the end after its indictment of the people—of quickening and refreshing power for the tender hopes of Israel after the long drought of their captivity.
3For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God!
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ’eq·rā šêm Yah·weh hā·ḇū ḡō·ḏel lê·lō·hê·nū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For the-name of-Yahweh I-will-proclaim; ascribe greatness to-our-God.
Where the English smooths the original
It was not by himself alone that Moses desired to praise the name of the Lord; the hearers of his song were also to join in this praise. The second clause requires this: "give ye (i.e., ascribe by word and conduct) greatness to our God.
His glorious excellences and righteous actions, by which he hath made himself known as a man is known by his name, and by which it will appear both that there is no blame to be laid upon him whatsoever befalls you, and that it is gross madness to forsake such a God for dumb idols.
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 ( Deuteronomy 3:24 ; Deuteronomy 5:21 ; Deuteronomy 9:26 ; Deuteronomy 11:2 ), and in Psalm 150:2 . It is the greatness of God as the Almighty that is here celebrated.
4He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
haṣ·ṣūr pā·‘o·lōw kî tā·mîm ḵāl də·rā·ḵāw miš·pāṭ ’êl ’ĕ·mū·nāh wə·’ên ‘ā·wel ṣad·dîq wə·yā·šār hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The-Rock — perfect is-His-work; for all His-ways are-justice. A-God of-faithfulness and-without injustice; righteous and-upright is-He.
Where the English smooths the original
He is a Rock. This is the first time God is called so in Scripture. The expression denotes that the Divine power, faithfulness, and love, as revealed in Christ and the gospel, form a foundation which cannot be changed or moved, on which we may build our hopes of happiness.
The word occurs first in Exodus 17, where the Rock in Horeb was smitten; “and that Rock was Christ.”
This epithet, repeated no less than five times in the Song Deuteronomy 32:15 , Deuteronomy 32:18 , Deuteronomy 32:30-31 , represents those attributes of God which Moses is seeking to enforce, immutability and impregnable strength.
God is called "the rock," as the unchangeable refuge, who grants a firm defence and secure resort to His people, by virtue of His unchangeableness or impregnable firmness
5His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the blemish on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ši·ḥêṯ lōw mū·mām lō bā·nāw ‘iq·qêš ū·p̄ə·ṯal·tōl dō·wr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
It-has-acted-corruptly toward-Him — not His-children — their-blemish: a-generation perverse and-twisted.
Where the English smooths the original
Spot (mum) is used here in a moral sense, as in Proverbs 9:7 ; Job 11:15 ; Job 31:7 , equivalent to stain. The rebellious and ungodly were not children of the Lord, but a stain upon them. If these words had stood after the actual subject, instead of before them, they would have presented no difficulty. This verse is the original of the expression, "children that are corrupters," in Isaiah 1:4 .
The contrast between the two descriptions—the faithful God of Deuteronomy 32:4 , and the unfaithful children of Deuteronomy 32:5 —is the cardinal point in the verse.
the sons of God are described ( Php 2:15 ) as “being blameless and harmless in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, shining as lights in the world, and holding forth the word of life.”
The text of the first line is corrupt; lit. he has dealt corruptly (as in Deuteronomy 9:12 , cp. Deuteronomy 31:29 ) with him, not his sons, their blemish . Sam. LXX: they dealt corruptly not his sons, blameworthy things . Possible emendations, they dealt corruptly with him sons of blemish; his sons have corrupted their faithfulness to him ; or as above. The line is overloaded.
6Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
zōṯ tiḡ·mə·lū- hă- Yah·weh nā·ḇāl wə·lō ḥā·ḵām ‘am hū hă·lō·w- ’ā·ḇî·ḵā qā·ne·ḵā hū ‘ā·śə·ḵā way·ḵō·nə·ne·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Is-it-this you-repay to-Yahweh, O-people foolish and-not wise? Is-not He your-Father who-begot/acquired you, He-made-you and-established-you?
Where the English smooths the original
Fools and double fools! Fools, indeed, to disoblige one on whom you so entirely depend! Who hath bewitched you to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities?
For the purpose of painting the folly of their apostasy distinctly before the eyes of the people, Moses crowds words together to describe what God was to the nation - "thy Father," to whose love Israel was indebted for its elevation into an independent people
bought ] Rather begat or produced , Genesis 4:1 ; Genesis 14:19 ; Genesis 14:22 . established ] Or framed, set up, settled .
7Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
zə·ḵōr yə·mō·wṯ ‘ō·w·lām bî·nū šə·nō·wṯ dō·wr- wā·ḏō·wr šə·’al ’ā·ḇî·ḵā wə·yag·gê·ḏə·ḵā zə·qê·ne·ḵā wə·yō·mə·rū lāḵ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Remember the-days of-old; consider the-years of-generation and-generation. Ask your-father and-he-will-tell-you, your-elders and-they-will-say to-you.
Where the English smooths the original
With these words Moses summons the people to reflect upon what the Lord had done to them.
One of many signs of the distance of the generation to which the Song is addressed from the time of the Wilderness and the entrance to the Promised Land.
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.
8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
‘el·yō·wn gō·w·yim bə·han·ḥêl bə·hap̄·rî·ḏōw bə·nê ’ā·ḏām yaṣ·ṣêḇ gə·ḇu·lōṯ ‘am·mîm lə·mis·par bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When-the-Most-High gave-as-inheritance to-the-nations, when-He-divided the-sons of-man, He-set the-boundaries of-the-peoples according-to-the-number of-the-sons-of-Israel.
Where the English smooths the original
while nations were being constituted under God's providence, and the bounds of their habitation determined under His government (compare Acts 17:26 ), He had even then in view the interests of His elect, and reserved a fitting inheritance "according to the number of the children of Israel;
The true meaning of the passage is given by St. Paul in his speech at Athens: “He determined (for all nations) times before appointed, and the setting of the boundaries of their habitation, that they might seek the Lord.”
The Septuagint rendering, "according to the number of the angels of God," is of no critical value, - in fact, is nothing more than an arbitrary interpretation founded upon the later Jewish notion of guardian angels of the different nationsK&D treat the LXX 'angels of God' reading as a later interpretive gloss; the Strong's base for this unit follows the MT 'sons of Israel,' while BSB prints 'sons of God' from 4QDeut/LXX. The divergence is recorded honestly in the apparatus.
When God by his providence divided the world, he lent for a time that portion to the Canaanites, which would later be an inheritance for all his people Israel.
9But the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî Yah·weh ḥê·leq ‘am·mōw ya·‘ă·qōḇ ḥe·ḇel na·ḥă·lā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For the-portion of-Yahweh is-His-people; Jacob the-measuring-cord of-His-inheritance.
Where the English smooths the original
to possess God, and to be possessed by God, are but two ways of putting the same fact. ‘The Lord is the portion of His people, and the Lord’s portion is His people,’ are only two ways of stating the same truth.
Highly prized and loved by him, Exodus 19:5-6 . As if he had said, The Israelites are that portion of mankind whom God was pleased to redeem out of bondage, and to make his peculiar people.
Israel was Jehovah's portion, and the inheritance assigned to Him.
lot ] Lit. measuring-rope , i.e. scale or range ; cp. Deuteronomy 9:26
10He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yim·ṣā·’ê·hū miḏ·bār bə·’e·reṣ ū·ḇə·ṯō·hū yə·lêl yə·ši·mōn yə·sō·ḇə·ḇen·hū yə·ḇō·wn·nê·hū yiṣ·ṣə·ren·hū kə·’î·šō·wn ‘ê·nōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
He-found him in-a-land of-desert, and-in-the-waste/void, howling of-wilderness; He-encircled-him, He-cared-for-him, He-guarded-him as-the-little-man of-His-eye.
Where the English smooths the original
literally, "in a waste, the howling of a wilderness," i. e., a wilderness in which wild beasts howl. The word for "waste" is that used in Genesis 1:2
Not by chance, but as it were looking out and seeking for him. He did, indeed, manifest himself to Israel in Egypt; but it was in the wilderness of
He had manifested His fatherly care and love to Israel as His own property.
11As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kə·ne·šer yā·‘îr qin·nōw yə·ra·ḥêp̄ ‘al- gō·w·zā·lāw yip̄·rōś kə·nā·p̄āw yiq·qā·ḥê·hū yiś·śā·’ê·hū ‘al- ’eḇ·rā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
As-an-eagle stirs-up its-nest, over its-young it-hovers, He-spreads His-wings, He-takes-him, He-bears-him on His-pinions.
Where the English smooths the original
Under the figure of an eagle, which teaches its young to fly, and in doing so protects them from injury with watchful affection
This beautiful and expressive metaphor is founded on the extraordinary care and attachment which the female eagle cherishes for her young.
not her nest or young , but his , the father bird’s; Exodus 19:4
The monarch of the sky busies itself with tender cares for its brood. Then, there is gentleness along with the terribleness.Maclaren preached this verse as 'The Eagle and Its Brood'; he reads the figure of the parent bird as God training Israel — and the wider church — for flight, holding majesty and tenderness together.
12The LORD alone led him, and no foreign god was with him.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh bā·ḏāḏ yan·ḥen·nū wə·’ên nê·ḵār ’êl ‘im·mōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Yahweh alone led-him, and-there-was-no foreign god with-him.
Where the English smooths the original
The Lord alone delivered Israel; Israel therefore ought to have served none other but Him.
When they were shut up in Egypt, as in their nest, whence they durst not venture to fly or stir, he taught, and en
The Lord alone did lead him (cf. Exodus 13:21 ; Exodus 15:13 ). With him ; i . e . along with Jehovah, as aiding him.
13He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yar·ki·ḇê·hū ‘al- bå̄·mō·ṯē ’ā·reṣ way·yō·ḵal tə·nū·ḇōṯ śā·ḏāy way·yê·ni·qê·hū ḏə·ḇaš mis·se·la‘ wə·še·men mê·ḥal·mîš ṣūr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
He-made-him-ride on the-heights of-the-land, and-he-ate the-produce of-the-field; and-He-made-him-suck honey from-the-rock, and-oil from-the-flinty crag,
Where the English smooths the original
The Lord caused the Israelites to take possession of Canaan with victorious power, and enter upon the enjoyment of its abundant blessings.
To ride over or drive over the heights of a country is figuratively to subjugate and take possession of that country
To conquer their strongest holds on the mountains, and their cities fenced with walls of the greatest height and strength
14with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ḥem·’aṯ bā·qār wa·ḥă·lêḇ ṣōn ‘im- ḥê·leḇ kā·rîm wə·’ê·lîm bə·nê- ḇā·šān wə·‘at·tū·ḏîm ‘im- ḥê·leḇ kil·yō·wṯ ḥiṭ·ṭāh wə·ḏam- ‘ê·nāḇ tiš·teh- ḥā·mer
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Curds of-herd and-milk of-flock, with the-fat of-lambs, and-rams sons-of-Bashan, and-goats, with the-fat of-kidneys of-wheat; and-blood-of-grape you-drank, foaming-wine.
Where the English smooths the original
Bashan was famous for its cattle. Compare Psalm 22:12 ; Ezekiel 39:18 . Fat of kidneys of wheat - i. e., the finest and most nutritious wheat. The fat of the kidneys was regarded as
The kidneys are enclosed in the very best of the fat of the animal, fat that was strictly reserved for God’s altar by the Levit
The Hebrew word ( חֶמְאָה ) here used designates milk in a solid or semi-solid state, as thick cream, curd, or butter.
15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yə·šu·rūn way·yiš·man way·yiḇ·‘āṭ šā·man·tā ‘ā·ḇî·ṯā kā·śî·ṯā way·yiṭ·ṭōš ’ĕ·lō·w·ha ‘ā·śā·hū way·nab·bêl ṣūr yə·šu·‘ā·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
But-Jeshurun grew-fat and-kicked — you-grew-fat, you-grew-thick, you-are-gorged — and-he-forsook God who-made-him, and-treated-as-fool the-Rock of-his-salvation.
Where the English smooths the original
The metaphor here used is derived from a pampered animal, which, instead of being tame and gentle, becomes mischievous and vi
Here are two instances of the wickedness of Israel, each was apostacy from God.
Jeshurun is a diminutive—a term of endearment. Either “the child of the upright,” or “the beloved Israel.”
Israel had repaid its God for all these benefits by a base apostasy. - Deuteronomy 32:15 . "But Righteous-nation became fat, and struck out - thou becamest fat, thick, gross - and let go God who made
16They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yaq·ni·’u·hū bə·zā·rîm yaḵ·‘î·su·hū bə·ṯō·w·‘ê·ḇōṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
They-moved-Him-to-jealousy with foreign-ones; with-abominations they-provoked-Him.
Where the English smooths the original
The language is borrowed from the matrimonial relationship, as in Deuteronomy 31:16 .
God had bound Israel to himself as by the marriage bond, and they by their unfaithfulness had incited him to jealousy
to anger and fury, for jealousy is the rage of a man, Proverbs 6:31 . And withal it implies the ground of his anger, to wit, their falseness to God, whom they had owned and accepted
17They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yiz·bə·ḥū laš·šê·ḏîm lō ’ĕ·lō·ha ’ĕ·lō·hîm lō yə·ḏā·‘ūm ḥă·ḏā·šîm miq·qā·rōḇ bā·’ū ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem lō śə·‘ā·rūm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
They-sacrificed to-the-demons, not-God; gods they-had-not known, new-ones from-near they-came, [whom] not feared-them your-fathers.
Where the English smooths the original
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. —St. Paul repeats this expression in 1Corinthians 11:20 . Gods that came newly up. —Literally, that came from close at hand.
a word which occurs only here and Psalm 106:37 . It stands connected with the verb שׁוּד , to rule, and means primarily "lords."
only here and in Psalm 106:37 , ‘certainly a Babylonian loan-word,’
18You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
te·šî ṣūr yə·lā·ḏə·ḵā wat·tiš·kaḥ ’êl mə·ḥō·lə·le·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The-Rock who-begot you, you-neglected; and-you-forgot God who-writhed-in-birth with-you.
Where the English smooths the original
The predicates used of Him are generally interpreted as if attributing to Him the functions both of father and mother. But the first vb. is more u
The same with the rock of salvation, Deuteronomy 32:15 ; repeated and expressed in different words, that their wretched ingratitude might be taken n
“ The Rock hath begotten thee forgetful, and thou hast forgotten God that travailed with thee” is another possible translation of this verse.
19When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
Yah·weh way·yar way·yin·’āṣ mik·ka·‘as bā·nāw ū·ḇə·nō·ṯāw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Yahweh saw and-spurned, from-provocation of-His-sons and-His-daughters.
Where the English smooths the original
For this foolish apostasy the Lord would severely visit His people. This visitation is represented indeed in Deuteronomy 32:19 , as the consequence of apostasy that had taken place
Spurned , contemned, discarded , Deuteronomy 31:20 , Jeremiah 14:21 . The next line gives the motive, not as in R.V., but from grief with his sons
He calls them God's children, not to honour them, but to show them from what dignity
20He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yō·mer ’as·tî·rāh p̄ā·nay ’er·’eh māh ’a·ḥă·rî·ṯām kî mê·hem tah·pu·ḵōṯ hêm·māh ḏō·wr bā·nîm lō- ’ê·mun bām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-He-said: I-will-hide My-face from-them, I-will-see what their-end; for a-generation of-perversities they-are, children no-faithfulness in-them.
Where the English smooths the original
Literally, a generation of perversities. Children in whom is no faith. —Literally, children ! — there is no relying on them. (Comp. Deuteronomy 5:5 .)
I will see and observe what will be the issue of all this, what will become of them at last; but this God doth not see only by way of speculation, but practically,
No fidelity. They were notoriously perfidious, and had so of
21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hêm qin·’ū·nî ḇə·lō- ’êl ki·‘ă·sū·nî bə·haḇ·lê·hem wa·’ă·nî ’aq·nî·’êm bə·lō- ‘ām ’aḵ·‘î·sêm bə·ḡō·w nā·ḇāl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
They made-Me-jealous by-a-no-god, they-vexed-Me with-their-vapors; so-I will-make-them-jealous by-a-no-people, by-a-nation foolish I-will-vex-them.
Where the English smooths the original
“They have made me jealous with a no-god; They have provoked me with their vanities: And I will make them jealous with a no-people; With a foolish nation will I provoke them.” St. Paul comments on this in Romans 10
Mark the antitheses: no-god ( lo’-’el ), no-people ( lo’-‘am , as hitherto outside the nations known and to be reckoned with, by Israel, as unfit
their nothingnesses, mere vapors and empty exhalations ( הִבְלָים ; cf. Jeremia
22For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- ’êš qā·ḏə·ḥāh ḇə·’ap·pî wat·tî·qaḏ ‘aḏ- taḥ·tîṯ šə·’ō·wl wat·tō·ḵal ’e·reṣ wî·ḇu·lāh wat·tə·la·hêṭ mō·ws·ḏê hā·rîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For a-fire is-kindled in-My-anger, and-it-burns to Sheol beneath; and-it-consumes earth and-its-produce, and-sets-aflame the-foundations of-the-mountains.
Where the English smooths the original
Quoted by Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 15:14 , and comp. Jeremiah 17:4 ). The foundations of the mountains. —Ras
the determination of the Lord with regard to the faithless generation is explained by the threat, that the wrath of the Lord which was kindled against this faithlessness would s
great and grievous judgments shall be inflicted, which oft come under the name of fire
23I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’as·peh rā·‘ō·wṯ ‘ā·lê·mōw ’ă·ḵal·leh- ḥiṣ·ṣay bām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
I-will-heap upon-them disasters; My-arrows I-will-spend against-them.
Where the English smooths the original
War, famine, pestilence (Ps 77:17) are called in Scripture the arrows of the Almighty.
Even empty my quiver, and send upon them all my plagues, which, like arrows shot by a skilful and strong hand, shall speedily reach, and cer
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.
24They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mə·zê rā·‘āḇ ū·lə·ḥu·mê re·šep̄ mə·rî·rî wə·qe·ṭeḇ ’ă·šal·laḥ- wə·šen- bə·hê·mō·wṯ bām ‘im- ḥă·maṯ zō·ḥă·lê ‘ā·p̄ār
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Sucked-dry by-hunger and-devoured by-fever-bolt and-bitter destruction; and-the-tooth of-beasts I-will-send against-them, with the-venom of-crawlers-in the-dust.
Where the English smooths the original
On the "four sore judgments," famine, plague, noisome beasts, the sword, compare Leviticus 26:22 ; Jeremiah 15:2 ; Ezekiel 5:17 ; Ezekiel 14:2
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.
I will let loose the tooth of beasts upon them, with the poison of things that crawl in the dust.
25Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, terror will strike the young man and the young woman, the infant and the gray-haired man.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mi·ḥūṣ ḥe·reḇ tə·šak·kel- ū·mê·ḥă·ḏā·rîm ’ê·māh bā·ḥūr gam- gam- bə·ṯū·lāh yō·w·nêq ‘im- śê·ḇāh ’îš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
From-outside the-sword will-bereave, and-from-the-inner-chambers terror — both young-man and-virgin, suckling with man of-gray-hair.
Where the English smooths the original
These are accompanied by the evils of war, which sweeps away the men outside in the slaughter itself by the sword, and the defenceless - viz., youths and maidens, sucklings and old men - in the chambe
They shall be slain both in the field and at home.
Either without the city, the sword of the Roman army besieging it, which destroyed all that came out or attempted to go in; or in the streets of the city
26I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ā·mar·tî ’ap̄·’ê·hem ’aš·bî·ṯāh ziḵ·rām mê·’ĕ·nō·wōš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
I-said: I-will-blow-them-away, I-will-make-cease from-mankind their-memory,
Where the English smooths the original
The argument of these verses is such as no man would dare to put into the mouth of the Most High. Moses had pleaded it (in Numbers 14:13-16 ; Exodus 32:12 ), but none but Jehovah Himself would say for Himself, “ I feared the wrath of the enemy.”
I would utterly disperse them, etc., were it not that I apprehended the provocation of the enemy, i. e., that I should be provoked to wrath when the enemy ascribed the overthrow of Israel to h
Israel's desert was to be utterly destroyed, but God refrained from this for his own Name's sake.
The meaning of the ensuing vb pa’ah is uncertain: cleave them in pieces (Dri. and the Oxf. Heb. Lex. ) is hardly justified by the Ar. fa‘a , which means only to split
27if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lū·lê ’ā·ḡūr pen- ka·‘as ’ō·w·yêḇ pen- ṣā·rê·mōw yə·nak·kə·rū yō·mə·rū yā·ḏê·nū rā·māh wə·lō Yah·weh pā·‘al kāl- zōṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Were-it-not the-provocation of-the-enemy I-dreaded, lest their-foes misjudge, lest they-say: Our-hand is-high, and-not Yahweh did all this.
Where the English smooths the original
Their rage against me, as it is expressed Isaiah 37:28-29 ; their furious reproaches against my name, as if I were cruel to my
their insolent and furious reproaches against my name, as if I were unnatural and cruel to my people, or unable to deliver them. Compare Exodus 32:12 Numbers 14:13 Deu 9:28 Joshua 7:9 . The fear hereof is ascribed to God after the manner of men. Strangely, i.e. insolently and arrogantly, above what they used to do. Or, make themselves strangers, i.e. either really not acknowledge, or pretend they did not know, that which I had publicly declared, and they either did or easily might have known, to wit, that this judgment was inflicted upon them by my hand for their sins.
if I did not fear wrath upon the enemy, that their enemies might mistake it, that they might say, Our hand was
28Israel is a nation devoid of counsel, with no understanding among them.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- hêm·māh ḡō·w ’ō·ḇaḏ ‘ê·ṣō·wṯ wə·’ên tə·ḇū·nāh bā·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For a-nation perishing-of-counsels they-are, and-there-is-no understanding in-them.
Where the English smooths the original
It is doubtful whether these vv . relate to Israel or its arrogant foes. The latter I deem the more pr
Literally, perishing in counsels, or, perhaps, spoiling the plans of Jehovah.
This is said not of the Jews, whose character is given, Deuteronomy 32:6 ; and instances of their ingratitude, folly, and want of counsel and understanding,
29If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lū ḥā·ḵə·mū yaś·kî·lū zōṯ yā·ḇî·nū lə·’a·ḥă·rî·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
If-only they-were-wise, they-would-understand this, they-would-discern their-latter-end.
Where the English smooths the original
The terrible judgments, which, in the event of their continued and incorrigible disobedience, would impart so awful a character to the close of thei
Have some discernment as to their hereafter, what their destiny was, and what they will miss, if they fail to fulfil it.
This is weak and omits the preposition to which conveys the full sense understand , or see through, to their ultimate fate , past this temporary triumph over Israel to
30How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ê·ḵāh ’e·ḥāḏ yir·dōp̄ ’e·lep̄ ū·šə·na·yim rə·ḇā·ḇāh yā·nî·sū ’im- lō kî- ṣū·rām mə·ḵā·rām Yah·weh his·gî·rām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
How could-one pursue a-thousand, and-two put-to-flight ten-thousand, unless their-Rock had-sold-them, and-Yahweh had-shut-them-up?
Where the English smooths the original
The defeat of Israel would be due to the fact that God, their strength, had abandoned them because of their apostasy.
whence should this miraculous change come, that whereas God had promised that five Israelites should chase an hundred of their enemies, &c., Deu 26:8 , now, on the con
If Israel were wise, it could easily conquer all its foes in the power of its God (vid., Leviticus 26:8 ); but as it had forsaken the Lord its rock, He, their (Israel's) rock, had given them up into t
31For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî ḵə·ṣū·rê·nū lō ṣū·rām wə·’ō·yə·ḇê·nū pə·lî·lîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For not like-our-Rock is-their-rock — and-our-enemies are-arbiters.
Where the English smooths the original
Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to God.
The gods of the heathen are not wise, and powerful, and gracious, like Jehovah. Our enemies being judges — Who, by their dear-bought experience, have
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
32But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- gap̄·nām mig·ge·p̄en sə·ḏōm ū·miš·šaḏ·mōṯ ‘ă·mō·rāh ‘ă·nā·ḇê·mōw ‘in·nə·ḇê- rō·wōš lā·mōw ’aš·kə·lōṯ mə·rō·rōṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For from-the-vine of-Sodom is-their-vine, and-from-the-fields of-Gomorrah; their-grapes are-grapes-of-poison, clusters of-bitterness for-them.
Where the English smooths the original
the nature and character of Israel: compare for similar expressions Psalm 80:8 , Psalm 80:14 ; Jeremiah 2:21 ; Hosea 10:1 .
God had planted Israel a noble vine, a right seed, but they turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine, Jeremiah 2:21 .
These foes of Israel are of the same stock morally (can one produce grapes of thistles?) as the cities whose destruction for their wickedness was proverbial. They are therefore doomed.
33Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yê·nām ḥă·maṯ tan·nî·nim ’aḵ·zār wə·rōš pə·ṯā·nîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The-venom of-serpents is-their-wine, and-the-poison of-cobras, cruel.
Where the English smooths the original
Or, foam of . pitiless poison of asps ] Poison, rôsh , as in Deuteronomy 29:17 ; asps , or according to some, cobras , the hooded kind, in Egypt and the lower parts of Syria
An expression of the same import with the former, signifying their fruits or works to be most depraved and pernicious
The fruit of the wicked are as poison, detestable to God, and dangerous for man.
34“Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hă·lō- kā·mus hū ḥā·ṯum ‘im·mā·ḏî bə·’ō·wṣ·rō·ṯāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Is-not this stored-up with-Me, sealed-up in-My-treasuries?
Where the English smooths the original
My longsuffering towards them may make them and others think that I have forgotten their sins, but I remember them punctually, they are sealed up as in a ba
The allusion in this verse has been disputed; many refer it to what goes before, others to what follows after. There is some truth in both.
“This” is generally taken to refer to what follows, but it is not clear. It may refer to the fact that “He looked for grapes, and the vine brought forth wild grapes.”
35Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
nā·qām lî wə·šil·lêm lə·‘êṯ raḡ·lām tā·mūṭ kî yō·wm ’ê·ḏām qā·rō·wḇ ‘ă·ṯi·ḏōṯ lā·mōw wə·ḥāš
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Mine is-vengeance and-recompense, at-the-time their-foot shall-totter; for near is-the-day of-their-disaster, and-the-things-prepared for-them make-haste.
Where the English smooths the original
In the Epistle to the Hebrews ( Hebrews 10:30 ) this sentence is quoted with the first clause of Deuteronomy 32:36 , “For we know Him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith the Lord.” And so in Romans 12:19 .
"Vengeance is mine and recompence, at the time when their foot slideth.
It is my office to punish sin, and therefore as I know their sins, so I will assuredly punish them. Their feet shall slide ; they who now think they stand fast and unmovable, they shall fall into utte
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.
36For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- Yah·weh yā·ḏîn ‘am·mōw yiṯ·ne·ḥām wə·‘al- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw kî yir·’eh kî- yāḏ ’ā·zə·laṯ wə·’e·p̄es ‘ā·ṣūr wə·‘ā·zūḇ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For Yahweh will-vindicate/judge His-people, and-over His-servants He-will-relent; when He-sees that gone is-their-strength, and-no-one-remains, shut-up or-loosed.
Where the English smooths the original
The verse declares that God's judgment of His people would issue at once in the punishment of the wicked, and in the comfort of the righteous.
having spoken of the dreadful calamity which would come upon his people, he now turns his dis
and have compassion upon his servants . And there is none shut up, or left
37He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’ā·mar ’ê ’ĕ·lō·hê·mōw ṣūr ḇōw ḥā·sā·yū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-He-will-say: Where are-their-gods, the-rock in-which they-took-refuge,
Where the English smooths the original
The Lord would then convince His people of the worthlessness of idols and the folly of idolatry, and bring it to admit the fact that He was God alone. "Then will He say, Where are their gods, the rock
The Lord, before he deliver his people, will first convince them of their former folly in forsaking him for idols.
As in R.V. marg., so often in the Pss., e.g. Psalm 2:12 , Psalm 46:2 .
38which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ă·šer yō·ḵê·lū ḥê·leḇ zə·ḇā·ḥê·mōw yiš·tū yên nə·sî·ḵām yā·qū·mū wə·ya‘·zə·ru·ḵem yə·hî ‘ă·lê·ḵem siṯ·rāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Which the-fat of-their-sacrifices ate, drank the-wine of-their-drink-offerings — let-them-rise-up and-help-you, let-them-be over-you a-shelter!
Where the English smooths the original
To whom you offered sacrifices and oblations after the manner of the Gentiles. See Exodus 34:13 Psalm 106:28 1 Corinthians 10:20 . Let them help you, if they can do it.
Alluding to the fat of the sacrifices under the law, which was claimed by the Lord as his, and represented a
The Lord would then convince His people of the worthlessness of idols and the folly of idolatry, and bring it to admit the fact that He was God alone. "Then will He say, Where are their gods, the rock
39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
rə·’ū ‘at·tāh kî ’ă·nî hū wə·’ên ’ĕ·lō·hîm ‘im·mā·ḏî ’ă·nî ’ā·mîṯ wa·’ă·ḥay·yeh mā·ḥaṣ·tî wa·’ă·nî ’ă·nî ’er·pā wə·’ên maṣ·ṣîl mî·yā·ḏî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
See now that I, I am-He, and-there-is-no God with-Me. I put-to-death and-I-make-alive, I-wounded and-I will-heal; and-there-is-none who-delivers from-My-hand.
Where the English smooths the original
a demand that they should acknowledge Jehovah as the only true God. The repetition of "I" is emphatic: "I, I only it,
There are many very similar passages in Isaiah 41-46; but none of them exactly reproduces this sentence.
The Hebrew is more expressive, See now that I , I am ; LXX., ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι (cf. Isaiah 41:4 ; Isaiah 48:12 ; John 8:24 18:5).
40For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî- ’eś·śā yā·ḏî ’el- šā·ma·yim wə·’ā·mar·tî ’ā·nō·ḵî ḥay lə·‘ō·lām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For I-lift to heaven My-hand, and-I-say: As-surely-as-I live forever,
Where the English smooths the original
This is the form in taking an oath. (Comp. Revelation 10:5 .) The two verses may be connected thus: “For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, As I live for ever, if I
in which God is described as swearing by Himself, compare Isaiah 45:23 ; Jeremiah 22:5 ; Hebr
I solemnly swear I will do what here follows. It was the custom to stretch out the hand in swearing, Genesis 14:22 .
41when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’im- šan·nō·w·ṯî bə·raq ḥar·bî yā·ḏî wə·ṯō·ḥêz bə·miš·pāṭ ’ā·šîḇ nā·qām lə·ṣā·rāy ’ă·šal·lêm wə·lim·śan·’ay
Literal — word-for-word from the original
When I-sharpen the-lightning of-My-sword, and-My-hand takes-hold on-judgment, I-will-return vengeance to-My-adversaries, and-to-those-who-hate-Me I-will-repay.
Where the English smooths the original
If once I begin to prepare for war, and for the execution of my sentence. Take hold on judgment, i.e. of the instruments of judgment, of the weapons of war. A metaphor from warriors that take their we
He will take vengeance upon His enemies, avenge the blood of His servants, and expiate His land, His people.
Jehovah as warrior, as often in later prophecy, e.g . Isaiah 63.
42I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh—the blood of the slain and captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ḥiṣ·ṣay ’aš·kîr mid·dām wə·ḥar·bî tō·ḵal bā·śār mid·dam ḥā·lāl wə·šiḇ·yāh mê·rōš ’ō·w·yêḇ par·‘ō·wṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
I-will-make-drunk My-arrows with-blood, and-My-sword will-devour flesh — from-the-blood of-slain and-captive, from-the-head of-the-leaders-of the-enemy.
Where the English smooths the original
the edge of the sword is called its mouth, because, like a mouth, it is said to eat and devour" (Gesenius).
“For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many”
Render, (drunk with blood) from the head (i. e. the chief) of the princes of the enemy.
43Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and repay those who hate Him; He will cleanse His land and His people.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
har·nî·nū ḡō·w·yim ‘am·mōw kî yiq·qō·wm ḏam- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw yā·šîḇ wə·nā·qām lə·ṣā·rāw wə·ḵip·per ’aḏ·mā·ṯōw ‘am·mōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Shout-for-joy, O-nations, [with] His-people; for the-blood of-His-servants He-avenges, and-vengeance He-returns to-His-foes, and-He-atones-for His-land, His-people.
Where the English smooths the original
This is cited by St. Paul to show that the Gentiles must also “glorify God for His mercy” in sending Jesus Christ. But it is not wholly fulfilled yet. “If the fall of God’s people was the wealth of the world . . . what will the receiving of them be. but life from the dead?” (See Romans 11:12 ; Romans 11:15 ; Romans 15:10 .)
the nations were to praise the people of the Lord. As this song commenced with an appeal to heaven and earth to give glory to the Lord ( Deuteronomy 32:1-3 ), so it very suitably closes with an appeal to the heathen to rejoice with His people
In this profound passage, there is shadowed forth the purpose of God to overrule: (1) the unbelief of the Jews to the bring
For this LXX gives eight lines, part quoted in Romans 15:10 . Sing ] Heb. harnînû , the most ringing of the vbs with this meaning. assoils ] Covers , or clears, from guilt
44Then Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh way·yā·ḇō wə·hō·wō·šê·a‘ bin- nūn way·ḏab·bêr ’eṯ- kāl- diḇ·rê haz·zōṯ haš·šî·rāh- bə·’ā·zə·nê hā·‘ām hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Moses came and-spoke all the-words of-this-song in-the-ears of-the-people, he and-Hoshea son-of-Nun.
Where the English smooths the original
It has been beautifully styled "the Song of the Dying Swan" [Lowth]. It was designed to be a national anthem, which it should be the du
Why should Joshua be called Hoshea in this place? His name was apparently changed to Joshua at the time when he entered the promised l
It is probable from the opening words, And Moses came , that this is a fragment from the end of a narrative of d
45When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh way·ḵal lə·ḏab·bêr ’eṯ- kāl- hā·’êl·leh had·də·ḇā·rîm ’el- kāl- yiś·rā·’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-Moses finished to-speak all these the-words to all Israel,
Where the English smooths the original
it is stated that Moses, with Joshua, spake the song to the people; and on finishing this rehearsal, once more impressed upon the hearts of the people the importance of observi
Finished all he had to say to them from the Lord, whether by way of precept, moral, civil, and ceremonial or in the form of a song.
Whether all these words originally referred only to the Code, or are meant by the editor to cover the hortatory addr
46he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem śî·mū lə·ḇaḇ·ḵem lə·ḵāl had·də·ḇā·rîm ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mê·‘îḏ bā·ḵem hay·yō·wm ’ă·šer tə·ṣaw·wum ’eṯ- bə·nê·ḵem liš·mōr la·‘ă·śō·wṯ ’eṯ- kāl- diḇ·rê haz·zōṯ hat·tō·w·rāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-he-said to-them: Set your-heart to all the-words which I am-testifying among-you this-day, which you-shall-command your-children, to-keep-to-do all the-words of-this the-law.
Where the English smooths the original
47For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
kî hū lō- rêq ḏā·ḇār mik·kem kî- hū ḥay·yê·ḵem ū·ḇad·dā·ḇār haz·zeh ta·’ă·rî·ḵū yā·mîm ‘al- hā·’ă·ḏā·māh ’ă·šer ’at·tem ‘ō·ḇə·rîm ’eṯ- hay·yar·dên šām·māh lə·riš·tāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
For not an-empty word it-is for-you, because it-is your-life; and-by this-word you-shall-lengthen days on the-land which you are-crossing the-Jordan there, to-possess-it.
Where the English smooths the original
Not too light a thing for you, not unworthy of your attention. It is your life. —For the last time in this book the people are assured that the very end of their e
these are not mere empty words; they are of vital import (cf. Deuteronomy 30:20 ).
It is not an unprofitable or contemptible work I advise you to, but well worthy of your most serious care, oft to remember and diligently to consider it.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The Song opens as a covenant lawsuit. Moses calls haššāmayim ("the heavens") and hāʼāreṣ ("the earth") to give ear — the cosmos itself as witness. Albert Barnes ranks the result frankly: "That this Ode must on every ground take the very first rank in Hebrew poetry is universally allowed," and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown agree — "the magnificence of the exordium, the grandeur of the theme... entitle this song to be ranked amongst the noblest specimens of poetry to be found in the Scriptures." The witnesses are summoned, says the Cambridge Bible, not chiefly as evidence but because "so great a theme—God's dealings with His people—demands no less an auditory": "The Universe cannot silence, but must listen to, the spiritual truth." Moses prays his doctrine may fall like rain and dew (v. 2); Keil & Delitzsch name the point of comparison — "the refreshing, fertilizing, and enlivening power of the dew and rain. Might the song exert the same upon the hearts of the hearers." And the theme is named at once (v. 3): the name of Yahweh, and the call to "ascribe greatness to our God."
Here Scripture first names God haṣṣūr, "the Rock" (v. 4) — a title Matthew Henry marks: "This is the first time God is called so in Scripture... a foundation which cannot be changed or moved." The verse heaps every word for integrity onto Him; Ellicott: "No such combination of all the words for uprightness, sincerity, equity, and reliability is to be found elsewhere in all Scripture." The Rock is "a God of faithfulness (ʼĕmūnāh) and without injustice." Against this perfection v. 5 sets the people's blemish (mūm) — and the line is famously broken; Cambridge calls the text "corrupt" and "overloaded." Keil & Delitzsch read the sense plainly: "the rebellious and ungodly were not children of the Lord, but a stain upon them," and add — striking for the canon's unity — "This verse is the original of the expression, \"children that are corrupters,\" in Isaiah 1:4." So the indictment of v. 6: to wrong this Father-Maker (qānāh, "who begot / acquired you") is the act of a nāḇāl, a moral fool.
Memory is the antidote to apostasy (v. 7): "ask thy father, and he will tell thee." The history begins before history — at the dividing of the nations (v. 8), where, as Calvin (via K&D) puts it, "In the whole arrangement of the world God had kept this before Him as the end: to consult the interests of His chosen people." The LORD's portion (ḥêleq) is His people (v. 9); Alexander Maclaren draws the mutuality out: "to possess God, and to be possessed by God, are but two ways of putting the same fact." Then the wilderness, painted as tōhū — the "void" of Genesis 1:2 (v. 10) — and over it God hovers (rāḥap̄, again Genesis 1:2's word) like an eagle over its brood (v. 11), bearing the young that cannot yet fly. "The Lord alone did lead him" (v. 12), with no foreign god — the monotheistic hinge. And the land's wealth is lavished: honey from the rock, curds and milk, the fat of lambs, the blood of the grape (vv. 13-14) — a catalogue of grace heaped up precisely to make the next word, "But Jeshurun grew fat," unbearable.
The turn is savage. "Yəšurūn" — the "Upright One," Israel's name of endearment — "grew fat and kicked" (v. 15); JFB hears "a pampered animal, which, instead of being tame and gentle, becomes mischievous." He scorned "the Rock of his salvation," sacrificing to šêḏîm, "demons" (v. 17) — a word, as the Pulpit Commentary notes, "which occurs only here and Psalm 106:37," and which Paul presses in 1 Corinthians 10:20. He forgot "the Rock that begat thee" and "the God who gave thee birth" (v. 18), maternal and paternal at once. So God "saw and spurned" (v. 19), hid His face (v. 20), and framed His judgment as exact retribution (v. 21): they provoked Him "with a no-god"; He will provoke them "with a no-people" — the line Paul quotes (Romans 10:19) as Scripture's own foretelling of the Gentile call. Then the fire kindled "in My anger" (v. 22) — and Ellicott records its reuse: "Quoted by Jeremiah (Jer 15:14, and comp. Jer 17:4)." The "arrows" of v. 23 are named: famine, fever, the qeṭeḇ-plague (v. 24, the rare word shared with Psalm 91:6), the sword and Terror within (v. 25), sparing no age.
God states the deserved sentence — to blow Israel away, to blot out their memory (v. 26) — then suspends it, dreading "the taunt of the enemy" (v. 27), an anthropomorphism Ellicott calls "such as no man would dare to put into the mouth of the Most High." The reason Israel could be routed at all is theological, not military: "their Rock had sold them" (v. 30), "for their rock is not like our Rock" (v. 31) — the only place the Song lets the title touch the idols, and the verse on which Maclaren preached "Their Rock and Our Rock." The enemies' (or apostates') vine is Sodom's, their wine serpent-venom (vv. 32-33), the moral botany of Job 20. But the record is "sealed up" in God's treasuries (v. 34), and "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (v. 35) — the line the New Testament quotes twice; Ellicott: "In the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 10:30) this sentence is quoted... And so in Romans 12:19." Then mercy turns (v. 36): "the LORD will judge His people, and relent for His servants" when their strength is wholly spent. The idols are mocked (vv. 37-38), and the Song reaches its monotheistic summit (v. 39): "I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal" — K&D: "The repetition of \"I\" is emphatic."
God lifts His hand to heaven and swears by His own eternal life (v. 40) — the oath-hand answering the boaster's "high hand" of v. 27. He whets His lightning-sword and grasps mišpāṭ ("judgment," v. 41) — the very word that named His "ways" in v. 4, now in His hand to execute. The arrows once spent against Israel (v. 23) now drink the enemy's blood (v. 42). And the close (v. 43) circles back to the opening summons, but now in joy: "Rejoice, O nations, with His people." Ellicott records the apostolic harvest: "This is cited by St. Paul to show that the Gentiles must also \"glorify God for His mercy\"... (Romans 15:10)"; and the LXX's expanded text supplies "let all the angels of God worship Him" — quoted of the Son in Hebrews 1:6. The final verb is not slaughter but kipper, "He will cleanse / make atonement for His land." As Keil & Delitzsch observe, the Song that "commenced with an appeal to heaven and earth to give glory to the Lord" ends with the nations praising His people and the land itself reconciled.
The prose epilogue delivers the poem to its purpose. Moses, with "Hoshea the son of Nun" (the Hebrew reverting to Joshua's older name), speaks "all the words of this shîrāh" (v. 44) — "the Song of the Dying Swan," JFB calls it (after Lowth), a "national anthem." Having finished (v. 45), Moses charges Israel to "set your heart" to these words and "command them to your children" (v. 46) — the very transmission v. 7 had urged, closing the frame. And the final word grounds the whole appeal (v. 47): "it is not an empty word (rêq) for you, because it is your life." The idols were emptiness (heḇel, v. 21); this word, by contrast, is life — and by it "you will live long in the land." The Song that summoned heaven and earth to witness ends by pressing its testimony onto every heart in Israel and every generation after.
Read under Sola Scriptura, the Song of Moses is the Old Testament's own theodicy set to verse, and its argument is unsettling in its symmetry. It refuses every easy account of suffering. Israel's ruin is not the strength of the enemy's gods ("their rock is not like our Rock," v. 31), not a flaw in God ("the Rock, perfect is His work; all His ways are justice... without injustice," v. 4), and not blind fate. It is the deliberate giving-over of a Father grieved by His children ("their Rock had sold them," v. 30) — judgment that is the underside of love, and that even in its fury "dreads" being misread by the watching world (v. 27). The Song's God is wholly sovereign over the very worst that befalls His people ("I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal," v. 39), which is precisely why hope is possible: the One who wounded can heal, and the same hand that sold can redeem. This apparatus reads the Song's two great cross-references — "a no-people" (v. 21, taken up in Romans 10-11) and "Rejoice, O nations" (v. 43, in Romans 15:10) — as Scripture's own trajectory toward a mercy wider than Israel, without flattening the terror of vv. 22-25 into mere metaphor. That reading is fallible and is offered to be tested against the text itself: the Song hands us, in v. 47, the standard by which to test it — "it is your life." A reading of this Song that does not drive the hearer to the Rock for refuge has missed its purpose, whatever its scholarship.
The same fire that consumes the foundations of the mountains (v. 22) is kindled in a Father's grief (v. 19) — and its last word is not ash but a cleansed land (v. 43). (An interpretive line from the synthesis layer, not a verse of Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The Song's opening call (v. 1), "Give ear, O heavens... hear, O earth," is taken up almost word-for-word at the head of Isaiah's book (Isa 1:2, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth") — Ellicott notes the two are "almost identical, excepting that the two words for \"hearing\" are transposed." The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes ʼāzan (give ear), shāmayim (heavens), dāḇar (speak), and shāmaʻ (hear). Because it is a reused summons-formula, not a quotation claim, the link is structural rather than verbal.
Deuteronomy 32:1 · Isaiah 1:2
basis: shared lexemes H238 ʼâzan (41 vv), H8064 shâmayim (395 vv), H1696 dâbar (1049 vv), H8085 shâmaʻ (1072 vv) — Verifier-computed; the same heaven-and-earth covenant-lawsuit summons, with the two hearing-verbs transposed (Ellicott), so structural, not a quotation.
"They sacrificed to šêḏîm, demons, not to God" (v. 17). The noun šêḏ (H7700) occurs in the entire Old Testament in only two verses — here and Psalm 106:37, "they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons." The Pulpit Commentary and Cambridge both flag the rarity ("only here and Psalm 106:37"). The Verifier records the shared šêḏ plus zāḇaḥ (sacrifice); a lexeme this rare, shared between two verses describing the same sin, is a genuinely verbal link, not merely thematic.
Deuteronomy 32:17 · Psalm 106:37
basis: shared lexeme H7700 shêd (in only 2 vv of the whole OT — here and Ps 106:37) plus H2076 zâbach (sacrifice) — Verifier-computed; the extreme rarity of shêd makes this a verbal, not merely thematic, link.
"A fire is kindled (qādaḥ) in My anger, and it burns (yāqad)" (v. 22). Both fire-verbs are rare — qādaḥ in 5 verses, yāqad in 9 — and Jeremiah re-uses them of the same divine fire (Jer 15:14; 17:4: "ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever"). Ellicott states it directly: "Quoted by Jeremiah (Jer 15:14, and comp. Jer 17:4)." The Verifier confirms the shared qādaḥ, yāqad, ʼaph (anger), and ʼêsh (fire). The concentration of rare shared lexemes warrants a verbal tier.
Deuteronomy 32:22 · Jeremiah 17:4 · Jeremiah 15:14
basis: shared rare lexemes H6919 qâdach (5 vv) and H3344 yâqad (9 vv), with H639 ʼaph and H784 ʼêsh — Verifier-computed; Jeremiah 15:14/17:4 reuse the same fire-of-anger formula, which Ellicott records as a quotation.
"A perverse (ʻiqqêš) and crooked generation" (v. 5). The adjective ʻiqqêš (H6141) is rare (11 OT verses), and it surfaces pointedly in Psalm 18:26, "with the froward (ʻiqqêš) you will show yourself froward." Ellicott notes the link himself: the phrase "supplies two words to Psalm 18:26." The Verifier confirms the shared ʻiqqêš as a low-frequency lexeme. The connection is verbal at the level of a distinctive shared word, though the Psalm is not quoting the Song; tiered verbal on the rarity of the shared term.
Deuteronomy 32:5 · Psalm 18:26
basis: shared rare lexeme H6141 ʻiqqêsh (11 vv) — Verifier-computed; Ellicott records that v. 5 'supplies two words to Psalm 18:26.' A distinctive shared word, not a directional quotation.
Twice the Song reaches back to the creation account. Israel is found "in the void (tōhū)" (v. 10) — the very word for the unformed earth of Genesis 1:2 — and over the young God "hovers (rāḥap̄)" (v. 11), the rare verb (3 OT verses) of the Spirit "hovering over the waters" (Gen 1:2). Barnes notes for v. 10: "The word for \"waste\" is that used in Genesis 1:2." The Verifier confirms tōhū (and, for v. 11, rāḥap̄) as the shared lexemes. The wilderness-rescue is painted as a new creation; the link is a deliberate motif-echo, structural rather than a quotation.
Deuteronomy 32:10 · Deuteronomy 32:11 · Genesis 1:2
basis: shared lexemes H8414 tôhûw (19 vv, v.10) and H7363 râchaph (only 3 vv, v.11) with Gen 1:2 — Verifier-computed; the desert-rescue echoes creation's void and hovering Spirit. A motif-echo, not a quotation.
"As an eagle (nesher) stirs up its nest... He spread His wings... and carried them" (v. 11) restates the covenant preamble of Exodus 19:4, "I bore you on eagles' wings (nesher, kānāp̄) and brought you to Myself." Cambridge cross-references Exodus 19:4 directly. The Verifier confirms the shared nesher (eagle), kānāp̄ (wing), and nāsāʼ (bear/carry). The Song is consciously recalling the founding covenant image; a shared-motif link with no quotation claim, hence structural.
Deuteronomy 32:11 · Exodus 19:4
basis: shared lexemes H5404 nesher (26 vv), H3671 kânâph (85 vv), H5375 nâsâʼ (612 vv) — Verifier-computed; the Song recalls the Sinai eagle-image of Exod 19:4. Shared motif, not a quotation.
"Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (v. 35) is quoted twice in the New Testament: Romans 12:19 ("Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord") and Hebrews 10:30 (with the next clause, "the Lord shall judge His people," from v. 36). Ellicott records both: "In the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 10:30) this sentence is quoted... And so in Romans 12:19." Because the citations are Greek (New Testament) quoting Hebrew, the Verifier's shared-Strong's method cannot operate across languages — so this cannot be tiered "verbal" on shared lexemes. It is a confirmed explicit NT quotation, tiered structural on the recorded citation.
Deuteronomy 32:35 · Deuteronomy 32:36 · Romans 12:19 · Hebrews 10:30
basis: explicit NT quotation recorded verbatim by Ellicott (Heb 10:30 quotes v.35 + v.36a; Rom 12:19 quotes v.35). Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew), so the Verifier's shared-Strong's test cannot apply and the link is not tiered 'verbal'; confirmed structural on the explicit citation.
"I will make them jealous by those who are not a people (lōʼ ʻam)" (v. 21) is quoted by Paul in Romans 10:19 ("I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people") as proof that "Israel was informed of the calling of the Gentiles" — so Ellicott records it. This is a Greek-quoting-Hebrew citation; the Verifier's shared-lexeme method cannot reach across the language barrier, so it is not "verbal." Confirmed as an explicit apostolic citation, tiered structural.
Deuteronomy 32:21 · Romans 10:19
basis: explicit NT citation recorded by Ellicott — Paul quotes 'a no-people' (v.21) in Rom 10:19 of the Gentile call. Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew); shared-Strong's cannot apply, so structural on the recorded citation, not 'verbal.'
The closing summons, "Rejoice, O nations, with His people" (v. 43), is quoted by Paul in Romans 15:10 to show "that the Gentiles must also glorify God for His mercy" — Ellicott cites it directly. The LXX's expanded text of this verse adds "let all the angels of God worship Him," which Hebrews 1:6 applies to the Son. Both are Greek (or LXX) renderings of the Hebrew, so neither is tiered "verbal" on shared Strong's numbers. Confirmed explicit citations, tiered structural; the Hebrews 1:6 link rests on the LXX/expanded text and is noted as such.
Deuteronomy 32:43 · Romans 15:10 · Hebrews 1:6
basis: explicit NT citations recorded by Ellicott — Rom 15:10 quotes 'Rejoice, O nations, with His people' (v.43); Heb 1:6 uses the LXX-expanded line 'let all the angels of God worship Him.' Cross-Testament (Greek/LXX↔Hebrew), so structural on the citation, not 'verbal'; the Heb 1:6 link depends on the LXX text and is flagged accordingly.
Among the "arrows" of judgment is qeṭeḇ mərîrî, "bitter plague" (v. 24). The word qeṭeḇ (H6986) is rare (3 OT verses), and it recurs in Psalm 91:6 ("the plague [qeṭeḇ] that destroys at noonday") and Isaiah 28:2. The Verifier confirms the shared rare lexeme. The same destroying-plague the Song unleashes in judgment, Psalm 91 promises the one who shelters in God will not fear — a pointed counterpoint. A distinctive shared word, tiered verbal on its rarity.
Deuteronomy 32:24 · Psalm 91:6 · Isaiah 28:2
basis: shared rare lexeme H6986 qeṭeb (only 3 vv: here, Ps 91:6, Isa 28:2) — Verifier-computed; a distinctive plague-word, not a directional quotation, but verbal on its rarity.
The doom-vine of vv. 32-33 — "clusters of bitterness (mərōrāh)... the poison (rôš) of cobras (peṯen)" — shares its distinctive moral botany with Zophar's portrait of the wicked man in Job 20: "it is the gall of asps (peṯen) within him... he shall suck the poison (rôš) of asps" (Job 20:14, 16). The Verifier records the shared rare lexemes mərōrāh ("bitterness," only 4 OT verses; v. 32 ↔ Job 20:14) and peṯen ("cobra/asp," only 6 verses) with rôš ("poison"; v. 33 ↔ Job 20:16). Two independent poems reach for the same uncommon vocabulary to picture evil as a venom that turns its own carrier's food and drink to death — a distinctive shared word-set, not a directional quotation, tiered verbal on the rarity of mərōrāh and peṯen.
Deuteronomy 32:32 · Deuteronomy 32:33 · Job 20:14 · Job 20:16
basis: shared rare lexemes H4846 mᵉrôrâh (only 4 vv; v.32 ↔ Job 20:14) and H6620 pethen (only 6 vv) with H7219 rôʼsh (v.33 ↔ Job 20:16) — Verifier-computed; the same uncommon poison-and-asp vocabulary for the inward venom of the wicked. A distinctive shared word-set, not a directional quotation, but verbal on its rarity.
The Song's signature title ṣūr, "the Rock" (v. 4, and vv. 15, 18, 30, 31, 37), recurs as a divine name across the canon — notably 1 Samuel 2:2 ("neither is there any rock like our God") and Psalm 18:2 ("the LORD is my rock"). The Verifier confirms the shared ṣūr (73 vv) in both pairings (with ʼêl, "God," in Ps 18:2). Barnes notes the title "repeated no less than five times in the Song." The link is the shared use of a divine epithet, a pattern rather than a quotation; tiered structural.
Deuteronomy 32:4 · 1 Samuel 2:2 · Psalm 18:2
basis: shared lexeme H6697 tsûwr (73 vv), with H410 ʼêl in Ps 18:2 — Verifier-computed; the Rock-title used of God across the canon. A shared divine epithet (a pattern), not a quotation, so structural.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The PD tradition reads the Song's central title, ṣūr ("the Rock," vv. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31), as finding its fullness in Christ. Charles Ellicott traces it: "The word occurs first in Exodus 17, where the Rock in Horeb was smitten; \"and that Rock was Christ\"" (1 Cor 10:4) — and argues that because the LXX so often renders ṣūr simply as "God," "the Petra of Matthew 16:18 could only have been understood by Jews as denoting Deity; and that it not only referred to Christ, but to Christ as God." Matthew Henry reads the Rock as "the Divine power, faithfulness, and love, as revealed in Christ and the gospel." That the Rock here is also "the Rock of his salvation" (yəshûʻāh, v. 15) — the noun behind the name Jesus — the tradition does not let pass unnoticed. This reading is ancient and widely held, anchored in Paul's own identification (1 Cor 10:4); the apparatus notes it is a typological reading drawn forward, not a claim that the Hebrew text names Christ.
Deuteronomy 32:4 · Deuteronomy 32:15 · Deuteronomy 32:18 · 1 Corinthians 10:4 · Matthew 16:18
The Song's monotheistic summit, "See now that I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal" (v. 39), is read by the tradition as the ground of the divine self-disclosure that runs through Isaiah (41:4; 43:10, "I am He") to the Gospel of John. The Pulpit Commentary hears the very phrase echoed in Christ's mouth: the Hebrew "See now that I, I am" it places beside "John 8:24, 18:5" — Jesus' "I am." Ellicott connects "I kill, and I make alive" to the resurrection power claimed by Christ. The reading is that the One who alone gives life and heals, and who alone cannot be resisted ("none can deliver from My hand"), is the same who in the Gospel says "I am He" and raises the dead. This is a widely-held canonical-resonance reading; the apparatus marks that the link from the Hebrew ʼănî hū to the Greek egō eimi is a theological resonance across the Testaments, not a shared-lexeme quotation.
Deuteronomy 32:39 · Isaiah 43:10 · John 8:24 · 1 Samuel 2:6
The Song's final summons, "Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God's angels worship Him" (v. 43, following the LXX's expanded text), is applied directly to Christ in Hebrews 1:6: "And let all the angels of God worship Him." Ellicott records the LXX line and its New Testament use. Paul meanwhile takes the same verse's "Rejoice, O nations, with His people" (Rom 15:10) as the charter for Gentile praise in Christ. So the tradition reads the Song's close — the avenging of the servants' blood and the cleansing (kipper, "atonement") of the land — as opening toward the worship of the Son by angels and the joy of the nations in Him. The apparatus flags two honesty points: this Christ-reading rests on the expanded LXX text of v. 43 (not the shorter Masoretic Hebrew), and the link is cross-Testament (Greek/LXX to Hebrew), so it cannot be a shared-Strong's verbal link. It is a widely-held reading grounded in an explicit New Testament citation of the Greek text.
Deuteronomy 32:43 · Hebrews 1:6 · Romans 15:10
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
This unit is monolingual Hebrew (the Song of Moses, Deut 32:1-47); every parse and Strong's number is from the Berean/Strong's base and is not contradicted here. Several honesty notes are specific to this unit:
1. The "sons of Israel / sons of God" variant (v. 8) is a real textual divergence, not a translation choice. The Strong's base for this unit reads bənê yiśrāʼêl (H3478), "sons of Israel" — the Masoretic Text. BSB instead prints "sons of God," following the Qumran scroll 4QDeut and the Septuagint ("angels of God"). The PD voices (Barnes, the Pulpit, Keil & Delitzsch, Cambridge) all discuss the LXX reading, most treating it as a later interpretive gloss. The synthesis records the divergence rather than silently choosing a side; the parse follows the MT, the BSB text follows the older witnesses.
2. The New Testament cross-references are cross-Testament and therefore never tiered "verbal." The Song's apostolic citations — "a no-people" (v. 21 → Rom 10:19), "Vengeance is Mine" (v. 35 → Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30, with v. 36), "Rejoice, O nations" (v. 43 → Rom 15:10), and "let all the angels worship Him" (v. 43 LXX → Heb 1:6), and "sacrificed to demons" (v. 17 → 1 Cor 10:20) — all link Greek text to Hebrew text. The Verifier's shared-Strong's method cannot operate across languages, so none of these is tiered "verbal." They are confirmed structural on the explicit, verbatim-recorded PD citations.
3. The Hebrews 1:6 / Romans 15:10 Christ-reading of v. 43 rests on the expanded Septuagint text, not the shorter Masoretic Hebrew. The lines "Rejoice, ye heavens, with Him, and let all the angels of God worship Him... and let all the sons of God be strong in Him" are present in the LXX (and quoted in the New Testament) but absent from the MT this unit parses. The apparatus surfaces this so the Christ-link is not mistaken for a reading of the Hebrew before us.
4. Several lines are genuine textual or lexical cruxes, and the synthesis declines to feign certainty. Verse 5 ("not His children, their blemish") is called "corrupt" and "overloaded" by Cambridge; verse 26's verb pāʼāh ("blow away / cut in pieces") is of "uncertain" meaning; verse 42's parʻôṯ ("long-haired leaders" vs. "acts of vengeance") is openly disputed among the PD scholars. Where the text or lexicon is in doubt, the divergence-notes say so rather than over-claim. The Verbal-tier cross-references (vv. 17, 22, 5, 24) rest on Verifier-computed shared rare Hebrew lexemes (shêd, qādaḥ/yāqad, ʻiqqêš, qeṭeḇ); the structural-tier links rest on shared motifs or higher-frequency shared words, and the cross-Testament links rest on explicit recorded citations.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)