Deuteronomy 32:1–43: The Song of Moses

Says The text presents the Song as Moses' words. "Then Moses recited aloud to the whole assembly of Israel the words of this song from beginning to end" (31:30, BSB), and afterward "Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people" (32:44, BSB).

Says The Song opens by summoning heaven and earth (32:1) and closes with a call to rejoice (32:43). It moves from the Lord's faithfulness and his care for Jacob (32:4–14), to Israel's apostasy (32:15–18), the Lord's judgment (32:19–25), his restraint and vengeance (32:26–35), and his vindication of his people (32:36–43).

Says "Rock" names God through the Song (32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31), and the same word is used of the other gods in 32:31 and 32:37; see the Hebrew note on 32:1–6.

Structure. 32:1–6, the summons and the Rock; 32:7–14, the Most High's allotment and care for Jacob, with a note on 32:8–9; 32:15–18, Jeshurun's apostasy; 32:19–25, the Lord's judgment; 32:26–35, restraint and vengeance; 32:36–43, vindication and the closing call to praise; then the frame (31:30; 32:44–47).

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.1-Deut.32.43.overview

Deuteronomy 32:1–6: The summons and the Rock

¹ Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. ² Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants. ³ For I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God! ⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He. ⁵ His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the blemish on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation. ⁶ Is 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? (BSB)

Says "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth" (32:1, BSB). Moses had said he would "call heaven and earth to witness against them" (31:28, BSB), so heaven and earth are summoned as witnesses. Deuteronomy uses the same summons in 4:26 and 30:19; see the historical note on heaven and earth as witnesses.

Uncertain Whether the Song follows a covenant-lawsuit form. This commentary leans, with the Hebrew note on 32:1–6, that it echoes one: heaven and earth are summoned as hearers, and 32:5–6 charge the people with corruption against their Father. The alternative is a teaching poem that uses legal language, since 32:2 calls the Song לִקְחִי (liqkhi, "my teaching"). The historical note sets out the prophetic and psalm summonses (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:2; Ps 50:4) and takes no position on the form.

Says "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just" (32:4, BSB). "His people have acted corruptly toward Him" (32:5, BSB), the verb of Moses' warning that they "will become utterly corrupt" (31:29, BSB).

Says The Hebrew of 32:5 is hard, and the BSB smooths it. The Greek and the Aramaic Targum construe the same Hebrew words differently, so no different Hebrew text is shown and no textual record is made; see the textual note on 32:43, which also covers 32:5.

Uncertain Whether קָּנֶךָ (qanekha, 32:6) means "created you" or "acquired you." This commentary leans to "created," with the Hebrew note, beside "made you" and "established you" in the same verse (BSB "Father and Creator"). The alternative is "acquired," Israel as the Lord's own people (32:9).

Uncertain Whether Phil 2:15 alludes to "a perverse and crooked generation" (32:5, BSB). No lean is taken; the wording has not been compared here.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.1-Deut.32.6.summons-and-the-rock

Cross-references: xref.Deut.32.5.Phil.2.15.exeg.

Deuteronomy 32:7–14: Allotment and care

⁷ Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you. ⁸ When 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. ⁹ But the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance. ¹⁰ He 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. ¹¹ As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions. ¹² The Lord alone led him, and no foreign god was with him. ¹³ He 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, ¹⁴ with 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. (BSB)

Says "Remember the days of old" (32:7, BSB). The Lord "found him in a desert land" and "guarded him as the apple of His eye" (32:10, BSB). On 32:8–9 see the doctrinal note below.

Says "As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions" (32:11, BSB).

Uncertain How far the eagle image runs. This commentary leans, with the Hebrew note on 32:10–14, that the whole verse keeps the eagle as subject, so the spreading and carrying picture the Lord's care through the bird. The alternative is that the second half already speaks of the Lord himself, the subject named in 32:12, since "catch" and "carry" take singular objects as Israel is singular in 32:10, while the young are plural.

Says "The Lord alone led him, and no foreign god was with him" (32:12, BSB). He "fed him the produce of the field" and "nourished him with honey from the rock" (32:13, BSB). In 32:13 the WLC prints a ketiv with its qere ("heights"); the sense is the same.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.7-Deut.32.14.allotment-and-care

Doctrinal note: the Most High and the nations (32:8–9)

Says "When 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" (32:8, BSB). "But the Lord’s portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance" (32:9, BSB). The noun "inheritance" in 32:9 shares its root with the verb "gave … their inheritance" in 32:8.

The text printed here at 32:8 reads "sons of God," as the BSB does, with medium confidence (see the textual note on 32:8). That is the reading of the Qumran scroll 4QDeutʲ, as reported in White Crawford (VT 58, pp. 355, 357), Sommer (p. 1), and Goldstein (Tarbiz 85/1, p. 5); the Septuagint has "angels of God." The named alternative is the Masoretic "sons of Israel," which the Aramaic Targum Onqelos shares. See also the Greek note on 32:8–9.

Uncertain Who the "sons" of 32:8 are, and how the Most High relates to the Lord in 32:8–9. This commentary takes no lean. The verses set the two names in successive lines without stating their relation, and the answer depends partly on the reading adopted. The main views, by reference: - Heavenly beings of God's council, set over the nations, while the Lord keeps Jacob as his own portion. Grounds: the "sons of God" reading, the council texts (Job 1:6; Ps 82:1), and Deut 4:19–20. Heiser sets out the council reading (BSac 158 [2001], pp. 59–60). Early Jewish texts speak of angels or spirits set over the nations (Sir 17:17; Jub 15:31–32; see the historical note). - The nations ordered with Israel in view, on the Masoretic "sons of Israel." Keil reads 32:8 this way (Pentateuch, vol. 3, pp. 469–470). The reading rests on the MT, which the Targum Onqelos shares; Keil grounds it in God's ordering of the nations as they were formed and spread over the earth (Gen 10:32; 11:9), so that Israel would receive a land proportioned to its numbers, and in Israel as the Lord's chosen portion (32:9; Deut 7:6; 10:15; Exod 19:5). Driver reads the verse the same way, as reserving a home for Israel adequate to its numbers (Deuteronomy, p. 355). - A later Jewish reading matched the seventy nations of Gen 10 with the seventy souls of Jacob's family (Gen 46:27; compare Exod 1:5). Driver describes it as an idea of "the later Jews" (pp. 355–356), and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan has it, with lots cast with seventy angels and the boundaries set by the seventy souls of Israel (Etheridge, Targums, vol. 2, p. 662).

Uncertain On how the Most High relates to the Lord there are two views; this commentary takes no lean between them: - The Most High is the Lord himself. Grounds: "Most High" is a poetic title of Israel's God (Driver, p. 355); the Lord is given El-type names just before, in 32:6–7; the Song is the Lord's own charge as judge (the lawsuit form); and in Deut 4:19–20 the Lord himself allots the host of heaven to the nations and takes Israel. Heiser argues this view (HIPHIL 3 [2006], pp. 6–7). - The Most High is a high god distinct from the Lord, who receives Jacob as his own share when the Most High divides the nations. Grounds: "Most High" is taken as the title of El, the god who presides over the divine assembly; the two names stand in successive lines without a stated relation; and כִּי in 32:9 is read as adversative ("But the Lord’s portion is His people," 32:9, BSB), which sets the Lord's share against the Most High's apportioning. Heiser sets out this view and argues against it (HIPHIL 3 [2006], p. 6); on the כִּי he replies that other scholars read it as emphatic, so that a conclusion resting on the adversative reading is not secure (p. 7).

Says The Song confesses that "The Lord alone led him, and no foreign god was with him" (32:12, BSB), and the Lord says, "See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me" (32:39, BSB).

Uncertain How 32:12 and 32:39 relate to the "gods" or heavenly beings of 32:8 (on the reading printed), 32:17, 32:37, and 32:43. This commentary takes no lean.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.8-Deut.32.9.most-high-and-nations

Deuteronomy 32:15–18: Jeshurun's apostasy

¹⁵ But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation. ¹⁶ They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations. ¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear. ¹⁸ You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth. (BSB)

Says "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked" and "abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation" (32:15, BSB). The Hebrew turns to "you" in the middle of the line. The Septuagint adds "and Jacob ate and was filled."

The text printed here follows the MT without the addition, with medium confidence (see the textual note on 32:15).

Says "They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods" (32:16, BSB). "They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known" (32:17, BSB). לַשֵּׁדִים (lashedim, "to demons") is a rare word, found again in Ps 106:37; BDB takes it as a loanword from Assyrian (pp. 993–994). See the Hebrew note on 32:15–18 and the historical note on the demons and new gods.

Says "You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth" (32:18, BSB).

Uncertain Whether Paul alludes to 32:17 in 1 Cor 10:20. This commentary leans, with the Greek note on 32:17, that he does: the same pairing of "demons" and "not God" comes in a passage that moves from Israel's idolatry to pagan sacrifice and speaks two verses later of provoking the Lord to jealousy (1 Cor 10:22; compare Deut 32:21). The alternative is that the pairing was a common way of speaking about idol sacrifice, since Ps 106:37 uses it too.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.15-Deut.32.18.jeshurun-apostasy

Cross-references: xref.Deut.32.17.1Cor.10.20.exeg.

Deuteronomy 32:19–25: The Lord's judgment

¹⁹ When the Lord saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters. ²⁰ He 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. ²¹ They 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. ²² For 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. ²³ I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend My arrows against them. ²⁴ They 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. ²⁵ Outside, 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. (BSB)

Says "I will hide My face from them" (32:20, BSB). "They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God" and "So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people" (32:21, BSB): measure for measure, a "no-god" answered by a "no-people." Fire, disasters, arrows, hunger, and the sword follow (32:22–25).

Uncertain Who the "no-people" (בְּלֹא־עָם, belo-'am) are. This commentary leans, with the Hebrew note on 32:19–25, to a foreign nation used in judgment, since the parallel line calls it "a nation without understanding" (32:21, BSB) and 32:22–25 describe war. The alternative is a wider reference to the nations as such, since neither line names a particular people.

Says Rom 10:19 quotes 32:21b. It follows the Septuagint word for word, including "not a nation" for the Hebrew "not a people," with two changes: "I" for "and I," and "you" for "them" twice. See the cross-reference note on Rom 10:19.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.19-Deut.32.25.the-lords-judgment

Cross-references: xref.Deut.32.21.Rom.10.19.exeg.

Deuteronomy 32:26–35: Restraint and vengeance

²⁶ I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind, ²⁷ if 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.’” ²⁸ Israel is a nation devoid of counsel, with no understanding among them. ²⁹ If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate. ³⁰ How 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? ³¹ For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede. ³² But their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter. ³³ Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras. ³⁴ “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults? ³⁵ Vengeance 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.” (BSB)

Says The Lord would have blotted out their memory "if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy" (32:27, BSB), lest they say, "Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the Lord who did all this" (32:27, BSB).

Uncertain Whether 32:28–29 speak of Israel or of the enemy. The Hebrew does not name the nation; the BSB's "Israel" is an interpretive addition. Israel is called foolish in 32:6, but the enemy is the subject of 32:27, and 32:31 speaks of "their rock." This commentary takes no lean, with the Hebrew note on 32:26–35.

Says "For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede" (32:31, BSB). "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay" (32:35, BSB). The Hebrew reads "Mine are vengeance and recompense," with a noun where the BSB has "I will repay." The Septuagint has "in the day of vengeance I will repay."

The text printed here follows the MT, with medium confidence (see the textual note on 32:35).

Says Rom 12:19 and Heb 10:30 quote 32:35 as Ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις, ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω ("vengeance is mine, I will repay," literal). "Mine" agrees with the Hebrew against the Septuagint, and "I will repay" shares the Septuagint's verb. Rom 12:19 adds "says the Lord," which neither text of 32:35 has. See the cross-reference notes on Rom 12:19 and Heb 10:30.

Uncertain Where the shared form comes from. This commentary leans, with the cross-reference note on Rom 12:19, to a Greek wording Paul shared rather than coined, since Hebrews has the same words. The alternative is Paul's own rendering of the Hebrew with the Septuagint's verb.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.26-Deut.32.35.restraint-and-vengeance

Cross-references: xref.Deut.32.35.Rom.12.19.exeg; xref.Deut.32.35.Heb.10.30.exeg.

Deuteronomy 32:36–43: Vindication and praise

³⁶ For 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. ³⁷ He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, ³⁸ which 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! ³⁹ See 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. ⁴⁰ For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, ⁴¹ when 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. ⁴² I 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.” ⁴³ Rejoice, 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. (BSB)

Says "For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone" (32:36, BSB).

Uncertain Whether יָדִין (yadin, 32:36) means "vindicate" or "judge." This commentary leans, with the Hebrew note on 32:36–39, to "vindicate," because the parallel line speaks of compassion on his servants when their strength is gone. The alternative is "judge," reading the verse as the start of the judgment of 32:37–43. Heb 10:30 quotes the line in a warning to God's people (Heb 10:26–31), where it is read as "will judge"; the Greek matches both the Septuagint and the Hebrew word for word, without the opening "for."

Says "Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge" (32:37, BSB). "See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal" (32:39, BSB).

Uncertain Whether "I bring death and I give life" (32:39) points to resurrection. This commentary leans, with the Hebrew note, to its plain sense: God's sovereign power over life and death and his restoring of his people, given the parallel "I wound and I heal" and the restoration in 32:36–43. The alternative, taken up by later Jewish and Christian readers, is that it speaks of raising the dead; the wording allows it, since the one who kills is then the one who makes alive.

Says The Lord swears by himself, "As surely as I live forever" (32:40, BSB), and will "repay those who hate Me" (32:41, BSB).

Says The MT of 32:43 has four lines; the Septuagint has eight, and the BSB follows a longer text ("Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him," 32:43, BSB).

The text printed here keeps the MT in all three units: the single call to the nations (low confidence), no "worship him" line (low confidence), and "his land, his people" (medium confidence). See the textual notes on 32:43, the minor variants in 32:43, and the Greek note on the eight lines.

Uncertain Whether וְכִפֶּר (vekhipper, 32:43) means "cleanse" or "atone for." This commentary leans, with the Hebrew note on 32:40–43, to "cleanse," as the BSB has it ("He will cleanse His land and His people," 32:43, BSB), since its object is the land after the blood is avenged. The alternative is "make atonement for," taking the shed blood as something to be expiated; the Aramaic Targum reads it so.

Says Rom 15:10 quotes the third line of the Septuagint, Εὐφράνθητε, ἔθνη, μετὰ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ ("rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people," literal), word for word; the Hebrew has no word for "with." See the cross-reference note on Rom 15:10.

Uncertain Which text Heb 1:6 quotes: Καὶ προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι θεοῦ ("and let all the angels of God worship him," literal). This commentary leans, with the cross-reference note on Heb 1:6, to the Song in a Greek form like F's (a Septuagint manuscript whose reading Swete logs) or the Odes (Odes 2:43): "and" and the third-person verb match it, while Ps 96:7 (97:7 MT) is second person with "his angels." The alternative is Ps 96:7, with Hebrews 1 quoting the Psalms elsewhere. The Hebrew of Deut 32:43 has no such line.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Deut.32.36-Deut.32.43.vindication-and-praise

Cross-references: xref.Deut.32.36.Heb.10.30.exeg; xref.Deut.32.43.Rom.15.10.exeg; xref.Deut.32.43.Heb.1.6.exeg.

The frame: the Song recited and Moses' charge

⁴⁴ Then Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. ⁴⁵ When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶ he 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. ⁴⁷ For 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.” (BSB)

Says The Song is framed by its recitation: "Then Moses recited aloud to the whole assembly of Israel the words of this song from beginning to end" (31:30, BSB), and "Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people" (32:44, BSB). See xref.Deut.32.44.Deut.31.30.heb.

Says Moses charges Israel, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day" (32:46, BSB), "because they are your life" (32:47, BSB).

This summary repeats the conclusions above. It adds no new argument.

• Says The text presents the Song as Moses' (31:30; 32:44). Heaven and earth are summoned as witnesses (32:1; 31:28). The Lord is the Rock (32:4). The Most High apportioned the nations, and the Lord's portion is Jacob (32:8–9); the textual witnesses differ at 32:8. The Lord alone led Israel (32:12), and there is no god besides him (32:39). Jeshurun abandoned the Rock and sacrificed to demons (32:15–18). The Lord judges (32:19–25), restrains his hand and claims vengeance (32:26–35), and vindicates his people (32:36–43). Rom 10:19, Rom 12:19, Heb 10:30 (twice), and Rom 15:10 quote the Song.
• Uncertain With a lean: the covenant-lawsuit form (echoed); 32:6 "created"; the eagle as subject of all of 32:11; the "no-people" as a foreign nation; 32:36 "vindicate"; 32:39 in its plain sense rather than resurrection; 32:43 "cleanse"; the shared form of Rom 12:19 and Heb 10:30; 1 Cor 10:20 as an allusion to 32:17; Heb 1:6 from the Song in a Greek form like F's or the Odes. With no lean: who the sons of 32:8 are and how the Most High relates to the Lord; how 32:12 and 32:39 relate to the "gods" of the Song; whether 32:28–29 speak of Israel or the enemy; Phil 2:15 as an allusion to 32:5.
• Textual choices: the text printed here reads "sons of God" at 32:8 (medium confidence) and keeps the MT at 32:15, 32:35 (medium) and in all three units of 32:43 (low, low, medium); see the textual notes.