I will hide my face: jealousy answered with jealousy, and the judgments sent (Deuteronomy 32:19–25)

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.