The days of old: the Lord's portion, Jacob found in the wilderness, and the Lord alone leading him (Deuteronomy 32:7–14)

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.