The Most High, the nations, and the Lord's portion (Deuteronomy 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.