Text -- Deuteronomy 32:1-7 (NET)

Invocation of Witnesses

32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain, my sayings will drip like the dew, as rain drops upon the grass, and showers upon new growth. 32:3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; you must acknowledge the greatness of our God. 32:4 As for the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. He is a reliable God who is never unjust, he is fair and upright. 32:5 His people have been unfaithful to him; they have not acted like his children– this is their sin. They are a perverse and deceitful generation. 32:6 Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish, unwise people? Is he not your father, your creator? He has made you and established you. 32:7 Remember the ancient days; bear in mind the years of past generations. Ask your father and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Deu 32:1

You lifeless and senseless creatures, which he calls upon partly to accuse the stupidity of Israel, that were more dull of hearing than these: and partly as witnesses of the truth of his sayings and the justice of God's proceedings against them.

Wesley: Deu 32:2

Look what effect rain and dew have upon herbs and grass which they make fresh and fragrant and growing, the same effect may my discourse have upon your hearts, that is, to make them soft and pliable and fruitful.

Wesley: Deu 32:3

His glorious excellencies 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 befals you, and that it is gross madness to forsake such a God for dumb idols.

Wesley: Deu 32:3

As I am about to publish the majesty and glory of God, so do you also acknowledge it.

Wesley: Deu 32:4

As for the stability of his nature, and invincibleness of his power, so also for his fixedness and immutability in his counsels and promises and ways; so that is there shall be a sad change in your affairs, remember that this proceeds from yourselves and from the change of your ways towards God, and not from God, in whom there is no variableness or shadow of change, Jam 1:17.

Wesley: Deu 32:4

All his works and actions are unblameable, perfect, wise and righteous.

Wesley: Deu 32:4

All his administrations in the world and particularly with you are managed with wisdom and justice.

Wesley: Deu 32:4

Constant to his promises: you cannot accuse him of any unfaithfulness to this day.

Wesley: Deu 32:5

The Israelites.

Wesley: Deu 32:5

The wickedness with which they are stained, is not of his children - Plainly shews they are not his children, but the devil's. God's children have no such spot. Indeed this text does not affirm, they have any spot at all.

Wesley: Deu 32:5

Froward and untractable: Crooked - Irregular and disorderly.

Wesley: Deu 32:6

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! Bought thee - That hath redeemed thee from Egyptian bondage.

Wesley: Deu 32:6

Not only in a general by creation, but in a peculiar manner by making thee his peculiar people.

Wesley: Deu 32:6

That is, renewed and confirmed his favour to thee, and not taken it away, which thou hast often provoked him to do.

Wesley: Deu 32:7

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.

JFB: Deu 32:1

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.

JFB: Deu 32:2-3

The language may justly be taken as uttered in the form of a wish or prayer, and the comparison of wholesome instruction to the pure, gentle, and insinuating influence of rain or dew, is frequently made by the sacred writers (Isa 5:6; Isa 55:10-11).

JFB: Deu 32:4

A word expressive of power and stability. The application of it in this passage is to declare that God had been true to His covenant with their fathers and them. Nothing that He had promised had failed; so that if their national experience had been painfully checkered by severe and protracted trials, notwithstanding the brightest promises, that result was traceable to their own undutiful and perverse conduct; not to any vacillation or unfaithfulness on the part of God (Jam 1:17), whose procedure was marked by justice and judgment, whether they had been exalted to prosperity or plunged into the depths of affliction.

JFB: Deu 32:5

That is, the Israelites by their frequent lapses and their inveterate attachment to idolatry.

JFB: Deu 32:5

This is an allusion to the marks which idolaters inscribe on their foreheads or their arms with paint or other substances, in various colors and forms--straight, oval, or circular, according to the favorite idol of their worship.

JFB: Deu 32:6

Or emancipated thee from Egyptian bondage.

JFB: Deu 32:6

Advanced the nation to unprecedented and peculiar privileges.

Clarke: Deu 32:1

On the inimitable excellence of this ode much has been written by commentators, critics, and poets - and it is allowed by the best judges to contain a specimen of almost every species of excellence in composition. It is so thoroughly poetic that even the dull Jews themselves found they could not write it in the prose form; and hence it is distinguished as poetry in every Hebrew Bible by being written in its own hemistichs or short half lines, which is the general form of the Hebrew poetry; and were it translated in the same way it would be more easily understood. The song itself has suffered both by transcribers and translators, the former having mistaken some letters in different places, and made wrong combinations of them in others. As to the translators, most of them have followed their own fancy, from good Mr. Ainsworth, who ruined it by the most inanimate rhyming version, to certain latter poets, who have cast it unhallowedly into a European mould. See the observations at the end of the chapter, Deu 32:52

Clarke: Deu 32:1

Give ear, O ye heavens - Let angels and men hear, and let this testimony of God be registered both in heaven and earth. Heaven and earth are appealed to as permanent witnesses.

Clarke: Deu 32:2

My doctrine - לקחי likchi , from לקח lakach , to take, carry away; to attract or gain over the heart by eloquence or persuasive speech

Hence the Septuagint translate the word αποφθεγμα, an apophthegm, a sententious and weighty saying, for the regulation of the moral conduct such, properly, are the sayings in this inimitable ode

Clarke: Deu 32:2

Shall drop as the rain - It shall come drop by drop as the shower, beginning slowly and distinctly, but increasing more and more till the plenitude of righteousness is poured down, and the whole canon of Divine revelation completed

Clarke: Deu 32:2

My speech shall distil as the dew - אמרתי imrathi ; my familiar, friendly, and affectionate speeches shall descend gently and softly, on the ear and the heart, as the dew, moistening and refreshing all around. In hot regions dew is often a substitute for rain, without it there could be no fertility, especially in those places where rain seldom falls. And in such places only can the metaphor here used be felt in its perfection. Homer uses a similar figure when speaking of the eloquence of Ulysses; he says, Il. iii., ver. 221: -

Αλλ ’ ὁτε δη ῥοπα τε μεγαλην εκ στηθεος ἱει,

Και επεα νιφαδεσσιν εοικοτα χειμεριῃσιν -

"But when he speaks what elocution flows

Soft as the fleeces of descending snows.

On the manner in which dew is produced, philosophers are not yet agreed. It was long supposed to descend, and to differ only from rain as less from more; but the experiments of a French chemist seemed to prove that dew ascended in light thin vapours, and that, meeting with a colder region of the air, it became condensed and fell down upon the earth. Other recent experiments, though they have not entirely invalidated the former, have rendered the doctrine of the ascent of dew doubtful. Though we know nothing certain as to the manner of its production, yet we know that the thing exists, and that it is essentially useful. So much we know of the sayings of our God, and the blessed effects produced by them: God hath spoken, and the entering in of his words gives light and life. See the note on Gen 2:6

Clarke: Deu 32:2

As the small rain - שעירם seirim , from שער saar , to be rough or tempestuous; sweeping showers, accompanied with a strong gale of wind

Clarke: Deu 32:2

And as the showers - רביבים rebibim , from רבה rabah to multiply, to increase greatly; shower after shower, or rather a continual rain, whose drops are multiplied beyond calculation, upon the earth; alluding perhaps to the rainy seasons in the East, or to those early and latter rains so essentially necessary for the vegetation and perfection of the grain

No doubt these various expressions point out that great variety in the word or revelation of God whereby it is suited to every place, occasion, person, and state; being "profitable for doctrine, reproof, and edification in righteousness."Hence the apostle says that God, at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, and in these last times has spoken unto us by his Son; Heb 1:1, Heb 1:2. By every prophet, evangelist, and apostle, God speaks a particular language; all is his doctrine, his great system of instruction, for the information and salvation of the souls of men. But some portions are like the sweeping showers, in which the tempest of God’ s wrath appears against sinners. Others are like the incessant showers of gentle rain, preparing the soil for the germination of the grain, and causing it to take root. And others still are like the dew, mildly and gently insinuating convictions, persuasions, reproofs, and consolations. The preacher of righteousness who wishes to handle this word profitably, must attend closely to those distinctions, that he may rightly divide the word of truth, and give each of his hearers his portion of the bread of life in due season.

Clarke: Deu 32:4

He is the Rock - The word צור tsur is rendered Creator by some eminent critics; and khalyk is the reading in the Arabic Version. Rab. Moses ben Maimon, in his valuable work, Moreh Nebochim, observes that the word צור tsur , which is ordinarily translated rock, signifies origin, fountain, first cause, etc., and in this way it should be translated here: "He is the first principle, his work is perfect."As he is the cause of all things, he must be infinitely perfect; and consequently all his works must be perfect in their respective kinds. As is the cause, so must the effect be. Some think the word rock gives a very good sense: for, as in those lands, rocks were the ordinary places of defense and security, God may be metaphorically represented thus, to signify his protection of his followers. I prefer the opinion of Maimon.

Clarke: Deu 32:5

Their spot is not the spot of his children - This verse is variously translated and variously understood. They are corrupted, not his, children of pollution - Kennicott. They are corrupt, they are not his children, they are blotted - Houbigant. This is according to the Samaritan. The interpretation commonly given to these words is as unfounded as it is exceptionable: "God’ s children have their spots, i. e., their sins, but sin in them is not like sin in others; in others sin is exceedingly sinful, but God does not see the sins of his children as he sees the sins of his enemies,"etc. Unfortunately for this bad doctrine, there is no foundation for it in the sacred text, which, though very obscure, may be thus translated: He (Israel) hath corrupted himself. They (the Israelites) are not his children: they are spotted. Coverdale renders the whole passage thus: "The froward and overthwart generation have marred themselves to himward, and are not his children because of their deformity."This is the sense of the verse. Let it be observed that the word spot, which is repeated in our translation, occurs but once in the original, and the marginal reading is greatly to be preferred: He hath corrupted to himself, that they are not his children; that is their blot. And because they had the blot of sin on them, because they were spotted with iniquity and marked idolaters, therefore God renounces them. There may be here an allusion to the marks which the worshippers of particular idols had on different parts of their bodies, especially on their foreheads; and as idolatry is the crime with which they are here charged, the spot or mark mentioned may refer to the mark or stigma of their idol. The different sects of idolaters in the East are distinguished by their sectarian marks, the stigma of their respective idols. These sectarian marks, particularly on the forehead, amount to nearly one hundred among the Hindoos, and especially among the two sects, the worshippers of Seeva, and the worshippers of Vishnoo. In many cases these marks are renewed daily, for they account it irreligious to perform any sacred rite to their god without his mark on the forehead; the marks are generally horizontal and perpendicular lines, crescents, circles, leaves, eyes, etc., in red, black, white, and yellow. This very custom is referred to in Rev 20:4, where the beast gives his mark to his followers, and it is very likely that Moses refers to such a custom among the idolatrous of his own day. This removes all the difficulty of the text. God’ s children have no sinful spots, because Christ saves them from their sins; and their motto or mark is, Holiness to the Lord.

Calvin: Deu 32:1

1.Give ear, O ye heavens Moses commences in a strain of magnificence, lest the people should disdain this song with their usual pride, or even reject it altogether, being exasperated by its severe censures and reproaches. For we well know how the world naturally longs to be flattered, and that no strain can be gratifying to it unless it tickles and soothes the ear with praise. But Moses here not only inveighs bitterly against the vices of the people, but with the utmost possible vehemence stigmatizes their perverse nature, their utterly corrupt morals, their obstinate ingratitude, and incorrigible contumacy. Moreover, he desired that these accusations, whereby he rendered their name detestable, should daily echo from their tongues; and thus they became still more offensive. It was, therefore, requisite that their impatience should be bridled, as it were, in order that they might patiently and humbly receive these just reproofs, however severe they might be. If, therefore, they should repudiate this song, or should turn a deaf ear to it, he declares at the outset that heaven and earth would be witnesses of their prodigious obtuseness; nay, he turns and addresses himself to heaven and earth, and thus signifies that it was worthy of the attention of all creatures, even although they were without intelligence or feeling. For it is a hyperbolical mode of expression, when he assigns the faculty of hearing, and being instructed, to the senseless elements; just as Isaiah, when he would intimate that he found none to give heed to him amongst the whole people, in like manner appeals to the heavens and the earth, and even summons them to bear witness to the prodigious iniquity, that there should be less of intelligence amongst the whole people than in oxen and asses. (Isa 1:2.) For it is but a meager exposition, which some give of these words, that they are used, by metonymy, for angels and men. ²⁴⁷

Calvin: Deu 32:2

2.My doctrine shall drop as the rain Some, as I think improperly, here resolve the future tense into the optative mood, ²⁴⁸ for in this splendid eulogium he rather celebrates, in order to commend his doctrine, the fruitfulness ²⁴⁹ which is actually imparted to it by the Holy Spirit, than asks for it to be given to him; and my readers must at once perceive that such a request would have been by no means seasonable. He therefore compares his speech to rain or dew, as if he had said that, if only the people were like the soil in a state of softness and preparation, he would deliver doctrine to them which would irrigate them unto abundant fruitfulness.

Although this expression refers especially, and κατ ᾿ ἐξοχὴν to the Song, still its force and propriety extends to all divine teaching; for God never speaks except to render men fruitful in good works, just as, by instilling succulency and vigor into the earth by means of rain, He makes it fertile for the production of fruit. But, like the rocks and stones, which imbibe no moisture from the most abundant rains, so many are hindered by their own perversity from being fertilized by spiritual irrigation. Wherefore Moses indirectly throws the blame upon the Israelites, if the doctrine of this Song should drop upon them in vain.

Calvin: Deu 32:3

3.Because I will publish the name of the Lord He signifies by these words that, if there were any spark of piety in the Israelites, it must be manifested by their welcoming this address, wherein the majesty of God shines forth. The first clause of the verse, therefore, stands last in order, since it is an assignment of a reason for the other. For when he exhorts them that they should ascribe to God the glory He deserves, he inculcates upon them obedience and attention, as if he had said that, unless they reverently submit themselves to his teaching, God would be defrauded of this due honor; and this he confirms by adding as a reason that he will sincerely and faithfully publish the name of God. For the word invoke ²⁵⁰ is not used here as in many other passages, but is equivalent to making a profession of God. Moses, then, declares himself to be His proclaimer, in order that, under cover of His most Holy name, he may awaken attention to his words.

Calvin: Deu 32:4

4.His work is perfect Those who take these expressions generally, and without particular reference to this passage, not only obscure their meaning, but also lessen the force of the doctrine they contain. Let us, then, understand that the perfection of God’s works, the rectitude of His ways, etc., are contrasted with the rebellion of the people; for if there were anything ²⁵¹ in God’s works imperfect and in arranged, if His mode of dealing were deficient in rectitude, if His truth were doubtful; if, in a word, there were anything wanting, then there would have been a natural excuse why the people should have sought for something better than they found in Him, since the desire of obtaining that which is best is deserving of no reprehension. Lest, then, the Israelites should offer any such pretext, Moses anticipates them. Before he begins to treat of the wicked ingratitude of the people, he lays down this principle, that they were not induced to transfer their affections elsewhere by any deficiency in God. The general statement is indeed true in itself, and may be applied to various purposes; but we must consider what the object of Moses here is, namely, to remove from the people every pretext for their impious and perfidious rebellion, and this in order that their amazing folly may be more apparent, when they forsake the fountain of living waters, and hew them out cisterns with holes in them, as God himself complains in Jer 2:13. We perceive therefore, that every honorable distinction which is here attributed to God, brands the people with a corresponding mark of ignominy, in that they had knowingly and voluntarily deprived themselves of the plenitude of all good things, which might have been enjoyed by them had they not alienated themselves from God.

God’s work is spoken of, not only with reference to the creation of the world, but to the whole course of His providence; as if it were said that nothing could be discovered in God’s works which could be found fault with.

Now this perfection is not perceptible in every individual thing, for even vermin are God’s creatures; and amongst men some are blind, some lame, some deaf, and others mutilated in one of their members; and many fruits also never arrive at maturity. Yet we plainly see that it is foolish and misplaced to bring forward such questions as these as objections to the perfection of God, here celebrated by Moses, inasmuch as the very defects and blemishes of our bodies tend to this object, that God’s glory may be made manifest. (Joh 9:3.)

The next statement, that all his ways are right, ²⁵² conveys a similar truth; for it is well known that the word משפט , mishphat, is used for rectitude, and works and ways are synonymous.

The latter part of the verse is a confirmation of the former part, since Moses signifies in both that all who censure God may be clearly convicted of petulant impiety, since supreme justice shines forth in all His acts.

The words I have rendered, “God is truth,” others construe with the genitive case, “a God of truth.” Either is true, and agreeable to the usage of Scripture; but the apposition is more emphatic, which declares that God is not only true, but the Truth itself. At any rate, this applies to the persons who pay entire allegiance to the word of God, for their expectations shall never be frustrated. Thus the people are indirectly reproved for their unbelief, in that they deserted God, whose faithfulness was not only tried and proved, but who is the very fountain of truth.

Although what follows, that there is no iniquity in God, seems to some to have but little force, it is nevertheless of great importance; for we well know how often men are so absurd in their subterfuges, as in a manner to arraign God instead of themselves; and although they do not dare to accuse Him openly, still they do not hesitate to acquit themselves, and thus to cast direct obloquy upon Him. Elsewhere, therefore, God inquires by His Prophet, “what iniquity the people had found in Him?” (Jer 2:5,) and in another place expostulates with them, because He was loaded with their hatred and abuse, as if He dealt unjustly with such sinners. (Eze 18:2.) When, therefore, He vindicates Himself from such calumnies, it follows that no blame attaches itself to Him, but that the wickedness of those who turn away from Him is abundantly condemned.

Calvin: Deu 32:5

5.They have corrupted themselves Moses now inveighs unhesitatingly against the perfidy of the people, and gives loose to the most unmeasured upbraidings; for if God be just and true, then it was plain enough that the Israelites were a depraved and perverse nation. This perverse nation, he says, has corrupted itself towards Him, namely Him, whom he has just lauded for His perfect justice and faithfulness; and he accuses them of having basely prostituted to every sort of sin the chastity which they had promised to God. There is no doubt but that they were sorely wounded by these epithets, and would have been transported with rage, had they not seen that God’s incomparable servant, when he had now been called upon to die by God’s command, spoke as it were from heaven. The voice, therefore, of the dying man restrained their pride, so that they did not now dare to oppose him as a mortal; and afterwards, when the condemnation had been assented to by public authority, and by general accord, they were less at liberty to vent their madness against it. He introduces, by way of anticipation, the statement that they were not His children; for else they might obviously have made the objection that the sacred race of Abraham, which God had adopted, should be dealt with less reproachfully. Moses, therefore, declares that they are not children, because they are a perverse nation. For although their adoption always stood firm, still its efficacy was restricted to the elect part of them, so that God, without breaking His covenant, might reject the general body. But to explain the matter more clearly, it must be borne in mind that the Spirit, on different grounds, at one time assigns the name of God’s children to hypocrites, at another takes it away; for sometimes it is an aggravation of their criminality, when they are called the children of Abraham and Jacob as well as of God, an instance of which will soon occur. Here, however, in order that they may cease to glory without cause, they are said not to be children, because they are degenerate, and therefore disinherited by God, so as no longer to retain their honorable position. In this sense Moses declares that they are not children, as having cast off God from being their Father. It is added this was done with their spot (or disgrace; ²⁵³) unless it be thought preferable to take it that. they were corrupted by their spots, or by their sins, to which I willingly assent; although I do not reject the other sense, namely, that their alienation from God had rendered them ignominious, or that they had contracted the stain of disgrace by their faithlessness.

Calvin: Deu 32:6

6.Do ye thus requite the Lord In order to expose the ingratitude of the people to greater infamy, he now begins to commemorate the benefits whereby God had laid them under obligation to Himself: for the more liberally God deals with us, the more earnest ought to be the piety awakened in our hearts; nay, His goodness, as soon as we have tasted of it, ought to draw us at once to Him. Now God, although he has been always bountiful towards the whole human race, had, in a peculiar manner showered down an immense abundance of His bounty upon that people; this, then, Moses alleges, and shows how basely ungrateful they had been. He first expostulates with them interrogatively, asking them whether this was a fitting return for God’s especial blessings; and then proceeds to enumerate them. He inquires of them, then, whether God was not their father, from the time when He had honored them with the distinction of His adoption: and under this single head he comprehends many things, because from this source proceeded whatever blessings God had conferred upon them. Not, however, to examine every point with the accuracy it deserves, what more binding obligation could be imagined than that God should have chosen one nation for Himself out of the whole world, whose father He should be by special privilege? For, although all human beings, since they were created in the image of God, are sometimes called His children, still to be accounted His children was the special privilege of the sons of Abraham. And, in order to prove that this was not a natural, but an acquired dignity, Moses immediately afterwards explains in what way God was their Father: viz., that he purchased, made, and prepared them. The foundation and origin, then, was the gratuitous good pleasure of God, when He took them to be His own peculiar people. Elsewhere, indeed, His second purchase of them is mentioned, when He redeemed them from Egypt; here, however, Moses goes back farther, viz., to the covenant made with Abraham, whereby they were separated from other nations, as will presently more clearly appear. I reject, as not in harmony with the context, the translation which some give of the word, קנה , kanah, i.e., to possess. ²⁵⁴

In the same sense it is added, that they were made by God: which does not. refer to the general creation, but only to the privilege of adoption, whereby they became God’s new work, and in which another form was imparted to them; in which sense also He is called their framer, or Maker. Elsewhere, also, when the Prophet says,

“Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves,” (Psa 100:3,)

he undoubtedly magnifies that special prerogative, whereby God had distinguished the sons of Abraham above all other races. For, since the fall of Adam had brought disgrace upon all his posterity, God restores those, whom He separates as His own, so that their condition may be better than that of all other nations. At the same time it must be remarked, that this grace of renewal is effaced in many who have afterwards profaned it. Consequently the Church is called God’s work and creation, in two senses, i.e., generally with respect to its outward calling, and specially with respect to spiritual regeneration, as far as regards the elect; for the covenant of grace is common to hypocrites and true believers. On this ground all whom God gathers into His Church, are indiscriminately said to be renewed and regenerated: but the internal renovation belongs to believers only; whom Paul, therefore, calls God’s “workmanship, created unto good works, which God hath prepared,” etc. (Eph 2:10.) The same is the tendency of the third word, which may, however, be taken for to “establish;” ²⁵⁵ although I have preferred to follow the more received sense, viz, that God had prepared His people, as the artificer fashions and fits his work.

Calvin: Deu 32:7

7.Remember the days of old This is an explanation of the preceding verse, for Moses again shows how God had acquired this people, viz., because he had chosen to separate them from other nations according to His own good pleasure. But, since the Israelites might be inflated by their present superiority, they are reminded of their origin, and Moses commands them not to consider what they now are, but also from whence they had been taken, and with this view he says, Remember the old times; ask the elders, etc. For we know how men, when they do not reflect that whatever they have, proceeded from God, and is held, as it were, at will, are blinded by their dignity, so as not only to despise others, but also to exalt themselves against, the Author of all good things. Moses, in order to subdue this arrogance, says that all peoples were alike under the hand and power of God, and thus that their diversity was not in their original nature, but derived from elsewhere, i.e., from God’s free choice. In the word בהנחל , behanchel, there is some ambiguity: for some translate it, When the Most High divided the earth to the nations; and, though I do not reject this, still I have preferred the meaning more in accordance with the context; ²⁵⁶ for Moses says the same thing twice over, and the second clause is the explanation of the first. He says, therefore, that God distributed the nations, as an inheritance is divided; and then this is more clearly repeated, when he mentions the separation of the sons of Adam. When, in the latter part of the verse, it is said, that He set bounds to the nations according to the number of the children of Israel, it is commonly explained that He set bounds to the nations in such sort, that the habitation of the sons of Abraham was secured to them. Some of the Hebrews take it in a more restricted sense, viz., that in the distribution of the world, so much was given to the seven nations of Canaan as should be sufficient for the children of Israel. In my opinion, however, his meaning is, that in the whole arrangement of the world, the object which God had in view was to provide for His elect people: for, although His bounty extended to all, still He had such regard for His own, that, chiefly on their account, His care also extended to others. The word number is expressly employed; as if Moses had said, that, however small a portion of the human race the posterity, of Abraham might be, nevertheless that number was before God’s eyes, when He ordered the state of the whole world; unless it be preferred to take the word מספר , misphar, ²⁵⁷ for a ratio; but it will not be unsuitable to the passage to understand it that this small body was so precious to God, that he arranged the whole distribution of the world with a view to their welfare. Some refer it to the calling of the Gentiles, as if Moses had said that the empire of the whole world was destined to the seed of Abraham, because it was to be propagated through all the regions of the world; but this is altogether erroneous, for nothing is here indicated but the distinction, formerly conferred upon one nation. ²⁵⁸

TSK: Deu 32:1

Deu 4:26, Deu 30:19, Deu 31:28; Psa 49:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 2:12, Jer 6:19, Jer 22:29

TSK: Deu 32:2

drop : 2Sa 23:4; Job 29:22, Job 29:23; Psa 72:6; Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11; Hos 6:4, Hos 14:5; 1Co 3:6-8; Heb 6:7

as the showers : Mic 5:7; Zec 10:1

TSK: Deu 32:3

Because : Exo 3:13-16, Exo 6:3, Exo 20:24, Exo 34:5-7; Psa 29:1, Psa 29:2, Psa 89:16-18, Psa 105:1-5; Psa 145:1-10; Jer 10:6, Jer 23:6; Mat 1:23; Joh 17:6, Joh 17:26

ascribe : Deu 5:24; 1Ch 17:19, 1Ch 29:11; Psa 145:3, Psa 150:2; Jer 10:6; Eph 1:19

TSK: Deu 32:4

the Rock : Deu 32:18, Deu 32:30, Deu 32:31; 1Sa 2:2; 2Sa 22:2, 2Sa 22:3, 2Sa 22:32, 2Sa 22:47, 2Sa 23:3; Psa 18:2, Psa 18:31, Psa 18:46, Psa 61:2-4; Psa 92:15; Isa 26:4, Isa 28:16, Isa 32:2; Mat 16:16-18; 1Co 10:4; 1Pe 2:6

his work : Gen 1:31; 2Sa 22:31; Psa 18:30, Psa 19:7, Psa 138:8; Ecc 3:14; Mat 5:48; Jam 1:17

all his : Deu 10:18; Gen 18:25; Job 35:14; Psa 9:16, Psa 97:2, Psa 99:4; Isa 30:18; Jer 9:24; Dan 4:37; Joh 5:22; Rom 1:32, Rom 2:2, Rom 2:5; Jam 4:12; Rev 15:3, Rev 15:4

a God : Exo 34:6; Psa 31:5, Psa 98:3, Psa 100:5, Psa 146:6; Isa 25:1; Jer 10:10; Joh 1:14, Joh 1:17, Joh 14:6

without : Job 34:10; Psa 92:15; Hab 1:13; Rom 3:5

TSK: Deu 32:5

They have corrupted themselves : Heb. He hath corrupted to himself, Deu 4:16, Deu 31:29; Gen 6:12; Exo 32:7; Jdg 2:19; Isa 1:4; Hos 9:9; Zep 3:7; 2Co 11:3

their spot : etc. or, that they are not his children, that is their blot, Joh 8:41

a perverse : Deu 9:24; Psa 78:8; Isa 1:4; Mat 3:7, Mat 16:4, Mat 17:17; Luk 9:41; Act 7:51; Phi 2:15

TSK: Deu 32:6

requite : Deu 32:18; Isa 1:2; 2Co 5:14, 2Co 5:15; Tit 2:11-14

O foolish : Psa 74:18; Jer 4:22, Jer 5:21; Gal 3:1-3

thy father : Exo 4:22; Isa 63:16; Luk 15:18-20; Joh 8:41; Rom 8:15; Gal 3:26, Gal 4:6; 1Jo 3:1

hath bought : Exo 15:16; Psa 74:2; Isa 43:3, Isa 43:4; Act 20:28; 1Co 6:20; 2Pe 2:1

made thee : Job 10:8; Psa 95:6, Psa 100:3, Psa 149:2; Isa 27:11, Isa 43:7, Isa 44:2

TSK: Deu 32:7

Remember : Psa 44:1, Psa 77:5, Psa 119:52; Isa 63:11

many generations : Heb. generation and generation, Psa 10:6, Psa 77:8 *marg.

ask : Deu 4:32; Exo 13:14; Jdg 6:13; Job 8:8-10; Psa 44:1, Psa 77:5, Psa 77:6, Psa 77:11, Psa 77:12; Psa 78:3, Psa 78:4; Isa 46:9

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Deu 32:1-42

Song of Moses

If Deu 32:1-3 be regarded as the introduction, and Deu 32:43 as the conclusion, the main contents of the song may be grouped under three heads, namely,

(1) Deu 32:4-18, the faithfulness of God, the faithlessness of Israel;

(2) Deu 32:19-33, the chastisement and the need of its infliction by God;

(3) Deu 32:34-42, God’ s compassion upon the low and humbled state of His people.

The Song differs signally in diction and idiom from the preceding chapters; just as a lyrical passage is conceived in modes of thought wholly unlike those which belong to narrative or exhortation, and is uttered in different phraseology.

There are, however, in the Song numerous coincidences both in thoughts and words with other parts of the Pentateuch, and especially with Deuteronomy; while the resemblances between it and Ps. 90: "A Prayer of Moses,"have been rightly regarded as important.

The Song has reference to a state of things which did not ensue until long after the days of Moses. In this it resembles other parts of Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch which no less distinctly contemplate an apostasy (e. g. Deu 28:15; Lev 26:14), and describe it in general terms. If once we admit the possibility that Moses might foresee the future apostasy of Israel, it is scarcely possible to conceive how such foresight could be turned to better account by him than by the writing of this Song. Exhibiting as it does God’ s preventing mercies, His people’ s faithlessness and ingratitude, God’ s consequent judgments, and the final and complete triumph of the divine counsels of grace, it forms the summary of all later Old Testament prophecies, and gives as it were the framework upon which they are laid out. Here as elsewhere the Pentateuch presents itself as the foundation of the religious life of Israel in after times. The currency of the Song would be a standing protest against apostasy; a protest which might well check waverers, and warn the faithful that the revolt of others was neither unforeseen nor unprovided for by Him in whom they trusted.

That this Ode must on every ground take the very first rank in Hebrew poetry is universally allowed.

Deu 32:1-3

Introduction. Heaven and earth are here invoked, as elsewhere (see the marginal references), in order to impress on the hearers the importance of what is to follow.

Deu 32:4

He is the Rock, his work is perfect - Rather, the Rock, perfect is his work. This epithet, repeated no less than five times in the Song Deu 32:15, Deu 32:18, Deu 32:30-31, represents those attributes of God which Moses is seeking to enforce, immutability and impregnable strength. Compare the expression "the stone of Israel"in Gen 49:24; and see 1Sa 2:2; Psa 18:2; Mat 16:18; Joh 1:42. Zur, the original of "Rock,"enters frequently into the composition of proper names of the Mosaic time, e. g., Num 1:5-6, Num 1:10; Num 2:12; Num 3:35, etc. Our translators have elsewhere rendered it according to the sense "everlasting strength"Isa 26:4, "the Mighty One"Isa 30:29; in this chapter they have rightly adhered to the letter throughout.

Deu 32:5

Render: "It"(i. e. "the perverse and crooked generation") "hath corrupted itself before Him (compare Isa 1:4); they are not His children, but their blemish:"i. e., the generation of evil-doers cannot be styled God’ s children, but rather the shame and disgrace of God’ s children. The other side of the picture is thus brought forward with a brevity and abruptness which strikingly enforces the contrast.

Deu 32:6

Hath bought thee - Rather perhaps, "hath acquired thee for His own,"or "possessed thee:"compare the expression "a peculiar people,"margin "a purchased people,"in 1Pe 2:9.

Deu 32:8

That is, while nations were being constituted under God’ s providence, and the bounds of their habitation determined under His government (compare Act 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;"i. e., proportionate to the wants of their population. Some texts of the Greek version have "according to the number of the Angels of God;"following apparently not a different reading, but the Jewish notion that the nations of the earth are seventy in number (compare Gen 10:1 note), and that each has its own guardian Angel (compare Ecclus. 17:17). This was possibly suggested by an apprehension that the literal rendering might prove invidious to the many Gentiles who would read the Greek version.

Deu 32:9-14

These verses set forth in figurative language the helpless and hopeless state of the nation when God took pity on it, and the love and care which He bestowed on it.

Deu 32:10

In the waste howling wilderness - 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 Gen 1:2, and there rendered "without form."

Deu 32:11

Compare Exo 19:4. The "so,"which the King James Version supplies in the next verse, should he inserted before "spreadeth,"and omitted from Deu 32:12. The sense is, "so He spread out His wings, took them up,"etc.

Deu 32:12

With him - i. e., with God. The Lord alone delivered Israel; Israel therefore ought to have served none other but Him.

Deu 32:13

i. e., God gave Israel possession of those commanding positions which carry with them dominion over the whole land (compare Deu 33:29), and enabled him to draw the richest provision out of spots naturally unproductive.

Deu 32:14

Breed of Bashan - Bashan was famous for its cattle. Compare Psa 22:12; Eze 39:18.

Fat of kidneys of wheat - i. e., the finest and most nutritious wheat. The fat of the kidneys was regarded as being the finest and tenderest, and was therefore specified as a part of the sacrificial animals which was to be offered to the Lord: compare Exo 29:13, etc.

The pure blood of the qrape - Render, the blood of the grape, even wine. The Hebrew word seems (compare Isa 27:2) a poetical term for wine.

Deu 32:15

Jesbarun - This word, found again only in Deu 33:5, Deu 33:26, and Isa 44:2, is not a diminutive but an appellative (containing an allusion to the root, "to be righteous"); and describes not the character which belonged to Israel in fact, but that to which Israel was called. Compare Num 23:21. The prefixing of this epithet to the description of Israel’ s apostasy contained in the words next following is full of keen reproof.

Deu 32:16

They provoked him to jealousy - The language is borrowed from the matrimonial relationship, as in Deu 31:16.

Deu 32:17

Devils - Render, destroyers. The application of the word to the false gods points to the trait so deeply graven in all pagan worship, that of regarding the deities as malignant, and needing to be propitiated by human sufferings.

Not to God - Rather, "not God,"i. e., which were not God; see the margin and Deu 32:21. Compare Deu 13:7; Deu 29:25.

Deu 32:19

The anger of God at the apostasy of His people is stated in general terms in this verse; and the results of it are described, in words as of God Himself, in the next and following verses. These results consisted negatively in the withdrawal of God’ s favor Deu 32:20, and positively in the infliction of a righteous retribution.

Daughters - The women had their full share in the sins of the people. Compare Isa 3:16 ff; Isa 32:9 ff; Jer 7:18; Jer 44:15 ff.

Deu 32:20

I will see what their end shall be - Compare the similar expression in Gen 37:20.

Deu 32:21

God would mete out to them the same measure as they had done to Him. Through chosen by the one God to be His own, they had preferred idols, which were no gods. So therefore would He prefer to His people that which was no people. As they had angered Him with their vanities, so would He provoke them by adopting in their stead those whom they counted as nothing. The terms, "not a people,"and "a foolish nation,"mean such a people as, not being God’ s, would not be accounted a people at all (compare Eph 2:12; 1Pe 2:10), and such a nation as is destitute of that which alone can make a really "wise and understanding people"Deu 4:6, namely, the knowledge of the revealed word and will of God (compare 1Co 1:18-28).

Deu 32:24

Burning heat - i. e., the fear of a pestilential disease. On the "four sore judgments,"famine, plague, noisome beasts, the sword, compare Lev 26:22; Jer 15:2; Eze 5:17; Eze 14:21.

Deu 32:26, Deu 32:27

Rather, 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 his own prowess and not to my judgments. Compare Deu 9:28-29; Eze 20:9, Eze 20:14, Eze 20:22.

Behave themselves strangely - Rather, misunderstand it, i. e., mistake the cause of Israel’ s ruin.

Deu 32:30

The defeat of Israel would be due to the fact that God, their strength, had abandoned them because of their apostasy.

Deu 32:31

Our enemies - i. e., the enemies of Moses and the faithful Israelites; the pagan, more especially those with whom Israel was brought into collision, whom Israel was commissioned to "chase,"but to whom, as a punishment for faithlessness, Israel was "sold,"Deu 32:30. Moses leaves the decision, whether "their rock"(i. e. the false gods of the pagan to which the apostate Israelites had fallen away) or "our Rock"is superior, to be determined by the unbelievers themselves. For example, see Exo 14:25; Num. 23; 24; Jos 2:9 ff; 1Sa 4:8; 1Sa 5:7 ff; 1Ki 20:28. That the pagan should thus be constrained to bear witness to the supremacy of Israel’ s God heightened the folly of Israel’ s apostasy.

Deu 32:32

Their vine - i. e., the nature and character of Israel: compare for similar expressions Psa 80:8, Psa 80:14; Jer 2:21; Hos 10:1.

Sodom ... Gomorrah - Here, as elsewhere, and often in the prophets, emblems of utter depravity: compare Isa 1:10; Jer 23:14,

Gall - Compare Deu 29:18 note.

Deu 32:35

Rather: "Vengeance is mine and recompence, at the time when their foot slideth.

Deu 32:36

Repent himself for - Rather, have compassion upon. 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.

None shut up, or left - A proverbial phrase (compare 1Ki 14:10) meaning perhaps "married and single,"or "guarded and forsaken,"but signifying generally "all men of all sorts."

Deu 32:40-42

Render: For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, As I live forever, if I whet, etc. On Deu 32:40, in which God is described as swearing by Himself, compare Isa 45:23; Jer 22:5; Heb 6:17. The lifting up of the hand was a gesture used in making oath (compare Gen 14:22; Rev 10:5).

Deu 32:42

From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy - Render, (drunk with blood) from the head (i. e. the chief) of the princes of the enemy.

Poole: Deu 32:1

O ye heavens, and, O earth: either,

1. Angels and men; or,

2. You lifeless and senseless creatures, heaven and earth, which he calls upon partly to accuse the stupidity of Israel, that were more dull of hearing than these; and partly as witnesses of the truth of his sayings, and the justice of God’ s proceedings against them.

Poole: Deu 32:2

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. Or this may be a prayer, Let my doctrine drop , &c. Oh that it might do so, that my discourse might not be lost upon you, but be profitable to you! the future tense of the indicative mood being put for the imperative mood, as is usual.

Poole: Deu 32:3

The name of the Lord i.e. his glorious excellencies and righteous and worthy 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 and mere vanities.

As I am about to publish the great power and majesty and glory of God, so do you also own and acknowledge it, as you have reason to do; or, do you attend to the words which God hath commanded me to speak to you in his name with that diligence, reverence, and godly fear which the presence of so great and glorious a Majesty calls for.

Poole: Deu 32:4

The rock or, a rock , as for the stability and everlastingness of his nature, and invincibleness of his power, so also for his fixedness and immutability in his counsels and promises and ways; so that if there shall be a sad change in your affairs from a high and prosperous to a calamitous and deplorable condition, as there will be, remember that this proceeds from yourselves, and from the change of your ways and carriages towards God, and not from God, in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of change , Jam 1:17 .

His work is perfect all his works and actions are unblamable, as being perfect, wise, and righteous, as it follows.

All his ways are judgment all his administrations in the world, and particularly all his dealings with you, are managed with judgment and justice.

A God of truth constant to his promises: you cannot accuse him of any levity or unfaithfulness towards you to this day.

Poole: Deu 32:5

They i.e. the Israelites, as the following words manifest.

Corrupted themselves: this phrase sometimes in Scripture notes sin, and sometimes destruction. And so the sense may be either,

1. Their wickedness is not from God, but from themselves, and their own choice; they have wilfully and industriously depraved themselves, and sold themselves to sin. Or rather,

2. Their destruction is not from God. who is just and true , &c., as was now said, but wholly and solely from themselves, and from their own wickedness, as it here follows.

Their spot is not the spot of his children i.e. their blemishes or sins are not committed through ignorance, or frailty, or surprisal, as good men sometimes sin, but they proceed from design and deliberation, are accompanied with malice, and wilfulness, and contempt, and followed with obstinacy, impenitency, and incorrigibleness. So that they carry themselves not like my children and people, as they seem to be and profess to be, but like mine enemies.

They are a perverse and crooked generation not only some few of them, but the whole body or generation of them, are

perverse i.e. froward and untractable,

and crooked i.e. irregular and disorderly, not agreeing with the straight and righteous nature of God and of his law. Compare Isa 42:16 .

Poole: Deu 32:6

Hath bought thee that hath redeemed and rescued thee from Egyptian bondage.

Made thee i.e. advanced thee, as that word is used, 1Sa 12:6 Est 6:6 Psa 95:6 149:2 Isa 43:7 . Made thee , not only in a general and common way, by creation or production; but in a peculiar manner, by adoption, or making thee his peculiar people and children.

Established thee i.e. renewed and confirmed his grace and favour to thee, and not taken it away from thee, which thou hast oft provoked him to do.

Poole: Deu 32:7

The days of old i.e. the history and 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. Compare Jer 2:20 .

Haydock: Deu 32:1

Men. Hebrew, "I said I will disperse or exterminate them." Samaritan, "my fury shall consume them." We may translate, "I had resolved to destroy them; (Ver. 27.) But," &c., (Calmet) or Protestants, "I said I would scatter them into corners, and would....were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy," &c. ---

Where are they? in the mouth of God, shews an utter destruction, so that no vestiges of them remain. Their memory is perished. (Haydock) ---

God sometimes defers punishing the sinner for just reasons. (Worthington)

Haydock: Deu 32:1

Speak. Hebrew and Septuagint, "Heaven attend, and I will speak." (Haydock) ---

Never was there an exordium more pompous, or better adapted to the subject. Moses calls those who never die to witness what he asserts, as if to insinuate that these truths ought never to be forgotten. See Numbers iv. 6. Virgil (Æneid xii.) imitates this style, Esto nunc sol testis & hæc mihi terra precanti, (Calmet) which puts inthe moth of Æneas, to whom Latinus replies, Hæc eadem Ænea, terram, mare, sidera juro.

Haydock: Deu 32:2

Gather, as rain does from vapours; (Menochius) so let the sum of what I have taught you be collected into this short canticle, and penetrate your hearts. (Haydock) ---

Chaldean, "may my discourse be as delightful as the rain." Septuagint, "may my apophthegm (or sententious discourse, Calmet) be expected with earnestness, like rain," when the soil is thirsty. (Haydock) ---

Preachers are compared to clouds, and their speech to rain, Isaias lx. 8., and Ecclesiasticus xxxix. 4. ---

Drops. Some explain this and the former term in the original, of "a stormy and vehement shower," while others attach this idea only to the last part of the sentence. (Calmet) ---

The lawgiver wishes to engage the hearts of his audience by mildness, though he is forced also to thunder, in order to rouse their attention, ver. 15. (Haydock) ---

Sound doctrine produces much fruit in good dispositions, as rain causeth the seed to push forth which has been sown in an excellent soil. (Worthington)

Haydock: Deu 32:3

Invoke, or praise. (Vatable) ---

Magnificence; admire and fear this greatness. (Calmet) ---

The first duty of men is to praise God, the next to confess their sins, ver. 5. (Worthington)

Haydock: Deu 32:4

Right. You cannot complain of having been first abandoned by God. All his works and proceedings are entitled to praise. Hebrew, "This rock, ( hatsur ) his works are perfect." (Calmet) ---

Septuagint, "God, his works are true." (Haydock) ---

God is often styled a rock, to denote this strength, ver. 18., and Psalm lxii. 8.

Haydock: Deu 32:5

Filth, or idolatry. The fidelity of God is contrasted with the infidelity of his people, who deserve not to be called his children. The Septuagint, Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic, seem to have read in a different manner from what the Hebrew does at present. (Calmet) ---

As it stands it is quite unintelligible: Corrupit, non filii ejus, macula eorum. Two letters have been carelessly inserted, and la has been placed after lu, contrary to the Samaritan text, which is perfectly clear: "They are corrupted, they are not his, but filii maculæ, children defiled." (Houbigant, prol. 75.) ---

Capellus (p. 288,) condemns the Septuagint as he follows a wrong punctuation, and translates, "they did not sin against him, reprehensible children;" whereas, it more properly signifies, "they sinned, not his, but children deserving reprehension, ( or children of blame, they did not belong or stick close to him) being a crooked and perverse generation." (Haydock) ---

Their wickedness cannot be attributed to God. He is no less powerful and holy, though they have given themselves up to the service of idols. (St. Augustine, q. 55.) (Calmet) ---

He had given them all necessary instructions and assistance; so that, finding them always prone to evil, the more favours he heaped upon them, he was on the point of exterminating all the guilty at once, ver. 26. (Haydock)

Haydock: Deu 32:6

Possessed thee, as his peculiar inheritance. (Menochius) ---

Hebrew, "has purchased thee, made thee, and established thee." (Calmet) ---

The Septuagint render this last word like the Vulgate as they seem to have read, ibnoc. (Calmet)

Gill: Deu 32:1

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth,

the words of my mouth. This song is prefaced and introduced in a very grand and pompous manner, calling on the heavens and earth to give attention; by which they themselves may be meant, by a "prosopopaeia", a figure frequently used in Scripture, when things of great moment and importance are spoken of; and these are called upon to hearken, either to rebuke the stupidity and inattention of men, or to show that these would shed or withhold their influences, their good things, according to the obedience or disobedience of Israel; or because these are durable and lasting, and so would ever be witnesses for God and against his people: Gaon, as Aben Ezra observes, by the heavens understands the angels, and by the earth the men of the earth, the inhabitants of both worlds, which is not amiss: and by these words of Moses are meant the words of the song, referred to in Deu 31:29; here called his words, not because they were of him, but because they were put into his mouth, and about to be expressed by him, not in his own name, but in the name of the Lord; and not as the words of the law, which came by him, but as the words and doctrines of the Gospel concerning Christ, of whom Moses here writes; whose character he gives, and whose person and office he vindicates against the Jews, whom he accuses and brings a charge of ingratitude against for rejecting him, to which our Lord seems to refer, Joh 5:45; the prophecies of their rejection, the calling of the Gentiles, the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, and the miseries they should undergo, and yet should not be wholly extirpated out of the world, but continue a people, who in the latter days would be converted, return to their own land, and their enemies be destroyed; which are some of the principal things in this song, and which make it worthy of attention and observation.

Gill: Deu 32:2

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew,.... Which some, as Aben Ezra, take to be a prayer or wish, that the doctrine spoken by him might fall upon men like rain and dew on the earth, penetrate into their hearts, and influence them, and produce good effects there; but the words rather seem to be a prophecy of what would be: and by his "doctrine" and "speech", which signify the same thing, is meant, not his law, which was fiery, this cooling, like rain and dew; that was like a storm, this as a gentle rain; that was terrible, this desirable; that was distressing, this refreshing, this no other than the Gospel, the speech of God, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of grace, and mercy through him, and of life and salvation by him: it has its name from a word, which signifies to "receive" ^f; for it was received from God by Moses, and by the prophets after him, by Christ himself, as Mediator, and by the apostles from him, and is worthy of the acceptation of all: this is comparable to "rain", because, like that, it comes from heaven, is the gift of God, tarries not for man, but comes without any desert of man, and often without his desire; falls by divine direction in places and on persons, as the Lord's will and pleasure is, and that in great plenty, with a fulness of spiritual blessings, and precious promises; and for its effects, it cools the conscience, filled with fiery wrath and indignation, moistens and softens the hard heart, like the dry and parched earth, refreshes and revives the drooping spirit, and makes barren souls fruitful in grace and good works: and it is like "dew", which also is from heaven, and of God, fell in the night of the world; and as that falls in a temperate air, so this, when the stormy dispensation of the law was over; and though but a small thing in the eyes of the world, is of great influence, the power of God unto salvation, very grateful and delightful, and of great moment and importance; hereby the love and favour of God is diffused, the blessings of grace dispensed, the heavenly manna communicated, and the Spirit and his graces received: and this, like rain and dew, "drops" and "distils" silently, not in a noisy manner as the law; insensibly, falling on persons at an unawares, in great abundance, like the drops of rain and dew; and effectually, working in all that believe: dew was a symbol of doctrine with the Egyptians ^g: this is further illustrated:

as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: the first of those words for "rain", according to Jarchi, has the signification of a stormy wind, but that seems to contradict the gentle dropping and distilling of it; rather it signifies "hairs" ^h, and denotes, as our version, the smallness of the rain, being as small, thin, and light as hairs; and the latter word ⁱ has the signification of millions and thousands, there being such vast, numbers as those in a shower of rain: the "tender herb" and "grass" may denote the multitude of persons to whom the Gospel would come, and be made useful; and may describe sensible sinners, tender consciences, such as are weak in themselves, with whom it is the day of small things, are newborn babes, little children; who are just springing up in grace, as among the grass, and as willows by the water courses: now all this is said by Moses, to recommend his doctrine, as well as what follows.

Gill: Deu 32:3

Because I will publish the name of the Lord,.... Not call on his name, as some, nor call to the heaven and earth in his name, as others, but proclaim his name, even the same that was proclaimed before Moses, Exo 34:6; and this is to be understood, not of Jehovah the Father, nor of Jehovah the Spirit, but of Jehovah the Son, the rock whose work is perfect, and the rock of salvation, Deu 32:4; and not of any particular name of his, unless any of those mentioned can be thought to be intended; rather his perfections and attributes, or his Gospel, called his name, Act 9:15; though his name may signify no other than himself, who is the sum and substance of the Gospel, and who, in his person, office, grace, and salvation, is to be published and proclaimed, openly and publicly, constantly and faithfully, and his name only; for there is no other under heaven whereby man can be saved:

ascribe ye greatness unto our God; to Christ, the rock of salvation, who is truly God, our God, God in our nature, God manifest in the flesh, and who is the great God, and our Saviour, and therefore greatness is to be ascribed to him: he is great in his person and perfections; his works are great, those of creation and providence, and particularly of redemption and salvation; he is great in his offices, a great Saviour, a great High priest, a great Prophet, a great King, and the great Shepherd of the sheep: those that are called upon to give greatness to him, which is his due, are the heavens and the earth, Deu 32:1; and both have, literally and figuratively considered, bore a testimony to his greatness; the heavens, at his birth a wonderful star appeared, directing the wise men to him; at his death the sun was darkened; at his ascension the heavens were opened and received him, and still retain him; even God in heaven, by a voice from thence, bore witness of him as his beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased; also by raising him from the dead, declaring him to be the Son of God with power, and by exalting him at his right hand as a Saviour, and by the effusion of the Spirit on his apostles, to preach and spread his Gospel; the angels in heaven ascribed greatness to him, by their worship of him when he came into the world, by the declaration they made of him at his incarnation, and by the testimony they bore to his resurrection, and by their subjection to him in all things: the church below, sometimes called heaven, in the book of the Revelation, ascribe all honour, glory, and greatness to him: the earth, the whole terraqueous globe, in it have been displayed the greatness of Christ, the power and glory of his divinity; in the sea by becoming a calm at his word of command, in the rocks by being rent at his death, and will be in both by delivering up the dead in them, at the last day: the inhabitants of the earth, especially the redeemed from among men, ascribe greatness to him, by attributing daily to him all the perfections of the Godhead, and the glory of their salvation: Aben Ezra says, Moses refers to the heavens and the earth, or respects them, and compares with this Psa 19:1.

Gill: Deu 32:4

He is the rock,.... That is, Jehovah is the rock, whose name Moses proposed to publish; and our God, to whom the heavens and the earth are called upon to ascribe greatness, even Christ the rock of salvation: here begins the song; the first word in it is very emphatic; it has a letter in it larger than usual, to denote the greatness of this Person, and to make it observable; he is "this" or "that rock" ^k, by way of eminence, that rock and stone of Israel, Jacob prophesied of, which was typified by the rock Moses had smitten in the wilderness, and which, no doubt, he knew, as the Apostle Paul did, that it was a type of Christ, and had taught the Israelites so to understand it; and therefore this epithet of a divine Person would not seem strange to them, and yet is that rock the unbelieving Jews would and did stumble at, and the rock of salvation they lightly esteemed and rejected; the rock of refuge for sensible sinners to flee unto for shelter and safety from the wrath and justice of God, and from every enemy; the rock the church of God and every believer are built upon, and in which they dwell; and who is the rock of ages that will endure forever, as the Saviour of his people, and the foundation of their faith and hope:

his work is perfect; not so much the work of creation or of providence, which are both the works of Christ, but that of redemption and salvation, in which there is not only a display of all the divine perfections, but is complete in all its parts; the law is perfectly fulfilled, justice is fully satisfied, a perfect righteousness is wrought out, a complete pardon is procured, perfect peace is made, full atonement of sins obtained, and the whole work is finished; and is so perfect that nothing is wanting in it, or can be added to it, nor can it be unravelled or undone again: likewise the work of building the church on this rock is carrying on, and will be perfected when all the elect of God, all given to Christ and redeemed by his blood, shall be called by grace and gathered in; when the last of the chosen ones, and redeemed of the Lamb, is brought in and laid in the building; when Christ shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father complete, and God shall be all in all, and his church and people will be in a perfect state to all eternity:

for all his ways are judgment; his ways, which he himself has taken and walked in; his ways of providence are according to the best judgment and highest wisdom, and according to the strictest justice and equity; his ways of grace towards the salvation of his people, and the building up his church on himself, the rock; all the methods he took in eternity and time were all formed according to the counsel of God, and planned with the greatest wisdom, founded in his righteous nature, and according to covenant compact with his Father, and entered into in the most honourable manner; and in which he brought about the salvation of his people, in perfect consistence with the justice and holiness of God, and to the honour of them and his holy law: and he has executed all his offices of prophet, priest, and King, in the most just and righteous manner: the ways which he has prescribed his people to walk in, and in which he leads them, are ways of truth, righteousness, and holiness; such are all his ordinances and commandments:

a God of truth; so Christ is called; see Gill on Isa 65:16; or the true God, which also is his name, 1Jo 5:20; and is so called in opposition to fictitious deities, and such who are only so by name or office, but not by nature; whereas he is truly and properly God, as appears from his names and nature, from his perfections, works, and worship, ascribed to him: or "God the truth" ^l, for he is "the truth", Joh 14:6; the truth of all types, promises, and prophecies, which all have their accomplishment in him; the sum and substance of all truths and doctrines, from whom they all come, and in whom they all centre: or "the God of faith" or "faithfulness" ^m; the object of faith, and the author and finisher of it; and who is faithful, as the God-man and Mediator, to him that appointed him, being intrusted with all the elect of God, with all promises and blessings of grace for them, with the fulness of grace to communicate unto them, with the glory of God in their salvation, and with their future and final happiness; and is faithful in the discharge of his offices of prophet, priest, and King:

and without iniquity; in his nature, in his heart, in his lips, and in his life; nor was ever any committed by him:

just and right is he; just, both as a divine Person, and as man and Mediator; a lover and doer of righteousness, a worker out of righteousness for his people, and the justifier of them by it; just and righteous, as the, servant of God, as King of saints, and Judge of the whole world; "right" or "upright", which is the character of a divine Person, agrees with Christ, and may denote his sincerity, uprightness, and faithfulness.

Gill: Deu 32:5

They have corrupted themselves,.... This and what follows may seem to be the characters of the enemies of Christ, who lightly esteemed and rejected him, set in a contrast with him; who were not only corrupt by nature, as all men are, but were men of corrupt minds in their tenets and principles; who corrupted the word of God by their traditions, in the times of Christ; and were men of corrupt practices themselves, and corrupters of others:

their spot is not the spot of his children; of the children of the divine Person before described; Christ the rock has "children" given him by his Father, in whose adoption he has a concern, and by whose Spirit they are regenerated: these have their "spots"; by which are meant sins, and by those men are stained and polluted; so called in allusion to the spots of animals, as leopards; or to spots in faces and garments, through dirt and the like: by nature they are as others, and while in an unregenerate estate, and indeed after conversion; though they are washed from their sins by the blood of Christ, and are justified by his righteousness, and so without spot, yet in themselves they are not without spots or sins, as their confessions and complaints, and all experience testify: but the spots or sins of wicked men are not like theirs; the children of Christ sin through infirmity of the flesh, and the force of temptation, but wicked men through the malignity of their hearts, willingly and purposely; what good men do of this kind they hate, but what Christless and graceless sinners do they love; saints do not continue in sin, but ungodly men do, and proceed to more ungodliness, and wax worse and worse; gracious souls when they sin, are sorry for it, repent of it, are melted for it, and take shame to themselves on account of it; but unconverted men repent not of their wickedness, are hardened in it, and glory of it; see the character of the Jews in Christ's time, to which this song refers, Joh 8:44; though these clauses may be rendered to another sense, more agreeably to the context, and to the Hebrew accents, as they are by some; "is there any corruption in him? no" ⁿ, that is, is there any corruption in the illustrious Person before described, as without iniquity, just, and right? no, none at all in his nature, divine or human; not in his divine nature, being the incorruptible God; nor in his human nature, which is entirely free from that corruption by sin, common to all that des, tend from Adam by natural generation, he being conceived under the power of the Holy Ghost; nor any in his life and conversation, being perfectly agreeable to the pure and holy law of God; nor any in his doctrines, however they may be charged by ignorant and malicious men, a proof of which follows: or "his children are their spot" ^o; so the clause may be rendered; the spots of the Jewish nation, the most wicked and vilest among them, became his children; not only the lowest and meanest of them, as to civil and worldly things, but the more ignorant and the more wicked, even publicans and harlots; these, and not the righteous, he came to call and save, and did receive; these were regenerated by his grace, and they believed in him; and to them gave he power to become his children: but then did they remain the wicked persons they had been? no, they were made new creatures, they were internally sanctified, and lived holy lives and conversations; a clear proof this, that there was no corruption in Christ, nor in his doctrine, and that he neither by his tenets nor example encouraged sin, but all the reverse; Wisdom is justified of her children, Mat 11:19; but then the rest, and the far greater part of the Jewish nation, in his time, have their character truly drawn, as follows:

they are a perverse and crooked generation; men of perverse and crooked natures, tempers, dispositions, ways, and works; who walked contrary to the will and law of God, and were indeed contrary to all men, 1Th 2:15; this is the very character that is given of them, Mat 17:17.

Gill: Deu 32:6

Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise,.... This is also a proper character of the Jews in the times of Christ, who are often by him called "fools", Mat 23:17; being very ignorant of the Scriptures, and of the prophecies in them respecting him, setting up their own traditions on a level with the word of God, or above it; they were ignorant of the law of God, and the meaning of it; of the righteousness of God, of the righteousness of his nature, and of what the law required, as well as of the righteousness of Christ, and of him as a spiritual Redeemer, and of salvation by him; and a most egregious instance of their folly, and of want of wisdom, was their ingratitude to him, in disesteeming and rejecting him; which is what is here referred to and meant by ill-requiting him, though not expressed till Deu 32:15; and a most sad requital of him it was indeed, that he should come to them, his own, in so kind and gracious a manner, and yet be rejected by them; that he should become man, and yet for that reason be charged with blasphemy, for making himself God; horrid ingratitude, to infer the one from the other! and because he appeared as a servant, disowned him as the Son of God; and because he came in the likeness of sinful flesh to take away sin, they traduced him as a sinner:

is not he thy Father, that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee,

and established thee? Moses, in order to aggravate this their ingratitude, rehearses the various instances of divine goodness to them, from the beginning of them as nation; it was the Lord that was the founder of them as a nation, whose Son, when sent unto them, was rejected by them; it was he that bought them, or redeemed them from Egyptian bondage, that made or formed them into a body politic, or civil commonwealth, that established and settled them in the land of Canaan: this is expressed in general terms; particular instances of the goodness of God to them are after enumerated: or if this is to be understood of Christ himself, who was rejected by them, it is true of some among them, in a spiritual and evangelic sense, and so, by a figure, the whole is put for a part, as sometimes the part is for the whole: Christ, the everlasting Father of the world to come, had many children in the Jewish nation, for whose sake he became incarnate, and whom he came to seek and to save; and whom he "bought" with his precious blood, and whom, by his Spirit and grace, he "made" new creatures, the children of God, kings and priests unto God; and "established" them in the faith of him, and upon him, the sure foundation; or whom he fashioned, beautified, and adorned with his righteousness, and with the graces of his Spirit.

Gill: Deu 32:7

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations,.... That went before the times of Christ, and the Jews' rejection of him, and observe the instances of divine goodness to them; as in the time of the Maccabees, whom God raised up as deliverers of them, when oppressed by the Syrians and others; and in the time of the Babylonish captivity, how they were delivered out of it; in the times of David and Solomon, when they enjoyed great prosperity; and in the times of the judges, by whom they were often saved out of the hands of their enemies; and in the times of Moses and Joshua, how they were led, by the one out of Egypt and through the wilderness, and by the other into the land of Canaan; and thus might they be led on higher, to the provision and reservation of the good land for them in the times of Noah and his sons, which they are referred to in Deu 32:8, and in all these times, days, years, and generations, they might consider what notices were given of the Messiah, the rock of salvation, rejected by them; not only by the prophets since the captivity of Babylon and in it; but before it by Isaiah and others, and before them by David, and Solomon his son, by Moses and by all the prophets, from the beginning of the world; all which would serve to aggravate their sin in refusing him: Jarchi's note on the passage is,""remember"--"consider"--to know what is to come; for it is in his hand (or power) to do you good, and cause you to inherit the days of the Messiah, and the world to come:"

ask thy father, and he will show thee; either their immediate parents, father for fathers, or such as were their seniors, or rather Abraham, their father, is meant; whom they might inquire of, not by personal application to him, but by consulting the writings of Moses, and observe what is there related of him; how he was called out of Chaldea to go into the land of Canaan, his seed was after to inherit; and how he had an express grant of that land to his posterity, and where they might be shown and see the prophecy delivered to him of their being in Egypt, and coming out from thence; and what he knew of the Messiah, whose day he saw, and rejoiced at, now rejected by them his offspring:

thy elders, and they will tell thee; not their present elders who rejected the Messiah, but those in ages past; the elders of Israel, who saw the glory of the God of Israel, and were present at the covenant made at Horeb, Exo 24:9; or rather the sons of Noah, by whom the earth was divided, to which Deu 32:8 refers; or the ancient writers, the writers of the Scriptures: Jarchi, by "father", understands the prophets, and by "elders", the wise men: the Targum of Jonathan is,"read in the books of the law and they will teach you, and in the books of the prophets and they will tell you.''

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 32:2

¹ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

NET Notes: Deu 32:3

¹ tc Smr and Tg read “in the name.”

NET Notes: Deu 32:4

¹ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

sn The Hebrew term depicts God as a rocky summit where one may find safety and protection. Within a covenantal context it serves as a reminder to the people that their God has committed himself to their protection in return for their allegiance.

² tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).

NET Notes: Deu 32:5

¹ tc The 3rd person masculine singular שָׁחַת (shakhat) is rendered as 3rd person masculine plural by Smr, a reading supported by the plural suffix on מוּם (mum, “defect”) as well as the plural of בֵּן (ben, “sons”).

tn Heb “have acted corruptly” (so NASB, NIV, NLT); NRSV “have dealt falsely.”

² tn Heb “(they are) not his sons.”

³ tn Heb “defect” (so NASB). This highly elliptical line suggests that Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.

⁴ tn Heb “twisted,” “crooked.” See Ps 18:26.

NET Notes: Deu 32:6

¹ tn Or “treat” (TEV).

NET Notes: Deu 32:7

¹ tc The Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read 2nd person masculine singular whereas the MT has 2nd person masculine plural. The former is preferred, the latter perhaps being a misreading (בִּינוּ [binu] for בִּינָה [binah]). Both the preceding (“remember”) and following (“ask”) imperatives are singular forms in the Hebrew text.

² tn Heb “generation and generation.” The repetition of the singular noun here singles out each of the successive past generations. See IBHS 116 §7.2.3b.

Geneva Bible: Deu 32:1

Give ear, O ye ^{( a )} heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

^{( a )} As witness of this people's ingratitude.

Geneva Bible: Deu 32:2

My ^{( b )} doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

^{( b )} He desires that he may speak to God's glory and that the people, as the green grass, may receive the dew of his doctrine.

Geneva Bible: Deu 32:4

[He is] the ^{( c )} Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he.

^{( c )} Or mighty God; noting that only God is mighty, faithful and constant in his promise.

Geneva Bible: Deu 32:6

Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? [is] not he thy father [that] hath bought thee? hath he not ^{( d )} made thee, and established thee?

^{( d )} Not according to the common creation, but he has made you a new creature by his Spirit.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Deu 32:1-52

1 Moses song, which sets forth God's mercy and vengeance.

46 He exhorts them to set their hearts upon it.

48 God sends him up to mount Nebo, to see the land, and to die.

MHCC: Deu 32:1-2

Moses begins with a solemn appeal to heaven and earth, concerning the truth and importance of what he was about to say. His doctrine is the gospel, the speech of God, the doctrine of Christ; the doctrine of grace and mercy through him, and of life and salvation by him.

MHCC: Deu 32:3-6

" 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. And under his protection we may find refuge from all our enemies, and in all our troubles; as the rocks in those countries sheltered from the burning rays of the sun, and from tempests, or were fortresses from the enemy. " His work is perfect:" that of redemption and salvation, in which there is a display of all the Divine perfection, complete in all its parts. All God's dealings with his creatures are regulated by wisdom which cannot err, and perfect justice. He is indeed just and right; he takes care that none shall lose by him. A high charge is exhibited against Israel. Even God's children have their spots, while in this imperfect state; for if we say we have no sin, no spot, we deceive ourselves. But the sin of Israel was not habitual, notorious, unrepented sin; which is a certain mark of the children of Satan. They were fools to forsake their mercies for lying vanities. All wilful sinners, especially sinners in Israel, are unwise and ungrateful.

MHCC: Deu 32:7-14

Moses gives particular instances of God's kindness and concern for them. The eagle's care for her young is a beautiful emblem of Christ's love, who came between Divine justice and our guilty souls, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree. And by the preached gospel, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, He stirs up and prevails upon sinners to leave Satan's bondage. In Deu 32:13, Deu 32:14, are emblems of the conquest believers have over their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, in and through Christ. Also of their safety and triumph in him; of their happy frames of soul, when they are above the world, and the things of it. This will be the blessed case of spiritual Israel in every sense in the latter day.

Matthew Henry: Deu 32:1-6

Here is, I. A commanding preface or introduction to this song of Moses, Deu 32:1, Deu 32:2. He begins, 1. With a solemn appeal to heaven and earth concerning the truth and importance of what he was about to say, and the justice of the divine proceedings against a rebellious and backsliding people, for he had said (Deu 31:28) that he would in this song call heaven and earth to record against them. Heaven and earth would sooner hear than this perverse and unthinking people; for they revolt not from the obedience to their Creator, but continue to this day, according to his ordinances, as his servants (Psa 119:89-91), and therefore will rise up in judgment against rebellious Israel. Heaven and earth will be witnesses against sinners, witnesses of the warning given them and of their refusal to take the warning (see Job 20:27); the heaven shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. Or heaven and earth are here put for the inhabitants of both, angels and men; both shall agree to justify God in his proceedings against Israel, and to declare his righteousness, Psa 50:6; see Rev 19:1, Rev 19:2. 2. he begins with a solemn application of what he was about to say to the people (Deu 32:2): My doctrine shall drop as the rain. "It shall be a beating sweeping rain to the rebellious;"so one of the Chaldee paraphrasts expounds the first clause. Rain is sometimes sent for judgment, witness that with which the world was deluged; and so the word of God, while to some it is reviving and refreshing - a savour of life unto life, is to others terrifying and killing - a savour of death unto death. It shall be as a sweet and comfortable dew to those who are rightly prepared to receive it. Observe, (1.) The subject of this song is doctrine; he had given them a song of praise and thanksgiving (Ex. 15), but this is a song of instruction, for in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, we are not only to give glory to god, but to teach and admonish one another, Col 3:16. Hence many of David's psalms are entitled Maschil - to give instruction. (2.) This doctrine is fitly compared to rain and showers which come from above, to make the earth fruitful, and accomplish that for which they are sent. (Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11), and depend not upon the wisdom or will of man, Mic 5:7. It is a mercy to have this rain come often upon us, and our duty to drink it in, Heb 6:7. (3.) He promises that his doctrine shall drop and distil as the dew, and the small rain, which descend silently and without noise. The word preached is likely to profit when it comes gently, and sweetly insinuates itself into the hearts and affections of the hearers. (4.) He bespeaks their acceptance and entertainment of it, and that it might be as sweet, and pleasant, and welcome to them as rain to the thirsty earth, Psa 72:6. And the word of God is likely to do us good when it is thus acceptable. (5.) The learned bishop Patrick understands it as a prayer that his words which were sent from heaven to them might sink into their hearts and soften them, as the rain softens the earth, and so make them fruitful in obedience.

II. An awful declaration of the greatness and righteousness of God, Deu 32:3, Deu 32:4.

1. He begins with this, and lays it down as his first principle, (1.) To preserve the honour of God, that no reproach might be cast upon him for the sake of the wickedness of his people Israel; how wicked and corrupt soever those are who are called by his name, he is just, and right, and all that is good, and is not to be thought the worse of for their badness. (2.) To aggravate the wickedness of Israel, who knew and worshipped such a holy god, and yet were themselves so unholy. And, (3.) To justify God in his dealings with them; we must abide by it, that God is righteous, even when his judgments are a great deep, Jer 12:1; Psa 36:6.

2. Moses here sets himself to publish the name of the Lord (Deu 32:3), that Israel, knowing what a God he is whom they had avouched for theirs, might never be such fools as to exchange him for a false god, a dunghill god. He calls upon them therefore to ascribe greatness to him. It will be of great use to us for the preventing of sin, and the preserving of us in the way of our duty, always to keep up high and honourable thoughts of God, and to take all occasions to express them: Ascribe greatness to our God. We cannot add to his greatness, for it is infinite; but we must acknowledge it, and give him the glory of it. Now, when Moses would set forth the greatness of God, he does it, not by explaining his eternity and immensity, or describing the brightness of his glory in the upper world, but by showing the faithfulness of his word, the perfection of his works, and the wisdom and equity of all the administrations of his government; for in these his glory shines most clearly to us, and these are the things revealed concerning him, which belong to us and our children, Deu 32:4. (1.) He is the rock. So he is called six times in this chapter, and the Septuagint all along translates it theos , God. The learned Mr. Hugh Broughton reckons that God is called the rock eighteen times (besides in this chapter) in the Old Testament (though in some places we translate it strength ), and charges it therefore upon the papists that they make St. Peter a god when they make him the rock on which the church is built. God is the rock, for he is in himself immutable immovable, and he is to all that seek him and fly to him an impenetrable shelter, and to all that trust in him an everlasting foundation. (2.) His work is perfect. His work of creation was so, all very good; his works of providence are so, or will be so in due time, and when the mystery of God shall be finished the perfection of his works will appear to all the world. Nothing that God does can be mended, Ecc 3:14. God was now perfecting what he had promised and begun for his people Israel, and from the perfection of this work they must take occasion to give him the glory of the perfection of all his works. The best of men's works are imperfect, they have their flaws and defects, and are left unfinished; but, as for God, his work is perfect; if he begin, he will make an end. (3.) All his ways are judgment. The ends of his ways are all righteous, and he is wise in the choice of the means in order to those ends. Judgment signifies both prudence and justice. The ways of the Lord are right, Hos 14:9. (4.) He is a God of truth, whose word we may take and rely upon, for he cannot lie who is faithful to all his promises, nor shall his threatenings fall to the ground. (5.) He is without iniquity, one who never cheated any that trusted in him, never wronged any that appealed to his justice, nor ever was hard upon any that cast themselves upon his mercy. (6.) Just and right is he. As he will not wrong any by punishing them more than they deserve, so he will not fail to recompense all those that serve him or suffer for him. He is indeed just and right; for he will effectually take care that none shall lose by him. Now what a bright and amiable idea does this one verse give us of the God whom we worship; and what reason have we then to love him and fear him, to live a life of delight in him, dependence on him, and devotedness to him! This is our rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him; nor can there be, Psa 92:15.

III. A high charge exhibited against the Israel of God, whose character was in all respects the reverse of that of the God of Israel, Deu 32:5. 1. They have corrupted themselves. Or, It has corrupted itself; the body of the people has: the whole head sick, and the whole heart faint. God did not corrupt them, for just and right is he; but they are themselves the sole authors of their own sin and ruin; and both are included in this word. They have debauched themselves; for every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust. And they have destroyed themselves, Hos 13:9. If thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear the guilt and grief, Pro 9:12. 2. Their spot is not the spot of his children. Even God's children have their spots, while they are in this imperfect state; for if we say we have no sin, no spot, we deceive ourselves. But the sin of Israel was none of those; it was not an infirmity which they strove against, watched and prayed against, but an evil which their hearts were fully set in them to do. For, 3. They were a perverse and crooked generation, that were actuated by a spirit of contradiction, and therefore would do what was forbidden because it was forbidden, would set up their own humour and fancy in opposition to the will of God, were impatient of reproof, hated to be reformed, and went on frowardly in the way of their heart. The Chaldee paraphrase reads this verse thus: They have scattered or changed themselves, and not him, even the children that served idols, a generation that has depraved its own works, and alienated itself. Idolaters cannot hurt God, nor do any damage to his works, nor make him a stranger to this world. See Job 35:6. No, all the hurt they do is to themselves and their own works. The learned bishop Patrick gives another reading of it: Did he do him any hurt? That is, "Is God the rock to be blamed for the evils that should befal Israel? No, His children are their blot, "that is, "All the evil that comes upon them is the fruit of their children's wickedness; for the whole generation of them is crooked and perverse."All that are ruined ruin themselves; they die because they will die.

IV. A pathetic expostulation with this provoking people for their ingratitude (Deu 32:6): " Do you thus requite the Lord? Surely you will not hereafter be so base and disingenuous in your carriage towards him as you have been."1. He reminds them of the obligations God had laid upon them to serve him, and to cleave to him. He had been a Father to them, had begotten them, fed them, carried them, nursed them, and borne their manners; and would they spurn at the bowels of a Father? He had bought them, had been at a vast expense of miracles to bring them out of Egypt, had given men for them, and people for their life, Isa 43:4. " Is not he thy Father, thy owner (so some), that has an incontestable propriety in thee?"and the ox knoweth his owner. "he has made thee, and brought thee into being, established thee and kept thee in being; has he not done so? Can you deny the engagements you lie under to him, in consideration of the great things he has done and designed for you?"And are not our obligations, as baptized Christians, equally great and strong to our Creator that made us, our Redeemer that bought us, and our Sanctifier that has established us. 2. Hence he infers the evil of deserting him and rebelling against him. For, (1.) It was base ingratitude: " Do you thus require the Lord? Are these the returns you make him for all his favours to you? The powers you have from him will you employ them against him?"See Mic 6:3, Mic 6:4; Joh 10:32. This is such monstrous villany as all the world will cry shame of: call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse. (2.) It was prodigious madness: O foolish people and unwise! Fools, and double fools! who has bewitched you? Gal 3:1. "Fools indeed, to disoblige one on whom you have such a necessary dependence! To forsake your own mercies for lying vanities!"Note, All wilful sinners, especially sinners in Israel, are the most unwise and the most ungrateful people in the world.

Matthew Henry: Deu 32:7-14

Moses, having in general represented God to them as their great benefactor, whom they were bound in gratitude to observe and obey, in these verses gives particular instances of God's kindness to them and concern for them. 1. Some instances were ancient, and for proof of them he appeals to the records (Deu 32:7): Remember the days of old; that is, "Keep in remembrance the history of those days, and of the wonderful providences of God concerning the old world, and concerning your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; you will find a constant series of mercies attending them, and how long since things were working towards that which has now come to pass."Note, The authentic histories of ancient times are of singular use, and especially the history of the church in its infancy, both the Old Testament and the New Testament church. 2. Others were more modern, and for proof of them he appeals to their fathers and elders that were now alive and with them. Parents must diligently teach their children, not only the word of God, his laws (Deu 6:7), and the meaning of his ordinances (Exo 12:26, Exo 12:27), but his works also, and the methods of his providence. See Psa 78:3, Psa 78:4, Psa 78:6, Psa 78:7. And children should desire the knowledge of those things which will be of use to engage them to their duty and to direct them in it.

Three things are here enlarged upon as instances of God's kindness to his people Israel, and strong obligations upon them never to forsake him: -

I. The early designation of the land of Canaan for their inheritance; for herein it was a type and figure of our heavenly inheritance, that it was of old ordained and prepared in the divine counsels, Deu 32:8. Observe,

1. When the earth was divided among the sons of men, in the days of Peleg, after the flood, and each family had its lot, in which it must settle, and by degrees grow up into a nation, then God had Israel in his thoughts and in his eye; for, designing this good land into which they were now going to be in due time an inheritance for them, he ordered that the posterity of Canaan, rather than any other of the families then in being, should be planted there in the mean time, to keep possession, as it were, till Israel was ready for it, because those families were under the curse of Noah, by which they were condemned to servitude and ruin (Gen 9:25), and therefore would be the more justly, honourably, easily, and effectually, rooted out, when the fulness of time should come that Israel should take possession. Thus he set the bounds of that people with an eye to the designed number of the children of Israel, that they might have just as much as would serve their turn. And some observe that Canaan himself, and his eleven sons (Gen 10:15, etc.), make up just the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. Note, (1.) The wisdom of God has appointed the bounds of men's habitation, and determined both the place and time of our living in the world, Act 17:26. When he gave the earth to the children of men (Psa 115:16), it was not that every man might catch as he could; no, he divides to nations their inheritance, and will have every one to know his own, and not to invade another's property. (2.) Infinite wisdom has a vast reach, and designs beforehand what is brought to pass long after. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning to the end (Act 15:18), but they are not so to us, Ecc 3:11. (3.) The great God, in governing the world, and ordering the affairs of states and kingdoms, has a special regard to his church and people, and consults their good in all. See 2Ch 16:9, and Isa 45:4. The Canaanites thought they had as good and sure a title to their land as any of their neighbours had to theirs; but God intended that they should only be tenants, till the Israelites, their landlords, came. Thus God serves his own purposes of kindness to his people, by those that neither know him nor love him, who mean not so, neither doth their heart think so, Isa 10:7; Mic 4:12.

2. The reason given for the particular care God took for this people, so long before they were either born or thought of (as I may say), in our world, does yet more magnify the kindness, and make it obliging beyond expression (Deu 32:9): For the Lord's portion is his people. All the world is his. He is owner and possessor of heaven and earth, but his church is his in a peculiar manner. It is his demesne, his vineyard, his garden enclosed. He has a particular delight in it: it is the beloved of his soul, in it he walks, he dwells, it is his rest for ever. He has a particular concern for it, keeps it as the apple of his eye. He has particular expectations from it, as a man has from his portion, has a much greater rent of honour, glory, and worship, from that distinguished remnant, than from all the world besides. That God should be his people's portion is easy to be accounted for, for he is their joy and felicity; but how they should be his portion, who neither needs them nor can be benefited by them, must be resolved into the wondrous condescensions of free grace. Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy eyes so to call and to account them.

II. The forming of them into a people, that they might be fit to enter upon this inheritance, like an heir of age, at the time appointed of the Father. And herein also Canaan was a figure of the heavenly inheritance; for, as it was from eternity proposed and designed for all God's spiritual Israel, so they are, in time (and it is a work of time), fitted and made meet for it, Col 1:12. The deliverance of Israel out of slavery, by the destruction of their oppressors, was attended with so many wonders obvious to sense, and had been so often spoken of, that it needed not to be mentioned in this song; but the gracious works God wrought upon them would be less taken notice of than the glorious works he had wrought for them, and therefore he chooses rather to advert to them. A great deal was done to model this people, to cast them into some shape, and to fit them for the great things designed for them in the land of promise; and it is here most elegantly described.

1. He found him in a desert land, Deu 32:10. This refers, no doubt, to the wilderness through which God brought them to Canaan, and in which he took so much pains with them; it is called the church in the wilderness, Act 7:38. There it was born, and nursed, and educated, that all might appear to be divine and from heaven, since they had there no communication with any part of this earth either for food or learning. But, because he is said to find them there, it seems designed also to represent both the bad state and the bad character of that people when God began first to appear for them. (1.) Their condition was forlorn. Egypt was to them a desert land, and a waste howling wilderness, for they were bond-slaves in it, and cried by reason of their oppression, and were perfectly bewildered and at a loss for relief; there God found them, and thence he fetched them. And, (2.) Their disposition was very unpromising. So ignorant were the generality of them in divine things, so stupid and unapt to receive the impressions of them, so peevish and humoursome, so froward and quarrelsome, and withal so strangely addicted to the idolatries of Egypt, that they might well be said to be found in a desert land; for one might as reasonably expect a crop of corn from a barren wilderness as any good fruit of service to God from a people of such a character. Those that are renewed and sanctified by grace should often remember what they were by nature.

2. He led him about and instructed him. When God had them in the wilderness he did not bring them directly to Canaan, but made them go a great way about, and so he instructed them; that is, (1.) by this means he took time to instruct them, and gave them commandments as they were able to receive them. Those whose business it is to instruct others must not expect it will be done of a sudden; learners must have time to learn. (2.) By this means he tried their faith, and patience, and dependence upon God, and inured them to the hardships of the wilderness, and so instructed them. Every stage had something in it that was instructive; even when he chastened them, he thereby taught them out of his law. It is said (Psa 107:7) that he led them forth by the right way;. and yet here that he led them about; for God always leads his people the right way, however to us it may seem circuitous: so that the furthest way about proves, if not the nearest way, yet the best way home to Canaan. How God instructed them is explained long after (Neh 9:13), Thou gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes, and commandments; and especially (Deu 32:20), Thou gavest them also thy good Spirit to instruct them; and he instructs effectually. We may well imagine how unfit that people would have been for Canaan had they not first gone through the discipline of the wilderness.

3. He kept him as the apple of his eye, with all the care and tenderness that could be, from the malignant influences of an open sky and air, and all the perils of an inhospitable desert. The pillar of cloud and fire was both a guide and a guard to them.

4. He did that for them which the eagle does for her nest of young ones, Deu 32:11, Deu 32:12. The similitude was touched, Exo 19:4, I bore you on eagles' wings; here it is enlarged upon. The eagle is observed to have a strong affection for her young, and to show it, not only as other creatures by protecting them and making provision for them, but by educating them and teaching them to fly. For this purpose she stirs them out of the nest where they lie dozing, flutters over them, to show them how they must use their wings, and then accustoms them to fly upon her wings till they have learnt to fly upon their own. This, by the way, is an example to parents to train up their children to business, and not to indulge them in idleness and the love of ease. God did thus by Israel; when they were in love with their slavery, and loth to leave it, God, by Moses, stirred them up to aspire after liberty, and many a time kept them from returning to the house of bondage. He carried them out of Egypt, led them into the wilderness, and now at length had led them through it. The Lord alone did lead him, he needed not any assistance, nor did he take any to be partner with him in the achievement, which was a good reason why they should serve the Lord only and no other, so much as in partnership, much less in rivalship with him. There was no strange god with him to contribute to Israel's salvation, and therefore there should be none to share in Israel's homage and adoration, Psa 81:9.

III. The settling of them in a good land. This was done in part already, in the happy planting of the two tribes and a half, an earnest of what would speedily and certainly be done for the rest of the tribes. 1. They were blessed with glorious victories over their enemies (Deu 32:13): He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that is, he brought him on with conquest, and brought him home with triumph. he rode over the high places or strong holds that were kept against him, sat in ease and honour upon the fruitful hills of Canaan. In Egypt they looked mean, and were so, in poverty and disgrace; but in Canaan they looked great, and were so, advanced and enriched; they rode in state, as a people whom the King of kings delighted to honour. 2. With great plenty of all good things. Not only the ordinary increase of the field, but, which was uncommon, Honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, which may refer either, (1.) To their miraculous supply of fresh water out of the rock that followed them in the wilderness, which is called honey and oil, because the necessity they were reduced to made it as sweet and acceptable as honey and oil at another time. Or, (2.) To the great abundance of honey and oil they should find in Canaan, even in those parts that were least fertile. The rocks in Canaan should yield a better increase than the fields and meadows of other countries. Other productions of Canaan are mentioned, Deu 32:14. Such abundance and such variety of wholesome food (and every thing the best in its kind) that every meal might be a feast if they pleased: excellent bread made of the best corn, here called the kidneys of the wheat (for a grain of wheat is not unlike a kidney), butter and milk in abundance, the flesh of cattle well fed, and for their drink, no worse than the pure blood of the grape; so indulgent a Father was God to them, and so kind a benefactor. Ainsworth makes the plenty of good things in Canaan to be a figure of the fruitfulness of Christ's kingdom, and the heavenly comforts of his word and Spirit: for the children of his kingdom he has butter and milk, the sincere milk of the word; and strong meat for strong men, with the wine that makes glad the heart.

Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 32:1-43

The Song of Moses. - In accordance with the object announced in Deu 31:19, this song contrasts the unchangeable fidelity of the Lord with the perversity of His faithless people. After a solemn introduction pointing out the importance of the instruction about to be given (Deu 32:1-3), this thought is placed in the foreground as the theme of the whole: the Lord is blameless and righteous in His doings, but Israel acts corruptly and perversely; and this is carried out in the first place by showing the folly of the Israelites in rebelling against the Lord (Deu 32:6-18); secondly, by unfolding the purpose of God to reject and punish the rebellious generation (Deu 32:19-23); and lastly, by announcing and depicting the fulfilment of this purpose, and the judgment in which the Lord would have mercy upon His servants and annihilate His foes (Deu 32:34-43).

The song embraces the whole of the future history of Israel, and bears all the marks of a prophetic testimony from the mouth of Moses, in the perfectly ideal picture which it draws, on the one hand, of the benefits and blessings conferred by the Lord upon His people; and on the other hand, of the ingratitude with which Israel repaid its God for them all. "This song, soaring as it does to the loftiest heights, moving amidst the richest abundance of pictures of both present and future, with its concise, compressed, and pictorial style, rough, penetrating, and sharp, but full of the holiest solemnity, a witness against the disobedient nation, a celebration of the covenant God, sets before us in miniature a picture of the whole life and conduct of the great man of God, whose office it pre-eminently was to preach condemnation"( O. v. Gerlach ). - It is true that the persons addressed in this ode are not the contemporaries of Moses, but the Israelites in Canaan, when they had grown haughty in the midst of the rich abundance of its blessings, and had fallen away from the Lord, so that the times when God led the people through the wilderness to Canaan are represented as days long past away. But this, the stand-point of the ode, is not to be identified with the poet's own time. It is rather a prophetic anticipation of the future, which has an analogon in a poet's absorption in an ideal future, and differs from this merely in the certainty and distinctness with which the future is foreseen and proclaimed. The assertion that the entire ode moves within the epoch of the kings who lived many centuries after the time of Moses, rests upon a total misapprehension of the nature of prophecy, and a mistaken attempt to turn figurative language into prosaic history. In the whole of the song there is not a single word to indicate that the persons addressed were"already sighing under the oppression of a wild and hostile people, the barbarous hordes of Assyrians or Chaldeans"( Ewald , Kamphausen , etc.).

(Note: How little firm ground there is for this assertion in the contents of the ode, is indirectly admitted even by Kamphausen himself in the following remarks: "The words of the ode leave us quite in the dark as to the author;"and "if it were really certain that Deuteronomy was composed by Moses himself, the question as to the authenticity of the ode would naturally be decided in the traditional way."Consequently, the solution of the whole is to be found in the dictum , that "the circumstances which are assumed in any prophecy as already existing, and to which the prophetic utterances are appended as to something well known (?), really determine the time of the prophet himself;"and, according to this canon, which is held up as"certain and infallible,"but which is really thoroughly uncritical, and founded upon the purely dogmatic assumption that any actual foreknowledge of the future is impossible, the ode before us is to be assigned to a date somewhere about 700 years before Christ.)

The Lord had indeed determined to reject the idolatrous nation, and excite it to jealousy through those that were "no people,"and to heap up all evils upon it, famine, pestilence, and sword; but the execution of this purpose had not yet taken place, and, although absolutely certain, was in the future still. Moreover, the benefits which God had conferred upon His people, were not of such a character as to render it impossible that they should have been alluded to by Moses. All that the Lord had done for Israel, by delivering it from bondage and guiding it miraculously through the wilderness, had been already witnessed by Moses himself; and the description in Deu 32:13 and Deu 32:14, which goes beyond that time, is in reality nothing more than a pictorial expansion of the thought that Israel was most bountifully provided with the richest productions of the land of Canaan, which flowed with milk and honey. It is true, the satisfaction of Israel with these blessings had not actually taken place in the time of Moses, but was still only an object of hope; but it was hope of such a kind, that Moses could not cherish a moment's doubt concerning it. Throughout the whole we find no allusions to peculiar circumstances or historical events belonging to a later age. - On the other hand, the whole circle of ideas, figures, and words in the ode points decidedly to Moses as the author. Even if we leave out of sight the number of peculiarities of style ( ἅπ. λεγόμενα ), which is by no means inconsiderable, and such bold original composite words as לא־אל ( not-God , Deu 32:21; cf. Deu 32:17) and לא־עם ( not-people , Deu 32:21), which might point to a very remote antiquity, and furnish evidence of the vigour of the earliest poetry, - the figure of the eagle in Deu 32:11 points back to Exo 19:4; the description of God as a rock in Deu 32:4, Deu 32:15, Deu 32:18, Deu 32:30, Deu 32:31, Deu 32:37, recalls Gen 49:24; the fire of the wrath of God, burning even to the world beneath (Deu 32:22), points to the representation of God in Deu 4:24 as a consuming fire; the expression "to move to jealousy ,"in Deu 32:16 and Deu 32:21, recalls the "jealous God"in Deu 4:24; Deu 6:15; Exo 20:5; Exo 34:14; the description of Israel as children (sons) in Deu 32:5, and "children without faithfulness"in Deu 32:20, suggests Deu 14:1; and the words, "O that they were wise ,"in Deu 32:29, recall Deu 4:6, "a wise people."Again, it is only in the Pentateuch that the word גּדל ( greatness , Deu 32:3) is used to denote the greatness of God (vid., Deu 3:24; Deu 5:21; Deu 9:26; Deu 11:2; Num 14:19); the name of honour given to Israel in Deu 32:15, viz., Jeshurun , only occurs again in Deu 33:5 and Deu 33:26, with the exception of Isa 44:2, where it is borrowed from these passages; and the plural form ימות , in Deu 32:7, is only met with again in the prayer of Moses, viz., Psa 90:15.

Deu 32:1-5

" Introduction and Theme . - in the introduction (Deu 32:1-3), - "Give ear, O ye heavens, I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Let my doctrine drop as the rain, let my speech fall as the dew; as showers upon green, and rain-drops upon herb, for I will publish the name of the Lord; give ye greatness to our God," - Moses summons heaven and earth to hearken to his words, because the instruction which he was about to proclaim concerned both heaven and earth, i.e., the whole universe. It did so, however, not merely as treating of the honour of its Creator, which was disregarded by the murmuring people ( Kamphausen ), or to justify God, as the witness of the righteousness of His doings, in opposition to the faithless nation, when He punished it for its apostasy (just as in Deu 4:26; Deu 30:19; Deu 31:28-29, heaven and earth are appealed to as witnesses against rebellious Israel), but also inasmuch as heaven and earth would be affected by the judgment which God poured out upon faithless Israel and the nations, to avenge the blood of His servants (Deu 32:43); since the faithfulness and righteousness of God would thus become manifest in heaven and on earth, and the universe be sanctified and glorified thereby. The vav consec . before אדבּרה expresses the desired or intended sequel: so that I may then speak, or "so will I then speak"(vid., Köhler on Hagg . p. 44, note).

Deu 32:2-3

But because what was about to be announced was of such importance throughout, he desired that the words should trickle down like rain and dew upon grass and herb. 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. לקח , accepting, then, in a passive sense, that which is accepted, instruction (doctrine, Pro 16:21, Pro 16:23; Isa 29:24). To " publish the name of the Lord: "lit., call, i.e., proclaim (not "call upon"), or praise . 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 ." גּדל , applied here to God (as in Deu 3:24; Deu 5:21; Deu 9:26; Deu 11:2), which is only repeated again in Psa 150:2, is the greatness manifested by God in His acts of omnipotence; it is similar in meaning to the term "glory"in Psa 29:1-2; Psa 96:7-8.

Deu 32:4-5

"The Rock - blameless is His work; for all His ways are right: a God of faithfulness, and without injustice; just and righteous is He. Corruptly acts towards Him, not His children; their spot, a perverse and crooked generation." הצּוּר is placed first absolutely, to give it the greater prominence. 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 (see the synonym,"the Stone of Israel,"in Gen 49:24). This epithet points to the Mosaic age; and this is clearly shown by the use made of this title of God ( Zur ) in the construction of surnames in the Mosaic era; such, for example, as Pedahzur (Num 1:10), which is equivalent to Pedahel ("God-redeemed,"Num 34:28), Elizur (Num 1:5), Zuriel (Num 3:35), and Zurishaddai (Num 1:6; Num 2:12). David, who had so often experienced the rock-like protection of his God, adopted it in his Psalms (2Sa 22:3, 2Sa 22:32 = Psa 18:3, Psa 18:32; also Ps. 19:15; Psa 31:3-4; Psa 71:3). Perfect (i.e., blameless, without fault or blemish) is His work; for His ways, which He adopts in His government of the world, are right. As the rock, He is "a God of faithfulness,"upon which men may rely and build in all the storms of life, and "without iniquity,"i.e., anything crooked or false in His nature.

Deu 32:5

His people Israel, on the contrary, had acted corruptly towards Him. The subject of "acted corruptly"is the rebellious generation of the people but before this subject there is introduced parenthetically, and in apposition, "not his children, but their spot." Spot ( mum ) is used here in a moral sense, as in Pro 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 Isa 1:4.

Deu 32:6-18

Expansion of the theme according to the thought expressed in Deu 32:5. The perversity of the rebellious generation manifested itself in the fact, that it repaid the Lord, to whom it owed existence and well-being, for all His benefits, with a foolish apostasy from its Creator and Father. This thought is expressed in Deu 32:6, in a reproachful question addressed to the people, and then supported in Deu 32:7-14 by an enumeration of the benefits conferred by God, and in Deu 32:15-18 by a description of the ingratitude of the people.

Deu 32:6

" Will ye thus repay the Lord? thou foolish people and unwise! Is He not thy Father, who hath founded thee, who hath made thee and prepared thee? " גּמל , the primary idea of which is doubtful, signifies properly to show, or do, for the most part good, but sometimes evil (vid., Psa 7:5). 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: comp. Isa 63:16, where Father and Redeemer are synonymous terms, with Isa 64:7, God the Father, Israel the clay which He had formed, and Mal 2:10, where God as Father is said to have created Israel; see also the remarks at Deu 14:1 on the notion of Israel's sonship. - קונך , He has acquired thee; קנה , κτᾶσθαι , to get, acquire (Gen 4:1), then so as to involve the idea of κτίζειν (Gen 14:9), though without being identical with בּרא . It denotes here the founding of Israel as a nation, by its deliverance out of the power of Pharaoh. The verbs which follow ( made and established ) refer to the elevation and preparation of the redeemed nation, as the nation of the Lord, by the conclusion of a covenant, the giving of the law, and their guidance through the desert.

Deu 32:7

" Remember the days of old, consider the years of the past generations: ask thy father, that he may make known to thee; thine old men, that they may tell it to thee! "With these words Moses summons the people to reflect upon what the Lord had done to them. The days of old ( עולם ), and years of generation and generation, i.e., years through which one generation after another had lived, are the times of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, including the pre-Mosaic times, and also the immediate post-Mosaic, when Israel had entered into the possession of Canaan. These times are described by Moses as a far distant past, because he transported himself in spirit to the "latter days"(Deu 31:29), when the nation would have fallen away from its God, and would have been forsaken and punished by God in consequence. " Days of eternity "are times which lie an eternity behind the speaker, not necessarily, however, before all time, but simply at a period very far removed from the present, and of which even the fathers and old men could only relate what had been handed down by tradition to them.

Deu 32:8-9

"When the Most High portioned out inheritance to the nations, when He divided the children of men; He fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel: for the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob the cord of His inheritance." Moses commences his enumeration of the manifestations of divine mercy with the thought, that from the very commencement of the forming of nations God had cared for His people Israel. The meaning of Deu 32:8 is given in general correctly by Calvin: "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 words, "when the Most High portioned out inheritance to the nations,"etc., are not to be restricted to the one fact of the confusion of tongues and division of the nations as described in Gen 11, but embrace the whole period of the development of the one human family in separate tribes and nations, together with their settlement in different lands; for it is no doctrine of the Israelitish legend, as Kamphausen supposes, that the division of the nations was completed once for all. The book of Genesis simply teaches, that after the confusion of tongues at the building of the tower of Babel, God scattered men over the entire surface of the earth (Deu 11:9), and that the nations were divided, i.e., separate nations were formed from the families of the sons of Noah (Gen 10:32); that is to say, the nations were formed in the divinely-appointed way of generation and multiplication, and so spread over the earth. And the Scriptures say nothing about a division of the countries among the different nations at one particular time; they simply show, that, like the formation of the nations from families and tribes, the possession of the lands by the nations so formed was to be traced to God, - was the work of divine providence and government, - whereby God so determined the boundaries of the nations ("the nations"are neither the tribes of Israel, nor simply the nations round about Canaan, but the nations generally), that Israel might receive as its inheritance a land proportioned to its numbers.

(Note: 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 nations (Sir. 17:14), which probably originated in a misunderstanding of Deu 4:19, as compared with Dan 10:13, Dan 10:20-21, and Dan 12:1.)

Deu 32:9

God did this, because He had chosen Israel as His own nation, even before it came into existence. As the Lord's people of possession (cf. Deu 7:6; Deu 10:15, and Exo 19:5), Israel was Jehovah's portion, and the inheritance assigned to Him. חבל , a cord , or measure, then a piece of land measured off; here it is figuratively applied to the nation.

Deu 32:10-14

He had manifested His fatherly care and love to Israel as His own property.

Deu 4:10

"He found him in the land of the desert, and in the wilderness, the howling of the steppe; He surrounded him, took care of him, protected him as the apple of His eye." These words do not "relate more especially to the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai"( Luther ), nor merely to all the proofs of the paternal care with which God visited His people in the desert, to lead them to Sinai, there to adopt them as His covenant nation, and then to guide them to Canaan, to the exclusion of their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. The reason why Moses does not mention this fact, or the passage through the Red Sea, is not to be sought for, either solely or even in part, in the fact that "the song does not rest upon the stand-point of the Mosaic times;"for we may see clearly that distance of time would furnish no adequate ground for "singling out and elaborating certain points only from the renowned stories of old,"say from the 105th Psalm, which no one would think of pronouncing an earlier production than this song. Nor is it because the gracious help of God, which the people experienced up to the time of the exodus from Egypt, was inferior in importance to the divine care exercised over it during the march through the desert (a fact which would need to be proved), or because the solemn conclusion of the covenant, whereby Israel first because the people of God, took place during the sojourn at Sinai, that Moses speaks of God as finding the people in the desert and adopting them there; but simply because it was not his intention to give a historical account of the acts performed by God upon and towards Israel, but to describe how Israel was in the most helpless condition when the Lord had compassion upon it, to take it out of that most miserable state in which it must have perished, and bring it into the possession of the richly-blessed land of Canaan. The whole description of what the Lord did for Israel (Deu 32:10-14) is figurative; Israel is represented as a man in the horrible desert, and in danger of perishing in the desolate waste, where not only bread and water had failed, but where ravenous beasts lay howling in wait for human life, when the Lord took him up and delivered him out of all distress. The expression "found him"is also to be explained from this figure. Finding presupposes seeking, and in the seeking the love which goes in search of the loved on is manifested. Also the expression "land of the desert"- a land which is a desert, without the article defining the desert more precisely - shows that the reference is not to the finding of Israel in the desert of Arabia, and that these words are not to be understood as relating to the fact, that when His people entered the desert the Lord appeared to them in the pillar of cloud and fire (Exo 13:20, Schultz ). For although the figure of the desert is chosen, because in reality the Lord had led Israel through the Arabian desert to Canaan, we must not so overlook the figurative character of the whole description as to refer the expression"in a desert land"directly and exclusively to the desert of Arabia. The measures adopted by the Pharaohs, the object of which was the extermination or complete suppression of Israel, made even Egypt a land of desert to the Israelites, where they would inevitably have perished if the Lord had not sought, found, and surrounded them there. To depict still further the helpless and irremediable situation of Israel, the idea of the desert is heightened still further by the addition of וגו וּבתהוּ , " and in fact ( ו is explanatory) in a waste ,"or wilderness ( tohu recalls Gen 1:2). " Howling of the desert "is in apposition to tohu ( waste ), and not a genitive dependent upon it, viz., "waste of the howling of the desert, or of the desert in which wild beasts howl"( Ewald ), as if ילל stood after ישׁימן . "Howling of the desert"does not mean the desert in which wild beasts howl, but the howling which is heard in the desert of wild beasts. The meaning of the passage, therefore, is "in the midst of the howling of the wild beasts of the desert."This clause serves to strengthen the idea of tohu (waste), and describes the waste as a place of the most horrible howling of wild beasts. It was in this situation that the Lord surrounded His people. סובב , to surround with love and care, not merely to protect (vid., Psa 26:6; Jer 31:22). בּונן , from בּין or הבין , to pay attention, in the sense of "not to lose sight of them.""To keep as the apple of the eye"is a figurative description of the tenderest care. The apple of the eye is most carefully preserved (vid., Psa 17:8; Pro 7:2).

Deu 32:11

"As an eagle, which stirreth up its nest and soars over its young, He spread out His wings, took him up, carried him upon His wings." Under the figure of an eagle, which teaches its young to fly, and in doing so protects them from injury with watchful affection, Moses describes the care with which the Lord came to the relief of His people in their helplessness, and assisted them to develop their strength. This figure no doubt refers more especially to the protection and assistance of God experienced by Israel in its journey through the Arabian desert; but it must not be restricted to this. It embraces both the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt by the outstretched arm of the Lord, as we may see from a comparison with Exo 19:4, where the Lord is said to have brought His people out of Egypt upon eagles' wings, and also the introduction into Canaan, when the Lord drove the Canaanites out from before them and destroyed them. This verse contains an independent thought; the first half is the protasis, the second the apodosis. The nominative to "spreadeth abroad"is Jehovah; and the suffixes in יקּחהוּ and ישּׂאהוּ ("taketh"and "beareth") refer to Israel or Jacob (Deu 32:9), like the suffixes in Deu 32:10. As כּ cannot open a sentence like כּאשׁר , we must supply the relative אשׁר after נשׁר . קנּו העיר , to waken up, rouse up its nest, i.e., to encourage the young ones to fly. It is rendered correctly by the Vulgate, provocans ad volandum pullos suos; and freely by Luther, "bringeth out its young."" Soareth over its young: "namely, in order that, when they were attempting to fly, if any were in danger of falling through exhaustion, it might take them at once upon its powerful wings, and preserve them from harm. Examples of this, according to the popular belief, are given by Bochart ( Hieroz . ii. p. 762). רחף , from רחף to be loose or slack (Jer 23:9): in the Piel it is applied to a bird in the sense of loosening its wings, as distinguished from binding its wings to its body; hence (1) to sit upon eggs with loosened wings, and (2) to fly with loosened wings. Here it is used in the latter sense, because the young are referred to. The point of comparison between the conduct of God towards Jacob and the acts of an eagle towards its young, is the loving care with which He trained Israel to independence. The carrying of Israel upon the eagle's wings of divine love and omnipotence was manifested in the most glorious way in the guidance of it by the pillar of cloud and fire, though it was not so exclusively in this visible vehicle of the gracious presence of God as that the comparison can be restricted to this phenomenon alone. Luther's interpretation is more correct than this - "Moses points out in these words, how He fostered them in the desert, bore with their manners, tried them and blessed them that they might learn to fly, i.e., to trust in Him,"- except that the explanation of the expression "to fly"is narrowed too much.

Deu 32:12-14

"The Lord alone did lead him, and with Him was no strange god. He made him drive over the high places of the earth, and eat the productions of the field; and made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flint-stone. Cream of cattle, and milk of the flock, with the fat of lambs, and rams of Bashan's kind, and bucks, with the kidney-fat of wheat: and grape-blood thou drankest as fiery wine." Moses gives prominence to the fact that Jehovah alone conducted Israel, to deprive the people of every excuse for their apostasy from the Lord, and put their ingratitude in all the stronger light. If no other god stood by the Lord to help Him, He had thereby laid Israel under the obligation to serve Him alone as its God. " With Him "refers to Jehovah, and not to Israel.

Deu 32:13-14

The Lord caused the Israelites to take possession of Canaan with victorious power, and enter upon the enjoyment of its abundant blessings. The phrase, "to cause to drive over the high places of the earth,"is a figurative expression for the victorious subjugation of a land; it is not taken from Psa 18:34, as Ewald assumes, but is original both here and in Deu 33:29. " Drive "(ride) is only a more majestic expression for"advance."The reference to this passage in Isa 58:14 is unmistakeable. Whoever has obtained possession of the high places of a country is lord of the land. The "high places of the earth"do not mean the high places of Canaan only, although the expression in this instance relates to the possession of Canaan. " And he (Jacob) ate: "for, so that he could now eat, the productions of the field, and in fact all the riches of the fruitful land, which are then described in superabundant terms. Honey out of the rock and oil out of the flint-stone, i.e., the most valuable productions out of the most unproductive places, since God so blessed the land that even the rocks and stones were productive. The figure is derived from the fact that Canaan abounds in wild bees, which make their hives in clefts of the rock, and in olive-trees which grow in a rocky soil. "Rock-flints,"i.e., rocky flints. The nouns in Deu 32:14 are dependent upon "to suck"in Deu 32:13, as the expression is not used literally. "Things which are sweet and pleasant to eat, people are in the habit of sucking"( Ges. thes . p. 601). חמאה and חלב (though הלב seems to require a form חלב ; vid., Ewald , §213, b .) denotes the two forms in which the milk yielded by the cattle was used; the latter, milk in general, and the former thick curdled milk, cream, and possibly also butter. The two are divided poetically here, and the cream being assigned to the cattle, and the milk to the sheep and goats. "The fat of lambs," i.e., "lambs of the best description laden with fat"( Vitringa ). Fat is a figurative expression for the best (vid., Num 18:12). " And rams: "grammatically, no doubt, this might also be connected with "the fat,"but it is improbable from a poetical point of view, since the enumeration would thereby drag prosaically; and it is also hardly reconcilable with the apposition בשׁן בּני , i.e., reared in Bashan (vid., Eze 39:18), which implies that Bashan was celebrated for its rams, and not merely for its oxen. This epithet, which Kamphausen renders "of Bashan's kind,"is unquestionably used for the best description of rams. The list becomes poetical, if we take "rams"as an accusative governed by the verb "to suck"(Deu 32:13). " Kidney-fat (i.e., the best fat) of wheat ,"the finest and most nutritious wheat. Wine is mentioned last, and in this case the list passes with poetic freedom into the form of an address. " Grape-blood "for red wine (as in Gen 49:11). חמר , from חמר to ferment, froth, foam, lit., the foaming, i.e., fiery wine, serves as a more precise definition of the "blood of the grape."

Deu 32:15-18

Israel had repaid its God for all these benefits by a base apostasy. - Deu 32:15. "But Righteous-nation became fat, and struck out - thou becamest fat, thick, gross - and let go God who made him, and despised the rock of his salvation." So much is certain concerning Jeshurun , that it was an honourable surname given to Israel; that it is derived from ישׁר , and describes Israel as a nation of just or right men (a similar description to that given by Balaam in Num 23:10), because Jehovah, who is just and right (Deu 32:4), had called it to uprightness, to walk in His righteousness, and chosen it as His servant (Isa 44:2). The prevalent opinion, that Jeshurun is a diminutive, and signifies rectalus , or "little pious"( Ges. and others), has no more foundation than the derivation from Israel, and the explanation, "little Israel,"since there is no philological proof that the termination un ever had a diminutive signification in Hebrew (see Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 415); and an appellatio blanda et charitativa is by no means suitable to this passage, much less to Deu 33:5. The epithet Righteous-nation , as we may render Jeshurun , was intended to remind Israel of its calling, and involved the serverest reproof of its apostasy. "By placing the name of righteous before Israel, he censured ironically those who had fallen away from righteousness; and by thus reminding them with what dignity they had been endowed, he upbraided them with the more severity for their guilt of perfidy. For in other places (sc., Deu 33:5, Deu 33:26) Israel is honoured with an eulogium of the same kind, without any such sinister meaning, but with simple regard to its calling; whilst here Moses shows reproachfully how far they had departed from that pursuit of piety, to the cultivation of which they had been called"( Calvin ). The words, "became fat, and struck out,"are founded upon the figure of an ox that had become fat, and intractable in consequence (vid., Isa 10:27; Hos 4:16; and for the fact itself, Deu 6:11; Deu 8:10; Deu 31:20). To sharpen this reproof, Moses repeats the thought in the form of a direct address to the people: "Thou hast become fat, stout, gross."Becoming fat led to forsaking God, the Creator and ground of its salvation. "A full stomach does not promote piety, for it stands secure, and neglects God"( Luther ). נבּל is no doubt a denom . verb from נבל , lit., to treat as a fool, i.e., to despise (vid., Micah. Deu 7:6).

Deu 32:16-18

" They excited His jealousy through strange (gods), they provoked Him by abominations. They sacrificed to devils, which (were) not-God; to gods whom they knew not, to new (ones) that had lately come up, whom your fathers feared not. The rock which begat thee thou forsookest, and hast forgotten the God that bare thee ."These three verses are only a further expansion of Deu 32:15 . Forsaking the rock of its salvation, Israel gave itself up to the service of worthless idols. The expression"excite to jealousy"is founded upon the figure of a marriage covenant, under which the relation of the Lord to Israel is represented (vid., Deu 31:16, and the com. on Exo 34:15). "This jealousy rests upon the sacred and spiritual marriage tie, by which God had bound the people to Himself"( Calvin ). "Strange gods,"with which Israel committed adultery, as in Jer 2:25; Jer 3:13. The idols are called "abominations"because Jehovah abhorred them (Deu 7:25; Deu 27:15; cf. 2Ki 23:13). שׁדים signifies demons in Syriac, as it has been rendered by the lxx and Vulgate here; lit., lords, like Baalim. It is also used in Psa 106:37. - "Not-God," a composite noun, in apposition to Shedim (devils), like the other expressions which follow: "gods whom they knew not,"i.e., who had not made themselves known to them as gods by any benefit or blessing (vid., Deu 11:28); "new (ones), who had come from near,"i.e., had but lately risen up and been adopted by the Israelites. "Near,"not in a local but in a temporal sense, in contrast to Jehovah , who had manifested and attested Himself as God from of old (Deu 32:7). שׂער , to shudder, construed here with an accusative, to experience a holy shuddering before a person, to revere with holy awe. - In Deu 32:18 Moses returns to the thought of Deu 32:15, for the purpose of expressing it emphatically once more, and paving the way for a transition to the description of the acts of the Lord towards His rebellious nation. To bring out still more prominently the base ingratitude of the people, he represents the creation of Israel by Jehovah, the rock of its salvation, under the figure of generation and birth, in which the paternal and maternal love of the Lord to His people had manifested itself. חולל , to twist round, then applied to the pains of childbirth. The ἁπ. λεγ. תּשׁי is to be traced to שׁיה , and is a pausal form like יחי in Deu 4:33. שׁיה = שׁהה , to forget, to neglect.

Deu 32:19-33

For this foolish apostasy the Lord would severely visit His people. This visitation is represented indeed in Deu 32:19, as the consequence of apostasy that had taken place, - not, however, as a punishment already inflicted, but simply as a resolution which god had formed and would carry out, - an evident proof that we have no song here belonging to the time when God visited with severe punishments the Israelites who had fallen into idolatry. In Deu 32:19 the determination to reject the degenerate children is announced, and in Deu 32:20-22 this is still further defined and explained.

Deu 32:19

"And the Lord saw it, and rejected - from indignation at His sons and daughters." The object to "saw"may easily be supplied from the context: He saw the idolatry of the people, and rejected those who followed idols, and that because of indignation that His sons and daughters practised such abominations. The expression "he saw"simply serves to bring out the causal link between the apostasy and the punishment. ויּנאץ has been very well rendered by Kamphausen , "He resolved upon rejection,"since Deu 32:20. clearly show that the rejection had only been resolved upon by God, and was not yet carried out. In what follows, Moses puts this resolution into the mouth of the Lord Himself.

Deu 32:20-21

"And He said, I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be: for they are a generation full of perversities, children in whom is no faithfulness. They excited My jealousy by a no-god, provoked Me by their vanities: and I also will excite their jealousy by a no-people, provoke them by a foolish nation. For a fire blazes up in My nose, and burns to the lowest hell, and consumes the earth with its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains." The divine purpose contains two things: - first of all (Deu 32:20) the negative side, to hide the face, i.e., to withdraw His favour and see what their end would be, i.e., that their apostasy would bring nothing but evil and destruction; for they were "a nation of perversities"( taphuchoth is moral perversity, Pro 2:14; Pro 6:14), i.e., "a thoroughly perverse and faithless generation"( Knobel ); - and then, secondly (Deu 32:21), the positive side, viz., chastisement according to the right of complete retaliation. The Israelites had excited the jealousy and vexation of God by a no-god and vanities; therefore God would excite their jealousy and vexation by a no-people and a foolish nation. How this retaliation would manifest itself is not fully defined however here, but is to be gathered from the conduct of Israel towards the Lord. Israel had excited the jealousy of God by preferring a no-god, or הבלים , nothingnesses, i.e., gods that were vanities or nothings ( Elilim , Lev 19:4), to the true and living God, its Father and Creator. God would therefore excite them to jealousy and ill-will by a no-people, a foolish nation, i.e., by preferring a no-people to the Israelites, transferring His favour to them, and giving the blessing which Israel had despised to a foolish nation. It is only with this explanation of the words that full justice is done to the idea of retribution; and it was in this sense that Paul understood this passage as referring to the adoption of the Gentiles as the people of God (Rom 10:19), and that not merely by adaptation, or by connecting another meaning with the words, as Umbreit supposes, but by interpreting it in exact accordance with the true sense of the words.

(Note: But when Kamphausen , on the other hand, maintains that this thought, which the apostle finds in the passage before us, would be"quite erroneous if taken as an exposition of the words,"the assertion is supported by utterly worthless arguments: for example, (1) that throughout this song the exalted heathen are never spoken of as the bride of God, but simply as a rod of discipline used against Israel; (2) that this verse refers to the whole nation of Israel, and there is no trace of any distinction between the righteous and the wicked; and (3) that the idea that God would choose another people as the covenant nation would have been the very opposite of that Messianic hope with which the author of this song was inspired. To begin with the last, the Messianic hope of the song consisted unquestionably in the thought that the Lord would do justice to His people, His servants, and would avenge their blood, even when the strength of the nation should have disappeared (Deu 32:36 and Deu 32:43). But this thought, that the Lord would have compassion upon Israel at last, by no means excludes the reception of the heathen into the kingdom of God, as is sufficiently apparent from Rom 9-11. The assertion that this verse refers to the whole nation is quite incorrect. The plural suffixes used throughout in Deu 32:20 and Deu 32:21 show clearly that both verses simply refer to those who had fallen away from the Lord; and nowhere throughout the whole song is it assumed, that the whole nation would fall away to the very last man, so that there would be no further remnant of faithful servants of the Lord, to whom the Lord would manifest His favour again. And lastly, it is nowhere affirmed that God would simply use the heathen as a rod against Israel. The reference is solely to enemies and oppressors of Israel; and the chastisement of Israel by foes holds the second, and therefore a subordinate, place among the evils with which God would punish the rebellious. It is true that the heathen are not described as the bride of God in this song, but that is for no other reason than because the idea of moving them to jealousy with a not-people is not more fully expanded.)

The adoption of the Gentile world into covenant with the Lord involved the rejection of the disobedient Israel; and this rejection would be consummated in severe judgments, in which the ungodly would perish. In this way the retribution inflicted by the Lord upon the faithless and perverse generation of His sons and daughters becomes a judgment upon the whole world. The jealousy of the Lord blazes up into a fire of wrath, which burns down to sheol. This aspect of the divine retribution comes into the foreground in what follows, from Deu 32:23 onwards; whilst the adoption of the Gentile world, which the Apostle Paul singles out as the leading thought of this verse, in accordance with the special purpose of the song, falls back behind the thought, that the Lord would not utterly destroy Israel, but when all its strength had disappeared would have compassion upon His servants, and avenge their blood upon His foes. The idea of a no-people is to be gathered from the antithesis no-god . As Schultz justly observes, "the expression no-people can no more denote a people of monsters, than the no-god was a monster, by which Israel had excited the Lord to jealousy."This remark is quite sufficient to show that the opinion of Ewald and others is untenable and false, namely, that "the expression no-people signifies a truly inhuman people, terrible and repulsive."No-god is a god to whom the predicate of godhead cannot properly be applied; and so also no-people is a people that does not deserve the name of a people or nation at all. The further definition of no-god is to be found in the word "vanities"No-god are the idols, who are called vanities or nothingnesses, because they deceive the confidence of men in their divinity; because, as Jeremiah says (Jer 14:22), they can give no showers of rain or drops of water from heaven. No-people is explained by a "foolish nation."A "foolish nation"is the opposite of a wise and understanding people, as Israel is called in Deu 4:6, because it possessed righteous statutes and rights in the law of the Lord. The foolish nation therefore is not "an ungodly nation, which despises all laws both human and divine"( Ros ., Maur .), but a people whose laws and rights are not founded upon divine revelation. Consequently the no-people is not "a barbarous and inhuman people"( Ros .), or "a horde of men that does not deserve to be called a people"( Maurer ), but a people to which the name of a people or nation is to be refused, because its political and judicial constitution is the work of man, and because it has not the true God for its head and king; or, as Vitringa explains, "a people not chosen by the true God, passed by when a people was chosen, shut out from the fellowship and grace of God, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and a stranger from the covenant of promise (Eph 2:12)."In this respect every heathen nation was a "no-people,"even though it might not be behind the Israelites so far as its outward organization was concerned. This explanation cannot be set aside, either by the objection that at that time Israel had brought itself down to the level of the heathen, by its apostasy from the Eternal, - for the notion of people and no-people is not taken from the outward appearance of Israel at any particular time, but is derived from its divine idea and calling, - or by an appeal to the singular, "a foolish nation,"whereas we should expect "foolish nations"to correspond to the "vanities,"if we were to understand by the no-people not one particular heathen nation, but the heathen nations generally. The singular,"a foolish nation,"was required by the antithesis, upon which it is founded, the "wise nation,"from which the expression no-people first receives its precise definition, which would be altogether obliterated by the plural. Moreover, Moses did not intend to give expression to the thought that God would excite Israel to jealousy by either few, or many, or all the Gentile nations.

Deu 32:22

In Deu 32:22, 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 set the whole world in flames down to the lowest hell. We may see how far the contents of this verse are from favouring the conclusion that "no-people"means a barbarous and inhuman horde, from the difficulty which the supporters of this view had found in dealing with the word כּי . Ewald renders it doch (yet), in total disregard of the usages of the language; and Venema , certe , profecto (surely); whilst Kamphausen supposes it to be used in a somewhat careless manner. The contents of Deu 32:22, which are introduced with כּי , by no means harmonize with the thought, "I will send a barbarous and inhuman horde;"whilst the announcement of a judgment setting the whole world in flames may form a very suitable explanation of the thought, that the Lord would excite faithless Israel to jealousy by a"no-people." This judgment, for example, would make the worthlessness of idols and the omnipotence of the God of Israel manifest in all the earth, and would lead the nations to seek refuge and salvation with the living God; and, as we learn from the history of the kingdom of God, and the allusions of the Apostle Paul to this mystery of the divine counsels, the heathen themselves would be the first to do so when they saw all their power and glory falling into ruins, and then the Israelites, when they saw that God had taken the kingdom from them and raised up the heathen who were converted to Him to be His people. The fire in the nose of the Lord is a figurative description of burning wrath and jealousy (vid., Deu 29:19). The fire signifies really nothing else than His jealousy, His vital energy, and in a certain sense His breath; it therefore naturally burns in the nose (vid., Psa 18:9). In this sense the Lord as "a jealous God"is a consuming fire (vid., Deu 4:24, and the exposition of Exo 3:2). This fire burns down even to the lower hell. The lower hell, i.e., the lowest region of sheol, or the lower regions, forms the strongest contrast to heaven; though we cannot deduce any definite doctrinal conclusions from the expression as to the existence of more hells than one. This fire "consumes the earth with its increase,"i.e., all its vegetable productions, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. This description is not a hyperbolical picture of the judgment which was to fall upon the children of Israel alone ( Kamphausen , Aben-Ezra , etc.); for it is a mistake to suppose that the judgment foretold affected the Israelitish nation only. The thought is weakened by the assumption that the language is hyperbolical. The words are not intended to foretell one particular penal judgment, but refer to judgment in its totality and universality, as realized in the course of centuries in different judgments upon the nations, and only to be completely fulfilled at the end of the world. " Calvin is right therefore when he says, "As the indignation and anger of God follow His enemies to hell, to eternal flames and infernal tortures, so they devour their land with its produce, and burn the foundations of the mountains;...there is no necessity therefore to imagine that there is any hyperbole in the words, 'to the lower hell.'"This judgment is then depicted in Deu 32:23-33 as it would discharge itself upon rebellious Israel.

Deu 32:23

"I will heap up evils upon them, use up My arrows against them." The evils threatened against the despisers of the Lord and His commandments would be poured out in great abundance by the Lord upon the foolish generation. ספה , to add one upon the other (vid., Num 32:14); hence in Hiphil to heap up, sweep together. These evils are represented in the second clause of the verse as arrows, which the Lord as a warrior would shoot away at his foes (as in Deu 32:42; cf. Psa 38:3; Psa 91:6; Job 6:4). כּלּה , to bring to an end, to use up to the very last.

Deu 32:24-25

"Have they wasted away with hunger, are they consumed with pestilential heat and bitter plague: I will let loose the tooth of beasts upon them, with the poison of things that crawl in the dust." (Deu 32:25) "If the sword without shall sweep them away, and in the chambers of terrors, the young man as the maiden, the suckling with the grey-haired man." The evils mentioned are hunger, pestilence, plague, wild beasts, poisonous serpents, and war. The first hemistich in Deu 32:24 contains simply nouns construed absolutely, which may be regarded as a kind of circumstantial clause. The literal meaning is, "With regard to those who are starved with hunger, etc., I will send against them;"i.e., when hunger, pestilence, plague, have brought them to the verge of destruction, I will send, etc. מזי , construct state of מזה , ἁπ. λεγ. with which Cocceius compares מצה and מצץ , to suck out, and for which Schultens has cited analogies from the Arabic. "Sucked out by hunger,"i.e., wasted away. "Tooth of beasts and poison of serpents:"poetical for beasts of prey and poisonous animals. See Lev 26:22, where wild beasts are mentioned as a plague along with pestilence, famine, and sword.

Deu 32:25

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 chambers by alarm. אימה is a sudden mortal terror, and Knobel is wrong in applying it to hunger and plague. The use of the verb שׁכּל , to make childless, is to be explained on the supposition that the nation or land is personified as a mother, whose children are the members of the nation, old and young together. Ezekiel has taken the four grievous judgments out of these two verses: sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence (Eze 14:21 : see also Eze 5:17, and Jer 15:2-3).

Deu 32:26-28

"I should say, I will blow them away, I will blot out the remembrance of them among men; if I did not fear wrath upon the enemy, that their enemies might mistake it, that they might say, Our hand was high, and Jehovah has not done all this." The meaning is, that the people would have deserved to be utterly destroyed, and it was only for His own name's sake that God abstained from utter destruction. אמרתּי to be construed conditionally requires לוּלי : if I did not fear (as actually was the case) I should resolve to destroy them, without leaving a trace behind. "I should say," used to denote the purpose of God, like "he said"in Deu 32:20. The ἁπ. λεγ. אפאיחם , which has been rendered in very different ways, cannot be regarded, as it is by the Rabbins, as a denom . verb from פּאה , a corner; and Calvin's rendering, "to scatter through corners,"does not suit the context; whilst the meaning, "to cast or scare out of all corners,"cannot be deduced from this derivation. The context requires the signification to annihilate, as the remembrance of them was to vanish from the earth. We get this meaning if we trace it to פּאה , to blow, - related to פּעה (Isa 42:14) and פּהה , from which comes פּה , - in the Hiphil "to blow away,"not to blow asunder. השׁבּית , not "to cause to rest,"but to cause to cease, delere (as in Amo 8:4). "Wrath upon the enemy," i.e., "displeasure on the part of God at the arrogant boasting of the enemy, which was opposed to the glory of God"( Vitringa ). פּן

Constable: Deu 31:1--34:12

VII. MOSES' LAST ACTS chs. 31--34

Having completed the major addresses to the Israelites recorded to this point in Deuteronomy, Moses needed only to make a few final arrangements before Israel was ready to enter the land. The record of these events concludes the book. Chapters 31-34 constitute several appendices to the main body of Deuteronomy (cf. Judg. 17-21; 2 Sam. 21-24).

"This final section of the covenant document has as its unifying theme the perpetuation of the covenant relationship. Of special importance is the subject of the royal succession, which is also prominent in the extra-biblical suzerainty treaties . . . This succession is provided for by the appointment and commissioning of Joshua as dynastic heir to Moses in the office of mediatorial representative of the Lord (ch. 31). The testamentary assignment of kingdom inheritance to the several tribes of Israel (ch. 33) reckons with the status of all God's people as royal heirs. Included also are two other standard elements in the international treaties. One is the invocation of covenant witnesses, here represented chiefly by the Song of Witness (ch. 32). The other is the directions for the disposition of the treaty document after the ceremony (31:9-13). By way of notarizing the document, an account of the death of Moses is affixed at the end (ch. 34)."³²⁸

Constable: Deu 32:1-43

2. The song itself 32:1-43

One writer called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive religious poems in the entire Old Testament."³³⁶ It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the unfaithfulness and perversity of His people. As other important poems in the Pentateuch (e.g., Gen. 49; Exod. 15; Num. 24), it also teaches major themes.

"The song embraces the whole of the future history of Israel, and bears all the marks of a prophetic testimony from the mouth of Moses, in the perfectly ideal picture which it draws, on the one hand, of the benefits and blessings conferred by the Lord upon His people; and on the other hand, of the ingratitude with which Israel repaid its God for them all."³³⁷

Moses set this song in the form of a lawsuit in which Yahweh leveled a charge against Israel.³³⁸ It's central theme is "Israel's apostasy and God's threatening judgment."³³⁹

32:1-4 Moses called on the whole earth to listen to what follows (vv. 1-2). The subject of this song would be God. The name of God is the expression of His character as He revealed this. The purpose of the song is that everyone would recognize God as the great God He is and that His people would respond to Him appropriately. The description of God as the Rock (vv. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31) occurs first here in Scripture, but it appears many times later. This metaphor pictures God as a reliable refuge for His people on whom they could build and who had been solidly faithful to them.

32:5-6 Israel, on the other hand, was "perverse and crooked" (v. 5). Moses also called God the Father of the Israelites (v. 6) whom His people had repaid with corrupt behavior for His many gifts.

32:7-14 The writer graphically described God's choice and care of Israel in these verses.³⁴⁰ Of all the nations of the earth she had experienced the greatest blessing. This is the last of 16 times Moses challenged the Israelites to remember in Deuteronomy, beginning in 4:10. The desert place where Yahweh found Israel was Egypt (v. 10), a wilderness. The pupil of the eye (lit. the little man of the eye, v. 10) is the part a person protects most carefully (cf. Ps. 17:8; Prov. 7:2). The "apple of the eye" is an English idiom meaning anything that one holds very dear or cherishes greatly.

32:15-18 Israel's rebellion against her Father stands in stark contrast to God's gracious care. "Jeshurun" (v. 5; cf. 33:26; Num. 23:10) means "upright one" or "righteous nation." This pet name reminded Israel of her holy calling. As an ox, Jeshurun had become unresponsive due to the fatness she had gained as a result of God's blessings.

"The chiastic structure by which vv. 4-14 match vv. 15-18 in reverse suggests the reversal of Israel's pledges of covenant commitment to the Lord."³⁴¹

32:19-25 God would discipline Israel because of her rebellion. He would make the punishment fit the crime (v. 21). The nations referred to as being "not a people" (v. 21) are those that had no divine calling as a people as Israel did. There is no other nation like Israel in the sense that it is the people of God. Fire (v. 22) is the symbol of God's wrath and judgment (cf. 4:24; Exod. 3:2; Heb. 12:29).

32:26-38 However, Israel's unfaithfulness would not thwart God's purposes for her. God would use other nations to discipline His people, but He would judge them too. The Old Testament writers compared Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah many times (v. 32), but they never compared the heathen nations to those wicked cities.

"One of the well-known sermons in American history was preached by Jonathan Edwards in 1741 from this verse [v. 35] and particularly from this clause: In due time their foot will slip.' The sermon subject was Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.' Edwards thought that the verse was directed at the unbelieving Israelites, but his application of it reached to all wicked people."³⁴²

32:39-43 The biblical writers also represented God frequently as a warrior hero who engaged in battle for Israel against her enemies (vv. 41-42; cf. Ps. 7:13). Loving God indicates faithful covenant obedience (cf. 5:10; 6:5; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20), and hating Him describes those who either have no covenant relationship with Him or who live in rebellion against Him (cf. 5:9; 7:10; 2 Chron. 19:2; Ps. 81:15; 139:20-21).

"Again it can be seen that the text portrays the Torah as God's gift of life to his people in much the same way as the Tree of Life was put into the midst of the Garden of Eden (Ge 2:8-17). Just as obedience to the Lord's command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the key to their access to the Tree of Life (Ge 2:16-17), so obedience to the Lord's command in the Torah was to be the key to Israel's living long in the land' that God had prepared for them."³⁴³

This song was one more instrument God used to teach His people to obey Him along with Moses' sermons, the rituals, the monuments, etc. (vv. 46-47).

"It will . . . act as a mnemonic, an aid to memory, because during the intervening period it will have lived unforgotten in the mouth of the reader or hearer, ready to come to mind when the troubles arrive. Poetry is thus a kind of time bomb; it awaits its hour and then springs forward into harsh remembrance. . . . It will live in their minds and mouths, bringing them back, whether they like it or not, to the harsh memory of the desert sojourn. Once learned it will not easily be forgotten. The words will stick, they will be importunate, they will not let us alone."³⁴⁴

The lesson this song teaches is that when God's people forget His gracious goodness to them and turn away from Him to follow idols, they can expect discipline. When God appears to withdraw His blessings we should not question His ability or motives but examine the state of our relationship with Him.

Guzik: Deu 32:1-52

Deuteronomy 32 - The Song of Moses

A. The song of Moses.

1. (1-4) Introduction.

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;

And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Let my teaching drop as the rain,

My speech distill as the dew,

As raindrops on the tender herb,

And as showers on the grass.

For I proclaim the name of the LORD:

Ascribe greatness to our God.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect;

For all His ways are justice,

A God of truth and without injustice;

Righteous and upright is He.

a. Give ear, O heavens . . . and hear, O earth: Moses began by asking for attention, not only from Israel, but from all of creation.

b. I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God: He then gave praise to God, both for who God is (He is the Rock . . . Righteous and upright is He) and for what God does (His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice).

2. (5-6) The accusation: The child has forsaken its father.

They have corrupted themselves;

They are not His children,

Because of their blemish:

A perverse and crooked generation.

Do you thus deal with the LORD,

O foolish and unwise people?

Is He not your Father, who bought you?

Has He not made you and established you?

a. They have corrupted themselves: Moses spoke as a witness against a rebellious Israel.

b. Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you? Their sin is even more foolish and unwise in light of what God has done for them. It is foolish and unwise to rebel against the God who has did so much for them.

3. (7-14) Moses recounts God's past faithfulness to Israel.

Remember the days of old,

Consider the years of many generations.

Ask your father, and he will show you;

Your elders, and they will tell you:

When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations,

When He separated the sons of Adam,

He set the boundaries of the peoples

According to the number of the children of Israel.

For the Lord's portion is His people;

Jacob is the place of His inheritance.

He found him in a desert land

And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;

He encircled him, He instructed him,

He kept him as the apple of His eye.

As an eagle stirs up its nest,

Hovers over its young,

Spreading out its wings, taking them up,

Carrying them on its wings,

So the LORD alone led him,

And there was no foreign god with him.

He made him ride in the heights of the earth,

That he might eat the produce of the fields;

He made him draw honey from the rock,

And oil from the flinty rock;

Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock,

With fat of lambs;

And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,

With the choicest wheat;

And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.

a. Remember the days of old: Considering that this song was meant to be a witness against a rebellious Israel, Moses reminded Israel of all God's goodness to them. This was to both bring a greater conviction of sin, and to remind them of God's love and grace they could return to.

4. (15-18) Israel responded to God's kindness with apostasy.

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;

You grew fat, you grew thick,

You are obese!

Then he forsook God who made him,

And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;

With abominations they provoked Him to anger.

They sacrificed to demons, not to God,

To gods they did not know,

To new gods, new arrivals

That your fathers did not fear.

Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful,

And have forgotten the God who fathered you.

a. Jeshurun: This is a title for Israel, which literally means the upright one (Isaiah 44:2).

b. They sacrificed to demons: In forsaking God, Israel turned to the pagan idols of the nations around them and actually worshipped demons. There was a dark spiritual reality behind the idols of the nations, and Israel embraced that dark spiritual reality.

5. (19-27) God's reaction: Withdrawal from and punishment of Israel.

And when the LORD saw it, He spurned them,

Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.

And He said: I will hide My face from them,

I will see what their end will be,

For they are a perverse generation,

Children in whom is no faith.

They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;

They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols.

But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;

I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

For a fire is kindled by my anger,

And shall burn to the lowest hell;

It shall consume the earth with her increase,

And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

I will heap disasters on them;

I will spend My arrows on them.

They shall be wasted with hunger,

Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;

I will also send against them the teeth of beasts,

With the poison of serpents of the dust.

The sword shall destroy outside;

There shall be terror within

For the young man and virgin,

The nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

I would have said, "I will dash them in pieces,

I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,"

Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy,

Lest their adversaries should misunderstand,

Lest they should say, "Our hand is high;

And it is not the LORD who has done all this."

a. I will hide My face from them: When God's people forsake Him, He withdraws the intimacy of His presence. At first, this is sometimes seen as a relief, because the conviction of sin is not so great. But then the darkness and desperation sets in.

b. I will heap disasters upon them: When the hiding of His face does not draw God's people into repentance, God then sends His hand of correction, and allows calamity to bring the attention of His people back upon Him.

6. (28-43) The LORD states His case and makes a plea unto Israel.

For they are a nation void of counsel,

Nor is there any understanding in them.

Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,

That they would consider their latter end!

How could one chase a thousand,

And two put ten thousand to flight,

Unless their Rock had sold them,

And the LORD had surrendered them?

For their rock is not like our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves being judges.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom

And of the fields of Gomorrah;

Their grapes are grapes of gall,

Their clusters are bitter.

Their wine is the poison of serpents,

And the cruel venom of cobras.

Is this not laid up in store with Me,

Sealed up among My treasures?

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;

Their foot shall slip in due time;

For the day of their calamity is at hand,

And the things to come hasten upon them.'

For the LORD will judge His people

And have compassion on His servants,

When He sees that their power is gone,

And there is no one remaining, bond or free.

He will say: 'Where are their gods,

The rock in which they sought refuge?

Who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

And drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise and help you,

And be your refuge.

Now see that I, even I, am He,

And there is no God besides Me;

I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal;

Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.

For I raise My hand to heaven,

And say, "As I live forever,

If I whet My glittering sword,

And My hand takes hold on judgment,

I will render vengeance to My enemies,

And repay those who hate Me.

I will make My arrows drunk with blood,

And My sword shall devour flesh,

With the blood of the slain and the captives,

From the heads of the leaders of the enemy."

Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people;

For He will avenge the blood of His servants,

And render vengeance to His adversaries;

He will provide atonement for His land and His people.

a. That they would consider their latter end: This can be a remarkably effective preventative to backsliding. When we are in a backslidden state, we should consider where it will lead us.

b. And have compassion on His servants: When we are in a backslidden state, we should also see the compassion of God we could receive.

c. There is no God besides Me: When we are in a backslidden state, we should see the greatness of God. The backslidden man needs to know more of God's His character and nature.

7. (44-47) Moses encourages Israel.

So Moses came with Joshua the son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, and He said to them: "Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe; all the words of this law. For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess."

a. It is not a futile thing: One of Satan's great lies to us is that it is a futile thing to serve God and obey His word. It often seems that those who are against God prosper more than those who are for Him. Yet, we need to see and understand - from an eternal perspective - that it is not a futile thing to love and obey God.

8. (48-52) God's final command to Moses.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying: "Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people; because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel."

a. Go up this mountain . . . and die on the mountain: Moses, as the last act of his 120 years, will climb Mount Nebo, and die at the summit of the mountain.

b. You shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there: Though Moses will not be allowed to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land, he can view the land of Canaan.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

DEUTERONOMY, the second law, a title which plainly shows what is the object of this book, namely, a recapitulation of the law. It was given in the form of public addresses to the people; and as Moses spoke in the prospect of his speedy removal, he enforced obedience to it by many forcible appeals to the Israelites, concerning their long and varied experience both of the mercies and the judgments of God. The minute notices of the heathen people with whom they had come in contact, but who afterward disappeared from the pages of history, as well as the accounts of the fertility and products of Canaan, and the counsels respecting the conquest of that country, fix the date of this book and the time of its composition by the hand of Moses. The close, however, must have been added by another; and, indeed, it is supposed by some to have formed the original preface to the Book of Joshua.

JFB: Deuteronomy (Outline)

• MOSES' SPEECH AT THE END OF THE FORTIETH YEAR. (Deu. 1:1-46)
• THE STORY IS CONTINUED. (Deu. 2:1-37)
• CONQUEST OF OG, KING OF BASHAN. (Deu. 3:1-20)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu 4:1-13)
• A PARTICULAR DISSUASIVE AGAINST IDOLATRY. (Deu. 4:14-40)
• A COMMEMORATION OF THE COVENANT IN HOREB. (Deu. 5:1-29)
• MOSES EXHORTS ISRAEL TO HEAR GOD AND TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. (Deu. 6:1-25)
• ALL COMMUNION WITH THE NATIONS FORBIDDEN. (Deu. 7:1-26)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 8:1-20)
• MOSES DISSUADES THEM FROM THE OPINION OF THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Deu. 9:1-25)
• GOD'S MERCY IN RESTORING THE TWO TABLES. (Deu. 10:1-22)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 11:1-32)
• MONUMENTS OF IDOLATRY TO BE DESTROYED. (Deu 12:1-15)
• BLOOD PROHIBITED. (Deu 12:16-25)
• HOLY THINGS TO BE EATEN IN THE HOLY PLACE. (Deu 12:26-32)
• ENTICERS TO IDOLATRY TO BE PUT TO DEATH. (Deu 13:1-5)
• WITHOUT REGARD TO NEARNESS OF RELATION. (Deu 13:6-18)
• GOD'S PEOPLE MUST NOT DISFIGURE THEMSELVES IN MOURNING. (Deu 14:1-2)
• WHAT MAY BE EATEN, AND WHAT NOT. (Deu. 14:3-21)
• OF BEASTS. (Deu 14:4-8)
• THE SEVENTH YEAR, A YEAR OF RELEASE FOR THE POOR. (Deu 15:1-11)
• HEBREW SERVANTS' FREEDOM. (Deu 15:12-19)
• THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. (Deu. 16:1-22)
• THINGS SACRIFICED MUST BE SOUND. (Deu 17:1)
• IDOLATERS MUST BE SLAIN. (Deu 17:2-7)
• THE PRIESTS AND JUDGES TO DETERMINE CONTROVERSIES. (Deu 17:8-13)
• THE ELECTION AND DUTY OF A KING. (Deu 17:14-20)
• THE LORD IS THE PRIESTS' AND THE LEVITES' INHERITANCE. (Deu 18:1-8)
• THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE NATIONS ARE TO BE AVOIDED. (Deu 18:9-14)
• CHRIST THE PROPHET IS TO BE HEARD. (Deu 18:15-19)
• OF THE CITIES OF REFUGE. (Deu 19:1-13)
• THE LANDMARK IS NOT TO BE REMOVED. (Deu 19:14)
• TWO WITNESSES REQUIRED. (Deu 19:15)
• PUNISHMENT OF A FALSE WITNESS. (Deu 19:16-21) But if convicted of perjury, it will be sufficient for his own condemnation, and his punishment shall be exactly the same as would have overtaken the object of his malignant prosecution. (See on Exo 21:23; see also Lev 24:20).
• THE PRIESTS' EXHORTATION TO ENCOURAGE THE PEOPLE TO BATTLE. (Deu. 20:1-20)
• EXPIATION OF UNCERTAIN MURDER. (Deu 21:1-9)
• THE TREATMENT OF A CAPTIVE TAKEN TO WIFE. (Deu 21:10-23)
• OF HUMANITY TOWARD BRETHREN. (Deu 22:1-4)
• THE SEX TO BE DISTINGUISHED BY APPAREL. (Deu 22:5-12)
• WHO MAY AND WHO MAY NOT ENTER INTO THE CONGREGATION. (Deu. 23:1-25)
• OF DIVORCES. (Deu. 24:1-22)
• STRIPES MUST NOT EXCEED FORTY. (Deu. 25:1-19)
• THE CONFESSION OF HIM THAT OFFERS THE BASKET OF FIRST FRUITS. (Deu 26:1-15)
• THE PEOPLE ARE TO WRITE THE LAW UPON STONES. (Deu 27:1-10)
• THE TRIBES DIVIDED ON GERIZIM AND EBAL. (Deu 27:11-13)
• THE BLESSINGS FOR OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 28:1-68)
• AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (Deu. 29:1-29)
• THE COMMANDMENT IS MANIFEST. (Deu 30:11-14)
• DEATH AND LIFE ARE SET BEFORE THE ISRAELITES. (Deu 30:15-20)
• MOSES ENCOURAGES THE PEOPLE AND JOSHUA. (Deu 31:1-8)
• HE DELIVERS THE LAW TO THE PRIESTS, TO READ IT EVERY SEVENTH YEAR TO THE PEOPLE. (Deu 31:9-13)
• MOSES' SONG, WHICH SETS FORTH THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD. (Deu. 32:1-43)
• THE MAJESTY OF GOD. (Deu. 33:1-28)
• MOSES FROM MOUNT NEBO VIEWS THE LAND. (Deu 34:1-12)

TSK: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

The book of Deuteronomy marks the end of the Pentateuch, commonly called the Law of Moses; a work every way worthy of God its author, and only less than the New Testament, the Law and Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Its antiquity places it at the head of all the writings in the world; and the various subjects it embraces render it of the utmost importance to every part of the civilized world. Its philosophy, history, geography, and chronology entitle it to the respect of the whole human race; while its system of theology and religion demonstrably proves it to be a revelation from God. The Law of Moses is more properly the Law of Jehovah, יהוה [Strong’s 03068] תורה [Strong’s 08451], torah yehowah , the grand title of the Pentateuch. Could we conceive Moses to have been the author of this system, we must consider him more than mortal - no wisdom of man has ever yet invented such a Code of Laws. His merit, however, has been disputed, and his laws severely criticised, by persons whose interest it was to prove religion a cheat, because they had none themselves. To some, whose mental taste and feeling are strangely perverted, everything in heathenism wears not only the most fascinating aspect, but appears to lay claim to and possess every excellence; and hence they have called up Confucius, Menu, Zoraster, and Mohammed himself, to dispute the palm with Moses! On this subject in general, it may be just necessary to add, that the utmost that can be said of all laws, merely human, is, that they restrain vices, through the terror of punishment. God’s law not only restrains vice, but it infuses virtue. It alone brings man to the footstool of his Maker; and keeps him dependent on the strong for strength, on the wise for wisdom, and on the merciful for grace. It abounds with promises of support, and salvation for the present life, which no false system dared ever to propose. every where, Moses, in the most confident manner, pledges his God for the fulfilment of all the exceeding great and precious promises, with which his laws are so plentifully interspersed; and while they were obedient they could say, " Not one word hath failed us, of all the good things which the Lord our God spake concerning us." Who that dispassionately reads the Pentateuch, that considers it in itself and in its reference to that glorious Gospel which it was intended to introduce, can for a moment deny it the palm of infinite superiority over all the systems ever framed or imagined by man? Well might the Israelitish people triumphantly exclaim, " There is none like the God of Jeshurun!" and with what striking propriety does the glorious legislator add, " Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee? O people, saved of the Lord!" Finally, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are amassed in these five books, have enriched the whole civilized earth, and, indeed, greatly promoted that very civilization. They have been a kind of text-book to almost every writer on geology, geography, chronology, astronomy, natural history, ethics, jurisprudence, political economy, theology, poetry, and criticism, from the time of Moses to the present day - books to which the choicest writers and philosophers in Pagan antiquity, have been deeply indebted; and which were the text-books to all the prophets - books from which the flimsy writers against Divine Revelation have derived their natural religion, and all their moral excellence - books written in all the energy, and purity, of the incomparable language in which they are composed; and lastly, books, which for importance of matter, variety of information, dignity of sentiment, accuracy of facts, impartiality, simplicity, and sublimity of narration, tending to improve and ennoble the intellect and ameliorate the physical and moral condition of man, have never been equalled, and can only be paralleled by the Gospel of the Son of God! Fountain of endless mercy, justice, truth, and beneficence! How much are thy gifts and bounties neglected by those who do not read this law; and by those who having read it, are not morally improved by it, and made wise unto salvation!

TSK: Deuteronomy 32 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Deu 32:1, Moses song, which sets forth God’s mercy and vengeance; Deu 32:46, He exhorts them to set their hearts upon it; Deu 32:48, God sends him up to mount Nebo, to see the land, and to die.

Poole: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

FIFTH BOOK of MOSES, CALLED DEUTERONOMY

THE ARGUMENT

Moses, in the two last months of his life, rehearseth what God had done for them, and their frequent murmurings, rebellions, and constant ingratitude. He begs to enter into the land, but is permitted only to see it. He forbiddeth any communion with the nations for several reasons, De 8 . He gives a short repetition of those sundry laws, moral, ceremonial, judicial, and military, which he had given them, from whence this book is called DEUTERONOMY. Then, after many exhortations, he prophesieth of Christ; afterwards he shows how matters of war are to be managed, and, giving many other particular directions with reference to duties, conditions, and persons of both sexes, he pronounceth blessings on the obedient, and curses on the disobedient: he then gives a charge for laying up and reading of the law at certain times, and every seven years to be solemnly read before all the people; he composeth a song for common use, comprising the wonderful things here mentioned: he prophesieth of Christ’ s coming, and the calling of the Gentiles, seeth the land, and dieth, leaving Joshua, after he had consecrated him, to succeed.

Poole: Deuteronomy 32 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 32

The Divine song, in which God’ s power, mercy to his people, and vengeance on his enemies exalted, their ingratitude is rebuked, Deu 32:1-18 . God’ s wrath and future judgments, Deu 32:19-26 . Yet the idolatrous nations to be destroyed, and they at last to be enlarged, Deu 32:27-43 . He exhorts them to set their hearts on these words for their good, Deu 32:41-47 . God sendeth him up to Mount Nebo, there to see the promised land and die, Deu 32:48-52 .

MHCC: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

This book repeats much of the history and of the laws contained in the three foregoing books: Moses delivered it to Israel a little before his death, both by word of mouth, that it might affect, and by writing, that it might abide. The men of that generation to which the law was first given were all dead, and a new generation was sprung up, to whom God would have it repeated by Moses himself, now they were going to possess the land of Canaan. The wonderful love of God to his church is set forth in this book; how he ever preserved his church for his own mercies sake, and would still have his name called upon among them. Such are the general outlines of this book, the whole of which shows Moses' love for Israel, and marks him an eminent type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us apply the exhortations and persuasions to our own consciences, to excite our minds to a believing, grateful obedience to the commands of God.

MHCC: Deuteronomy 32 (Chapter Introduction)

(Deu 32:1, Deu 32:2) The song of Moses.

(Deu 32:3-6) The character of God, The character of Israel.

(Deu 32:7-14) The great things God had done for Israel.

(Deu 32:15-18) The wickedness of Israel.

(Deu 32:19-25) The judgments which would come upon them for their sins.

(Deu 32:26-38) Deserved vengeance withheld.

(Deu 32:39-43) God's deliverance for his people.

(Deu 32:44-47) The exhortation with which the song was delivered.

(Deu 32:48-52) Moses to go up mount Nebo to die.

Matthew Henry: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Fifth Book of Moses, Called Deuteronomy

This book is a repetition of very much both of the history and of the laws contained in the three foregoing books, which repetition Moses delivered to Israel (both by word of mouth, that it might affect, and by writing, that it might abide) a little before his death. There is no new history in it but that of the death of Moses in the last chapter, nor any new revelation to Moses, for aught that appears, and therefore the style here is not, as before, The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying. But the former laws are repeated and commented upon, explained and enlarged, and some particular precepts added to them, with copius reasonings for the enforcing of them: in this Moses was divinely inspired and assisted, so that this is as truly the word of the Lord by Moses as that which was spoken to him with an audible voice out of the tabernacle of the congregation , Lev 1:1. The Greek interpreters call it Deuteronomy, which signifies the second law, or a second edition of the law, not with amendments, for there needed none, but with additions, for the further direction of the people in divers cases not mentioned before. Now, I. It was much for the honour of the divine law that it should be thus repeated; how great were the things of that law which was thus inculcated, and how inexcusable would those be by whom they were counted as a strange thing! Hos 8:12. II. There might be a particular reason for the repeating of it now; the men of that generation to which the law was first given were all dead, and a new generation had sprung up, to whom God would have it repeated by Moses himself, that, if possible, it might make a lasting impression upon them. Now that they were just going to take possession of the land of Canaan, Moses must read the articles of agreement to them, that they might know upon what terms and conditions they were to hold and enjoy that land, and might understand that they were upon their good behaviour in it. III. It would be of great use to the people to have those parts of the law thus gathered up and put together which did more immediately concern them and their practice; for the laws which concerned the priests and Levites, and the execution of their offices, are not repeated: it was enough for them that they were once delivered. But, in compassion to the infirmities of the people, the laws of more common concern are delivered a second time. Precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, Isa 28:10. The great and needful truths of the gospel should be often pressed upon people by the ministers of Christ. To write the same things (says Paul, Phi 3:1) to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. What God has spoken once we have need to hear twice, to hear many times, and it is well if, after all, it be duly perceived and regarded. In three ways this book of Deuteronomy was magnified and made honourable: - 1. The king was to write a copy of it with his own hand, and to read therein all the days of his life, ch. 17, 18, 19. 2. It was to be written upon great stones plastered, at their passing over Jordan, Deu 27:2, Deu 27:3. 3. It was to be read publicly every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles, by the priests, in the audience of all Israel, Deu 31:9, etc. The gospel is a kind of Deuteronomy, a second law, a remedial law, a spiritual law, a law of faith; by it we are under the law of Christ, and it is a law that makes the comers thereunto perfect.

This book of Deuteronomy begins with a brief rehearsal of the most remarkable events that had befallen the Israelites since they came from Mount Sinai. In the fourth chapter we have a most pathetic exhortation to obedience. In the twelfth chapter, and so on to the twenty-seventh, are repeated many particular laws, which are enforced (ch. 27 and 28) with promises and threatenings, blessings and curses, formed into a covenant, ch. 29 and 30. Care is taken to perpetuate the remembrance of these things among them (ch. 31), particularly by a song (ch. 32), and so Moses concludes with a blessing, ch. 33. All this was delivered by Moses to Israel in the last month of his life. The whole book contains the history but of two months; compare Deu 1:3 with Jos 4:19, the latter of which was the thirty days of Israel's mourning for Moses; see how busy that great and good man was to do good when he knew that his time was short, how quick his motion when he drew near his rest. Thus we have more recorded of what our blessed Saviour said and did in the last week of his life than in any other. The last words of eminent persons make or should make deep impressions. Observe, for the honour of this book, that when our Saviour would answer the devil's temptations with, It is written, he fetched all his quotations out of this book, Mat 4:4, Mat 4:7, Mat 4:10.

Matthew Henry: Deuteronomy 32 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter we have, I. The song which Moses, by the appointment of God, delivered to the children of Israel, for a standing admonition to them, to take heed of forsaking God. This takes up most of the chapter, in which we have, 1. The preface (Deu 32:1, Deu 32:2). 2. A high character of God, and, in opposition to that, a bad character of the people of Israel (Deu 32:3-6). 3. A rehearsal of the great things God had done for them, and in opposition to that an account of their ill carriage towards him (Deu 32:7-18). 4. A prediction of the wasting destroying judgments which God would bring upon them for their sins, in which God is here justified by the many aggravations of their impieties (Deu 32:19-33). 5. A promise of the destruction of their enemies and oppressors at last, and the glorious deliverance of a remnant of Israel (Deu 32:36-43). II. The exhortation with which Moses delivered this song to them (Deu 32:41-47). III. The orders God gives to Moses to go up to Mount Nebo and die (Deu 32:48, etc.).

Constable: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible was its first two words, elleh haddebarim, which translate into English as "these are the words" (1:1). Ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties began with exactly the same words.¹ So the Jewish title gives a strong clue to the literary character of Deuteronomy.

The English title comes from the Septuagint (Greek) translation. "Deuteronomy" means "second law" in Greek. We might suppose that this title arose from the idea that Deuteronomy records the law as Moses repeated it to the new generation of Israelites who were preparing to enter the land. This is not the case. It came from a mistranslation of a phrase in 17:18. There God commanded Israel's kings to prepare "a copy of this law" for themselves. The Septuagint translators mistakenly rendered this phrase "this second [repeated] law." The Vulgate (Latin) translation, influenced by the Septuagint, translated the phrase "second law" as deuteronomium from which Deuteronomy is a transliteration. Deuteronomy is to some extent, however, a repetition to the new generation of the Law God gave at Mt. Sinai. Thus God overruled the translators' error and gave us a title for the book in English that is appropriate in view of the contents of the book.

Date and Writer

Moses evidently wrote this book on the plains of Moab shortly before his death, which occurred about 1406 B.C.

The Mosaic authorship of this book is quite easy to establish. The book claims to be the words of Moses (1:5, 9; 5:1; 27:1, 8; 29:2; 31:1, 30; 33:1, 29) and his writing (31:9, 22, 24). Other Old Testament books also assert the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy (1 Kings 2:3; 8:53; 2 Kings 14:6; 18:6, 12). Jesus Christ believed Moses wrote Deuteronomy (Matt. 19:7-8; Mark 10:3-5; 12:19; John 5:46-47) as did the Apostle Peter (Acts 3:22), Stephen (Acts 7:37-38), Paul (Rom. 10:19; 1 Cor. 9:9), and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. 10:28).

"The authorship of no other book in the Old Testament is so explicitly emphasized."²

The form in which Moses wrote Deuteronomy is very similar to that of ancient Near Eastern suzerainty-vassal treaties dating before and during the Mosaic era. This structural evidence confirms an early date of composition.³

Most conservative commentators prefer to regard the record of Moses' death and a few editorial comments as the work of a later writer or writers. Of course, Moses could have written these verses too.

In spite of such conclusive evidence some scholars prefer a later date for Deuteronomy. The critics favor a post-Mosaic but pre-seventh century date, a seventh century date in King Josiah's era, or a postexilic date.⁴

Scope

Deuteronomy is similar to Leviticus in that both books contain a record of instructions and speeches almost exclusively. Deuteronomy is not so much a book of history, as Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers are, as it is a book of law. In contrast to Leviticus, however, Moses addressed Deuteronomy to all the Israelites more than to the priests and Levites.

The scope of history covered in Deuteronomy is very brief. All the events recorded took place on the plains of Moab probably within a few weeks just before Israel's entrance into Canaan.

"According to the Index locorum of Nestle's Novum Testamentum Graece Deuteronomy is quoted or otherwise cited at least 95 times in the New Testament (compared to 103 for Genesis, 113 for Exodus, 35 for Leviticus, and 20 for Numbers), making it one of the favorite Old Testament books of Jesus and the apostles."⁵

Character

"The book of Deuteronomy is the document prepared by Moses as a witness to the dynastic covenant which the Lord gave to Israel in the plains of Moab (cf. 31:26)."⁶

Theology

"In line with the general correspondence of the form of a thing to its function, it is safe to say that one cannot understand the theology of Deuteronomy without reference to its covenant form and structure . . . It is no exaggeration to maintain that the concept of covenant lies at the very heart of the book and may be said to be the center of its theology.

"Covenant by its very definition demands at least three elements--the two contracting parties and the document that describes and outlines the purpose, nature, and requirements of the relationship. Thus the three major rubrics of the theology of Deuteronomy are (1) Yahweh, the Great King and covenant initiator; (2) Israel, the vassal and covenant recipient; and (3) the book itself, the covenant organ, complete with the essentials of standard treaty documents. This means, moreover, that all the revelation of the book must be seen through the prism of covenant and not abstractly removed from the peculiar historical and ideological context in which it originated."⁷

"The theological values of Deuteronomy can hardly be exaggerated. It stands as the wellspring of biblical historical revelation. It is a prime source for both OT and NT theology. Whether the covenant, the holiness of God, or the concept of the people of God is the unifying factor of OT theology, each finds emphasis and remarkable definition in Deuteronomy."⁸

Message⁹

Let me share with you a couple of quotations that point out the importance of this book.

"Deuteronomy is one of the greatest books of the Old Testament. Its significance on the domestic and personal religion of all ages has not been surpassed by any other book in the Bible. It is quoted over eighty times in the New Testament . . . in all but six books . . . and thus it belongs to a small group of four Old Testaments books (Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah) to which the early Christians made frequent reference."¹⁰

"The book of Deuteronomy is the most important book in the Old Testament from the standpoint of God's revelation to man."¹¹

Deuteronomy is not just a recapitulation of things previously revealed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It is a selective digest of matters most important to the average Israelite in his or her relationship with God. Moses spoke as an aged father to his children. These are the parting words of the man who communed with God face to face. His words in Deuteronomy spring from a personal and intimate knowledge of God that had matured over 120 years.

One of the striking features of this book is the frequent references to love that recur throughout it. God's love for the patriarchs and later the whole nation of Israel is obvious in the previous four books of the Pentateuch, but Moses never articulated it directly. In Deuteronomy for the first time Moses revealed that it was God's love for Israel that motivated Him to deal with the Israelites as He had.

One of the great revelations of this book is the motivation of God. God's love for people moved Him to bless. Moses referred to God's love for people as the motivation of His government in three of the book's major sections.

It constitutes the climax of Moses' first address to the people (1:6-4:40) in which he reviewed God's faithfulness to the Israelites. It was because God loved them that He had treated them as He had (4:32-40, esp. v. 37).

In the second address, which is an exposition of the Mosaic Law (chs. 5-26), Moses explained that God's love motivated His laws (7:7-11; 10:12-22, esp. v. 15; 15:16; 23:5; et al.).

In the conclusion of the book, which records Moses' blessing of the nation (ch. 33), he again reminded the people of God's love for them (33:2-5, esp. v. 3a).

Not only does Deuteronomy reveal that God's love is what motivates Him to govern His people as He does. It also emphasizes that man's love for God should be what motivates us to obey God (cf. 1 John 4:19). This theme too recurs throughout the book.

In Moses' review of the law (chs. 5-26) he called on the Israelites to love God (5:9-10; 6:4-5; 7:9; 10:12-13; 11:1, 13-14, 22-23; 13:1-13, esp. vv. 1-3; 19:8-9). The Israelites' obedience to God's laws expressed their love for God. Love is the most proper and adequate motivation for obedience and service.

We hear this theme again in Moses' third address (chs. 29-30) in which Moses exhorted the new generation of Israelites to obey their covenant, the Mosaic Covenant (30:6, 15-20).

The message of the book then is that God's love for man is the motivation of His government, and man's love for God should be the motivation of his obedience.

This emphasis on love appears even more striking in comparison with other ancient Near Eastern suzerain-vassal treaties. The ancient Near Eastern kings delineated clearly the rights of the ruler and the responsibilities of the subjects in these documents. However the motivation was self-interest, the opposite of love. Concern for others was present, but self-interest predominated.

Since Moses set Deuteronomy in the form of a suzerain-vassal treaty we can learn much about how he viewed Israel's relationship to God.

To quote Thompson again, "Both the literary shape of Deuteronomy and its underlying central concept provide an important clue to the basic theology of the book. Yahweh, the God of Israel, appears in a strong covenantal setting. He is the great King, the Lord of the covenant. From this central concept Israel's finest theological ideas derived."¹²

These "ideas" include the fact that Yahweh is the Lord of the covenant and the God of history.

Obedience to God and His covenant brings blessing whereas disobedience incurs curses. Israel was the people of the covenant.

The people were to worship their Lord by loving Him with their hearts and remembering Him and His acts with their minds.

There are perhaps four basic implications of this revelation and these correspond to four major sections of the book.

1. It is important to remember God's past faithfulness to appreciate His love (1:6-4:40). God commanded the Israelites to remember. Forgetfulness was a sin that would lead them to ingratitude and ultimately to apostasy. To forget was to rebel against God. Remembering the past would remind the people of God's love and rekindle their love for Him. Love as well as trust rests on confidence. We can love God only when we have confidence in Him.

2. God's laws are an expression of His love (chs. 5-26). Because man is a sinner he needs divine laws. God's provision of these laws is an expression of His love for mankind. The specific laws in the Mosaic Code expressed God's love because God intended them to result in Israel's blessing and welfare. Often we think laws are undesirable because they curb our freedom. However, God curbs our freedom to keep us from evil, not to keep us from good.

3. Only love for God will adequately motivate a person to be obedient to God's laws (chs. 27-28). These laws in Israel were so severe that the only motive strong enough to produce consistent obedience was love. Moses urged the Israelites to cultivate their love for God as they prepared to renew the covenant. Self-confidence had failed their fathers, and it would fail them too. Obedience to God can be a joyful or a bitter experience depending on one's motivation.

When we know God we love Him, and when we love God we will want to obey Him.

4. Obedience to God demonstrates love for Him (chs. 29-30). While it is possible to obey God with lesser motives, it is impossible to be consistently obedient without love for God. Consistent obedience is not the same as sinless perfection. The measure of one's love for God is the measure of his or her obedience to the revealed will of God (1 John 5:3). The degree of our commitment to do the will of God is the true measure of our love for God. The real test of our love for God is what we do more than how we feel.

Constable: Deuteronomy (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5

II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40

A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:29

1. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-46

2. The march from Kadesh to the Amorite frontier 2:1-23

3. The conquest of the kingdom of Sihon 2:24-37

4. The conquest of the kingdom of Og 3:1-11

5. A review of the distribution of the conquered land 3:12-20

6. Moses' anticipation of future blessing 3:21-29

B. An exhortation to observe the law faithfully 4:1-40

1. The appeal to hearken and obey 4:1-8

2. God's appearance at Mt. Horeb 4:9-14

3. The prohibition of idolatry 4:15-24

4. The consequences of idolatry 4:25-31

5. The uniqueness of Yahweh and Israel 4:32-40

III. Historical interlude: preparation for the covenant text 4:41-49

A. The appointment of cities of refuge in Transjordan 4:41-43

B. Introduction to the second address 4:44-49

IV. Moses' second major address: an exposition of the law chs. 5-26

A. The essence of the law and its fulfillment ch. 5-11

1. Exposition of the Decalogue and its promulgation ch. 5

2. Exhortation to love Yahweh ch. 6

3. Examples of the application of the principles chs. 7-11

B. An exposition of selected covenant laws 12-25

1. Laws arising from the first commandment 12:1-31

2. Laws arising from the second commandment 12:32-13:18

3. Laws arising from the third commandment 14:1-21

4. Laws arising from the fourth commandment 14:22-16:17

5. Laws arising from the fifth commandment 16:18-18:22

6. Laws arising from the sixth commandment 19:1-22:8

7. Laws arising from the seventh commandment 22:9-23:18

8. Laws arising from the eighth commandment 23:19-24:7

9. Laws arising from the ninth commandment 24:8-25:4

10. Laws arising from the tenth commandment 25:5-19

C. Covenant celebration, confirmation, and conclusion ch. 26

1. Laws of covenant celebration and confirmation 26:1-15

2. Summary exhortation 26:16-19

V. Preparations for renewing the covenant chs. 27:1-29:1

A. The ceremony at Shechem 27:1-13

B. The curses that follow disobedience to specific stipulations 27:14-26

C. The blessings that follow obedience 28:1-14

D. The curses that follow disobedience to general stipulations 28:15-68

E. Narrative interlude 29:1

VI. Moses' third major address: an exhortation to obedience chs. 29:2-30:20

A. An appeal for faithfulness 29:2-29

1. Historical review 29:2-8

2. The purpose of the assembly 29:9-15

3. The consequences of disobedience 29:16-29

B. A call to decision ch. 30

1. The possibility of restoration 30:1-10

2. The importance of obedience 30:11-20

VII. Moses' last acts chs. 31-34

A. The duties of Israel's future leaders 31:1-29

1. The presentation of Joshua 31:1-8

2. The seventh year covenant renewal ceremony 31:9-13

3. The commissioning of Joshua 31:14-23

4. The preservation of God's words 31:24-29

B. The Song of Moses 31:30-32:44

1. The introduction to the song 31:30

2. The song itself 32:1-43

3. The conclusion to the song 32:44

C. Narrative interlude 32:45-52

1. Moses' exhortation to obedience 32:45-47

2. The announcement of Moses' death 32:48-52

D. Moses' blessing of the tribes ch. 33

E. Moses' death and burial: narrative epilogue ch. 34

You will notice that there is a general alternation between narrative (sections I, III, V, and VII) and didactic (sections II, IV, and VI) material. However there is some mixture of narrative and didactic material in sections V and VII.

We can also divide the revelation in this book according to the general arrangement of the typical form of a suzerain-vassal treaty that was common in the ancient Near East.¹³

I. Preamble: Covenant mediator 1:1-5

II. Historical prologue: Covenant history 1:6-4:49

III. Stipulations: Covenant life chs. 5-26

A. The Great Commandment chs. 5-11

B. Ancillary commandments chs. 12-26

IV. Sanctions: Covenant ratification chs. 27-30

V. Dynastic disposition: Covenant continuity chs. 31-34

Constable: Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY.

This Book is called Deuteronomy, which signifies a second law , because it repeats and inculcates the ordinances formerly given on Mount Sinai, with other precepts not expressed before. The Hebrews, from the first words in the Book, call it Elle Haddebarim . (Challoner) --- It may be divided into many discourses, which Moses made to the people during the last two months of his life. (Haydock) --- The first was delivered by him on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, since the deliverance of the Hebrews out of Egypt, and relates various particulars which had occurred to them. In chap. iv. 41, and following, and a supplement from the Book of Numbers is given to this discourse. Chap. v., a fresh exhortation to the people commences, which continues until chap. xxii., where the famous blessings and maledictions, from the mountains of Garizim and Hebal, are related. In the following chapters, Moses exhorts the people, in the most pathetic manner, to be faithful to the Lord, adding the strongest threats and promises to enforce their compliance; and having appointed Josue to succeed him, and repeated that beautiful canticle which God ordered them to write, (chap. xxxi. 19,) he gives the Book of Deuteronomy, to be kept with care, (ver. 9,) blesses the tribes like a good and tender father, and gives up his soul to God on Mount Nebo in the 120th year of his age. (Calmet) --- There can be no doubt but that Moses was the author of this book, as well as of the four preceding ones; though the last chapter may, perhaps, form a part of the Book of Josue, which formerly was written immediately after the works of Moses, without any such marks of distinction as we find at present. The whole Bible seemed to make but one verse. How easily, therefore, might the account of the death of Moses be taken in, as forming a part of the Pentateuch, when the different books came to be distinguished by separate titles! Such an insertion cannot hurt the general claim of Moses to be the author of the Pentateuch; or, if it should be thought to do so, no absolute proof can be brought to shew that he did not write this chapter also, by the spirit of prophecy. All the people spoke to Esdras, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded, to Israel. The whole nation of the Jews has all along maintained, that Moses wrote these books: and he himself repeatedly asserts that he was ordered to leave on record many things of importance. Hence both internal and external evidence concur to establish his title to them; and if we be not disposed to cavil with all other authors, and to deny that Demosthenes, for example, Cæsar, and others, have written the works which bear their names, we must confess that the Pentateuch is to be attributed to the Jewish legislator. Yet if this were a matter of doubt, the things contained in these books could not, on that account, be controverted. How many anonymous works have been published which are of unquestionable authority! Many of the books of Scripture are of this nature. But as we have every reason to believe, that they have come down to us without any material corruption, and were written by people of veracity, by divine inspiration, they deserve to be regarded as authentic records. This is true, whether we speak of the originals or of the versions authorized by the Church; though it should suffice to stop the mouths of infidels, if we can procure an authentic history of the Bible by the collation of the different copies which are extant. Thus, where the Hebrew editions appear to be incorrect, they may receive great light from the Samaritan copy of the Pentateuch, and from the versions of the Septuagint, and of other respectable authors on the whole Bible. The variations, which we may discover, are not of such moment, but that, if the very worst copy were selected, we should find the same great outlines of Scripture history, the same precepts of faith and morality. The laws of Moses, which are scattered through his five books, may be seen all together in their natural order, collected by Cornelius a Lapide and Calmet. But the spirit of God was pleased to intersperse historical facts among them, which both shew the occasion on which they were given, and enable us to read them with greater pleasure and satisfaction. The four preceding books might be compared to the four Gospels; Deuteronomy represents the whole, (Ven. Bede) and may be styled a Diatessaron, as it recalls to our mind the great Creator of all things, who was about to fulfil the promises which he had made to the Patriarchs. Almost all those to whom Moses addresses himself, had been unborn or very young, when their parents received God's commands at Sinai, and wandered in the desert. He therefore gives them an account of what had happened during the last eventful period of forty years. He shews what had brought on so many disasters, and cautions his hearers, that if they imitate the perfidy of their fathers, as he foresees, with sorrow, that they will, (chap. xxxi.) they must expect to be treated with no less severity. This prediction we behold verified, at the present day, in the persons of the scattered remnants of Israel. How sublime! how terrifying are the truths which Moses enforces with so much earnestness! The same threats which he denounces against the perfidious Jews, regard us in some measure. If we feel not their effects at present, in being driven out from our country, we have more reason to fear lest we should be excluded from our heavenly inheritance, if we do not repent. (Haydock)

Gill: Deuteronomy (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY

This book is sometimes called "Elleh hadebarim", from the words with which it begins; and sometimes by the Jews "Mishneh Torah", the repetition of the law; and so in the Syriac version, with which agrees the Arabic title of it; and when the Greeks, and we after them, call it "Deuteronomy", it is not to be understood of a second, a new, or another law, but of the law formerly delivered, but now repeated, and also more largely explained; to which are likewise added several particular laws, instructions, and directions; all which were necessary, on account of the people of Israel, who were now a new generation, that either were not born, or not at an age to hear and understand the law when given on Mount Sinai; the men that heard it there being all dead, excepting a very few; and these people were also now about to enter into the land of Canaan, which they were to enjoy as long as they kept the law of God, and no longer, and therefore it was proper they should be reminded of it; and besides, Moses was now about to leave them, and having an hearty desire after their welfare, spends the little time he had to be with them, by inculcating into them and impressing on them the laws of God, and in opening and explaining them to them, and enforcing them on them, which were to be the rule of their obedience, and on which their civil happiness depended. And sometimes the Jews call this book "the book of reproofs", because there are in it several sharp reproofs of the people of Israel for their rebellion and disobedience; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem begin it by calling it the words of reproof which Moses spake, &c. That this book was written by Moses there can be no doubt, from Deu 1:1, only the eight last verses, which give an account of his death, and of his character, were wrote by another hand, equally inspired by God, as either Eleazar the priest, as some, or Samuel the prophet, as others; or, as it is the more commonly received opinion of the Jews, Ezra; though it is highly probable they were wrote by Joshua his successor. This book was written and delivered by Moses, at certain times in the last month of his life, and towards the close of the fortieth year of the children of Israel's coming out of Egypt. And that it is of divine authority need not be questioned, when the several quotations out of it are observed, as made by the apostles of Christ, in Act 3:22, Heb 10:30 out of Deu 18:15 and by our Lord himself, Mat 18:16 from Deu 19:15. Yea, it is remarkable, that all the passages of Scripture produced by Christ, to repel the temptations of Satan, are all taken out of this book, Mat 4:7 compared with Deu 8:3, and the voice from heaven, directing the apostles to hearken to him, refers to a prophecy of him in Deu 18:15.

Gill: Deuteronomy 32 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 32

This chapter contains the song mentioned and referred to in the former, the preface to it, Deu 32:1; the character of the divine and illustrious Person it chiefly respects, Deu 32:4; the ingratitude of the people of the Jews to him, who were a crooked and perverse generation, aggravated by his having bought, made, and established them, Deu 32:5; and which is further aggravated by various instances of divine goodness to them, first in providing and reserving a suitable country for them, at the time of the division of the earth to the sons of men, with the reason of it, Deu 32:7; then by what the Lord did for them in the wilderness, Deu 32:10; after that in the land of Canaan, where they enjoyed plenty of all good things, and in the possession of which they were, when the illustrious Person described appeared among them, Deu 32:13; and then the sin of ingratitude to him, before hinted at, is fully expressed, namely, lightly esteeming the rock of salvation, the Messiah, Deu 32:15; nor could they stop here, but proceed to more ungodliness, setting up other messiahs and saviours, which were an abomination to the Lord, Deu 32:16; continuing sacrifices when they should not, which were therefore reckoned no other than sacrifices to demons, and especially the setting up of their new idol, their own righteousness, was highly provoking; and by all this they clearly showed they had forgot the rock, the Saviour, Deu 32:17; wherefore, for the rejection of the Messiah and the, persecution of his followers, they would be abhorred of God, Deu 32:19; who would show his resentment by the rejection of them, by the calling of the Gentiles, and by bringing the nation of the Romans upon them, Deu 32:20; whereby utter ruin and destruction in all its shapes would be brought upon them, Deu 32:22; and, were it not for the insolence of their adversaries, would be entirely destroyed, being such a foolish and unwise people, which appears by not observing what the enemies of the Messiah themselves allow, that there is no rock like him, whom they despised, Deu 32:26; which enemies are described, and the vengeance reserved for them pointed out, Deu 32:32; and the song closed with promises of grace and mercy to the Lord's people, and wrath and ruin to his and their enemies, on which account all are called upon to rejoice in the latter day, Deu 32:36; and this song being delivered by Moses, the people of Israel are exhorted seriously to attend to it, it being of the utmost importance to them, Deu 32:44; and the chapter is concluded with a relation of Moses being ordered to go up to Mount Nebo and die, with the reason of it, Deu 32:48.