Deuteronomy 32:26-28

The Weakness of Other Gods

32:26 “I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. ¹ 

I want to make people forget they ever existed.

32:27 But I fear the reaction ²  of their enemies,

for ³  their adversaries would misunderstand

and say, “Our power is great, ⁴ 

and the Lord has not done all this!”’

32:28 They are a nation devoid of wisdom,

and there is no understanding among them.

Deuteronomy 32:37-38

32:37 He will say, “Where are their gods,

the rock in whom they sought security,

32:38 who ate the best of their sacrifices,

and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Let them rise and help you;

let them be your refuge!

Deuteronomy 32:1

Invocation of Witnesses

32:1 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak;

hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

Deuteronomy 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁵  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ⁶ 

Deuteronomy 18:1-2

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁷  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ⁸  18:2 They ⁹  will have no inheritance in the midst of their fellow Israelites; ¹⁰  the Lord alone is their inheritance, just as he had told them.

Deuteronomy 3:13

3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. ¹¹  (All the region of Argob, ¹²  that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim.

Proverbs 1:25-27

1:25 because ¹³  you neglected ¹⁴  all my advice,

and did not comply ¹⁵  with my rebuke,

1:26 so ¹⁶  I myself will laugh ¹⁷  when disaster strikes you, ¹⁸ 

I will mock when what you dread ¹⁹  comes,

1:27 when what you dread ²⁰  comes like a whirlwind, ²¹ 

and disaster strikes you ²²  like a devastating storm, ²³ 

when distressing trouble ²⁴  comes on you.

Isaiah 10:3

10:3 What will you do on judgment day, ²⁵ 

when destruction arrives from a distant place?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your wealth?

Jeremiah 2:28

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ²⁶  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

[32:26]  ¹ tc The LXX reads “I said I would scatter them.” This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT, CEV).

[32:27]  ² tn Heb “anger.”

[32:27]  ³ tn Heb “lest.”

[32:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”

[18:1]  ⁵ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

[18:1]  ⁶ sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

[18:1]  ⁷ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

[18:1]  ⁸ sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “he” (and throughout the verse).

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “brothers,” but not referring to actual siblings. Cf. NASB “their countrymen”; NRSV “the other members of the community.”

[3:13]  ¹¹ sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).

[3:13]  ¹² sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.

[1:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “and.”

[1:25]  ¹⁴ tn The verb III פָּרַע means “to let go; to let alone” (BDB 828 s.v.). It can refer to unkempt hair of the head (Lev 10:6) or lack of moral restraint: “to let things run free” (Exod 32:25; Prov 28:19). Here it means “to avoid, neglect” the offer of wisdom (BDB 829 s.v. 2).

[1:25]  ¹⁵ tn The verbs are characteristic perfects or indefinite pasts. For the word “comply, consent,” see 1:20.

[1:26]  ¹⁶ tn The conclusion or apodosis is now introduced.

[1:26]  ¹⁷ sn Laughing at the consequences of the fool’s rejection of wisdom does convey hardness against the fool; it reveals the folly of rejecting wisdom (e.g., Ps 2:4). It vindicates wisdom and the appropriateness of the disaster (D. Kidner, Proverbs [TOTC], 60).

[1:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “at your disaster.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is either (1) a genitive of worth: “the disaster due you” or (2) an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.” The term “disaster” (אֵיד, ’ed) often refers to final life-ending calamity (Prov 6:15; 24:22; BDB 15 s.v. 3). The preposition ב (bet) focuses upon time here.

[1:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your dread” (so NASB); KJV “your fear”; NRSV “panic.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “that which you dread.”

[1:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your dread.” See note on 1:31.

[1:27]  ²¹ sn The term “whirlwind” (NAB, NIV, NRSV; cf. TEV, NLT “storm”) refers to a devastating storm and is related to the verb שׁוֹא (sho’, “to crash into ruins”; see BDB 996 s.v. שׁוֹאָה). Disaster will come swiftly and crush them like a devastating whirlwind.

[1:27]  ²² tn Heb “your disaster.” The 2nd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “disaster strikes you.”

[1:27]  ²³ tn Heb “like a storm.” The noun סוּפָה (sufah, “storm”) is often used in similes to describe sudden devastation (Isa 5:28; Hos 8:7; Amos 1:14).

[1:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “distress and trouble.” The nouns “distress and trouble” mean almost the same thing so they may form a hendiadys. The two similar sounding terms צוּקָה (tsuqah) and צָרָה (tsarah) also form a wordplay (paronomasia) which also links them together.

[10:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the day of visitation” (so KJV, ASV), that is, the day when God arrives to execute justice on the oppressors.

[2:28]  ²⁶ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.