Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 32:26-38
Context32:26 “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.
32:29 I wish that they were wise and could understand this,
and that they could comprehend what will happen to them.”
32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, 5
and two pursue ten thousand;
unless their Rock had delivered them up, 6
and the Lord had handed them over?
32:31 For our enemies’ 7 rock is not like our Rock,
as even our enemies concede.
32:32 For their vine is from the stock 8 of Sodom,
and from the fields of Gomorrah. 9
Their grapes contain venom,
their clusters of grapes are bitter.
32:33 Their wine is snakes’ poison,
the deadly venom of cobras.
32:34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, 10
“Is it not sealed up in my storehouses?
32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back
at the time their foot slips;
for the day of their disaster is near,
and the impending judgment 11 is rushing upon them!”
32:36 The Lord will judge his people,
and will change his plans concerning 12 his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
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!
[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] 4 tn Heb “Our hand is high.” Cf. NAB “Our own hand won the victory.”
[32:30] 5 tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[32:30] 6 tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[32:31] 7 tn Heb “their,” but the referent (enemies) is specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[32:32] 9 sn Sodom…Gomorrah. The term “vine” is a reference to the pagan deities which, the passage says, find their ultimate source in Sodom and Gomorrah, that is, in the soil of perversion exemplified by these places (cf. Gen 18:20; 19:4-28; Isa 1:10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Ezek 16:44-52; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24).
[32:34] 10 tn Verses 34-35 appear to be a quotation of the
[32:35] 11 tn Heb “prepared things,” “impending things.” See BDB 800 s.v. עָתִיד.
[32:36] 12 tn The translation understands the verb in the sense of “be grieved, relent” (cf. HALOT 689 s.v. נחם hitp 2); cf. KJV, ASV “repent himself”; NLT “will change his mind.” Another option is to translate “will show compassion to” (see BDB 637 s.v. נחם); cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV.
