Deuteronomy 31:17

17 My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey.^[a] Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, 'Haven't these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?'

Deuteronomy 31:17 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:17

Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day
As the anger of a man is against his wife who has treacherously departed from him: and jealousy, which is the rage of such a man, is very cruel; and much more the wrath and anger of a jealous God, who is a consuming fire:

and I will forsake them;
withdraw his favours from them, and his protection of them:

and I will hide my face from them;
take no notice of them in a providential way for good, nor hear their cries, to deliver them from evil:

and they shall be devoured;
by their enemies, or by the sore judgments of God, by famine, sword, pestilence, and evil beasts, they and their substance:

and many evils and troubles shall befall them;
both in their own land, and in other countries, where they would be, and have been carried captive:

so that they will say in that day, are not these evils come upon us,
because our God [is] not amongst us?
of which they would be sensible by their being exposed to their enemies for want of his protection, and by the evils upon them through his displeasure, and by their being deprived of the good things that came from him; but no intimation is given of their being sensible of their sins as the cause of all this.

Deuteronomy 31:17 In-Context

15 the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.

16 The Lord said to Moses, "You are about to rest with your fathers, and this people will soon commit adultery with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break the covenant I have made with them.

17 My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, 'Haven't these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?'

18 I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

19 Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the Israelites.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit will be for devouring