Deuteronomy 32:5-15

5 "1They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; 2But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 "Do you thus 3repay the LORD, 4O foolish and unwise * people? 5Is not He your Father who has bought you? 6He has made you and established you.
7 "Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. 7Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.
8 "8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples 9According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 "10For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 "11He found him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as 12the pupil of His eye.
11 "13Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, 14He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.
12 "15The LORD alone guided him, 16And there was no foreign god with him.
13 "17He made him ride on the high places of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; 18And He made him suck honey from the rock, And 19oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, 20With the finest * of the wheat - And of the 21blood of grapes you drank wine.
15 "22But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked - You are grown fat, thick, and sleek - 23Then he forsook God 24who made him, And scorned 25the Rock of his salvation.

Deuteronomy 32:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 32

This chapter contains the song mentioned and referred to in the former, the preface to it, De 32:1-3; the character of the divine and illustrious Person it chiefly respects, De 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, De 32:5,6; 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, De 32:7-9; then by what the Lord did for them in the wilderness, De 32:10-12; 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, De 32:13,14; and then the sin of ingratitude to him, before hinted at, is fully expressed, namely, lightly esteeming the rock of salvation, the Messiah, De 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, De 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, De 32:17,18; wherefore, for the rejection of the Messiah and the, persecution of his followers, they would be abhorred of God, De 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, De 32:20,21; whereby utter ruin and destruction in all its shapes would be brought upon them, De 32:22-25; 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, De 32:26-31; which enemies are described, and the vengeance reserved for them pointed out, De 32:32-35; 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, De 32:36-43; 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, De 32:44-47; 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, De 32:48-52.

Cross References 25

  • 1. Deuteronomy 4:25; Deuteronomy 31:29
  • 2. Matthew 17:17
  • 3. Psalms 116:12
  • 4. Deuteronomy 32:28
  • 5. Deuteronomy 1:31; Psalms 74:2; Isaiah 63:16
  • 6. Deuteronomy 32:15
  • 7. Exodus 12:26; Psalms 78:5-8
  • 8. Acts 17:26
  • 9. Numbers 23:9; Deuteronomy 33:28
  • 10. 1 Samuel 10:1; 1 Kings 8:51, 53; Jeremiah 10:16
  • 11. Deuteronomy 1:19
  • 12. Psalms 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; Zechariah 2:8
  • 13. Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 33:12
  • 14. Psalms 18:10-18
  • 15. Deuteronomy 4:35, 39
  • 16. Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 43:12
  • 17. Isaiah 58:14
  • 18. Deuteronomy 8:8; Psalms 81:16
  • 19. Job 29:6
  • 20. Psalms 81:16; Psalms 147:14
  • 21. Genesis 49:11
  • 22. Deuteronomy 31:20
  • 23. Judges 10:6
  • 24. Deuteronomy 32:6
  • 25. Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalms 89:26

Footnotes 3

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