Deuteronomy 32:12

12 The LORD was the only one who led Israel. No other god was with them.

Deuteronomy 32:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 32:12

[So] the Lord alone did lead him
Out of Egypt, through the wilderness, to the land of Canaan, going before them in a pillar of fire and cloud; though this is not to be understood to the exclusion of the ministry of Moses and Aaron, by whom he led them, ( Psalms 77:20 ) ; it may be interpreted of the people being alone in the wilderness when led:

and [there was] no strange god with him;
with Israel; so Aben Ezra, no idolatry among them then; to which sense are the Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan; but it may rather signify that the Lord alone was the leader of his people, and he had no assistant in that work, and therefore all the glory should be given to him: he is the leader of his people, in a spiritual sense, out of a state of unregeneracy, which is a state of darkness and bondage; out of the ways of sin, and from the pastures of their own righteousness, into an open state of grace, which is a state of light and liberty; in Christ the way, and in the paths of faith, truth, holiness, and righteousness, unto the heavenly glory, typified by the land of Canaan, the blessings of which are next described: the Jews say ^F26, this will be in the days of the King Messiah; when there will be no abominable thing in Israel, the Lord alone shall lead him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Tikkune Zohar, Correct. 18. fol. 32. 2. 36. 2.

Deuteronomy 32:12 In-Context

10 The LORD found Israel in a desert land. He found them in an empty and windy wasteland. He took care of them and kept them safe. He guarded them as he would guard his own eyes.

11 He was like an eagle that stirs up its nest. It hovers over its little ones. It spreads out its wings to catch them. It carries them on its feathers.

12 The LORD was the only one who led Israel. No other god was with them.

13 The LORD made them ride on the highest places in the land. He fed them what grew in the fields. He gave them the sweetest honey. He fed them olive oil from a rocky hillside.

14 He gave them butter and milk from the herds and flocks. He fed them the fattest lambs and goats. He gave them the best of Bashan's rams. He fed them the finest wheat. They drank the bubbling red juice of grapes.