Deuteronomy 32:28

28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.

Deuteronomy 32:28 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
English Standard Version (ESV)
28 "For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.
New Living Translation (NLT)
28 “But Israel is a senseless nation; the people are foolish, without understanding.
The Message Bible (MSG)
28 They are a nation of ninnies, they don't know enough to come in out of the rain.
American Standard Version (ASV)
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
28 My people have lost their good sense. They are not able to understand.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
28 Israel is a nation lacking sense with no understanding at all.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
28 Israel is a nation that doesn't have any sense. They can't understand anything.

Deuteronomy 32:28 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 32:28

For they [are] a nation void of counsel
This is said not of the Jews, whose character is given, ( Deuteronomy 32:6 ) ; and instances of their ingratitude, folly, and want of counsel and understanding, have been already mentioned, and punishment for the same inflicted on them, according to this prophetic song; so that the prophecy respecting them is issued, and another people are taken notice of, even their enemies, of whom the Jewish writers in general interpret these words, and what follows; and was true of the Gentiles, both of the Pagan sort of them, who took too much to themselves, and ascribed the destruction of the Jews, and their conquest of them, to themselves, and their idols; and of false Christians among them, when the Roman empire became Christian, such as expressed themselves in the language of the latter part ( Deuteronomy 32:27 ) , "our hand is high" which plainly showed them to be a people devoid of the true knowledge of the Scriptures, they should have made the men of their counsel, and have consulted; and of the Gospel of Christ, which is the counsel of God, as the Arians, Pelagians must be, or they would never imbibe and advance tenets so diametrically opposite thereunto:

neither [is there any] understanding is them;
of divine and spiritual things, of the Scriptures, and the doctrines of them; of the person of Christ, and his divine perfections, or they would never deny his deity; of the righteousness of God, of that which is required in the law, and revealed in the Gospel, or they would never set up a righteousness of their own for justification; and of themselves, their unrighteousness, impurity, and impotence to that which is good; or they would never so strongly assert the purity of human nature, and the power of man's freewill: God foreseeing all the folly, and want of counsel and understanding in the Gentile world, under different characters, preserved a remnant of the Jews as a standing admonition to them.

Deuteronomy 32:28 In-Context

26 I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory,
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.’ ”
28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!
30 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

Cross References 1

  • 1. Isaiah 1:3; Isaiah 5:13; Isaiah 27:11; Jeremiah 8:7
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.