Deuteronomy 32:3-13

3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
5 They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator,[a]who made you and formed you?
7 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b]
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.
12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him.
13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,

Deuteronomy 32:3-13 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 35

  • 1. Psalms 118:17; Psalms 145:6
  • 2. Exodus 33:19; Exodus 34:5-6
  • 3. S Deuteronomy 3:24
  • 4. ver 15,18,30; S Genesis 49:24
  • 5. 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalms 18:30; Psalms 19:7
  • 6. S Deuteronomy 4:35; Deuteronomy 7:9
  • 7. Psalms 92:15
  • 8. S Genesis 18:25
  • 9. ver 20; Matthew 17:17; Luke 9:41; Acts 2:40; Deuteronomy 31:29
  • 10. Psalms 116:12
  • 11. Psalms 94:8; Jeremiah 5:21
  • 12. ver 28; Psalms 74:2
  • 13. S Exodus 4:22; 2 Samuel 7:24; Deuteronomy 1:31; Isaiah 63:16
  • 14. ver 15
  • 15. Psalms 44:1; Psalms 74:2; Psalms 77:5; Isaiah 51:9; Isaiah 63:9
  • 16. Deuteronomy 4:32; Job 8:8; Job 20:4; Psalms 78:4; Isaiah 46:9
  • 17. S Exodus 10:2; Job 15:18; Exodus 13:14
  • 18. Psalms 7:8
  • 19. S Genesis 11:8; Acts 8:1; Acts 17:26
  • 20. Psalms 74:17
  • 21. Numbers 23:9; Deuteronomy 33:12,28; Jeremiah 23:6
  • 22. Psalms 16:5; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 119:57; Psalms 142:5; Jeremiah 10:16
  • 23. S Deuteronomy 9:29; S 1 Samuel 26:19; 1 Kings 8:51,53
  • 24. S Deuteronomy 1:19; Jeremiah 2:6
  • 25. Deuteronomy 8:15; Job 12:24; Psalms 107:40
  • 26. Psalms 32:10; Jeremiah 31:22
  • 27. Psalms 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; Hosea 13:5; Zechariah 2:8
  • 28. S Exodus 19:4
  • 29. Psalms 17:8; Psalms 18:10-19; Psalms 61:4
  • 30. Psalms 106:9; Isaiah 63:13; Jeremiah 31:32
  • 31. Deuteronomy 4:35
  • 32. ver 39; Judges 2:12; Psalms 18:31; Psalms 81:9; Isaiah 43:12; Isaiah 45:5
  • 33. Deuteronomy 33:29; 2 Samuel 22:34; Psalms 18:33; Isaiah 33:16; Isaiah 58:14; Ezekiel 36:2; Habakkuk 3:19
  • 34. S Deuteronomy 8:8
  • 35. Deuteronomy 33:24; Job 29:6

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or "Father, who bought you"
  • [b]. Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) "sons of God"
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