Deuteronomy 29:26

26 They turned and served other gods, worshiping them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them;

Deuteronomy 29:26 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 29:26

For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them
As did all Israel, in the times of Solomon, and the ten tribes under Jeroboam, and other succeeding kings of Israel; and the two tribes in the times of Ahaz, and especially of Manasseh, when they worshipped all the host of heaven; see ( 1 Kings 11:33 ) ( 12:28 ) ( 2 Kings 16:4 ) ( 21:3 ) ;

gods whom they knew not;
to whom they, as well as their fathers before them, were strangers and approved not of them; and of whose power and goodness they had no experience, and of which there never were any instances; yet such was their stupidity, as to leave their God, the only true God, of whom they had many proofs in both respects, and worship these idols, which had never been profitable and serviceable to them on any account:

and [whom] he hath not given unto them;
which version seems not to afford a good sense; for to what people soever has God, the true God, given other gods to worship, which this seems to imply, though he had not given or allowed any to them? Onkelos paraphrases it, "did not do them good"; which Jarchi explains, the gods they chose them did not impart to them any inheritance, or any portion; for the word used signifies to divide, or part a portion or inheritance; now the Lord God did divide to Israel the land of Canaan for an inheritance, but these idols had never divided anything to them, and had been in no instance profitable or advantageous to them; and therefore it was madness and folly in them to worship them, as well as great ingratitude to the Lord their God, who had done such great and good things for them; for so the words may be rendered, "and did not impart" or "divide to them" F7 anything; that is, not anyone of them did; for the verb is singular.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 (Mhl qlx alw) "qui nihil impertitus est eis", Pagninus; "et quorum nullus impertitus fuerat eis quidquem", Piscator; "neque partitus est ipsis", Cocceius.

Deuteronomy 29:26 In-Context

24 they and indeed all the nations will wonder, "Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused this great display of anger?"
25 They will conclude, "It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
26 They turned and served other gods, worshiping them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them;
27 so the anger of the Lord was kindled against that land, bringing on it every curse written in this book.
28 The Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as is now the case."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.