Deuteronomy 31:27

27 For I know thy striving, and thy most hard noll; yet while I lived and entered with you, ye did ever[more] strivingly against the Lord; how much more when I shall be dead. (For I know thy defiance, or thy rebellious nature, and thy stiff neck/and thy stubbornness; yet while I lived and went with you, ye often defied the Lord; so then how much more, after that I am dead?)

Deuteronomy 31:27 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:27

For I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck
How rebellious they were against the Lord and his laws, and how unwilling they were to admit the yoke of his commandments to be put upon them, and submit to it; this he had an experience of for forty years past:

behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been
rebellious against the Lord;
murmuring at his providences, ( Exodus 16:8 Exodus 16:12 ) ( 17:3 ) , speaking against his ministers, ( Exodus 16:2 ) ( Numbers 12:1 ) ( Numbers 14:2 ) ( Numbers 16:3 Numbers 16:41 ) ( 20:2 ) ; breaking his laws, particularly being guilty of idolatry, in making and worshipping the golden calf, ( Exodus 32:8 ) ; and even now, as in ( Deuteronomy 31:21 ) , were imagining, forming, and framing in their minds something of the same kind, from the time of their coming out of Egypt unto this time they were now on the borders of Canaan; this had all along been their character; see ( Deuteronomy 9:7 Deuteronomy 9:24 ) ;

and how much more after my death?
When he would be no more with them to instruct and advise them, to caution and reprove them, and to keep them in awe by his authority.

Deuteronomy 31:27 In-Context

25 he commanded to the Levites that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, and said, (he commanded to the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and said,)

26 Take ye this book (of the law), and put ye it in the side of the ark of the bond of peace of your Lord God, that it be there against thee into witnessing. (Take ye this Book of the Law, and put ye it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, to be a witness there against thee.)

27 For I know thy striving, and thy most hard noll; yet while I lived and entered with you, ye did ever[more] strivingly against the Lord; how much more when I shall be dead. (For I know thy defiance, or thy rebellious nature, and thy stiff neck/and thy stubbornness; yet while I lived and went with you, ye often defied the Lord; so then how much more, after that I am dead?)

28 Gather ye to me all the greater men in birth, and teachers [and doctors], by your lineages, and I shall speak to them, hearing these words, and I shall call (to witness) against them heaven and earth. (Gather ye to me all the men of great age, that is, the elders, of your tribes, and the officers, and I shall speak to them, and they shall hear all these words, and I shall call heaven and earth to witness against them.)

29 For I know, that after my death, ye shall do wickedly, and shall bow away soon from the way which I commanded to you; and evils shall come to you in the last time(s), when ye have done evil in the sight of the Lord, that ye stir him to wrath by the works of your hands. (For I know, that after my death, ye shall do wickedly, and shall soon turn away from the way which I commanded to you; and evils shall come to you in the days to come, when ye have done evil in the sight of the Lord, and so stir him to anger with the works of your hands.)