Deuteronomy 32:1

1 Ye heavens, hear what things I shall speak; the earth hear the words of my mouth.

Deuteronomy 32:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 32:1

Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth,
the words of my mouth.
] This song is prefaced and introduced in a very grand and pompous manner, calling on the heavens and earth to give attention; by which they themselves may be meant, by a "prosopopaeia", a figure frequently used in Scripture, when things of great moment and importance are spoken of; and these are called upon to hearken, either to rebuke the stupidity and inattention of men, or to show that these would shed or withhold their influences, their good things, according to the obedience or disobedience of Israel; or because these are durable and lasting, and so would ever be witnesses for God and against his people: Gaon, as Aben Ezra observes, by the heavens understands the angels, and by the earth the men of the earth, the inhabitants of both worlds, which is not amiss: and by these words of Moses are meant the words of the song, referred to in ( Deuteronomy 31:29 ) ; here called his words, not because they were of him, but because they were put into his mouth, and about to be expressed by him, not in his own name, but in the name of the Lord; and not as the words of the law, which came by him, but as the words and doctrines of the Gospel concerning Christ, of whom Moses here writes; whose character he gives, and whose person and office he vindicates against the Jews, whom he accuses and brings a charge of ingratitude against for rejecting him, to which our Lord seems to refer, ( John 5:45 John 5:46 ) ; the prophecies of their rejection, the calling of the Gentiles, the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, and the miseries they should undergo, and yet should not be wholly extirpated out of the world, but continue a people, who in the latter days would be converted, return to their own land, and their enemies be destroyed; which are some of the principal things in this song, and which make it worthy of attention and observation.

Deuteronomy 32:1 In-Context

1 Ye heavens, hear what things I shall speak; the earth hear the words of my mouth.

2 My teaching wax (al)together as rain; my speech flow out as dew, as soft rain upon herb, and as drops upon grass. (My teaching shall fall like drops of rain; my speech shall flow out like the dew, like showers on the herbs, and raindrops on the grass.)

3 For I shall inwardly call the name of the Lord; give ye glory to our God. (For I shall call out loud the name of the Lord; give ye glory to our God.)

4 The works of God be perfect, and all his ways be dooms (and all his ways be just); God is faithful, and without any wickedness; he is just and rightful.

5 They sinned against him, and (they be) not his sons, (they be) in the filths of idolatry; (they be a) depraved and wayward generation.