THE FIFTH BOOK OF

MOSES,
called
D E U T E R O N O M Y

Deuteronomy 32

1Moses' song, which setteth forth the perfections of God; 7his special goodness to his people; 15their ingratitude and apostasy; 19God's displeasure and vengeance, but mercy in the end. 44Moses adviseth the people to set their hearts unto all the words of the law. 48God sendeth him up to mount Nebo to see the promised land, and die.


1GIVE ear, O 1ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, 2O earth, the words of my mouth.

1 Such kind of speech directed to the unreasonable creatures tended to Israel’s conviction and disgrace. Compare Deut. 4 on verse 26.

2 Or, thou earth hear.

2My doctrine 3shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the 4showers upon the grass:

3 Or, drop, that is, I will propound a doctrine which shall be as useful and wholesome for men, as the dew and rain is for the grass or herb. Compare Ezek. 21:2; Amos 7:16; Micah 2:6, etc.

4 Or, thick rain.

3Because I will 5publish the name of the LORD: 6ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

5 Hebr. cry, call, that is, publicly proclaim. Other, call upon.

6 That is, ascribe unto Him the majesty and great power which He has, and exalt Him for the same. See Deut. 9:26; 11:2.

4He is the 7Rock, his work is perfect: for all 8his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

7 That is, firm and immovable, a sure Refuge and Defense for those who are His. Also verse 31.

8 All His actions, His entire rule and government are accompanied with righteousness, tending to the preservation of the godly, and punishment of the wicked.

59They have corrupted 10themselves, their spot is not the spot of 11his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

9 Namely, Israel.

10 Namely, against the LORD.

11 Namely, who have so corrupted themselves and so shamefully behaved themselves. Other, that they are not his children, that is, their blot; that is, it does not become those who are called His children, while it proceeds not out of weakness, but out of wantonness and an impenitent heart.

6Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath 12bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

12 Or, gotten.

7¶Remember the days 13of old, consider the years 14of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

13 Hebr. of age, or, eternity; that is, remember all that has happened in the church of God from the beginning of the world. See Jer. 2 on verse 20.

14 Hebr. of generation and generation; that is, of all generations or of every generation. See 1 Kings 8 on verse 39.

8When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of 15Adam, he set the bounds of the people 16according to the number of the children of Israel.

15 Other, the children of man.

16 Namely, in such a manner, that He appointed and allotted to all the tribes and posterity of Israel their habitations and possessions. Compare Deut. 3:12, 13, etc.; Joshua 13:14, 15, etc.; Acts 17:26. The meaning is, that God in His counsel and Providence has had His eye extraordinarily upon His people.

9For 17the LORD’S portion is his people; 18Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

17 That is, very dear unto the LORD, as inheritances are wont to be unto men.

18 That is, the people of Israel, descended from Jacob, are as near unto God and in as great account with Him as man’s inheritances, which were wont to be measured and divided by lots. See Deut. 3 on verse 4.

10He found him in a desert land, and 19in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the 20apple of his eye.

19 Hebr. in a fierceness of the howling of solitariness, or, wilderness.

20 As men are wont to keep diligently the apple of their eye, which is very tender. See Psalm 17:8; Zech. 2:8. Compare Prov. 7:2.

11As an eagle stirreth up 21her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, 22beareth them on her wings:

21 That is, awakens her brood or young ones with a certain sound or noise to signify unto them that she intends to teach them to fly.

22 Hebr. it taketh and it carrieth, namely, every young one.

12So the LORD alone did lead 23him, and there was no strange god with him.

23 Israel or Jacob.

13He made him ride on the 24high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck 25honey out of the rock, and oil out of the 26flinty rock;

24 That is, He exalted him most gloriously and delivered unto him the tallest and strongest cities. See Deut. 1:28. Compare with Num. 21:25, 32; Deut. 2:36. Also Deut. 33:29.

25 For the land of promise flowed with honey, Exod. 3:8, 17; even in the woods, 1 Samuel 14, and caves in rocks, according to the nature of bees, Psalm 81:16.

26 Compare Deut. 8:15.

14Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the 27breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of 28kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the 29pure blood of the grape.

27 Hebr. children of Bashan. See Num. 32:33 and Num. 32 on verse 34 and elsewhere often, where Bashan (situated at the east end of the Jordan) is said to have been a very fat country.

28 That is, with extraordinary large and expanded grains of wheat, which in respect of their form, situated in the fat and swelling, are compared to kidneys.

29 Or, red wine.

15¶But 30Jeshurun waxed fat, and 31kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God 32which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

30 Understand the people of Israel, who are called here Jeshurun because they ought to have been right, and to walk upright or uprightly in God’s ways, as being thereunto called by Him, and while the rule of true righteousness was only with them. But forasmuch as it was far otherwise with them, and would be for the future, this title the right one, or, he that is become right is given to them in an upbraiding way; which otherwise was an excellent title of honor, as Deut. 33:5, 26.

31 As wanton calves or unruly horses, that is, he became a rebel against God.

32 Hebr. his Maker. See Job 4 on verse 17.

16They provoked him to 33jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

33 See Deut. 4 on verse 24.

17They sacrificed unto 34devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came 35newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

34 That is, unto idols, by whom devils are served. Compare 1 Cor. 10:20. The Hebrew word signifies wasters, destroyers; so the devils are rightly called, as the angel of the bottomless pit is called the destroyer, Rev. 9:11.

35 That is, those who were newly or lately sprung up.

18Of the Rock that 36begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

36 That is, God, Who has been as a father and a mother toward you, and has made and adopted you for His children, and has entreated you with fatherly and motherly affection.

19And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because 37of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

37 Hebr. the anger of his sons and his daughters, that is, wherewith He was angry against them. Compare Jer. 7:29; Joel 3:19; Obadiah verse 10, etc. Other, out of angriness against his sons and daughters.

20And he said, I will hide my 38face from them, I will see what their 39end shall be: for they are a 40very froward generation, children in whom is no 41faith.

38 See Deut. 31 on verse 17.

39 Hebr. their last, uttermost, hindmost. Also verse 29. That is, what will befall them at last; how it will thrive with them. Compare Psalm 37 on verse 37; Prov. 14:12; 16:25 with the annotation.

40 Hebr. a generation of perverseness.

41 That is, who keeps no faith, nor word; who are unfaithful and perjurious.

21Theya have moved me to jealousy 42with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are 43not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

a Rom. 10:19.

42 That is, by idols. See 1 Cor. 8:4, 5; 10:19.

43 Understand, the Gentiles whom God would convert and call to the knowledge of Him and to His fellowship, instead of the Jews. See Rom. 9:25; 10:19, etc.

22For a 44fireb is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn 45unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set 46on fire the foundations of the mountains.

44 That is, horrible plagues of desolation, war, famine, pestilence, etc., as follows. Compare Deut. 4 on verse 24. See Job 22 on verse 20.

b Jer. 15:14.

45 Hebr. unto the hell of the lowest, or, of inferiority, that is, unto the place of the graves, deep in the ground, which shall be so wasted and destroyed, that in a long while it shall bear no fruit. See further of the Hebrew word scheol Gen. 37 on verse 35.

46 Hebr. flames.

23I will heap 47mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine 48arrows upon them.

47 That is, plagues, evils, which are meant by God’s arrows here in this verse, and by fire in verse 22.

48 That is, all My plagues which the Scripture calls God’s arrows, because they are sent by Him and strike surely and deeply. Also verse 42.

24They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with 49burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the 50dust.

49 That is, a fiery swelling, having the name of a fiery coal.

50 Which eat the dust of the earth, Gen. 3:14.

25The sword without, and terror within, shall 51destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of 52gray hairs.

51 The one from the other, without favoring or pitying any; as follows.

52 Hebr. the man of grayness, or, hoariness.

26I said, I would 53scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

53 Or, destroy; I would fetch them out of corners, I would hunt them out of one corner into another. See the sequel of this in verse 28.

27Were it not that I 54feared the 55wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves 56strangely, and lest they should say, 57Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this.

54 Spoken of God after the manner of men. The sense is: Were it not that I omitted it for the honor of My Name, that the same might not be blasphemed among the heathen.

55 Or, provocation.

56 Namely, so that they would not want to know that I had done it because of Israel’s abominable sins, but that they by the help of their idols had so mastered and destroyed Israel.

57 That is, by our own strength we have gotten the upper hand over Israel; it is not God’s work at all.

28For 58they are a nation 59void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

58 The Israelites.

59 That is, who thrust themselves into perdition by their own wicked counsel.

29O that they were wise, that they 60understood this, that they would consider their latter 61end!

60 Or, that they would understand this! that they would consider their end!

61 See verse 20.

30How should 62one chase a 63thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their 64Rock had sold them, and the LORD had 65shut them up?

62 Namely, of the enemies.

63 Of the Israelites. Other, one of the Israelites would chase a thousand enemies, etc., except, etc.

64 That is, God, as above.

65 Or, had delivered them up, namely, in the enemies’ hand.

31For 66their 67rock is not as our 68Rock, 69even our enemies themselves being judges.

66 Namely, of the enemies.

67 That is, the idols, on which they rely as on a rock.

68 That is, our God, on Whom we rely as on a rock.

69 Or, let our enemies be judges themselves. That is, they must needs confess it themselves, as finding by experience that their idols have no power at all to revenge, or to punish as the God of Israel does publicly manifest His power both towards His people and their enemies, making known His justice towards both.

32For their vine is 70of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes 71of gall, their clusters are bitter:

70 As if it were sprung from thence; that is, they are of the same nature and works as those were of Sodom and Gomorrah. A very fair and fruitful country, but most wicked and profane inhabitants. Or, this has reference to the wine which was offered to idols. See verse 38.

71 Hebr. grapes of poison. Other, grapes of venom, that is, bilious.

33Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

3472Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

72 That is, I know this all very well and have firmly concluded the vengeance (of which is spoken in the next verse), but will adjourn the execution until the time which I have appointed for it in My secret counsel. Compare Job 33:16; Psalm 56 on verse 8.

35To mecbelongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things 73that shall come upon them make haste.

c Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30; 1 Peter 2:23.

73 Other, that are prepared for them.

36For the LORD shall judge his people, and 74repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their 75power is gone, and there is none 76shut up, or left.

74 See Gen. 6 on verse 6.

75 That is, all power, all strength of His people.

76 Or, he that is shut up and abandoned. This seems to have been a proverb, signifying the utmost distress and desolation. Compare 1 Kings 14:10; 21:21, and especially 2 Kings 14:26. The sense is, that it is even finished with them all over, both those who hid themselves in cities upon hope of escaping or were shut up by anyone through pity or favor or were kept in prison, and also those who were let go or fled away in the wide field, perceiving that none would think of them anymore. When such people were likewise sought and overtaken or that there are almost such others, this is a sign that there is hardly anyone who escapes or is rescued. When it has come thus far, then, as if the Lord would say, God will send help and deliverance from heaven.

37And he shall say, Where are 77their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

77 Namely, of the enemies.

3878Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your 79protection.

78 Other, The fat of whose sacrifices they did eat and the wine of whose drink offerings they drank.

79 Or, an hiding place, or, that there may be protection over you.

39See now that I, even I, am he, and there is nod god with me: I kill,e and I make alive; I 80wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

d Deut. 4:35; Isa. 45:5, 18, 22.

e 1 Sam. 2:6.

80 Or, smite, thrust through.

40For 81I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, 82I live for ever.

81 That is, I will swear, God speaks thus after the manner of men. This manner of action was usual in making an oath. See Gen. 14 on verse 22.

82 Swearing by Myself. See Heb. 6:13.

41If I whet my 83glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

83 Hebr. the lightning, or, brightness, glittering of my sword.

42I will make mine 84arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of 85the captives, 86from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

84 See on verse 23.

85 Hebr. of the captivity.

86 That is, from the top down, beginning at the head. Other, from the beginning shall the vengeances or wrongs of the enemy be; that is, I will revenge all together wherein the enemy has offended from the beginning.

4387Rejoice,f O ye nations, with 88his people: for he will avenge the blood of his 89servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and 90will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

87 See Rom. 15:10.

f Rom. 15:10.

88 God’s people. Understand the Jews.

89 Compare Rev. 19:2.

90 Namely, unto Himself, by mere grace, for the sake of the Messiah.

44¶And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and 91Hoshea the son of Nun.

91 That is, Joshua.

45And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:

46And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47For it is not a 92vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

92 Or, idle. The meaning is, This word is not so vain or so poor that it would not be worth your labor to mind it in the highest degree.

48And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,

49Getg thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is 93over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:

g Num. 27:12.

93 Or, in the sight of Jericho.

50And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be 94gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brotherh died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:

94 See Gen. 15 on verse 15.

h Num. 27:13; 33:38.

51Because ye trespassedi against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye 95sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

i Num. 20:12.

95 That is, you did not at that time publicly show before the people such a trust in Me, and for My glory, as it became you to do. See further Lev. 10 on verse 3.

52Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.