Song of Moses Commentary

DEUTERONOMY 32 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
BARNES, "Song of Moses
If Deu_32:1-3 be regarded as the introduction, and Deu_32:43 as the conclusion,
the main contents of the song may be grouped under three heads, namely,
(1) Deu_32:4-18, the faithfulness of God, the faithlessness of Israel;
(2) Deu_32:19-33, the chastisement and the need of its infliction by God;
(3) Deu_32:34-42, God’s compassion upon the low and humbled state of His
people.
The Song differs signally in diction and idiom from the preceding chapters; just as
a lyrical passage is conceived in modes of thought wholly unlike those which belong
to narrative or exhortation, and is uttered in different phraseology.
There are, however, in the Song numerous coincidences both in thoughts and
words with other parts of the Pentateuch, and especially with Deuteronomy; while
the resemblances between it and Ps. 90: “A Prayer of Moses,” have been rightly
regarded as important.
The Song has reference to a state of things which did not ensue until long after the
days of Moses. In this it resembles other parts of Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch
which no less distinctly contemplate an apostasy (e. g. Deu_28:15; Lev_26:14), and
describe it in general terms. If once we admit the possibility that Moses might foresee
the future apostasy of Israel, it is scarcely possible to conceive how such foresight
could be turned to better account by him than by the writing of this Song. Exhibiting
as it does God’s preventing mercies, His people’s faithlessness and ingratitude, God’s
consequent judgments, and the final and complete triumph of the divine counsels of
grace, it forms the summary of all later Old Testament prophecies, and gives as it
were the framework upon which they are laid out. Here as elsewhere the Pentateuch
presents itself as the foundation of the religious life of Israel in after times. The
currency of the Song would be a standing protest against apostasy; a protest which
might well check waverers, and warn the faithful that the revolt of others was neither
unforeseen nor unprovided for by Him in whom they trusted.
That this Ode must on every ground take the very first rank in Hebrew poetry is
universally allowed.
Deu_32:1-3
Introduction. Heaven and earth are here invoked, as elsewhere (see the marginal
references), in order to impress on the hearers the importance of what is to follow.
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CLARKE, "On the inimitable excellence of this ode much has been
written by commentators, critics, and poets - and it is allowed by the best
judges to contain a specimen of almost every species of excellence in composition. It
is so thoroughly poetic that even the dull Jews themselves found they could not write
it in the prose form; and hence it is distinguished as poetry in every Hebrew Bible by
being written in its own hemistichs or short half lines, which is the general form of
the Hebrew poetry; and were it translated in the same way it would be more easily
understood. The song itself has suffered both by transcribers and translators, the
former having mistaken some letters in different places, and made wrong
combinations of them in others. As to the translators, most of them have followed
their own fancy, from good Mr. Ainsworth, who ruined it by the most inanimate
rhyming version, to certain latter poets, who have cast it unhallowedly into a
European mould. See the observations at the end of the chapter, Deu_32:52.
Give ear, O ye heavens - Let angels and men hear, and let this testimony of God
be registered both in heaven and earth. Heaven and earth are appealed to as
permanent witnesses.
GILL, "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 Deu_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,
Joh_5:45; 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.
HENRY, "Here is, I. A commanding preface or introduction to this song of Moses,
Deu_32:1, Deu_32:2. He begins, 1. With a solemn appeal to heaven and earth
concerning the truth and importance of what he was about to say, and the justice of
the divine proceedings against a rebellious and backsliding people, for he had said
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(Deu_31:28) that he would in this song call heaven and earth to record against them.
Heaven and earth would sooner hear than this perverse and unthinking people; for
they revolt not from the obedience to their Creator, but continue to this day,
according to his ordinances, as his servants (Psa_119:89-91), and therefore will rise
up in judgment against rebellious Israel. Heaven and earth will be witnesses against
sinners, witnesses of the warning given them and of their refusal to take the warning
(see Job_20:27); the heaven shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up
against him. Or heaven and earth are here put for the inhabitants of both, angels and
men; both shall agree to justify God in his proceedings against Israel, and to declare
his righteousness, Psa_50:6; see Rev_19:1, Rev_19:2. 2. he begins with a solemn
application of what he was about to say to the people (Deu_32:2): My doctrine shall
drop as the rain. “It shall be a beating sweeping rain to the rebellious;” so one of the
Chaldee paraphrasts expounds the first clause. Rain is sometimes sent for judgment,
witness that with which the world was deluged; and so the word of God, while to
some it is reviving and refreshing - a savour of life unto life, is to others terrifying
and killing - a savour of death unto death. It shall be as a sweet and comfortable dew
to those who are rightly prepared to receive it. Observe, (1.) The subject of this song
is doctrine; he had given them a song of praise and thanksgiving (Ex. 15), but this is a
song of instruction, for in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, we are not only to
give glory to god, but to teach and admonish one another, Col_3:16. Hence many of
David's psalms are entitled Maschil - to give instruction. (2.) This doctrine is fitly
compared to rain and showers which come from above, to make the earth fruitful,
and accomplish that for which they are sent. (Isa_55:10, Isa_55:11), and depend not
upon the wisdom or will of man, Mic_5:7. It is a mercy to have this rain come often
upon us, and our duty to drink it in, Heb_6:7. (3.) He promises that his doctrine
shall drop and distil as the dew, and the small rain, which descend silently and
without noise. The word preached is likely to profit when it comes gently, and sweetly
insinuates itself into the hearts and affections of the hearers. (4.) He bespeaks their
acceptance and entertainment of it, and that it might be as sweet, and pleasant, and
welcome to them as rain to the thirsty earth, Psa_72:6. And the word of God is likely
to do us good when it is thus acceptable. (5.) The learned bishop Patrick understands
it as a prayer that his words which were sent from heaven to them might sink into
their hearts and soften them, as the rain softens the earth, and so make them fruitful
in obedience.
JAMISON, "Deu_32:1-43. Moses’ song, which sets forth the perfections of God.
Give ear, O ye heavens; ... hear, O earth — The magnificence of the
exordium, the grandeur of the theme, the frequent and sudden transitions, the
elevated strain of the sentiments and language, entitle this song to be ranked
amongst the noblest specimens of poetry to be found in the Scriptures.
CALVIN, "1.Give ear, O ye heavens. Moses commences in a strain of
magnificence, lest the people should disdain this song with their usual pride, or
even reject it altogether, being exasperated by its severe censures and
reproaches. For we well know how the world naturally longs to be flattered, and
that no strain can be gratifying to it unless it tickles and soothes the ear with
praise. But Moses here not only inveighs bitterly against the vices of the people,
but with the utmost possible vehemence stigmatizes their perverse nature, their
utterly corrupt morals, their obstinate ingratitude, and incorrigible contumacy.
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Moreover, he desired that these accusations, whereby he rendered their name
detestable, should daily echo from their tongues; and thus they became still more
offensive. It was, therefore, requisite that their impatience should be bridled, as
it were, in order that they might patiently and humbly receive these just
reproofs, however severe they might be. If, therefore, they should repudiate this
song, or should turn a deaf ear to it, he declares at the outset that heaven and
earth would be witnesses of their prodigious obtuseness; nay, he turns and
addresses himself to heaven and earth, and thus signifies that it was worthy of
the attention of all creatures, even although they were without intelligence or
feeling. For it is a hyperbolical mode of expression, when he assigns the faculty of
hearing, and being instructed, to the senseless elements; just as Isaiah, when he
would intimate that he found none to give heed to him amongst the whole people,
in like manner appeals to the heavens and the earth, and even summons them to
bear witness to the prodigious iniquity, that there should be less of intelligence
amongst the whole people than in oxen and asses. (Isaiah 1:2.) For it is but a
meager exposition, which some give of these words, that they are used, by
metonymy, for angels and men. (247)
COFFMAN, "The introduction to this long poem is actually the last verse of the
preceding chapter, a chapter which not only credits Moses with the writing of
the poem, but also states that he read it to the people in its entirety. Critical
scholars usually make a point of denying everything that the Bible says, except in
instances here and there, where they think they can find some grounds for
supporting their numerous theories. All such denials are exceedingly tiresome,
none of them supported by any proof or solid evidence. In this context, it is
refreshing that Watts declared on this poem that, "It would be impossible to
prove or disprove that any of them (various portions of Deuteronomy) was
actually composed by Moses!"[1] This is profoundly correct, and it is a good
thing to keep this in mind when one encounters the glib assertion that this or that
portion of Deuteronomy was NOT written by Moses. Until someone can prove
that it is not written by MOSES (as the Bible affirms), the ancient tradition that
it was thus written must stand. The very poem we are studying in this chapter is
itself a marvel of inspiration. It is the very fountainhead of prophecy; here the
minor prophets, almost without exception, found the basic themes which they
developed more particularly. Any careful investigator will come to know that
Moses alone could have written these remarkable lines, lines that unfold the
future of Israel down to the very present, lines speaking of a salvation that shall
be "for the Gentiles," those who, in the days of Moses, were "no people," and yet
in such a manner that no Israelite who ever lived was excluded from the grace of
God!
"Beyond all possibility of doubt, the Book of Deuteronomy came from Moses,
and there is no way to avoid this conclusion except by robbing this account of all
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truthfulness."[2] Deuteronomy was appropriate to the first generation that
heard it, as was also this song, and, likewise, it has been appropriate to every
generation since then. This song is as up-to-date as this morning's newspaper. As
Ackland said, "The historical basis of Deuteronomy is not in question."[3]
Some of the commentators refer to this song as "a didactic poem,"[4] which is
indeed a fair description, because a didactic poem is one that imparts moral
instruction, which this certainly does. However, we do not consider the word
"theodicy" as a proper designation, as stated by Wade.[5] Although the word
might have a present-day connotation of which we do not know, the word was
originally coined by Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz in 1710 A.D., and is
given as a name for "an attempt to reconcile the existence of evil with the
sovereign goodness of God."[6] This poem was not written as "an attempt" to
justify anything. It is a magnificent prophecy pertaining to the future of Israel in
particular, and to the nature of God and of rebellious men in all generations. As
Cook said, "This song forms the summary of all later O.T. prophecy, and gives
as it were the framework upon which they are laid out. Here, as elsewhere, the
Pentateuch presents itself as the foundation of the religious life of Israel."[7]
A broad outline of the poem divides it as follows: The introduction is found in
Deuteronomy 32:1-3; and Deuteronomy 32:43 is the conclusion. The main
divisions are:
(1) the faithfulness of God and the faithlessness of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:4-18),
(2) The punishment and the need of its execution by God (Deuteronomy
32:19-33), and
(3) God's compassion upon the low and humbled state of his people
(Deuteronomy 32:34-42).[8]
We shall break up the long passages according to a more detailed outline given
by Oberst.[9] "In its general structure this poetic song follows the patterns of the
Deuteronomic treaty,"[10] and is in some ways a general summary of it.
INTRODUCTION (Deuteronomy 32:1-3)
"Give ear ye heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain;
My speech shall distill as the dew,
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And as the small rain upon the tender grass,
And as the showers upon the herb.
For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah:
Ascribe the greatness to our God."
What an amazing coincidence is it that the exodus both begins and ends with a
Song of Moses. See Exodus 15:1-18; also "Psalms 90 is attributed to Moses."[11]
The calling of heaven and earth to witness is somewhat similar to the
extravagant language often used in the introduction to ancient lawsuits; and we
find echoes of this in Hosea. The meaning here is that the words to follow are of
the utmost importance to all people everywhere.
"My doctrine ..." Unger was correct in finding here a type of the doctrine of
Christ to be revealed in the future. "This looks forward to the doctrine and the
word of Christ."[12] The figure of the rain and the dew here should be
understood not so much as a reference to the reviving influence they had, but as
symbolizing "the effective force of these agents as sent from heaven to produce
results."[13] See Isaiah 55:10,11.
COKE, "Ver. 1. Give ear, O ye heavens— Nothing can be more elegant and
magnificent than the exordium of this divine ode: its whole disposition and form
is regular, easy, and accommodated to the nature of the argument, in an order
nearly historical. It contains a great variety of important matter: the truth and
justice of God; his paternal love, and most propense benignity to his peculiar
people: and, on the other hand, the ungrateful and rebellious temper of this
people; then the ardour of the divine indignation; and the most alarming
menaces, delivered under a fine prosopopoeia, than which nothing more sublime
is extant in the choicest treasures of poetry. Yet those tides of indignation are, at
the same time, tempered with compassion and lenity; and the song concludes, at
length, with promises and consolations. Not to speak of the sublimity of the ideas,
and the force of the diction and figures, we may observe, that the nature of the
argument is such, that the style and manner of the prophetic poetry is greatly
imitated; so that to all the strength and glowing spirit of the ode are added the
variety and grandeur of images peculiar to that kind of poetry, concerning which
we shall speak more when we come to the prophets. See Lowth, Praelec. Poet. 18,
&c. It is not possible for us here to enter into a discussion of the metre of the
Hebrew poetry in general, or of this ode in particular. Upon this head we beg
leave to refer our readers, for full satisfaction, to Dr. Lowth's third Praelection:
observing only, as we have frequently done heretofore, that each succeeding
clause corresponds to the preceding one; which the attentive reader will
particularly remember, as it will serve greatly, not only in this, but in all writings
of the same kind, to make them much more clear and intelligible. The three first
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verses should be read thus:
Ver. 1. Give ear, O ye heavens! and I will speak, And hear, O earth! the words of
my mouth. Ver. 2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My speech shall distil as
the dew; As the small rain upon the tender herb, And as the showers upon the
grass. Ver. 3. Because I will publish the name of the Lord; Ascribe ye greatness
unto our God.
See the notes on Genesis 49 and Numbers 23:24 :
BENSON, ". “This very sublime ode,” says Dr. Kennicott, “is distinguished even
by the Jews, both in their manuscripts and printed copies, as being poetry. In
our present translation it would appear to much greater advantage if it were
printed hemistically: and the translation of some parts of it may be much
improved.” We subjoin his translation of the following verses as a specimen.
“1. Let the heavens give ear, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of
my mouth.
2. My doctrine shall drop, as the rain; my speech shall distil, as the dew, as the
small rains upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
3. Verily, the name of JEHOVAH will I proclaim; ascribe ye greatness unto our
God.
4. He is the rock, perfect is his work; for all his ways are judgment; a God of
truth, and without iniquity: just and right is he.
5. They are corrupted, not his, children of pollution, a generation perverse and
crooked!
6. Is this the return which ye make to JEHOVAH?
O people foolish and unwise!
Is not he thy Father, thy Redeemer?
He who made thee, and established thee?”
Give ear, O ye heavens — hear, O earth — By appealing, in this solemn manner,
to the heavens and the earth in the beginning of this song, Moses intended to
signify, 1st, The truth and importance of its contents, which were such as
deserved to be known by all the world: and, 2d, The stupidity of that perverse
and unthinking people, who were less likely to hearken and obey than the
heavens and the earth themselves. 3d, He hereby declares also the justice of the
divine proceedings toward them, according to what he had said, Deuteronomy
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31:28. See Job 20:27. Or, heaven and earth are here put for the inhabitants of
both, angels and men: both will agree to justify God in his proceedings against
Israel, and to declare his righteousness, Psalms 50:6; Revelation 19:1-2.
CONSTABLE, "Verses 1-4
Moses called on the whole earth to listen to what follows (Deuteronomy 32:1-2).
The subject of this song would be God. The "name" of God is the expression of
His character as He revealed this. The purpose of the song is that everyone
would recognize God as the great God He is and that His people would respond
to Him appropriately. By comparing his teaching to rain and dew, Moses was
saying it would be a life-giving blessing to the Israelites. Rain and dew were
major sources of blessing in the Promised Land, and their absence created
serious problems for the inhabitants. The description of God as the Rock
(Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 32:18; Deuteronomy
32:30-31) occurs first here in Scripture, but it appears many times later. This
metaphor pictures God as a reliable refuge for His people on whom they could
build and who had been solidly faithful to them.
Verses 1-43
2. The song itself 32:1-43
One Old Testament scholar called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive
religious poems in the entire Old Testament." [Note: W. F. Albright, "Some
Remarks on the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy XXXII," Vetus Testamentum 9
(1959):339-46.] It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the
unfaithfulness and perversity of His people. As other important poems in the
Pentateuch (e.g., Genesis 49; Exodus 15; Numbers 24), it also teaches major
themes.
"The song embraces the whole of the future history of Israel, and bears all the
marks of a prophetic testimony from the mouth of Moses, in the perfectly ideal
picture which it draws, on the one hand, of the benefits and blessings conferred
by the Lord upon His people; and on the other hand, of the ingratitude with
which Israel repaid its God for them all." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 3:464.]
Moses set this song in the form of a lawsuit in which Yahweh leveled a charge
against Israel. This form is very common in many of the writing prophets'
oracles. [Note: See G. Ernest Wright, "The Lawsuit of God: A Form-Critical
Study of Deuteronomy 32," in Israel's Prophetic Heritage, pp. 26-67.] Its central
theme is "Israel's apostasy and God's threatening judgment."
HAWKER, "This chapter is almost filled with that beautiful song of Moses,
which, from its containing so much of gospel in it, hath warned and instructed
the mind of GOD'S people in all ages. Having finished his sermon, the dying
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pastor gives out this hymn at the close of it, before he dismisses his congregation,
and is dismissed himself with the blessing. Here are contained some of the many
gracious dealings of the LORD with Israel. Here are contained also, some of
their many grievous dealings with the LORD. Here are blended promises and
threatenings. The chapter concludes with the LORD'S command to his servant
Moses, to go up into the Mount preparatory to his death.
Deuteronomy 32:1
There is great elegance, as well as piety, in the whole of this song. The calling
upon things inanimate to hear, when, perhaps, the intelligence of man
disregards, is uncommonly striking. And will not both heaven and earth be
witness against us, if we neglect so great salvation? The heaven shall declare
GOD'S righteousness. Psalms 50:6.
SIMEON, "THE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH
Deuteronomy 32:1-4. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I trill speak; and hear, O
earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop at the rain, my speech
shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers
upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness
unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment:
a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
IN this chapter is contained the song which Moses wrote for the conviction of the
Jews in all future ages, especially in that period when they should have provoked
God to scatter them over the face of the whole earth. Its general contents have
been before considered [Note: See Discourse on Deuteronomy 31:19.]. At present
we shall confine ourselves only to its exordium, in which Moses addresses the
whole creation, and then describes the character of the Creator. An invocation of
“the heavens and the earth” is not uncommon in the Scriptures: it is used in
order to impress men with a deeper sense of the importance of the subject, and to
convey an idea, that even the inanimate creation will rise up in judgment against
the children of men, if they should disregard the voice of their Creator. After
requesting their attention, he declares, that the whole tendency of his discourse,
and especially of that part which exhibits the character of the Deity, is to comfort
and enrich the souls of men. As the dew and rain descend gently and silently
upon the earth, softening the parched ground, refreshing and invigorating the
drooping plants, and administering nourishment to the whole vegetable creation,
so was his word intended to administer blessings to mankind, quickening the
most dead, softening the most obdurate, comforting the most disconsolate, and
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fertilizing the most barren, among them all.
We are aware that a directly opposite effect is in general ascribed to a faithful
ministration of the word: it is in general supposed, that a scriptural
representation of the divine character must of necessity alarm and terrify
mankind: but, whatever effect it may produce on them that are determined to
hold fast their sins, it cannot fail to comfort all whose minds are duly prepared to
receive it, and to operate on their souls as rain upon the new-mown grass. This
will appear, whilst we,
I. Illustrate the representation here given of the Deity—
The description which Moses gives of Jehovah is short, but comprehensive: it
sets forth,
1. His personal majesty—
[The term “Rock” is often used in reference to the Deity; and intimates to us
both what he is in himself, and what he is to us. In himself he is the great
unchangeable Jehovah; and to his people a safe and everlasting Refuge. Whether
it be from the storms of temptation or the heat of persecution, he affords
protection to all who flee unto him [Note: Isaiah 32:2.] — — — and, to those who
build upon him, he is an immovable foundation: nothing shall ever shake them;
nothing shall ever disappoint them of their hopes [Note: Isaiah 45:17.] — — —]
2. His providential government—
[Deep and mysterious are his ways, yet are they all ordered in perfect wisdom
and goodness. In the world, in the Church, and in our own individual cases,
there are many things which we cannot account for; yet if we imagine that any
one of them could have been more wisely appointed, we only betray our own
ignorance and presumption. We cannot tell why God confined the revelation of
his will to one single family for so many ages, or why it is still known to so small
a part of the world: but in due time God will make it evident that such a mode of
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dispensing mercy was most conducive to his own glory. When a persecution
arose in the Church about Stephen, and the saints, driven from Jerusalem, were
scattered over the face of the earth, it probably appeared to them an inexplicable
dispensation: but the benefit of it soon appeared, because the banished
Christians propagated the Gospel wherever they came [Note: Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4.].
And when Paul was confined in prison two years, it might be thought a most
calamitous event: yet does he himself tell us, that it tended “rather unto the
furtherance of the Gospel [Note: Philippians 1:12-14.].” Thus, in innumerable
instances, we are ready to say, like Jacob, “All these things are against us,” when
in fact they are “all working together for our good; ”and we are constrained
after a season to acknowledge, that our greatest crosses were only blessings in
disguise [Note: Psalms 97:2.].]
3. His moral perfections—
[Justice, holiness, and truth, are inseparable from the Deity; “He is a God of
truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” The present state of things
indeed does not afford us a just criterion whereby to judge of these perfections;
because eternity is not open to our view: but the brightest display of them that
can be exhibited to mortal eyes, is seen in the great work of redemption: for God
has determined not to pardon any of the human race (at least, not any to whom
the light of revelation comes,) except in a way that shall magnify these
perfections; nor will he condemn any, without making them witnesses for him,
that he is holy, and just, and true. It is for this very end that he sent his only-
begotten Son into the world: for, by bearing our sins in his own body on the tree,
Jesus has made a complete satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and
opened a way for the exercise of mercy in perfect consistency with all the other
attributes of the Deity. The true believer makes an open confession of this, and
acknowledges, that all his hopes are founded on the sacrifice of Christ: the
unbeliever experiences in his own person the weight of that justice, which he
would not honour in the person of his surety: so that all in heaven, and all in hell
too, are constrained to say, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints [Note: Revelation
15:3.].”]
That we may make a practical use of the Divine character we shall,
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II. Shew how to make it a source of comfort to the soul—
If the Deity is an object of terror to any, it must arise either from an erroneous
idea of his character, or from an opposition of mind to it. In order then to derive
comfort from it, we must,
1. Get a just and comprehensive view of the Divine perfections—
[If, as is too often the case, we paint to ourselves a God all mercy, who will never
vindicate the honour of his law, nor ever fulfil his threatenings against sin or
sinners, we may allay our fears for the present, but we can never bring peace or
comfort into the soul: for, as we have no foundation for such an idea of the Deity,
we never can divest ourselves of the apprehension that we may be mistaken, and
that we may find him at last such a Being as the Scriptures represent him. On
the other hand, if we view nothing but his justice, he must of necessity appear
terrible in our eyes, because we cannot but know that we are transgressors of his
law. But if we regard him as he is set forth in his word, and particularly as he
appears in the person of Christ, then do we find in him all that is great and good,
yea all that our souls can wish for, or our necessities require — — —]
2. Get our own hearts suitably affected with them—
[Whilst the majesty of God should fill us with holy awe, and his power make us
fearful of incurring his displeasure, these exalted perfections should encourage
an affiance in him, as an almighty Helper, and an all-sufficient Protector. His
very sovereignty should lead us to apply to him for mercy, because he will be
most glorified in shewing mercy to the chief of sinners. Of course, a view of his
love, his mercy, and his truth, must inspire us with holy confidence, and dispel
all the fears which conscious unworthiness must create: we should therefore
contemplate them with unceasing care, as the grounds of our hope, and the
sources of our eternal welfare. Nor is it of small moment to have our minds
impressed with a sense of his wisdom and goodness in all his providential
dealings. It is by that that we shall have our minds composed under all the most
afflictive dispensations, and encouraged to expect a happy issue out of the most
calamitous events — — — In a word, the representations which God has given of
himself will then be most delightful to us, when our hearts are most filled with
12

humility and love.]
Application—
[”Hear now, O ye heavens! and give ear, O earth!” say whether these views of
the Deity do not tend to the happiness of man O that God would “shine into all
our hearts, to give us the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ!” then
should our “meditation of him be sweet,” and our fruits abound to the praise
and glory of his grace.][Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 475. For more
information on the text of chapter 32, see Patrick W. Skehan, "The Structure of
the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 32:1-43)," Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 13:2 (April 1951):153-63. James R. Boston argued for the origination
of this song in the time of Hezekiah or Josiah, as have many other critical
scholars, in "The Wisdom Influence upon the Song of Moses," Journal of
Biblical Literature 87 (1968):198-202.]
LANGE, "EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Deuteronomy 32:1-5. The introduction must indeed reconcile the actual divine
address to Moses, with his human historical individuality. Hence, Deuteronomy
32:1, the truly deuteronomic invocation of the heavens and the earth. Comp.
upon Deuteronomy 4:26 (32); Deuteronomy 30:19 (12); Deuteronomy 31:28.
That they are summoned directly by the law-giver as witnesses is intelligible
from his legal character ( Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15); and still
more historically from Deuteronomy 4:36, since they were participants in the
law-giving, in the most solemn natal hour of Israel as a people. They were here
invoked only as attentive hearers, as also in Isaiah 50, which is entirely
appropriate, since not merely threatening, but promise also, appears in what
follows. ‫ַן‬‫ז‬ ָ‫,א‬ in Hiph. is not used in the sense of to be pointed, to sharpen, prick
up the ear, rather in the sense of ready, quick, to fasten, to hold fast, (hence the
ear as that which receives, catches up); to hearken. Moses here, as Christ, John
15:22 : Had I not spoken unto them? The figure of the rain, dew, sq, is suggested
by the mention of the heavens, as also that of the grass and the herb, through the
mention of the earth. His song comes from above, whence all good comes which
does good, all blessings which produce fruit. The earth should not receive the
curse, nor misery, the law is not given for this ( Romans 7:12), still less should
this most peculiar, testamentary work of Moses, and indeed this dying strain of
Deuteronomy tend to this end. (‫ה‬ַ‫ֶקּ‬‫ל‬) to seize, grasp; but the reception is necessary
( 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Timothy 4:9), and hence the term
13

occurs here; and not “merely to make prominent the dignity and worth of his
word, as one received, 1 Corinthians 11:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3” (Schultz). Power
generally, the heavenly (rain), the gentle, secret flow (dew), the mighty, copious
(showers, or storm-torrents, heavy rain, thick rain-drops ‫רביבים‬ from the
multitude of the drops); are the points of comparison, not the refreshing,
fertilizing, enlivening, and the like (Keil, Knobel), which relate rather to the
effects of the rain, dew, etc. (‫,יערף‬ only elsewhere, Deuteronomy 33:28; ‫,שׂעירם‬
only here.) Comp. Job 23-29:22 ; Isaiah 11-55:10 ; Psalm 72:6; Hosea 14:5; Micah
5:9. Deuteronomy 32:3 gives the reason for the demand, Deuteronomy 32:1, as
also for the fulness of power which he wished, Deuteronomy 32:2, Let my
doctrine drop. Luther: “It is as if he had said, I will sing a Song of Solomon,
which I will begin in so high a strain that no one under the sun can strike a
higher strain, or be able to make a nobler song. My best song and best doctrine
shall be the first commandment.” ‫קרא‬ ‫שׂם‬ (not ‫,בשם‬ to invoke as the poets the
muses, Ewald, not even to praise), but to proclaim, to make known to all the
world, what he had said, the revelation of his being whereof heaven and earth
should make confession, in case Israel should neglect it, who therefore is not
directly addressed in the following clause: Ascribe, sq. Comp. Deuteronomy
3:24; Deuteronomy 5:21; Deuteronomy 9:26; Deuteronomy 11:2. This greatness
is not His majesty generally, or as Luther: “Ye shall not honor other gods, or
ascribe greatness to any creature, all other gods are vain, false and nonentities,”
but in the transition to what follows, points out already as with all the fingers,
His exalted nature, his glory as Jehovah. ‫,הצור‬ the Rock, placed first absolutely,
and thus given the greater prominence. ‫,צוּר‬ the thick, strong, firm. Herder:
“Derived without doubt from Sinai, where the covenant was made which on the
side of God as the Rock was everlasting.” It reminds us of Genesis 49:24. It is the
refuge, protection, security, for the forsaken. It presents the name Jehovah by a
striking comparison ( Isaiah 17:10; Isaiah 26:4; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 18:31). As
alone in His being, so perfect in His work; without defect, without stain, nothing
to be supplied, and nothing to be removed, both with respect to creation and
providence (Herder: “Israel often blamed the providence, in its way through the
desert”). For his ways are only right, as this is still more personally expressed in
the fourth member parallel to the second. ‫,אמונח‬ firmness, the nature of the rock.
‫עול‬ ( Deuteronomy 35:16) crooked, perverted nature, imperfection, vileness. (The
prayer of the Jews in their burial-service begins as Deuteronomy 32:4, which is
also found engraved upon their cemeteries and tables.) [How deeply the idea of
God as the Rock (Tsur) penetrated the Jewish mind and life, is apparent from its
frequent recurrence in names as Pedah-zur, Eli-zur, Zur-iel, Zur-ishaddai, etc.—
A. G.]—The theme of the song finds its necessary completion, Deuteronomy 32:5,
in the opposite description of Israel. Hence ‫לו‬ ‫שׁחת‬ cannot possibly refer to
Jehovah; He deals not corruptly with him (Schultz), as already J. H. Michaelis:
Num deus corrupit sibi (ipsi Israel) sc. vias suas? num ille est Israelitis causa
exitii?Cocceius: Num corruptio ipsi? Nequaquam minime. The subject is clearly
14

the generation, sq. Whether ‫לו‬ refers to Israel ( Numbers 32:15), or to Jehovah in
the Dat. Comm. may be doubtful; the latter appears to suit the connection better.
Not Jehovah in His nature, work, ways, attributes ( Deuteronomy 32:4), but
Israel in its work, ways, nature, attributes, Deuteronomy 32:5, is an antithetic
parallel to Deuteronomy 32:4. Comp. Deuteronomy 9:12. We are to recall the
apostacy immediately at Sinai, and still further in the wilderness ( Numbers
13sq.). The clause in apposition with generation occurs parenthetically before it.
Your ways should have appeared as that of His children ( Deuteronomy 14:1).
Sack “they are not His children” is almost too strong. ‫לא‬ before ‫,בניו‬ as
frequently in this song before the substantive, is an observable idiomatic
peculiarity. Their spot (the apposition and the opposition once more), rather: the
children of Jehovah, as they should be, and His children as they are actually.—
[Keil: They are not the children of Jehovah, but their stain, i.e. the stain or
disgrace of God’s children.—A. G.]—(Others: to their own blemish, shame.)
Schultz: His children are their own disgrace. [Regarding Jehovah as the subject,
has He dealt corruptly with them? No, His children, etc.—A. G.]—The historical
explanation of Knobel, referring it “to Judah and the faithful in Israel,” is
needless, since even earlier the children of God (comp. Genesis 5:22), e.g. Noah,
the patriarchs, Caleb, Joshua, are thus distinguished, and the idea was always
made prominent as simply set over against the actual evil character ( Philippians
2:15; Matthew 17:17).
PETT, "First heaven and earth are called on to witness to what Moses will speak
(compare Deuteronomy 30:19; Deuteronomy 31:28), such is the solemnity of his
words. These are world fashioning events. Heaven and earth were in fact regular
treaty witnesses among other nations (compare Deuteronomy 4:26; Deuteronomy
30:19).
Then the nature of his teaching is described. It is like the rain and the dew falling
and bringing forth lush vegetation, bringing life and fruitfulness. His words
should come as words of refreshing to their hearts. And the reason that it is like
this is because He is proclaiming the name of Yahweh. They are therefore to
ascribe greatness to ‘our God’.
In this teaching we have the germ of the later teaching about God’s word
bringing forth new life and about the Holy Spirit as being like rain (Isaiah
55:10-11; Isaiah 44:3-5 compare Isaiah 45:8), and the basis of the teaching of
John the Baptiser where he spoke of fruitfulness, and of the new birth of water
and Spirit in the teaching of Jesus Himself. Here it is connected with ‘the name’,
that is with the nature of, Yahweh. Yahweh is the living God, the life-giver.
15

This last is the teaching that is available to us. But we must ask ourselves the
question, are we open to His divine influence on us?
“Proclaim the name of Yahweh.” This may have in mind Deuteronomy 6:4-5,
‘Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one’ and ‘Yahweh our God’, His name as the
covenant God.
“Ascribe you greatness to our God.” Compare Deuteronomy 3:24; Deuteronomy
5:21; Deuteronomy 9:26; Deuteronomy 11:2; Numbers 14:19; Psalms 79:11;
Psalms 150:2). This word for God’s ‘greatness’ is mainly limited to the
Pentateuch.
Verses 1-52
Chapter 32 The Song of Moses.
Having written the Complaint Document as a song to be sung by the children of
Israel until its words were fulfilled and it could be called on as a witness against
them, and also be seen as a promise of hope, Moses read out the song to the
people.
Analysis.
a And Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this
song, until they were finished (Deuteronomy 31:30).
b The Song of Complaint and Promise (Deuteronomy 32:1-43).
a And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the
people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun, and Moses made an end of speaking all
these words to all Israel (Deuteronomy 32:44-45).
K&D, "The Song of Moses. - In accordance with the object announced in Deu_31:19, this
song contrasts the unchangeable fidelity of the Lord with the perversity of His faithless
people. After a solemn introduction pointing out the importance of the instruction about to be
given (Deu_32:1-3), this thought is placed in the foreground as the theme of the whole: the
16

Lord is blameless and righteous in His doings, but Israel acts corruptly and perversely; and
this is carried out in the first place by showing the folly of the Israelites in rebelling against
the Lord (Deu_32:6-18); secondly, by unfolding the purpose of God to reject and punish the
rebellious generation (Deu_32:19-23); and lastly, by announcing and depicting the fulfilment
of this purpose, and the judgment in which the Lord would have mercy upon His servants and
annihilate His foes (Deu_32:34-43).
The song embraces the whole of the future history of Israel, and bears all the marks of a
prophetic testimony from the mouth of Moses, in the perfectly ideal picture which it draws,
on the one hand, of the benefits and blessings conferred by the Lord upon His people; and on
the other hand, of the ingratitude with which Israel repaid its God for them all. “This song,
soaring as it does to the loftiest heights, moving amidst the richest abundance of pictures of
both present and future, with its concise, compressed, and pictorial style, rough, penetrating,
and sharp, but full of the holiest solemnity, a witness against the disobedient nation, a
celebration of the covenant God, sets before us in miniature a picture of the whole life and
conduct of the great man of God, whose office it pre-eminently was to preach condemnation”
(O. v. Gerlach). - It is true that the persons addressed in this ode are not the contemporaries
of Moses, but the Israelites in Canaan, when they had grown haughty in the midst of the rich
abundance of its blessings, and had fallen away from the Lord, so that the times when God
led the people through the wilderness to Canaan are represented as days long past away. But
this, the stand-point of the ode, is not to be identified with the poet's own time. It is rather a
prophetic anticipation of the future, which has an analogon in a poet's absorption in an ideal
future, and differs from this merely in the certainty and distinctness with which the future is
foreseen and proclaimed. The assertion that the entire ode moves within the epoch of the
kings who lived many centuries after the time of Moses, rests upon a total misapprehension
of the nature of prophecy, and a mistaken attempt to turn figurative language into prosaic
history. In the whole of the song there is not a single word to indicate that the persons
addressed were “already sighing under the oppression of a wild and hostile people, the
barbarous hordes of Assyrians or Chaldeans” (Ewald, Kamphausen, etc.).
(Note: How little firm ground there is for this assertion in the contents of the ode, is
indirectly admitted even by Kamphausen himself in the following remarks: “The words
of the ode leave us quite in the dark as to the author;” and “if it were really certain that
Deuteronomy was composed by Moses himself, the question as to the authenticity of the
ode would naturally be decided in the traditional way.” Consequently, the solution of the
whole is to be found in the dictum, that “the circumstances which are assumed in any
prophecy as already existing, and to which the prophetic utterances are appended as to
something well known (?), really determine the time of the prophet himself;” and,
according to this canon, which is held up as “certain and infallible,” but which is really
thoroughly uncritical, and founded upon the purely dogmatic assumption that any actual
foreknowledge of the future is impossible, the ode before us is to be assigned to a date
somewhere about 700 years before Christ.)
The Lord had indeed determined to reject the idolatrous nation, and excite it to jealousy
through those that were “no people,” and to heap up all evils upon it, famine, pestilence, and
sword; but the execution of this purpose had not yet taken place, and, although absolutely
certain, was in the future still. Moreover, the benefits which God had conferred upon His
people, were not of such a character as to render it impossible that they should have been
alluded to by Moses. All that the Lord had done for Israel, by delivering it from bondage and
guiding it miraculously through the wilderness, had been already witnessed by Moses
himself; and the description in Deu_32:13 and Deu_32:14, which goes beyond that time, is in
reality nothing more than a pictorial expansion of the thought that Israel was most bountifully
provided with the richest productions of the land of Canaan, which flowed with milk and
honey. It is true, the satisfaction of Israel with these blessings had not actually taken place in
the time of Moses, but was still only an object of hope; but it was hope of such a kind, that
Moses could not cherish a moment's doubt concerning it. Throughout the whole we find no
17

allusions to peculiar circumstances or historical events belonging to a later age. - On the
other hand, the whole circle of ideas, figures, and words in the ode points decidedly to Moses
as the author. Even if we leave out of sight the number of peculiarities of style ( ́̔‫ב‬‫נ‬.‫כוד‬́‫ן‬‫לוםב‬ ),
which is by no means inconsiderable, and such bold original composite words as ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ּא־א‬‫ל‬ (not-
God, Deu_32:21; cf. Deu_32:17) and ‫ם‬ ָ‫ּא־ע‬‫ל‬ (not-people, Deu_32:21), which might
point to a very remote antiquity, and furnish evidence of the vigour of the earliest
poetry, - the figure of the eagle in Deu_32:11 points back to Exo_19:4; the
description of God as a rock in Deu_32:4, Deu_32:15, Deu_32:18, Deu_32:30, Deu_
32:31, Deu_32:37, recalls Gen_49:24; the fire of the wrath of God, burning even to
the world beneath (Deu_32:22), points to the representation of God in Deu_4:24 as
a consuming fire; the expression “to move to jealousy,” in Deu_32:16 and Deu_
32:21, recalls the “jealous God” in Deu_4:24; Deu_6:15; Exo_20:5; Exo_34:14; the
description of Israel as children (sons) in Deu_32:5, and “children without
faithfulness” in Deu_32:20, suggests Deu_14:1; and the words, “O that they were
wise,” in Deu_32:29, recall Deu_4:6, “a wise people.” Again, it is only in the
Pentateuch that the word ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ּד‬ (greatness, Deu_32:3) is used to denote the greatness
of God (vid., Deu_3:24; Deu_5:21; Deu_9:26; Deu_11:2; Num_14:19); the name of
honour given to Israel in Deu_32:15, viz., Jeshurun, only occurs again in Deu_33:5
and Deu_33:26, with the exception of Isa_44:2, where it is borrowed from these
passages; and the plural form ‫ּות‬‫מ‬ְ‫,י‬ in Deu_32:7, is only met with again in the prayer
of Moses, viz., Psa_90:15.
Deu_32:1-5
“Introduction and Theme. - in the introduction (Deu_32:1-3), - “Give ear, O ye
heavens, I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Let my
doctrine drop as the rain, let my speech fall as the dew; as showers upon green, and
rain-drops upon herb, for I will publish the name of the Lord; give ye greatness to
our God,” - Moses summons heaven and earth to hearken to his words, because the
instruction which he was about to proclaim concerned both heaven and earth, i.e.,
the whole universe. It did so, however, not merely as treating of the honour of its
Creator, which was disregarded by the murmuring people (Kamphausen), or to
justify God, as the witness of the righteousness of His doings, in opposition to the
faithless nation, when He punished it for its apostasy (just as in Deu_4:26; Deu_
30:19; Deu_31:28-29, heaven and earth are appealed to as witnesses against
rebellious Israel), but also inasmuch as heaven and earth would be affected by the
judgment which God poured out upon faithless Israel and the nations, to avenge the
blood of His servants (Deu_32:43); since the faithfulness and righteousness of God
would thus become manifest in heaven and on earth, and the universe be sanctified
and glorified thereby. The vav consec. before ‫ה‬ ָ‫ר‬ ֵ ַ‫ד‬ ֲ‫א‬ expresses the desired or intended
sequel: so that I may then speak, or “so will I then speak” (vid., K‫צ‬hler on Hagg. p.
44, note).
18

2 Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
BARNES, "
CLARKE, "
GILL, "
HENRY, "
JAMISON, "
CALVIN, "2My doctrine shall drop as the rain. Some, as I think improperly,
here resolve the future tense into the optative mood, (248) for in this splendid
eulogium he rather celebrates, in order to commend his doctrine, the fruitfulness
(249) which is actually imparted to it by the Holy Spirit, than asks for it to be
given to him; and my readers must at once perceive that such a request would
have been by no means seasonable. He therefore compares his speech to rain or
dew, as if he had said that, if only the people were like the soil in a state of
softness and preparation, he would deliver doctrine to them which would irrigate
them unto abundant fruitfulness.
Although this expression refers especially, and ‫ךבפ‬ ᾿ ἐ‫מןק‬ὴ‫ם‬ to the Song, still its
force and propriety extends to all divine teaching; for God never speaks except
to render men fruitful in good works, just as, by instilling succulency and vigor
into the earth by means of rain, He makes it fertile for the production of fruit.
But, like the rocks and stones, which imbibe no moisture from the most
abundant rains, so many are hindered by their own perversity from being
fertilized by spiritual irrigation. Wherefore Moses indirectly throws the blame
upon the Israelites, if the doctrine of this Song should drop upon them in vain.
COKE, "Ver. 2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain— That is, As the rain which
falls upon the earth is ordained to fertilize and nourish the plants and animals,
so the heavenly doctrine, proceeding from God himself, is proper to open the
understanding, soften the heart, and produce the most happy fruits. This
metaphor is frequently used in Scripture, as well as in prophane authors. See Job
19

29:22. Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 55:10-11. Proverbs 25:14 and Homer, Iliad. 3: ver. 222.
The corresponding clause is, my speech should distil as the dew, which is
considered as the especial cause of fertility, or of the perfection of the fruits of
the earth. Nor is this a merely popular opinion. Dew, is not simple and crude
water; it is water which has circulated through the tubes of plants, and which is
itself impregnated with those most pure and subtile nutritive particles, which
have evaporated through the pores of plants. This is Mr. Scheuchzer's
observation. One would wonder that any commentators should so little feel the
poetic energy of this passage, as to assert, that it should be rendered, let my
doctrine drop as the rain; as if it were a prayer, not a beautiful and emphatical
assertion, worthy the fine apostrophe in the 1st verse.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 32:2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain — As nothing
is more grateful to the thirsty earth than gentle showers, so there cannot be any
thing more acceptable to those who are desirous of knowing the divine will than
the revelation of it. And as the dew and rain gently falling soften and refresh the
earth, producing both verdure and fertility; so my doctrine, or the words I am
going to speak, if received into people’s minds in faith and love, will cause them
to grow in grace and goodness, and produce the fruits of righteousness. Or it
may be rendered, Let my doctrine drop, &c. Accordingly the learned Bishop
Patrick understands this as a prayer, that his words, which were sent from
heaven to them, might sink into their hearts and soften them, as the rain doth the
earth, and so make them fruitful in obedience.
HAWKER, "Apply this to the gospel, and observe how suited the figure is. The
gospel is from heaven, so is the rain. The gospel is a blessing wheresoever it
comes: so is the rain. The gospel acts sweetly and unperceived in the mind of him
that receives the truth in the love of it; so doth the dew and the rain. Believers
are born from above: so doth the rain come down from above. The people of
GOD are numerous, though comparatively a little flock: so are the dew drops of
the morning. See those sweet scriptures, Psalms 110:3; Micah 5:7; John 1:13;
Psalms 72:6; Job 38:28.
K&D, "Deu_32:2-3
But because what was about to be announced was of such importance throughout, he
desired that the words should trickle down like rain and dew upon grass and herb. The point
of comparison lies in the refreshing, fertilizing, and enlivening power of the dew and rain.
Might the song exert the same upon the hearts of the hearers. ‫ח‬ ַ‫ק‬ ֶ‫,ל‬ accepting, then, in a
passive sense, that which is accepted, instruction (doctrine, Pro_16:21, Pro_16:23;
Isa_29:24). To “publish the name of the Lord:” lit., call, i.e., proclaim (not “call
upon”), or praise. It was not by himself alone that Moses desired to praise the name
of the Lord; the hearers of his song were also to join in this praise. The second clause
requires this: “give ye (i.e., ascribe by word and conduct) greatness to our God.” ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ּד‬ ,
applied here to God (as in Deu_3:24; Deu_5:21; Deu_9:26; Deu_11:2), which is only
repeated again in Psa_150:2, is the greatness manifested by God in His acts of
20

omnipotence; it is similar in meaning to the term “glory” in Psa_29:1-2; Psa_96:7-8.
3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
BARNES, "
CLARKE, "
GILL, "
HENRY, "
JAMISON, "
CALVIN, "3Because I will publish the name of the Lord. He signifies by these
words that, if there were any spark of piety in the Israelites, it must be
manifested by their welcoming this address, wherein the majesty of God shines
forth. The first clause of the verse, therefore, stands last in order, since it is an
assignment of a reason for the other. For when he exhorts them that they should
ascribe to God the glory He deserves, he inculcates upon them obedience and
attention, as if he had said that, unless they reverently submit themselves to his
teaching, God would be defrauded of this due honor; and this he confirms by
adding as a reason that he will sincerely and faithfully publish the name of God.
For the word invoke (250) is not used here as in many other passages, but is
equivalent to making a profession of God. Moses, then, declares himself to be His
proclaimer, in order that, under cover of His most Holy name, he may awaken
attention to his words.
COKE, "Ver. 3. Because I will publish the name of the Lord— Houbigant
renders it, Whilst I shall celebrate the name of the Lord; which seems to be right.
Moses's subject is the celebration of the great Jehovah; and to this great subject
he calls the heavens and the earth to be attentive: at the same time exhorting the
21

people to join with him in the exalted theme, and to celebrate the infinite power
and supreme dominion of the great object of their adoration.
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God— The word, which we render ascribe,
imports the abundance and earnestness of praise, according to Vitringa and
Venema. See Vitringa's Comment on this chapter, published by Herman
Venema, Harling. 1734. 4to.
REFLECTIONS.—Moses opens his important Song of Solomon 1. With a
solemn appeal to heaven and earth for the truth of his word, and the justice of
the divine procedure; or, as if, more attentive than this stupid people, they would
sooner hear and obey him. His doctrine is described as dropping as the rain,
even as the gentle showers to refresh the parched ground; and the influence of it
like the small rain on the tender grass, descending softly, and sweetly insinuating
into the affections. Such is the Gospel of Jesus, cooling the parched conscience
burnt up with the wrath of God, causing the heart to yield its fruit, and where-
ever received making the inward man to flourish as a green field. 2. The reason
is given for the audience and attention he demands, because of the greatness and
glory of that God whose name he was about to proclaim. Note; The higher
thoughts we entertain of God, the more shall we be afraid to sin, and the readier
to submit to every providence, and to own the justice of every afflictive
dispensation.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 32:3. I will publish the name of the Lord — His
glorious excellences and righteous actions, by which he hath made himself
known as a man is known by his name, and by which it will appear both that
there is no blame to be laid upon him whatsoever befalls you, and that it is gross
madness to forsake such a God for dumb idols. Ascribe ye — As I am about to
publish the majesty and glory of God, so do you also acknowledge it.
HAWKER, "Precious thought! that doctrine will descend as the rain, and under
divine influences will work its way, like the soft insinuating dew, which
proclaims JEHOVAH in all his threefold personality of character and covenant-
offices. For what is GOD'S greatness to his people, but his great salvation in
JESUS? When Moses desired to see the glory of the LORD, GOD said, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee. Exodus 33:18-19.
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
22

and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
BARNES, "
CLARKE, "
GILL, "
HENRY, "
JAMISON, "
CALVIN, "4.His work is perfect. Those who take these expressions generally,
and without particular reference to this passage, not only obscure their meaning,
but also lessen the force of the doctrine they contain. Let us, then, understand
that the perfection of God’s works, the rectitude of His ways, etc., are contrasted
with the rebellion of the people; for if there were anything (251) in God’s works
imperfect and in arranged, if His mode of dealing were deficient in rectitude, if
His truth were doubtful; if, in a word, there were anything wanting, then there
would have been a natural excuse why the people should have sought for
something better than they found in Him, since the desire of obtaining that
which is best is deserving of no reprehension. Lest, then, the Israelites should
offer any such pretext, Moses anticipates them. Before he begins to treat of the
wicked ingratitude of the people, he lays down this principle, that they were not
induced to transfer their affections elsewhere by any deficiency in God. The
general statement is indeed true in itself, and may be applied to various
purposes; but we must consider what the object of Moses here is, namely, to
remove from the people every pretext for their impious and perfidious rebellion,
and this in order that their amazing folly may be more apparent, when they
forsake the fountain of living waters, and hew them out cisterns with holes in
them, as God himself complains in Jeremiah 2:13. We perceive therefore, that
every honorable distinction which is here attributed to God, brands the people
with a corresponding mark of ignominy, in that they had knowingly and
voluntarily deprived themselves of the plenitude of all good things, which might
have been enjoyed by them had they not alienated themselves from God.
God’s work is spoken of, not only with reference to the creation of the world, but
to the whole course of His providence; as if it were said that nothing could be
23

discovered in God’s works which could be found fault with.
Now this perfection is not perceptible in every individual thing, for even vermin
are God’s creatures; and amongst men some are blind, some lame, some deaf,
and others mutilated in one of their members; and many fruits also never arrive
at maturity. Yet we plainly see that it is foolish and misplaced to bring forward
such questions as these as objections to the perfection of God, here celebrated by
Moses, inasmuch as the very defects and blemishes of our bodies tend to this
object, that God’s glory may be made manifest. (John 9:3.)
The next statement, that all his ways are right, (252) conveys a similar truth; for
it is well known that the word ‫,משפט‬ mishphat, is used for rectitude, and works
and ways are synonymous.
The latter part of the verse is a confirmation of the former part, since Moses
signifies in both that all who censure God may be clearly convicted of petulant
impiety, since supreme justice shines forth in all His acts.
The words I have rendered, “God is truth,” others construe with the genitive
case, “a God of truth.” Either is true, and agreeable to the usage of Scripture;
but the apposition is more emphatic, which declares that God is not only true,
but the Truth itself. At any rate, this applies to the persons who pay entire
allegiance to the word of God, for their expectations shall never be frustrated.
Thus the people are indirectly reproved for their unbelief, in that they deserted
God, whose faithfulness was not only tried and proved, but who is the very
fountain of truth.
Although what follows, that there is no iniquity in God, seems to some to have
but little force, it is nevertheless of great importance; for we well know how often
men are so absurd in their subterfuges, as in a manner to arraign God instead of
themselves; and although they do not dare to accuse Him openly, still they do not
hesitate to acquit themselves, and thus to cast direct obloquy upon Him.
Elsewhere, therefore, God inquires by His Prophet, “what iniquity the people
had found in Him?” (Jeremiah 2:5,) and in another place expostulates with them,
because He was loaded with their hatred and abuse, as if He dealt unjustly with
such sinners. (Ezekiel 18:2.) When, therefore, He vindicates Himself from such
calumnies, it follows that no blame attaches itself to Him, but that the wickedness
of those who turn away from Him is abundantly condemned.
COFFMAN, "THE CORRUPT PEOPLE CALLED TO REMEMBER GOD
(Deuteronomy 32:4-6)
"The Rock, his work is perfect;
For all his ways are justice:
24

God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
Just and right is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, it is their blemish;
They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Do ye thus requite Jehovah,
O foolish people and unwise?
Is not he thy father that hath bought thee?
He hath made thee and established thee."
Note the use of the term "Rock" for God; it appears a number of times in this
song (Deuteronomy 32:13,15,18,30,31).
"They have dealt corruptly with him ..." The time envisioned in this prophecy is
long subsequent to the times of Moses. This is predictive prophecy at its best. The
time foreseen here is after the settlement of Canaan, indeed after the death of
Joshua, when Israel shall have become arrogant, proud, fat, rebellious, and
shameful in their debaucheries. It is this time-focus of the prophecy that drives
the critics to later centuries to find the date of Deuteronomy, but their "a priori"
rejection of predictive prophecy compels this on their part. There is no logical
necessity for ascribing this song to any generation other than that of Moses. As
Keil put it: "This standpoint of the ode is not to be identified with the poet's own
time."[14] Moses here spoke of developments that would occur long after his
death.
"A perverse and crooked generation ..." The crookedness of Israel became a
proverb in the whole world. Even when Jesus Christ saw an honest Israelite, he
exclaimed, "Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile!" (John 1:48). If the
words of Jesus mean anything, they mean, "Look here! Here's an Israelite who is
not crooked!" On Pentecost, Peter came to this very passage in his appeal for
Israel (to whom he spoke) to obey the gospel (Acts 2:40).
COKE, "Ver. 4. He is the rock— Houbigant translates thus: Creatoris perfecta
sunt opera; the Creator's work is perfect. We interpret ‫הצור‬ hatzur, says he, of
the Creator: for the word is derived in this place from ‫צור‬ tzur, to form, to effect;
as ‫פעלו‬ paalo, his work, demonstrates; not from ‫צור‬ tzur, a rock: for this
appellation of God is then used, when God is considered as a refuge for salvation,
or, a rock of salvation; or when at any time allusion is made to a similitude
drawn from a rock: but no such similitude is found in this place. In other parts
of this song, ‫הצור‬ is applied to GOD, (and in our version rendered rock,) when
there is nothing in the sentence which coincides with this or that similitude.—All
25

his ways are judgment, Houbigant renders, omnis hujus viae sunt ordinatae, all
his ways are regular, well ordered, or conducted: ‫משׁפט‬ mishpat, denotes
whatever is done in a certain way and method, by an appointed manner and
judgment. The words which follow, God is faithful, and not given to change,
strengthen the sentence: not given to change, (which is a meaning the original
word will bear,) very aptly agrees with faithful, which it follows, and whose force
it sustains and augments: so afterwards, He is just, and also constant,
corresponds, agreeably to the method of this metrical composition, with the
preceding clause. Moses uses this preface, asserting that God is faithful and
constant to the promises he has given, in opposition to the infidelity and
inconstancy of Israel, which he mentions afterwards; and saying, almost with St.
Paul, shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? See Romans 3:3.
This verse, according to Houbigant, should be read thus:
The works of the Creator are perfect: For all his ways are regularly established.
He is a faithful God, and immutable: He is just, and also unchangeable.
We would just observe, respecting the version of ‫הצור‬ hatzur, for rock, that the
Vulgate, the LXX, the Samaritan, Arabic, and Syriac, all agree in rendering it
GOD neither is there a hint in any as if the word signified rock, or that it should
be made a distinct sentence with He is put before it, according to our version, for
which words there is nothing in the Hebrew.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 32:4. He is a rock — Stable in his nature, invincible in
his power, fixed and immutable in his counsels, promises, and ways; so that if
there should be a sad change in your affairs, remember that this proceeds from
yourselves, and from the change of your ways toward God, and not from God,
with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning, James 1:17. His work is
perfect — All his works, whether of creation, providence, or grace, and all his
actions are unblameable, perfect, wise, and righteous. All his ways are
judgment — His dealings with you his people, and his administrations in the
world toward all mankind, are just and holy in the highest degree. A God of
truth — Ever faithful and constant to his promises. This seems to be mentioned
in opposition to the infidelity and inconstancy of Israel, which he speaks of
afterward. And with out iniquity — Although we are often ignorant of the
methods and reasons of the divine procedure, yet it is as impossible there should
be injustice or iniquity in God, as that infinite and unchangeable wisdom should
act foolishly, or essential goodness should degenerate into malice, or, in the
Scripture language, that light should become darkness. Just and right is he —
Righteous in all that he doth. How should he do wrong, all whose actions are
necessarily founded on perfect and immutable wisdom, justice, and equity?
HAWKER, "No less than six times in this chapter, and eighteen times in other
places of the Old Testament, is the LORD distinguished by the title of a Rock; as
26

if to show the firmness, durableness, and everlasting strength of the LORD, in
his covenant relations to his people. And I beg the Reader to remark with me, the
attention of Moses in this description of our covenant GOD. It would have been a
striking account of JEHOVAH, had the man of GOD represented him under any
of his glorious perfections, for all the attributes of GOD, are so many standards
of character, to distinguish the excellency of his nature. But in this place he is
speaking of him in a more endearing view; and how shall he do it more
effectually than by assuring his people, that his faithfulness is like the rock of
ages, Holy LORD! enable me, and enable the Reader, always to keep this view of
thy immoveable, and unchanging love to thy people, in remembrance. See that
precious continuation of this, Deuteronomy 7:9.
K&D, "Deu_32:4-5
“The Rock - blameless is His work; for all His ways are right: a God of
faithfulness, and without injustice; just and righteous is He. Corruptly acts towards
Him, not His children; their spot, a perverse and crooked generation.” ‫וּר‬ ַ‫ה‬ is placed
first absolutely, to give it the greater prominence. God is called “the rock,” as the
unchangeable refuge, who grants a firm defence and secure resort to His people, by
virtue of His unchangeableness or impregnable firmness (see the synonym, “the
Stone of Israel,” in Gen_49:24). This epithet points to the Mosaic age; and this is
clearly shown by the use made of this title of God (Zur) in the construction of
surnames in the Mosaic era; such, for example, as Pedahzur (Num_1:10), which is
equivalent to Pedahel (“God-redeemed,” Num_34:28), Elizur (Num_1:5), Zuriel
(Num_3:35), and Zurishaddai (Num_1:6; Num_2:12). David, who had so often
experienced the rock-like protection of his God, adopted it in his Psalms (2Sa_22:3,
2Sa_22:32 = Psa_18:3, Psa_18:32; also Ps. 19:15; Psa_31:3-4; Psa_71:3). Perfect
(i.e., blameless, without fault or blemish) is His work; for His ways, which He adopts
in His government of the world, are right. As the rock, He is “a God of faithfulness,”
upon which men may rely and build in all the storms of life, and “without iniquity,”
i.e., anything crooked or false in His nature.
5 They are corrupt and not his children;
to their shame they are a warped and crooked
generation.
27

BARNES, "
CLARKE, "
GILL, "
HENRY, "
JAMISON, "
CALVIN, "5.They have corrupted themselves. Moses now inveighs
unhesitatingly against the perfidy of the people, and gives loose to the most
unmeasured upbraidings; for if God be just and true, then it was plain enough
that the Israelites were a depraved and perverse nation. This perverse nation, he
says, has corrupted itself towards Him, namely Him, whom he has just lauded
for His perfect justice and faithfulness; and he accuses them of having basely
prostituted to every sort of sin the chastity which they had promised to God.
There is no doubt but that they were sorely wounded by these epithets, and
would have been transported with rage, had they not seen that God’s
incomparable servant, when he had now been called upon to die by God’s
command, spoke as it were from heaven. The voice, therefore, of the dying man
restrained their pride, so that they did not now dare to oppose him as a mortal;
and afterwards, when the condemnation had been assented to by public
authority, and by general accord, they were less at liberty to vent their madness
against it. He introduces, by way of anticipation, the statement that they were not
His children; for else they might obviously have made the objection that the
sacred race of Abraham, which God had adopted, should be dealt with less
reproachfully. Moses, therefore, declares that they are not children, because they
are a perverse nation. For although their adoption always stood firm, still its
efficacy was restricted to the elect part of them, so that God, without breaking
His covenant, might reject the general body. But to explain the matter more
clearly, it must be borne in mind that the Spirit, on different grounds, at one
time assigns the name of God’s children to hypocrites, at another takes it away;
for sometimes it is an aggravation of their criminality, when they are called the
children of Abraham and Jacob as well as of God, an instance of which will soon
occur. Here, however, in order that they may cease to glory without cause, they
are said not to be children, because they are degenerate, and therefore
disinherited by God, so as no longer to retain their honorable position. In this
sense Moses declares that they are not children, as having cast off God from
being their Father. It is added this was done with their spot (or disgrace; (253))
unless it be thought preferable to take it that. they were corrupted by their spots,
or by their sins, to which I willingly assent; although I do not reject the other
28

sense, namely, that their alienation from God had rendered them ignominious, or
that they had contracted the stain of disgrace by their faithlessness.
COKE, "Ver. 5. They have corrupted themselves, &c.— Is there corruption in
Him? no: but of his children the spot is theirs. Dr. Waterland. Houbigant
renders it:
They are corrupt: they are not his children: They are blotted: a wicked, and
perverse generation.
In which version he follows the Samaritan and several others. Dr. Lowth, though
he gives, as we shall soon see, a different interpretation, and as good a one,
perhaps, as can be offered of the Hebrew text, yet rather agrees with Houbigant
in approving the Samaritan. "There are one or two particulars," says this
elegant writer, "in this remarkable poem, which, being frequent in Scripture,
and sometimes difficult to be explained, require an attentive disquisition. The
first thing to be observed, in general, taking the present passage for an example,
is, the sudden and frequent change of persons, and that in addresses. Moses
having proclaimed, in the beginning of this song, the most inviolable truth and
justice of GOD, thence takes occasion, on a sudden, to inveigh against the perfidy
and wickedness of the ungrateful people." He first speaks of them as if absent:
Their wickedness hath corrupted the children for Him, Now no longer His.
Corrupit illi filios non jam suos ipsorum pravitas:
And then immediately he addresses them,
Perverse and crooked generation! Do ye thus requite the Lord, O perverse and
foolish generation! Is He not thy Father and Redeemer? Hath He not made thee,
and established thee?
Afterwards his indignation, in some measure, cooling, and tracing the subject
higher, he beautifully amplifies the indulgence of God towards the Israelites, and
his more than paternal affection perpetually declared towards them; and all this
in words not directed to the Israelites: thence he wonderfully exaggerates the
stupidity of this ungrateful and impious people; which again raising his
indignation, he thus breaks forth:
Ver. 15. But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: Thou art waxen fat, grown thick,
covered with fatness. And he forsook his Creator, And lightly esteemed the rock
of his salvation:
Where, in one short sentence, the discourse, abruptly turned to the Israelites,
and then immediately from them, has great force. It is fervid, vehement, pointed,
and full of indignation. That fine passage of Virgil, though less glowing, is
29

however very grand; but especially the fine apostrophe, in which the traitor is
reproached for his crime, and the king vindicated from the charge of cruelty:
Haud procul inde citae Metium in diversa quadrigae Distulerant, (at tu dictis,
Albane, maneres,) Raptabatque viri mendacis viscera Tullus Per silvam, et sparsi
rorabant sanguine vepres. AEn. viii. l. 642.
Not far from thence the rapid chariots driv'n, Flew diverse, and the traitor
Metius tore; (Thou, Alban, should'st have kept thy plighted faith:) Him Tullus
thro' the woods rent piecemeal dragg'd, The sprinkled bramble, dropping with
his blood. TRAPP.
The Hebrew poetry, which is animated, bold, and rapid, abounds with frequent
instances of this sudden change of the persons, which often adds great beauty,
and is always carefully to be observed.
A second thing to be remarked in this poem, is the change of the tenses, very
different frequently from the common mode: the design of this, for the most part,
is the more evident representation of things in narrations or descriptions;
therefore, in all languages, both in poetry and prose, the announcing of things,
either past or future, in the present tense is common; by which means, what is
explained in words, is placed, as it were, before the view; nor is there need so
much to look back to the past, or forward to the future, as to behold what is
placed before our eyes: but in this particular, the manner of the Hebrew
language is peculiar; for the Hebrew verbs have no form by which the present
imperfect, or an action now instant, can be expressed. This is done only by a
participle, or by the substantive verb understood: the neuter of which, in these
places, is commonly used, or may always properly be admitted: they attain,
therefore, the same end another way, frequently expressing future things, for the
sake of illustration, in the form of the past tense, or rather the present perfect; as
if those things had been already fulfilled and completed. On the other hand, they
express things past in the future, as if they were now to be done, and were
hastening to their event. Of the former construction, namely, where things future
are expressed in the form of the present tense, an example will best shew us the
manner and effect. Moses, by the divine inspiration, perceiving that nefarious
dereliction of the divine worship into which the perverse nation of Israel would
hereafter fall, speaks of their crimes in such a manner as if they were committed
in his own sight and presence:
Their wickedness hath corrupted the children for Him, Now no longer His.
He speaks as if he himself were witness of their impiety, and present at those
infamous rites by which they were hereafter to corrupt the religion divinely
instituted by him. Nothing can be more efficacious than this anticipation, to shew
things clearly and evidently, and almost to bring them to immediate view; and
30

therefore, in the prophetic poetry, the use is most frequent. As in all other things,
so in this, Isaiah is admirable. See particularly ch. Isaiah 10:28-30; see also Joel
1:6-10. Lowth. Praelect. Poet. 15 and the note on ver. 10.
REFLECTIONS.—The greatness of God is here enlarged upon, and several
particulars of his glorious character opened, to awaken our reverence, fear, and
love.
1. He is a rock, He is God, strong to support the hopes of all who trust in him; an
everlasting foundation that cannot be moved. Such is Jesus to the sinner who
flies to him. His work is perfect, whether of creation, or providence, and
especially his work of redemption. Nothing is wanting for the complete and
eternal salvation of the faithful. All his ways are judgment, planned with infinite
wisdom, and so executed as to make the most glorious displays of his
righteousness. He is a God of truth, faithful to all his promises, who neither has
failed, nor can fail those who trust him. Without iniquity, whom none can
complain of as deceiving or injuring them. Just and right is he in his rewards
and punishments, giving to every man according as his work is. A glorious
character, most deserving of our regard, and demanding our devotion and
service.
2. The character of Israel is sadly the reverse. They have corrupted themselves,
in opposition to all his warnings and mercies; he is just, but they are altogether
become abominable, and can blame none for their ruin but themselves. Their
spot is not the spot of children; it was wilful deliberate sin, which they chose,
delighted in, and did not repent of. They are a perverse and crooked generation,
disposed to evil, and impatient of restraint, who will neither be influenced by
love, nor deterred by fear.
3. Moses expostulates with them on their folly and wickedness. What obligations
were they not under? How had God regarded them as the tenderest father, and
bought them at the price of Egypt's plagues? How ungrateful then to forget and
forsake such a God! yea, how unwise to provoke him, whose judgments are as
awful as his mercies are great! Note; (1.) Sin is the basest ingratitude to our
father, as well as insolent disobedience to our Lord and master. (2.) None will
appear such egregious fools at the judgment day, as those who have forsaken
God for the sake of divers lusts and pleasures. (3.) If Jewish ingratitude for
temporal mercies deserved such rebuke, of how much sorer condemnation shall
he be thought worthy who rejects redeeming love, and basely sins against that
Saviour who bought us with his blood?
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 32:5. They have corrupted themselves —
Notwithstanding that God hath fully displayed these excellences in his dealings
with the Israelitish nation, yet how corrupt and ungrateful hath been their
behaviour! Their spot — The wickedness with which they are stained; is not of
31

his children — Plainly shows they are not his children, but of their father the
devil, John 8:44. God’s children have no such spot. Indeed, the text does not
affirm that they have any spot at all. The Hebrew ‫מומם‬ ‫בניו‬ ‫לא‬ lo banau, mumam,
may be properly rendered as in the margin, or, as Le Clerc has it, according to
the Samaritan version, the sons of pollution are not his. The true characteristic
of the sons of God is to imitate and resemble God, 1 John 3:10. It is true they are
not without infirmities of various kinds, from which none dwelling in flesh are
exempt. But they do not give that name to known sin, which they are always
careful to avoid, and to walk in all well-pleasing before God. On the contrary,
the Israelites are here denominated a perverse and crooked generation; froward
and untractable; irregular and disorderly. In opposition to such characters the
sons of God are described (Philippians 2:15) as “being blameless and harmless in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, shining as lights in the world,
and holding forth the word of life.”
HAWKER, "Alas! what a striking difference, when we look into our own nature,
there is between our corruptions and the LORD'S purity. Observe, the charge is,
not that GOD made man corrupt, for GOD made man upright, but that he hath
destroyed himself. Ecclesiastes 7:29; Hosea 13:9. Their spot is not the
unavoidable spot, which compared to the unsullied holiness of GOD, all-created
excellence hath but it is the spot of sinful fallen nature. Oh! The happiness of
those children of our GOD, who have been washed in that fountain which taketh
out all spots! 1 John 1:7; Revelation 7:14.
K&D, "Deu_32:5
His people Israel, on the contrary, had acted corruptly towards Him. The subject of “acted
corruptly” is the rebellious generation of the people but before this subject there is introduced
parenthetically, and in apposition, “not his children, but their spot.” Spot (mum) is used here
in a moral sense, as in Pro_9:7; Job_11:15; Job_31:7, equivalent to stain. The rebellious and
ungodly were not children of the Lord, but a stain upon them. If these words had stood after
the actual subject, instead of before them, they would have presented no difficulty. This verse
is the original of the expression, “children that are corrupters,” in Isa_1:4.
6 Is this the way you repay the Lord,
you foolish and unwise people?
32

Is he not your Father, your Creator,[a]
who made you and formed you?
BARNES, "
CLARKE, "
GILL, "
HENRY, "
JAMISON, "
CALVIN, "6.Do ye thus requite the Lord. In order to expose the ingratitude of
the people to greater infamy, he now begins to commemorate the benefits
whereby God had laid them under obligation to Himself: for the more liberally
God deals with us, the more earnest ought to be the piety awakened in our
hearts; nay, His goodness, as soon as we have tasted of it, ought to draw us at
once to Him. Now God, although he has been always bountiful towards the whole
human race, had, in a peculiar manner showered down an immense abundance
of His bounty upon that people; this, then, Moses alleges, and shows how basely
ungrateful they had been. He first expostulates with them interrogatively, asking
them whether this was a fitting return for God’s especial blessings; and then
proceeds to enumerate them. He inquires of them, then, whether God was not
their father, from the time when He had honored them with the distinction of His
adoption: and under this single head he comprehends many things, because from
this source proceeded whatever blessings God had conferred upon them. Not,
however, to examine every point with the accuracy it deserves, what more
binding obligation could be imagined than that God should have chosen one
nation for Himself out of the whole world, whose father He should be by special
privilege? For, although all human beings, since they were created in the image
of God, are sometimes called His children, still to be accounted His children was
the special privilege of the sons of Abraham. And, in order to prove that this was
not a natural, but an acquired dignity, Moses immediately afterwards explains in
what way God was their Father: viz., that he purchased, made, and prepared
them. The foundation and origin, then, was the gratuitous good pleasure of God,
when He took them to be His own peculiar people. Elsewhere, indeed, His second
purchase of them is mentioned, when He redeemed them from Egypt; here,
however, Moses goes back farther, viz., to the covenant made with Abraham,
whereby they were separated from other nations, as will presently more clearly
appear. I reject, as not in harmony with the context, the translation which some
33

give of the word, ‫,קנה‬ kanah, i.e., to possess. (254)
In the same sense it is added, that they were made by God: which does not. refer
to the general creation, but only to the privilege of adoption, whereby they
became God’s new work, and in which another form was imparted to them; in
which sense also He is called their framer, or Maker. Elsewhere, also, when the
Prophet says,
“Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we
ourselves,” (Psalms 100:3,)
he undoubtedly magnifies that special prerogative, whereby God had
distinguished the sons of Abraham above all other races. For, since the fall of
Adam had brought disgrace upon all his posterity, God restores those, whom He
separates as His own, so that their condition may be better than that of all other
nations. At the same time it must be remarked, that this grace of renewal is
effaced in many who have afterwards profaned it. Consequently the Church is
called God’s work and creation, in two senses, i.e., generally with respect to its
outward calling, and specially with respect to spiritual regeneration, as far as
regards the elect; for the covenant of grace is common to hypocrites and true
believers. On this ground all whom God gathers into His Church, are
indiscriminately said to be renewed and regenerated: but the internal renovation
belongs to believers only; whom Paul, therefore, calls God’s “workmanship,
created unto good works, which God hath prepared,” etc. (Ephesians 2:10.) The
same is the tendency of the third word, which may, however, be taken for to
“establish;” )255 ) although I have preferred to follow the more received sense,
viz, that God had prepared His people, as the artificer fashions and fits his work.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 32:6. O foolish people and unwise! — Fools and
double fools! Fools, indeed, to disoblige one on whom you so entirely depend!
Who hath bewitched you to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities? Bought
thee — That hath redeemed thee from Egyptian bondage. Made thee — Not only
in a general, by creation, but in a peculiar manner, by making thee his peculiar
people. Established — That is renewed and confirmed his favour to thee, and not
taken it away, which thou hast provoked him to do.
HAWKER, "Reader! suppose you drop the view of Israel for a moment, and
fancy this expostulation addressed to yourself, at any time when causing the
LORD to serve with your sins, and wearying him with your iniquities. Is not
GOD your FATHER by adoption and grace in CHRIST JESUS? Hath he not
chosen you in CHRIST called you in CHRIST justified you in Christ; fed you,
taught you, purchased you, redeemed you, sanctified you; and for which of these
acts is it, that a pressing temptation leads you thus to requite him?
PETT, "He then faces the people up with their folly and lack of wisdom. Is this
34

really the way that they repay Yahweh for all He has done for them? Do they not
recognise that He is their Father (Deuteronomy 14:1 compare Exodus 4:22) Who
has redeemed them (from bondage in Egypt - Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy
9:26; Deuteronomy 13:5; Deuteronomy 15:15; Deuteronomy 24:18), and has
brought them through the wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:31), and has made them
into a fruitful and abundant nation, and has shaped them and established them
so that they are there ready to possess God’s land and live in it securely?
These are questions that we should put to ourselves. So often we forget that He is
our Father, and that what He does is for our good. That is why we so often take
little notice of Him and what He requires from our lives.
K&D, "Deu_32:6
“Will ye thus repay the Lord? thou foolish people and unwise! Is He not thy
Father, who hath founded thee, who hath made thee and prepared thee?” ‫ל‬ ַ‫מ‬ָ, the
primary idea of which is doubtful, signifies properly to show, or do, for the most part
good, but sometimes evil (vid., Psa_7:5). For the purpose of painting the folly of their
apostasy distinctly before the eyes of the people, Moses crowds words together to
describe what God was to the nation - “thy Father,” to whose love Israel was
indebted for its elevation into an independent people: comp. Isa_63:16, where Father
and Redeemer are synonymous terms, with Isa_64:7, God the Father, Israel the clay
which He had formed, and Mal_2:10, where God as Father is said to have created
Israel; see also the remarks at Deu_14:1 on the notion of Israel's sonship. - ָ‫ונך‬ ָ‫,ק‬ He
has acquired thee; ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ ָ‫,ק‬ ˳‫ב‬‫ךפ‬óèáé, to get, acquire (Gen_4:1), then so as to involve the
idea of êôé́æåéí (Gen_14:9), though without being identical with ‫א‬ ָ‫ר‬ ָ . It denotes here
the founding of Israel as a nation, by its deliverance out of the power of Pharaoh. The
verbs which follow (made and established) refer to the elevation and preparation of
the redeemed nation, as the nation of the Lord, by the conclusion of a covenant, the
giving of the law, and their guidance through the desert.
Deu_32:6-18
Expansion of the theme according to the thought expressed in Deu_32:5. The
perversity of the rebellious generation manifested itself in the fact, that it repaid the
Lord, to whom it owed existence and well-being, for all His benefits, with a foolish
apostasy from its Creator and Father. This thought is expressed in Deu_32:6, in a
reproachful question addressed to the people, and then supported in Deu_32:7-14 by
an enumeration of the benefits conferred by God, and in Deu_32:15-18 by a
description of the ingratitude of the people.
35

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.
BARNES, "
CLARKE, "
GILL, "
HENRY, "
JAMISON, "
CALVIN, "7Remember the days of old. This is an explanation of the preceding
verse, for Moses again shows how God had acquired this people, viz., because he
had chosen to separate them from other nations according to His own good
pleasure. But, since the Israelites might be inflated by their present superiority,
they are reminded of their origin, and Moses commands them not to consider
what they now are, but also from whence they had been taken, and with this
view he says, Remember the old times; ask the elders, etc. For we know how
men, when they do not reflect that whatever they have, proceeded from God, and
is held, as it were, at will, are blinded by their dignity, so as not only to despise
others, but also to exalt themselves against, the Author of all good things. Moses,
in order to subdue this arrogance, says that all peoples were alike under the
hand and power of God, and thus that their diversity was not in their original
nature, but derived from elsewhere, i.e., from God’s free choice. In the word
‫,בהנחל‬ behanchel, there is some ambiguity: for some translate it, When the Most
High divided the earth to the nations; and, though I do not reject this, still I have
preferred the meaning more in accordance with the context; (256) for Moses says
the same thing twice over, and the second clause is the explanation of the first.
He says, therefore, that God distributed the nations, as an inheritance is divided;
and then this is more clearly repeated, when he mentions the separation of the
sons of Adam. When, in the latter part of the verse, it is said, that He set bounds
to the nations according to the number of the children of Israel, it is commonly
explained that He set bounds to the nations in such sort, that the habitation of
the sons of Abraham was secured to them. Some of the Hebrews take it in a more
36

restricted sense, viz., that in the distribution of the world, so much was given to
the seven nations of Canaan as should be sufficient for the children of Israel. In
my opinion, however, his meaning is, that in the whole arrangement of the world,
the object which God had in view was to provide for His elect people: for,
although His bounty extended to all, still He had such regard for His own, that,
chiefly on their account, His care also extended to others. The word number is
expressly employed; as if Moses had said, that, however small a portion of the
human race the posterity, of Abraham might be, nevertheless that number was
before God’s eyes, when He ordered the state of the whole world; unless it be
preferred to take the word ‫,מספר‬ misphar, (257) for a ratio; but it will not be
unsuitable to the passage to understand it that this small body was so precious to
God, that he arranged the whole distribution of the world with a view to their
welfare. Some refer it to the calling of the Gentiles, as if Moses had said that the
empire of the whole world was destined to the seed of Abraham, because it was
to be propagated through all the regions of the world; but this is altogether
erroneous, for nothing is here indicated but the distinction, formerly conferred
upon one nation. (258)
COFFMAN, "THE LOW ESTATE OF ISRAEL AT FIRST (Deuteronomy
32:7-11)
"Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the children of men,
He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of
Israel.
For Jehovah's portion is his people;
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness:
He compassed him about, he cared for him,
He kept him as the apple of his eye.
37

As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,
That fluttereth over her young,
He spread abroad his wings, he took them,
He bare then on his pinions."
In the long history of Israel, God had nurtured and cared for Israel, finding
them in the most dire circumstances, that is, in Egyptian slavery, and threatened
with annihilation. God rescued them and developed them into a mighty people.
That is the theme of these verses.
"When the Most high gave to the nations ..." This passage is difficult to
understand; but there is N.T. light on it. If we understand the phrase,
"According to the number of the children of Israel," as a reference including the
members of the "New Israel" in Christ, as is surely indicated in Acts 17:26-27,
we have this apparent meaning: "From the very first, God has determined the
boundaries of nations in such a manner as to make it possible for them to know
God, `that they should seek God ... and find him.'" What is taught is that God
overrules in the affairs of nations in order that many men may believe and know
the truth.
"Most High.." This name for God is used only here in the Book of Deuteronomy,
but it is a term that belongs exclusively to the one true God of heaven and earth.
This was the God that Abraham worshipped when he paid tithes to Melchizedek,
and even the demons recognized Jesus Christ as the "Son of God Most High"
(Luke 8:28). The Most High, therefore, was not a pagan deity, nor a Gentile god,
but the true God!
Finding Israel in "the howling wilderness" is poetic language for the early
wretchedness of the whole people.
The tender manner in which the mother eagle looks after her young until they
are able to fly is here a figure of the manner in which God has looked after
Israel.
CONSTABLE, "Verses 7-14
The writer graphically described God's choice and care of Israel in these verses.
[Note: See David E. Stevens, "Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to 'Sons of God' or
'Sons of Israel'?" Bibliotheca Sacra 154:614 (April-June 1997):131-41, for a
discussion of this textual problem. He concluded that "sons of Israel" is the
preferred reading. Michael S. Heiser argued for "Sons of God" in
"Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God," Bibliotheca Sacra 158:629 (January-
March 2001):52-74. I prefer the "Sons of Israel" reading.] Of all the nations of
38

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