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Green's Literal Translation

Deuteronomy 32:14

butter from cows, and milk from the flock, with fat from lambs, and rams of the sons of Bashan, and he goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat, and of the blood of the grape you shall drink wine.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bashan;   Blessing;   Butter;   Death;   Food;   Goat;   Instruction;   Kidney;   Milk;   Psalms;   Sheep;   Thompson Chain Reference - Animals;   Butter;   Food;   Food, Physical-Spiritual;   Milk;   Sheep;   Victuals;   Wheat;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Diet of the Jews, the;   Goat, the;   Lamb, the;   Milk;   Sheep;   Vine, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Bashan;   Milk;   Wine;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Bashan;   Farming;   Food;   Palestine;   Trachonitis;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Offerings and Sacrifices;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Butter;   Food;   Goat;   Milk;   Wheat;   Wine;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Fat;   Milk;   Wine;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Animals;   Bashan;   Cattle;   Curds;   Flour;   Hymn;   Kidney;   Milk;   Pentateuch;   Poetry;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Bashan;   Children (Sons) of God;   Deuteronomy;   Food;   Kidneys;   Milk;   Poetry;   Sheep;   Targums;   Wheat;   Wine and Strong Drink;   Zin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hymn;   Sheep, Shepherd;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Butter;   Hymns;   1910 New Catholic Dictionary - canticle;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Rock;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Bashan;   Butter;   Deuteronomy;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Blood;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Other Laws;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Breed;   Fine;   Food;   Kidneys;   Kine;   Lamb;   Milk;   Ram (2);   Sheep;   Vine;   Wine;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Bashan;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Alliteration and Kindred Figures;   Bashan;   Fat;   Flour;   Food;   Hafṭarah;   ḥayyim ben Zebulon Jacob Perlmutter;   Milk;   Plants;   Poetry;   Scroll of the Law;   Sheep;   Sidra;   Song of Moses;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 21;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,With the finest of the wheat—And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat— And of the blood of grapes you drank wine.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
With butter of kine, and mylke of the sheepe, with fat of the lambes, and fat of rammes and hee goates, with the fat of the most plenteous wheate, and that thou myghtest drynke the most pure blood of the grape.
Easy-to-Read Version
He gave his people butter from the herd and milk from the flock. He gave them lambs and goats. They had the best rams from Bashan and the finest wheat. They drank the best wine made from the juice of red grapes.
Revised Standard Version
Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs and rams, herds of Bashan and goats, with the finest of the wheat--and of the blood of the grape you drank wine.
World English Bible
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, Rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; Of the blood of the grape you drank wine.
King James Version (1611)
Butter of kine, & milke of sheepe, with fat of lambes, and rammes of the breed of Bashan, & goats, with the fat of kidneis of wheat, and thou diddest drinke the pure blood of the grape.
King James Version
Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Butter of the kyne, and mylke of the shepe, with the fat of the lambes, and rammes of the sonnes of Basan, and he goates with the fat of the kydneys, and wheate: And gaue him drynke of the very bloude of grapes.
American Standard Version
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
Bible in Basic English
Butter from his cows and milk from his sheep, with fat of lambs and sheep of Bashan, and goats, and the heart of the grain; and for your drink, wine from the blood of the grape.
Update Bible Version
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; And of the blood of the grape you drank wine.
Webster's Bible Translation
Butter of cows, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.
New English Translation
butter from the herd and milk from the flock, along with the fat of lambs, rams and goats of Bashan, along with the best of the kernels of wheat; and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
New King James Version
Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.
Contemporary English Version
Your flocks and herds produced milk and yogurt, and you got choice meat from your sheep and goats that grazed in Bashan. Your wheat was the finest, and you drank the best wine.
Complete Jewish Bible
curds from the cows and milk from the sheep, with lamb fat, rams from Bashan and goats, with the finest wheat flour; and you drank sparkling wine from the blood of grapes.
Darby Translation
Cream of kine, and milk of sheep, With the fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And thou didst drink pure wine, the blood of the grape.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Butter of kine, and milke of sheepe with fat of the lambes, and rammes fed in Bashan, and goates, with the fat of the graines of wheat, and the red licour of the grape hast thou drunke.
George Lamsa Translation
And gave him butter of cows and milk of sheep, with fat of fatlings and rams of the breed of rock-goats and goats, with the fat and the best wheat; and he gave him wine to drink, and of the juices of grapes.
Good News Translation
Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk; they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle, the finest wheat, and the choicest wine.
Amplified Bible
Butter and curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of grapes.
Hebrew Names Version
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, Rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the finest of the wheat; Of the blood of the grape you drank wine.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Curd of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and he-goats, with the kidney-fat of wheat; and of the blood of the grape thou drankest foaming wine.
New Living Translation
He fed them yogurt from the herd and milk from the flock, together with the fat of lambs. He gave them choice rams from Bashan, and goats, together with the choicest wheat. You drank the finest wine, made from the juice of grapes.
New Life Bible
milk from cows and milk from the flock, the fat of lambs, rams of Bashan, goats, and the best of the grain. And you drank wine of the blood of grapes.
New Revised Standard
curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs and rams; Bashan bulls and goats, together with the choicest wheat— you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Butter of cows, and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams, of calves and kids, with fat of kidneys of wheat; and he drank wine, the blood of the grape.
English Revised Version
Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, With fat of lambs, And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the fat of kidneys of wheat; And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
Berean Standard Bible
with curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat. From the juice of the finest grapes you drank the wine.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Curds of kine and milk of sheep, - With fat of well-fed lambs, Yea rams bred in Bashan, and he-goats, With the white of the kernels of wheat, - And, the blood of the grape, thou didst drink as it foamed.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep with the fat of lambs, and of the rams of the breed of Basan: and goats with the marrow of wheat, and might drink the purest blood of the grape.
Lexham English Bible
With curds from the herd, and with milk from the flock, with the fat of young rams, and rams, the offspring of Bashan, and with goats along with the finest kernels of wheat, and from the blood of grapes you drank fermented wine.
English Standard Version
Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.
New American Standard Bible
Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats, With the best of the wheat; And you drank wine of the blood of grapes.
New Century Version
There were milk curds from the cows and milk from the flock; there were fat sheep and goats. There were sheep and goats from Bashan and the best of the wheat. You drank the juice of grapes.
Christian Standard Bible®
cream from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat; you drank wine from the finest grapes.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
botere of the droue, and mylke of scheep, with the fatnesse of lambren and of rammes, of the sones of Basan; and that he schulde ete kydis with the merowe of wheete, and schulde drynke the cleereste blood of grape.
Young's Literal Translation
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, and rams, sons of Bashan, And he-goats, with fat of kidneys of wheat; And of the blood of the grape thou dost drink wine!

Contextual Overview

7 Remember the ancient days, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will declare to you, your elders, and they shall say to you; 8 when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance; when He separated the sons of Adam, He set up the bounds of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of Israel. 9 For Jehovah's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, a howling wilderness. He encircled him and cared for him; He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. 11 As the eagle stirs up its nest; it hovers over its young; it spreads out its wings and takes it, and bears it on its wing. 12 Jehovah alone led him, and there was no strange god with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, so that he might eat the increase of the fields. And He made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 14 butter from cows, and milk from the flock, with fat from lambs, and rams of the sons of Bashan, and he goats, with the fat of the kidneys of wheat, and of the blood of the grape you shall drink wine.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Butter: Genesis 18:8, Judges 5:25, 2 Samuel 17:29, Job 20:17, Isaiah 7:15, Isaiah 7:22

of Bashan: Psalms 22:12, Ezekiel 39:18, Amos 4:1, Micah 7:14

the fat: Psalms 81:16, Psalms 147:14

blood: Genesis 49:11, Matthew 26:28, Matthew 26:29, John 6:55, John 6:56

Reciprocal: Genesis 41:5 - rank Genesis 45:18 - the fat Leviticus 3:17 - eat neither Numbers 21:33 - Bashan Deuteronomy 8:8 - wheat 2 Kings 4:42 - of barley 2 Kings 18:32 - like your own Isaiah 34:5 - my sword Isaiah 34:6 - the fat Ezekiel 16:13 - thou didst Ezekiel 16:19 - meat Ezekiel 20:6 - flowing Ezekiel 27:17 - wheat Ezekiel 39:26 - when they John 6:9 - barley

Cross-References

Genesis 30:43
And the man increased very much, and many flocks were his, and slave-girls, and male slaves, and camels and asses.
Genesis 31:9
And God has taken away the livestock of your father and has given to me.
Genesis 31:16
For all the wealth which God has taken from our father, it is for us and for our sons. And now all that which God has said to you, do.
Deuteronomy 8:18
But you shall remember Jehovah your God, for it is He who gives to you power to get wealth; that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
1 Samuel 25:2
And a certain man was in Maon, and his work was in Carmel. And the man was very great, and there were three thousand sheep and a thousand goats to him. And he was shearing his flock in Carmel.
Job 1:3
And his possessions were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household, so that this man was greater than all the sons of the east.
Job 42:12
And Jehovah blessed the latter days of Job more than the earlier days . And to him were fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Butter of kine,.... Made of milk, which kine or cows give; Jarchi says, this is the fat that is gathered on the top of milk, he means cream, and which indeed was the butter of the ancients, and is here meant:

and milk of sheep: which they give, though not in such plenty as the kine, yet what is very wholesome and nourishing: the philosopher b observes, that sheep give more milk in proportion to the size of their bodies than cows: and Pliny c says their milk is sweeter and more nourishing, and the butter made of it is the fattest:

with fat of lambs; or fat lambs, rich and delicious food:

and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats; a fruitful country abounding with pasturage, where rams and goats of the best sort were and the breed of them was coveted and had in the land of Canaan; the kine of Bashan are mentioned elsewhere, Psalms 22:12;

with the fat of kidneys of wheat: that is, the best wheat, the grains are plump and full; and Aben Ezra observes, that a grain of wheat has some likeness to a kidney, see Psalms 81:16;

and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape; wine which comes from the grape, red wine, pure and unmixed, see Genesis 40:11; the land of Canaan was a land of vines, and abounded with good wine, Deuteronomy 8:8; which the Israelites, when they came into it, drank of in common, who had only drank water in the wilderness, and had but little flesh, and lived on manna, and now abounded with plenty of all good things; all which are observed as instances of divine goodness, and to aggravate their ingratitude in rejecting the Messiah, they then enjoying all these good things, the land being alike fertile and affluent then, as appears from Isaiah 7:14; Jarchi applies this fruitfulness to the times of Solomon, as the butter of kine, and the kidneys of wheat, 1 Kings 4:22; and fat of lambs, and the blood of the grape, to the times of the ten tribes, Amos 6:4; but this was the constant fertility of the land, and lasted to the times of the Messiah: now all these may be expressive of the blessings of grace, and the spiritual food of the Gospel: Ainsworth very prettily remarks, that here is both food for babes and for grown persons, butter and milk for the one, and meat for the other, and drink for them both: the plain truths of the Gospel are like butter, soft and easy to be taken in, and like milk, easy of digestion, cooling, nourishing, sweet, and pleasant; the more sublime truths of the Gospel are meat for strong men, signified by the flesh of fat lambs, rams, and goats; which all being used in sacrifices were typical of Christ; as also the finest of wheat is an emblem of him the bread of life, on whom the weakest believer lives by faith; and the drink for both, the wine the blood of the grape, may signify the love of Christ, the Gospel and the truths of it, and the blessings of grace, which come through the everlasting covenant.

b Aristot. Problem. sect. 10. qu. 6. c Nat. Hist. l. 28. c. 9.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Song of Moses

If Deuteronomy 32:1-3 be regarded as the introduction, and Deuteronomy 32:43 as the conclusion, the main contents of the song may be grouped under three heads, namely,

(1) Deuteronomy 32:4-18, the faithfulness of God, the faithlessness of Israel;

(2) Deuteronomy 32:19-33, the chastisement and the need of its infliction by God;

(3) Deuteronomy 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 Psalms 90:0: “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. Deuteronomy 28:15; Leviticus 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.

Deuteronomy 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.

Deuteronomy 32:4

He is the Rock, his work is perfect - Rather, the Rock, perfect is his work. This epithet, repeated no less than five times in the Song Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:18, Deuteronomy 32:30-31, represents those attributes of God which Moses is seeking to enforce, immutability and impregnable strength. Compare the expression “the stone of Israel” in Genesis 49:24; and see 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalms 18:2; Matthew 16:18; John 1:42. Zur, the original of “Rock,” enters frequently into the composition of proper names of the Mosaic time, e. g., Numbers 1:5-6, Numbers 1:10; Numbers 2:12; Numbers 3:35, etc. Our translators have elsewhere rendered it according to the sense “everlasting strength” Isaiah 26:4, “the Mighty One” Isaiah 30:29; in this chapter they have rightly adhered to the letter throughout.

Deuteronomy 32:5

Render: “It” (i. e. “the perverse and crooked generation”) “hath corrupted itself before Him (compare Isaiah 1:4); they are not His children, but their blemish:” i. e., the generation of evil-doers cannot be styled God’s children, but rather the shame and disgrace of God’s children. The other side of the picture is thus brought forward with a brevity and abruptness which strikingly enforces the contrast.

Deuteronomy 32:6

Hath bought thee - Rather perhaps, “hath acquired thee for His own,” or “possessed thee:” compare the expression “a peculiar people,” margin “a purchased people,” in 1 Peter 2:9.

Deuteronomy 32:8

That is, while nations were being constituted under God’s providence, and the bounds of their habitation determined under His government (compare Acts 17:26), He had even then in view the interests of His elect, and reserved a fitting inheritance “according to the number of the children of Israel;” i. e., proportionate to the wants of their population. Some texts of the Greek version have “according to the number of the Angels of God;” following apparently not a different reading, but the Jewish notion that the nations of the earth are seventy in number (compare Genesis 10:1 note), and that each has its own guardian Angel (compare Ecclus. 17:17). This was possibly suggested by an apprehension that the literal rendering might prove invidious to the many Gentiles who would read the Greek version.

Deuteronomy 32:9-14

These verses set forth in figurative language the helpless and hopeless state of the nation when God took pity on it, and the love and care which He bestowed on it.

Deuteronomy 32:10

In the waste howling wilderness - literally, “in a waste, the howling of a wilderness,” i. e., a wilderness in which wild beasts howl. The word for “waste” is that used in Genesis 1:2, and there rendered “without form.”

Deuteronomy 32:11

Compare Exodus 19:4. The “so,” which the King James Version supplies in the next verse, should he inserted before “spreadeth,” and omitted from Deuteronomy 32:12. The sense is, “so He spread out His wings, took them up,” etc.

Deuteronomy 32:12

With him - i. e., with God. The Lord alone delivered Israel; Israel therefore ought to have served none other but Him.

Deuteronomy 32:13

i. e., God gave Israel possession of those commanding positions which carry with them dominion over the whole land (compare Deuteronomy 33:29), and enabled him to draw the richest provision out of spots naturally unproductive.

Deuteronomy 32:14

Breed of Bashan - Bashan was famous for its cattle. Compare Psalms 22:12; Ezekiel 39:18.

Fat of kidneys of wheat - i. e., the finest and most nutritious wheat. The fat of the kidneys was regarded as being the finest and tenderest, and was therefore specified as a part of the sacrificial animals which was to be offered to the Lord: compare Exodus 29:13, etc.

The pure blood of the qrape - Render, the blood of the grape, even wine. The Hebrew word seems (compare Isaiah 27:2) a poetical term for wine.

Deuteronomy 32:15

Jesbarun - This word, found again only in Deuteronomy 33:5, Deuteronomy 33:26, and Isaiah 44:2, is not a diminutive but an appellative (containing an allusion to the root, “to be righteous”); and describes not the character which belonged to Israel in fact, but that to which Israel was called. Compare Numbers 23:21. The prefixing of this epithet to the description of Israel’s apostasy contained in the words next following is full of keen reproof.

Deuteronomy 32:16

They provoked him to jealousy - The language is borrowed from the matrimonial relationship, as in Deuteronomy 31:16.

Deuteronomy 32:17

Devils - Render, destroyers. The application of the word to the false gods points to the trait so deeply graven in all pagan worship, that of regarding the deities as malignant, and needing to be propitiated by human sufferings.

Not to God - Rather, “not God,” i. e., which were not God; see the margin and Deuteronomy 32:21. Compare Deuteronomy 13:7; Deuteronomy 29:25.

Deuteronomy 32:19

The anger of God at the apostasy of His people is stated in general terms in this verse; and the results of it are described, in words as of God Himself, in the next and following verses. These results consisted negatively in the withdrawal of God’s favor Deuteronomy 32:20, and positively in the infliction of a righteous retribution.

Daughters - The women had their full share in the sins of the people. Compare Isaiah 3:16 ff; Isaiah 32:9 ff; Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:15 ff.

Deuteronomy 32:20

I will see what their end shall be - Compare the similar expression in Genesis 37:20.

Deuteronomy 32:21

God would mete out to them the same measure as they had done to Him. Through chosen by the one God to be His own, they had preferred idols, which were no gods. So therefore would He prefer to His people that which was no people. As they had angered Him with their vanities, so would He provoke them by adopting in their stead those whom they counted as nothing. The terms, “not a people,” and “a foolish nation,” mean such a people as, not being God’s, would not be accounted a people at all (compare Ephesians 2:12; 1 Peter 2:10), and such a nation as is destitute of that which alone can make a really “wise and understanding people” Deuteronomy 4:6, namely, the knowledge of the revealed word and will of God (compare 1 Corinthians 1:18-28).

Deuteronomy 32:24

Burning heat - i. e., the fear of a pestilential disease. On the “four sore judgments,” famine, plague, noisome beasts, the sword, compare Leviticus 26:22; Jeremiah 15:2; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:21.

Deuteronomy 32:26, Deuteronomy 32:27

Rather, I would utterly disperse them, etc., were it not that I apprehended the provocation of the enemy, i. e., that I should be provoked to wrath when the enemy ascribed the overthrow of Israel to his own prowess and not to my judgments. Compare Deuteronomy 9:28-29; Ezekiel 20:9, Ezekiel 20:14, Ezekiel 20:22.

Behave themselves strangely - Rather, misunderstand it, i. e., mistake the cause of Israel’s ruin.

Deuteronomy 32:30

The defeat of Israel would be due to the fact that God, their strength, had abandoned them because of their apostasy.

Deuteronomy 32:31

Our enemies - i. e., the enemies of Moses and the faithful Israelites; the pagan, more especially those with whom Israel was brought into collision, whom Israel was commissioned to “chase,” but to whom, as a punishment for faithlessness, Israel was “sold,” Deuteronomy 32:30. Moses leaves the decision, whether “their rock” (i. e. the false gods of the pagan to which the apostate Israelites had fallen away) or “our Rock” is superior, to be determined by the unbelievers themselves. For example, see Exodus 14:25; Numbers 23:0; Numbers 24:0; Joshua 2:9 ff; 1 Samuel 4:8; 1 Samuel 5:7 ff; 1 Kings 20:28. That the pagan should thus be constrained to bear witness to the supremacy of Israel’s God heightened the folly of Israel’s apostasy.

Deuteronomy 32:32

Their vine - i. e., the nature and character of Israel: compare for similar expressions Psalms 80:8, Psalms 80:14; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1.

Sodom ... Gomorrah - Here, as elsewhere, and often in the prophets, emblems of utter depravity: compare Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 23:14,

Gall - Compare Deuteronomy 29:18 note.

Deuteronomy 32:35

Rather: “Vengeance is mine and recompence, at the time when their foot slideth.

Deuteronomy 32:36

Repent himself for - Rather, have compassion upon. The verse declares that God’s judgment of His people would issue at once in the punishment of the wicked, and in the comfort of the righteous.

None shut up, or left - A proverbial phrase (compare 1 Kings 14:10) meaning perhaps “married and single,” or “guarded and forsaken,” but signifying generally “all men of all sorts.”

Deuteronomy 32:40-42

Render: For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, As I live forever, if I whet, etc. On Deuteronomy 32:40, in which God is described as swearing by Himself, compare Isaiah 45:23; Jeremiah 22:5; Hebrews 6:17. The lifting up of the hand was a gesture used in making oath (compare Genesis 14:22; Revelation 10:5).

Deuteronomy 32:42

From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy - Render, (drunk with blood) from the head (i. e. the chief) of the princes of the enemy.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 32:14. Fat of kidneys of wheat — Almost every person knows that the kidney is enveloped in a coat of the purest fat in the body of the animal, for which several anatomical reasons might be given. As the kidney itself is to the abundantly surrounding fat, so is the germ of the grain to the lobes or farinaceous parts. The expression here may be considered as a very strong and peculiarly happy figure to point out the finest wheat, containing the healthiest and most vigorous germ, growing in a very large and nutritive grain; and consequently the whole figure points out to us a species of wheat, equally excellent both for seed and bread. This beautiful metaphor seems to have escaped the notice of every commentator.

Pure blood of the grape. — Red wine, or the pure juice of whatever colour, expressed from the grapes, without any adulteration or mixture with water: blood here is synonymous with juice. This intimates that their vines should be of the best kind, and their wine in abundance, and of the most delicious flavour.


 
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