Deuteronomy 32:24
in Deuteronomy 32They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat And bitter destruction; And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
KJV
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 32
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThey shall be burnt with hunger,.... This is the arrow of famine, Eze 5:16; the force of which is such that it makes the skin black as if burnt, Lam 5:10; Onkelos paraphrases it,"inflated or swelled with famine,''which is a phrase Josephus (b) makes use of in describing the famine at the siege of Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
They shall be burnt with hunger
on Deuteronomy 32:24-25
The list runs through famine, fever, wild beasts and serpents, which is close to the covenant curse of Leviticus 26:22 and 26:25. Verse 25 names four ages in a single line, the young man, the virgin, the suckling and the man of gray hairs, so nobody stands outside the sentence. Lamentations 1:20 describes Jerusalem in the same two halves, the sword abroad and death at home.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A promise of the destruction of their enemies and oppressors at last, and the glorious deliverance of a remnant of Israel,
After many terrible threatenings of deserved wrath and vengeance, we have here surprising intimations of mercy, undeserved mercy, which rejoices against judgment, and by which it appears that God has no pleasure in the death of sinners, but would rather they should turn and live.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They shall be burnt with hunger - Their land shall be cursed, and famine shall prevail. This is one of the arrows. Burning heat - No showers to cool the atmosphere; or rather boils, blains, and pestilential fevers; this was a second. Bitter destruction - The plague; this was a third. Teeth of beasts - with the poison of serpents - The beast of the field should multiply upon and destroy them; this was a fourth: and poisonous serpents, infesting all their steps, and whose mortal bite should produce the utmost anguish, were to be a fifth arrow.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְזֵ֥י | mezei | [people] weakened of | H4198 → | |
| רָעָ֛ב | raav | famine | H7458 → | |
| וּלְחֻ֥מֵי | ulechumei | and [people] consumed of | H3898 → | 177 times |
| רֶ֖שֶׁף | reshef | plague | H7565 → | |
| וְקֶ֣טֶב | veketev | and destruction | H6986 → | |
| מְרִירִ֑י | meriri | bitter | H4815 → | |
| וְשֶׁן־ | veshen- | and tooth of | H8127 → | 55 times |
| בְּהֵמוֹת֙ | behemot | animals | H929 → | 190 times |
| אֲשַׁלַּח־ | ʾashalach- | I will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| בָּ֔ם | bam | on <the> them | ||
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| חֲמַ֖ת | chamat | [the] venom of | H2534 → | 125 times |
| זֹחֲלֵ֥י | zochalei | [things which] crawl of | H2119 → | |
| עָפָֽר׃ | ʾafar | [the] dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
מְזֵ֥י[people] weakened of
mezeiH4198 →
רָעָ֛בfamine
raavH7458 →
וּלְחֻ֥מֵיand [people] consumed of
ulechumeiH3898 →177 times
רֶ֖שֶׁףplague
reshefH7565 →
וְקֶ֣טֶבand destruction
veketevH6986 →
מְרִירִ֑יbitter
meririH4815 →
וְשֶׁן־and tooth of
veshen-H8127 →55 times
בְּהֵמוֹת֙animals
behemotH929 →190 times
אֲשַׁלַּח־I will send
ʾashalach-H7971 →845 times
בָּ֔םon <the> them
bam
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
חֲמַ֖ת[the] venom of
chamatH2534 →125 times
זֹחֲלֵ֥י[things which] crawl of
zochaleiH2119 →
עָפָֽר׃[the] dust
ʾafarH6083 →110 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 14:21For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:17
I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 33:27
Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 5:17
Through
Psalms 91:6nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the calamity that destroys at noon.
it leads to
- Psalms 121:5–6
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.
- Numbers 16:48
He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was halted.
- Matthew 24:6–7
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
- Exodus 12:29–30
Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon,…
- Psalms 121:5–6
Through
Leviticus 26:22I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 14:15
Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 14:15
Through
Ezekiel 5:17I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 38:22
I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
- Ezekiel 38:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.