Deuteronomy 32:35
in Deuteronomy 32Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
KJV
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 32
Commentary
7 notes on this verseBut what better pattern can there be than that of Divine justice? For the Son of God says: "Love your enemies;" and again: "Pray for those that persecute you and speak against you." So far does He remove the desire of vengeance from the perfect that He commands charity towards those who injure them. And since He had said in the Old Testament: "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."
This site's exposition
Have I not stored up these things
on Deuteronomy 32:34-35
Romans 12:19 and Hebrews 10:30 both quote “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay”, following the Hebrew more closely than the Septuagint does here. Paul uses it to forbid private revenge, and Hebrews to warn a church.
This site's exposition
In due time their foot will slip
Calmet, cited by Adam Clarke, took the words their foot will slip as spoken against the Canaanites, while others apply them to Israel. John Gill notes that all three Targums read I will repay, the form Paul quotes. Ambrose joined Vengeance is Mine to the command to love enemies.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
A brother who was hurt by another brother went to the Theban Sisois and said, 'I want to get back at a brother who has hurt me.' The hermit begged him, 'Don't do that, my son, leave vengeance in the hands of God.' But he …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
To me belongeth vengeance and recompense,.... Or, I will repay, or recompence, as it is quoted in Rom 12:19; and so all the three Targums, the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, here, and so Jarchi interprets it.
At hand - Hebrew. is near. So the scripture often speaks of those things which are at many hundred years distance, to signify, that though they may be afar off as to our measures of time, yet in God's account they are near, they are as near as may be, when the measure of their sins is once full, the judgment shall not be deferred.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Their foot shall slide in due time, etc. - But Calmet thinks that this verse is spoken against the Canaanites, the enemies of the Jewish people.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִ֤י | li | [belong] to <the> me | ||
| נָקָם֙ | nakam | vengeance | H5359 → | 17 times |
| וְשִׁלֵּ֔ם | veshilem | and retribution | H8005 → | |
| לְעֵ֖ת | leet | to a time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| תָּמ֣וּט | tamut | [when] it will slip | H4131 → | |
| רַגְלָ֑ם | raglam | foot their | H7272 → | 247 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קָרוֹב֙ | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֵידָ֔ם | ʾeidam | disaster their | H343 → | |
| וְחָ֖שׁ | vechash | and it will make haste | H2363 → | |
| עֲתִדֹ֥ת | ʾatidot | impending [things] | H6264 → | |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | lamo | to <the> them |
לִ֤י[belong] to <the> me
li
נָקָם֙vengeance
nakamH5359 →17 times
וְשִׁלֵּ֔םand retribution
veshilemH8005 →
לְעֵ֖תto a time
leetH6256 →296 times
תָּמ֣וּט[when] it will slip
tamutH4131 →
רַגְלָ֑םfoot their
raglamH7272 →247 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
קָרוֹב֙[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
י֣וֹם[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
אֵידָ֔םdisaster their
ʾeidamH343 →
וְחָ֖שׁand it will make haste
vechashH2363 →
עֲתִדֹ֥תimpending [things]
ʾatidotH6264 →
לָֽמוֹ׃to <the> them
lamo
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
Romans 12:19Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:30
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
- Proverbs 24:29
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”
- Proverbs 20:22
Do not say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and He will save you.
- Romans 12:17
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:6
and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.
- Hebrews 10:30
Through
Hebrews 10:30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:35–36
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- Romans 12:19
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Nahum 1:2
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.
- Deuteronomy 32:35–36
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Judgment35 verses
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Studies17
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About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Epistle 63, Section 84; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.