Deuteronomy 32:27
in Deuteronomy 32if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should judge amiss, Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted, And Jehovah hath not done all this.
KJV
Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 32
Commentary
3 notes on this verseWere it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy - Houbigant and others contend that wrath here refers not to the enemy, but to God; and that the passage should be thus translated: “Indignation for the adversary deters me, lest their enemies should be alienated, and say, The strength of our hands, and not of the Lord’s, hath done this.” Had not God punished them in such a way as proved that his hand and not the hand of man had done it, the heathens would have boasted of their prowess, and Jehovah would have been blasphemed, as not being able to protect his worshippers, or to punish their infidelities.
This site's exposition
I said, I would scatter them into corners
on Deuteronomy 32:26-27
The judgment stops short, and the reason given is what the enemy would conclude, that their own hand was high and the Lord had not done any of it. Moses had used that argument in prayer at Exodus 32:12 and Numbers 14:13-16, and Ezekiel 20:9 and 20:14 have God give it as his own reason for holding back. Israel's survival is therefore grounded in the name of God rather than in anything Israel is at that point.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The wrath - Their rage against me, as it is expressed, Isaiah xxxvii, 28, 29, their furious reproaches against my name, as if I were cruel to my people or unable to deliver them. The fear hereof is ascribed to God after the manner of men.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לוּלֵ֗י | lulei | if not | H3884 → | |
| כַּ֤עַס | kaas | [the] provocation of | H3708 → | |
| אוֹיֵב֙ | ʾoyev | an enemy | H341 → | 282 times |
| אָג֔וּר | ʾagur | I was afraid | H1481 → | 97 times |
| פֶּֽן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יְנַכְּר֖וּ | yenakeru | they should misconstrue | H5234 → | 49 times |
| צָרֵ֑ימוֹ | tzareimov | opponents their | H6862 → | 109 times |
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יֹֽאמְרוּ֙ | yomeru | they should say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יָדֵ֣ינוּ | yadeinu | hands our | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| רָ֔מָה | ramah | it was raised | H7311 → | 190 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| פָּעַ֥ל | paal | he did | H6466 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זֹֽאת׃ | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
לוּלֵ֗יif not
luleiH3884 →
כַּ֤עַס[the] provocation of
kaasH3708 →
אוֹיֵב֙an enemy
ʾoyevH341 →282 times
אָג֔וּרI was afraid
ʾagurH1481 →97 times
פֶּֽן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יְנַכְּר֖וּthey should misconstrue
yenakeruH5234 →49 times
צָרֵ֑ימוֹopponents their
tzareimovH6862 →109 times
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יֹֽאמְרוּ֙they should say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
יָדֵ֣ינוּhands our
yadeinuH3027 →1618 times
רָ֔מָהit was raised
ramahH7311 →190 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
פָּעַ֥לhe did
paalH6466 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זֹֽאת׃this
zotH2063 →603 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
1 Samuel 12:22Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 14:2
for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the…
- Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- Psalms 106:8
Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.
- Deuteronomy 7:7–8
The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
- 1 Kings 6:13
And I will dwell among the Israelites and will not abandon My people Israel.”
- Deuteronomy 14:2
Through
Psalms 140:8Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah
it leads to
- Psalms 10:2–3
In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- Psalms 27:12
Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
- Psalms 10:2–3
Through
Exodus 32:12Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent…
it leads to
- Numbers 14:13–16
But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
- Numbers 14:13–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.