Deuteronomy 32:8
in Deuteronomy 32When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 32
Commentary
11 notes on this verse[Daniel 7:2-3] "And during the night I saw in my vision, and behold, the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea, and four great beasts were coming up out of the sea, differing from one another." The four winds of heaven I suppose to have been angelic powers to whom the principalities have been committed, in accordance with what we read in Deuteronomy: "When the Most High divided the nations and when He separated the children of Adam, He established the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels.
This site's exposition
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance
on Deuteronomy 32:8-9
The King James follows the Masoretic text, the number of the children of Israel. The Septuagint, other Greek witnesses and a Qumran scroll support the reading the Berean follows, “the number of the sons of God”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
[Daniel 10:13] "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days." In my opinion this was the angel to whose charge Persia was committed, in accordance with what we read in Deuteronomy: "When the Most High divided the nations and distributed the children of Adam abroad, then He established the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God" (Deuteronomy 32:8). These are the princes of whom Paul also says: "We speak forth among the perfect a wisdom which none of the princes of this world knew. For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory" (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). And so the prince or angel of the Persians offered resistance, acting on behalf of the province entrusted to him, in order that the entire captive nation might not be released. And it may well be that although the prophet was graciously heard by God from the day when he set his heart to understand, the angel was nevertheless not sent to proclaim to him God's gracious decision, for the reason that the prince of Persia opposed him for twenty-one days, enumerating the sins of the Jewish people as a ground for their justly being kept in captivity and as proof that they ought not to be released. "And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to my assistance." That is, while the angel of the Persians was resisting thy petitions and my representations on thy behalf as I presented thy prayers to God, then there came to my assistance the angel Michael, who has oversight of the people of Israel. By chief princes we are of course to understand archangels. "And I remained there close by the king of the Persians." He designates the angel or prince by the term "king of the Persians," and shows that he had tarried with Michael for a little as he spoke in opposition to the prince of the Persians.
They say however that, until men become equal in number to the angels, the consummation of the world will not take place. For Moses says: He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.
This is he who bestows on the Greeks also their philosophy through the inferior angels. For by an ancient and divine ordinance angels are assigned to the different nations. But to be the Lord's portion is the glory of believers.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But what does it profit us to touch briefly upon these matters concerning the angelic spirits, if we do not strive to apply them also to our own advancement through suitable reflection? For since that heavenly city consists of angels and men, to which we believe the human race ascends in such number as equals the elect angels who remained there, as it is written: "He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God," we too ought to draw something from those distinctions of the heavenly citizens for the use of our own way of life, and inflame ourselves with good pursuits toward growth in virtues.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Their inheritance - When God by his providence allotted the several parts of the world to several people, which was done Gen. x, 1-32 Gen. xi, 1-9. When he separated - Divided them in their languages and habitations according to their families.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,....
A prediction of the wasting destroying judgments which God would bring upon them for their sins, in which God is here justified by the many aggravations of their impieties,
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning to the end ( Acts xv. 18 ), but they are not so to us, Eccl. iii. (3.) The great God, in governing the world, and ordering the affairs of states and kingdoms, has a special regard to his church and people, and consults their good in all.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
When the Most High divided to the nations, etc. - Deu 32:8 and Deu 32:9, says Dr. Kennicott, give us express authority for believing that the earth was very early divided in consequence of a Divine command, and probably by lot, (see Act 17:26); and as Africa is called the land of Ham, (Psa 78:51; Psa 105:23, Psa 105:27; Psa 106:22), probably that country fell to him and to his descendants, at the same time that Europe fell to Japheth, and Asia to Shem, with a particular reserve of Palestine to be the Lord’s portion, for some one peculiar people.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּהַנְחֵ֤ל | behanchel | when gave inheritances to | H5157 → | 59 times |
| עֶלְיוֹן֙ | ʾelyon | [the] Most High | H5945 → | 53 times |
| גּוֹיִ֔ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| בְּהַפְרִיד֖וֹ | behafrido | when separated he | H6504 → | |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֑ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| יַצֵּב֙ | yatzev | he fixed | H5324 → | |
| גְּבֻלֹ֣ת | gevulot | boundaries of | H1367 → | |
| עַמִּ֔ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְמִסְפַּ֖ר | lemispar | to [the] number of | H4557 → | 134 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
בְּהַנְחֵ֤לwhen gave inheritances to
behanchelH5157 →59 times
עֶלְיוֹן֙[the] Most High
ʾelyonH5945 →53 times
גּוֹיִ֔םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
בְּהַפְרִיד֖וֹwhen separated he
behafridoH6504 →
בְּנֵ֣י[the] children of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֑םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
יַצֵּב֙he fixed
yatzevH5324 →
גְּבֻלֹ֣תboundaries of
gevulotH1367 →
עַמִּ֔יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
לְמִסְפַּ֖רto [the] number of
lemisparH4557 →134 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
Acts 17:26From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:7–8
Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
- Genesis 3:20
And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.
- Malachi 2:10
Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?
- Romans 5:12–19
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
- Deuteronomy 32:7–8
Through
Psalms 115:16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.
it leads to
- Psalms 8:6
You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet:
- Psalms 89:11
The heavens are Yours, and also the earth. The earth and its fullness You founded.
- Genesis 1:28–30
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
- Jeremiah 27:5–6
By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- Psalms 8:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 7; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 34; Jerome, Commentary on Daniel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm.