Deuteronomy 32:28

THE WAY IT WAS WITH ISRAEL (Deuteronomy 32:28-36)

"For they are a nation void of counsel,

And there is no understanding in them.

Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,

That they would consider their latter end!

How should one chase a thousand,

And two put ten thousand to flight,

Except their Rock had sold them,

And Jehovah had delivered them up?

For their rock is not as our Rock,

Even our enemies themselves being judges.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,

And of the fields of Gomorrah:

Their grapes are grapes of gall,

Their clusters are bitter:

Their wine is the poison of serpents,

And the cruel venom of asps.

Is not this laid up in store with me,

Sealed up among my treasures?

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.

For Jehovah will judge his people,

And repent himself for his servants;

When he seeth that their power is gone,

And there is no remaining, shut up or left at large."

It is a little difficult, here and there, in this passage to follow the meaning, due to the characteristic changes in person. "Their" in some passages refers to Israel, and in others to Israel's enemies. The question in Deuteronomy 32:30, as to how "one could chase a thousand" is actually the sequel to Deuteronomy 28:7,25, where the blessing in warfare becomes the exact description of the curse during Israel's apostasy. Earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses had promised that in warfare Israel would be mightily victorious. The question here is "how could such a situation be reversed" unless their Rock (God) had sold them"?

"Their vine (Israel's vine) is of Sodom ... and Gomorrah ..." This is a true prophecy of the complete degradation of Israel through their shameful debaucheries. Ezekiel 16 states categorically that Israel became worse than Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezekiel 16:46ff). Also see Isaiah 3:9, and Jeremiah 23:14. Some of the prophets also expanded the figure of the vine to include the charge that Israel's vine became a wild vine (Hosea 10:1; Jeremiah 2:21).

"Vengeance is mine, and recompense ..." (Deuteronomy 32:35). This is the verse allegedly quoted by the apostle Paul in Romans 12:19.[19] However, a comparison of the passages reveals a marked difference in what Paul said and what is written here. Our own conclusion is that the inspired Paul deliberately misquoted a passage which is true both ways, the way it appears here, and also as Paul wrote it. The author of Hebrews "misquoted it" in exactly the same way as Paul (Hebrews 10:30); and we are still waiting for someone to explain how anyone except Paul would have done that!