Deuteronomy 32:7-14

The writer graphically described God’s choice and care of Israel in these verses. [Note: See David E. Stevens, "Does Deuteronomy 32:8 Refer to ’Sons of God’ or ’Sons of Israel’?" Bibliotheca Sacra 154:614 (April-June 1997):131-41, for a discussion of this textual problem. He concluded that "sons of Israel" is the preferred reading. Michael S. Heiser argued for "Sons of God" in "Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God," Bibliotheca Sacra 158:629 (January-March 2001):52-74. I prefer the "Sons of Israel" reading.] Of all the nations of the earth Israel had experienced the greatest blessing. This is the last of 16 times Moses challenged the Israelites to remember in Deuteronomy, beginning in Deuteronomy 4:10. The desert place where Yahweh found Israel was Egypt (Deuteronomy 32:10). The pupil of the eye (lit. the little man of the eye, Deuteronomy 32:10) is the part a person protects most carefully (cf. Psalms 17:8; Proverbs 7:2). The "apple of the eye" is an English idiom meaning anything that one holds very dear or cherishes greatly.