Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 32:39-43
This conclusion of the song speaks three things:
I. Glory to God, Deu 32:39. "See now upon the whole matter, that I, even I, am he. Learn this from the destruction of idolaters, and the inability of their idols to help them." The great God here demands the glory, 1. Of a self-existence: I, even I, am he. Thus Moses concludes with that name of God by which he was first made to know him (Exo 3:14), "I am that I am. I am he that I have been, that I will be, that I have promised to be, that I have threatened to be; all shall find me true to my word." The Targum of Uzzielides paraphrases it thus: When the Word of the Lord shall reveal himself to redeem his people, he shall say to all people, See…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 32:32
vine of Sodom . . . grapes of gall--This fruit, which the Arabs call "Lot's Sea Orange," is of a bright yellow color and grows in clusters of three or four. When mellow, it is tempting in appearance, but on being struck, explodes like a puffball, consisting of skin and fiber only.
John Gill on Deuteronomy 32:40
For I lift up my hand to heaven,.... Which is a gesture used in swearing, Genesis 14:22, and is ascribed to a divine Person, Ezekiel 20:5; and particularly to Christ the angel, that is so wonderfully described, Revelation 10:1; though sometimes it is used, as Aben Ezra observes, to excite the attention of hearers, but here it signifies swearing; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,"I have lift up my hands with an oath to heaven;''and to the same sense is the Septuagint version:
and say, I live for ever; which is the form of an oath; when men swear, they are to swear, the Lord liveth, or to swear by the living God, and him only, Jeremiah 4:2; and when the Lord swears i…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Deuteronomy 32:1-43
Deuteronomy 32:1-52
1. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
1. Auseultate coeli, et loquar, et audiat terra eloquia oris mei.
2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
2. Stillabit, ut pluvia, doctrina mea: stillabit ut ros eloquium meum, ut pluviae gramen, et ut irabet super herbam.
3. Because I will publish the name of the Lord; ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
3. Quia nomen Jehovae invocabo: date magnitudinem Deo nostro.
4. He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity…
