Deuteronomy 32:26-27ab, 27cd-28, 30, 35cd-36ab
Chapter 32
26
I said I would scatter them afar
and blot out their memory among humankind,
27
but I feared the enemy’s boasting, lest the adversary misunderstand
and say, ‘We have triumphed,
the Lord has not brought this about.’
28
They are a senseless and undiscerning nation.
Had they wisdom, they would have known
30
For how one or two men could put to flight
a thousand or ten thousand,
unless their Rock had abandoned them,
unless their Lord had given them up?
35
Vengeance and recompense are mine.
Their feet will slip in due time,
their day of calamity is at hand,
and swiftly, their doom will come.
36
The Lord will give justice to his people
and have mercy on his servants,
when he sees their strength failing
and both slave and free are disappearing.
Commentaries
Canticle of Moses.
This song resembles a “judicial process,” a literary style often used in prophetic writing: calling witnesses (1-4); explaining guilt (5f); trial (7-14); accusation (15-18); sentencing (19-25). The entire song contains wisdom elements (1f.6f.19f.28f) and may include a later addition from the postexilic period (38f), reflecting Jewish theological development: it discusses an absolute or theoretical monotheism: “there is no other besides me” (39; cf. Is 43:11,13; 45:5f.18,21f; 48:12, etc.).
From a theological perspective, verses 7-14 highlight God’s care and compassion in creating and nurturing his people, which Moses uses to help Israel understand the character of their God. However, Israel neither fully comprehends nor openly recognizes this; they have sought independence and turned to other gods that proved to be false (15-18). As a result, God abandons them to the forces they trusted. Soon, the shame and power of their enemies threaten to wipe them out (20:26). The only thing capable of saving Israel is God’s love, which confounds the hostility of the prideful (27-35, 37-42) and restores his people, rejoicing over them once again (36-43).