Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth.
- BSB You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- NKJV Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you.
- NASB “You forgot the Rock who fathered you, And forgot the God who gave you birth.
- NLT You neglected the Rock who had fathered you; you forgot the God who had given you birth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel was unmindful of the Rock who fathered them, forgetting the God who gave them birth. It matters because it names the root of their sin as forgetting their Maker and Redeemer.
Overview
The tender images of God as Rock and birth-giving father heighten the offense of Israel's forgetfulness. To forget God is to lose sight of one's very origin and security. This warning against spiritual amnesia calls believers to remember and treasure their Maker, who has now revealed Himself most fully in Christ, the Rock of salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 17:10Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
- Jer 2:32Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
- Deut 32:4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
- Ps 106:21They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
- Deut 8:11Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
- Deut 8:14Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
- Isa 22:10–11And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
- Hos 8:14For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
- Ps 44:20–22If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
- Ps 9:17The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
- Deut 32:15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
- Deut 8:19And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
- Deut 6:12Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
- Jer 3:21A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 32:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.