When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
- KJV And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
- NKJV “Andwhen the Lord saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
- NASB ¶“The Lord saw this, and spurned them Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
- NLT “The Lord saw this and drew back, provoked to anger by his own sons and daughters.
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
The LORD saw and rejected His people because of the provocation of His sons and daughters. It matters because God responds justly to the persistent rebellion of those He loves.
Overview
God's spurning is a grieved, righteous reaction to the provocation of His own children. The family language intensifies the pathos, for these are His sons and daughters who have rebelled. This sober portrayal of divine displeasure reveals the seriousness of sin even among God's people, and underscores the mercy by which He later restores them, ultimately through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 106:40So the anger of the LORD burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance.
- Isa 1:2Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Ps 5:4For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.
- Judg 2:14Then the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of those who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.
- Amos 3:2–3“Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
- Zech 11:8And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
- Ps 10:3For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
- Ps 82:6–7I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’
- Ps 78:59On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.
- Lev 26:11And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
- Rev 3:16So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!
- Jer 11:15What right has My beloved in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your doom, so that you can rejoice?
- Jer 44:21–23“As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind?
- Lam 2:6He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.
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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 32:19 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.