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Deuteronomy 32:19

¶“The Lord saw this, and spurned them Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
Deuteronomy 32:19 · New American Standard Bible
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.
  • BSB When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
  • NKJV “Andwhen the Lord saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His 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 106:40Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance.
  • Isa 1:2Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
  • Ps 5:4For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you.
  • Judg 2:14Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.
  • Amos 3:2–3“I have only chosen you of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”
  • Zech 11:8I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me.
  • Ps 10:3For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy, and condemns Yahweh.
  • Ps 82:6–7I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.
  • Ps 78:59When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel;
  • Lev 26:11I will set my tent among you, and my soul won’t abhor you.
  • Rev 3:16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.
  • Jer 11:15What has my beloved to do in my house, since she has worked lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from you? When you do evil, then you rejoice.”
  • Jer 44:21–23“The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn’t Yahweh remember them, and didn’t it come into his mind?
  • Lam 2:6He has violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he has destroyed his place of assembly: Yahweh has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, Has despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 32:19YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 32:19 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.