I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
Parallel translations
- WEB I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
- BSB I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
- NKJV I would have said, “I will dash them in pieces, I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,”
- NASB ‘I would have said, “I will wipe them out, I will remove the mention of their name from humanity,”
- NLT I would have annihilated them, wiping out even the memory of them.
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
God says He nearly determined to scatter them and blot out their memory among men. It matters because it shows how fully Israel's sin deserved utter judgment.
Overview
God's stated inclination to erase Israel's memory reveals the severity their sin warranted. Yet the very wording ('I said that I would') sets up the restraining mercy revealed in the next verse. This near-judgment, withheld for God's own purposes, displays the tension between justice and mercy that finds its resolution at the cross of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 28:64And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
- Isa 63:16Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
- Lev 26:38And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
- Lev 26:33And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
- Ps 34:16The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
- Deut 28:25The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deut 28:37And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
- Deut 4:27And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
- Luke 21:24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 32:26 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.