‘I would have said, “I will wipe them out, I will remove the mention of their name from humanity,”
Parallel translations
- WEB I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
- KJV I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them 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,”
- 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 28:64Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.
- Isa 63:16For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
- Lev 26:38You will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will eat you up.
- Lev 26:33I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
- Ps 34:16Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.
- Deut 28:25Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Deut 28:37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- Deut 4:27Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are 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.