¶“For they are a nation destitute of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.
Parallel translations
- WEB For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them.
- KJV For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
- BSB Israel is a nation devoid of counsel, with no understanding among them.
- NKJV “For they are a nation void of counsel, Nor is there any understanding in them.
- NLT “But Israel is a senseless nation; the people are foolish, without understanding.
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 is described as a nation without counsel and lacking understanding. It matters because spiritual folly lies at the root of their rebellion.
Overview
The people's sin is traced to a deeper failure of wisdom and discernment. Lacking true understanding, they cannot perceive their own situation or God's hand. This diagnosis of folly underscores humanity's need for the wisdom that comes from God, ultimately found in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 4:22“For my people are foolish, they don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
- Job 28:28To man he said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.’”
- Prov 1:7The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
- Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
- Isa 27:11When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
- Deut 32:6Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.
- Ps 81:12So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels.
- 1 Cor 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”
- Rom 11:25For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,
- Jer 8:9The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?
- Isa 29:14therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”
- Matt 13:14–15In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 32:28 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.