Deuteronomy 32:27

For they are a nation void of counsel,.... This is said not of the Jews, whose character is given, Deu 32:6; and instances of their ingratitude, folly, and want of counsel and understanding, have been already mentioned, and punishment for the same inflicted on them, according to this prophetic song; so that the prophecy respecting them is issued, and another people are taken notice of, even their enemies, of whom the Jewish writers in general interpret these words, and what follows; and was true of the Gentiles, both of the Pagan sort of them, who took too much to themselves, and ascribed the destruction of the Jews, and their conquest of them, to themselves, and their idols; and of false Christians among them, when the Roman empire became Christian, such as expressed themselves in the language of the latter part Deu 32:27, "our hand is high", &c. which plainly showed them to be a people devoid of the true knowledge of the Scriptures, they should have made the men of their counsel, and have consulted; and of the Gospel of Christ, which is the counsel of God, as the Arians, Pelagians, &c. must be, or they would never imbibe and advance tenets so diametrically opposite thereunto:

neither is there any understanding is them; of divine and spiritual things, of the Scriptures, and the doctrines of them; of the person of Christ, and his divine perfections, or they would never deny his deity; of the righteousness of God, of that which is required in the law, and revealed in the Gospel, or they would never set up a righteousness of their own for justification; and of themselves, their unrighteousness, impurity, and impotence to that which is good; or they would never so strongly assert the purity of human nature, and the power of man's freewill: God foreseeing all the folly, and want of counsel and understanding in the Gentile world, under different characters, preserved a remnant of the Jews as a standing admonition to them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Deu 32:27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, [and] lest they should say, Our hand [is] high, and the LORD hath not done all this.

Ver. 27. Were it not that I feared.] See Deu 32:20.

Lest their adversaries.] This is that, likely, that moves the Lord hitherto to spare England. God hath dealt with us, not according to his ordinary rule, but according to his prerogative. England, if it may be so spoke with reverence, is a paradox to the Bible. Pererius, the Jesuit, commenting upon Gen 15:16, If any marvel, saith he, why England continueth to flourish, notwithstanding the cruel persecution - just execution, he should have said - of Catholics there; I answer, Because their sin is not yet full: Sed veniet tandem iniquitatiscom plementum, &c. We hope better, though we deserve the worst that can be. But somewhat God will do for his own great name; and lest the enemy exalt himself, {Psa 140:8} and say, "Our hand is high, the Lord hath not done this."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 32:27-28. Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy — Their rage against me, as it is expressed Isa 37:28-29; their furious reproaches against my name, as if I were cruel to my people, or unable to deliver them. This is spoken after the manner of men; and the meaning is, that it would have been righteous in God to cut them entirely off and wipe out their very memory from the earth; but such a sudden and final destruction of a people in whose behalf God had done so much, for establishing his true worship among them, and for conveying it from them to the rest of the world, would have occasioned those heathen to insult God himself, by ascribing their destruction to their own valour, or to the power of their idols, and not to his righteous judgment. Therefore, to prevent this wrong construction of such desolating judgments, it became the divine wisdom to defer the execution of them. We find Moses more than once representing before God the blasphemous reflections which the heathen would make, in case of the total destruction of the Israelitish nation, as an argument to avert the effects of the divine displeasure. Void of counsel — Their enemies are ignorant and foolish, and therefore would readily form such a false and foolish judgment upon things.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32:27 I feared: God is never terrified or intimidated. This fear is concern that Israel’s enemies would attribute their success to their own efforts rather than to God’s sovereign judgment of his people (see Exod 32:11-14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rejoicing to see the godly afflicted, and attributing that to themselves, which is wrought by God’s hand.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 27. Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy] Houbigant and others contend that wrath here refers not to the enemy, but to God; and that the passage should be thus translated: "Indignation for the adversary deters me, lest their enemies should be alienated, and say, The strength of our hands, and not of the Lord's, hath done this." Had not God punished them in such a way as proved that his hand and not the hand of man had done it, the heathens would have boasted of their prowess, and Jehovah would have been blasphemed, as not being able to protect his worshippers, or to punish their infidelities. Titus, when he took Jerusalem, was so struck with the strength of the place, that he acknowledged that if God had not delivered it into his hands, the Roman armies never could have taken it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) Behave themselves strangely.—Possibly, misunderstand it, or take note of it (as a strange thing).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. provocation] Cp. Deu_32:19, but here the vexation caused to Himself by the foes’ misconstruction. The anthropomorphism is very strong. Sam. reads my foe. On the Heb. for feared see Deu_1:17, Deu_18:22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wrath. The enemies of the Israelites wished nothing more than their destruction. If therefore God had gratified this desire, by punishing his people as they deserved, the enemy would have presently insinuated that He had not been able to drive them out, or that (Haydock) he was fickle, &c. --- Mighty. (excelsa;) "lifted up." This expression shews the pride and insolence of those who make use of it, as if they despised God and all his laws. Procopius mentions this wicked inscription, to be still seen at Rome, "I lift up my hands to (or against) God, who destroyed me, though innocent, in the 20th year of my age." Pos. Procius, (Calmet) who seems to have been a woman, quæ vixi, &c. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The wrath of the enemy, i.e. their rage against me, as it is expressed Isa 37:28,29; their insolent and furious reproaches against my name, as if I were unnatural and cruel to my people, or unable to deliver them. Compare Exo 32:12; Num 14:13; Deu 9:28; Jos 7:9. The fear hereof is ascribed to God after the manner of men.

Strangely, i.e. insolently and arrogantly, above what they used to do. Or,

make themselves strangers, i.e. either really not acknowledge, or pretend they did not know, that which I had publicly declared, and they either did or easily might have known, to wit, that this judgment was inflicted upon them by my hand for their sins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Were it not that I feared — The idea of the verse is, that Israel’s enemies might ascribe the nation’s destruction to their own power, whereas it would be the work of God. Comp. Exo_32:12.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The wrath - Their rage against me, as it is expressed, Isaiah xxxvii, 28, 29, their furious reproaches against my name, as if I were cruel to my people or unable to deliver them. The fear hereof is ascribed to God after the manner of men. Strangely - Insolenty and arrogantly above what they used to do.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Moses speaks a poetic song to the people of Israel. He continues to quote Yahweh's words. (See: Parallelism)

Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy

"I was afraid of the provocation of the enemy"

the provocation of the enemy

This abstract noun can be translated as a verb. AT: "that the enemy would provoke me" or "that the enemy would cause me to be angry" (See: Abstract Nouns)

the enemy

Yahweh speaks of his enemies as if they are one man. AT: "my enemy" or "my enemies" (See: Pronouns)

judge mistakenly

"misunderstand"

Our hand is exalted

Here "hand" represents the strength or power of a person. To be exalted is an idiom for defeating an enemy. AT: "We have defeated them because we are more powerful" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

translationWords

fear

adversary

judge

hand

exalt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

לולי כעס אויב אגור WERE IT NOT THAT THE WRATH OF THE ENEMY WAS אגור — i.e. were it not that the wrath of the enemy were heaped up (אגור) against them to destroy them, and if he does overpower them and destroy them, he will attribute the greatness to himself and to his god, and he will not attribute it to Me. That is the meaning of what is stated immediately afterwords: פן ינכרו צרימו — i.e. lest they treat the matter as arising from a stranger (ינכרו) by attributing their power to a stranger (נכרי) to whom the greatness, however, does not actually belong, פן יאמרו ידינו רמה וגו׳ LEST THEY SHOULD SAY, OUR HAND IS EXALTED etc.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.