Deuteronomy 32:33

Deu 32:33 Their wine [is] the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

Ver. 33. Their wine,] i.e., Their works, yea, their best works, prove pernicious to them; not their own table only, but God’s table becomes a snare to the unprepared communicant; he sucks there the poison of asps, &c., {Job 20:16} he eats his bane and drinks his poison: as Henry VII, Emperor, was poisoned in the sacramental bread by a monk; Pope Victor II, by his sub-deacon in his chalice; and one of our Bishops of York, by poison put into the wine at the eucharist.

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 32:33. Their vine is the poison of dragons — An expression of the same import with the former, signifying their fruits or works to be most depraved and pernicious, (Rev 17:2,) and so resembling the poison of dragons. The cruel venom of asps — The venom of asps is called cruel, because it is accounted the most subtile and acute of all poisons, instantly penetrating into the vital parts.

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

The fruits of the wicked are as poison, detestable to God, and dangerous for man.

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

Verse 33. Their wine] Their system of doctrines and teaching, is the poison of dragons, &c., fatal and destructive to all them who follow it.

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

33. venom of dragons] Or, foam of.

pitiless poison of asps] Poison, rôsh, as in Deu_29:17; asps, or according to some, cobras, the hooded kind, in Egypt and the lower parts of Syria, especially S. of Beersheba, Heb. pethanîm, Isa_11:8, etc.

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.

Is not this laid up in store with me,.... The fruit of the degenerate vine, its bitter clusters of grapes, and poisonous wine; meaning the evil principles and practices of the apostate church, well known to God, taken notice of by him, and laid up in his mind and memory; for both she and her sins will come in remembrance before God, and will be brought to open view, and appear to have been laid up by him, in order to be exposed at a proper time; see Rev 16:19; and so the Targums interpret it of evil works: or this may be understood of the punishment of the evil doctrines and practices of the antichristian church, the sentence of which God had secretly passed in his eternal mind, and which he had in reserve, and in due time would execute; it was drawn and signed by him, and, as he says:

and sealed up among my treasures; his treasures of wrath, denoting the secrecy of it, and the sure and certain performance of it, and the authority of Christ to execute it; to whom this sealed diploma is given, and all judgment committed; and particularly this to judge the whore of Rome; and who, is able to open the sealed book of God's purposes and decrees, and to accomplish them; and among the rest those which relate to the utter ruin of antichrist, and the antichristian states: so the Targum of Jerusalem, interprets it of the vengeance of the Lord, laid up for the wicked;"is not the cup of the judgment of vengeance mixed and prepared for the ungodly sealed up among my treasures, to the day of the great judgment?''it is true of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of the wrath of God, or of the wine of the wrath of God poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, which he will make great Babylon, and all the worshippers of the beast, drink of, Rev 14:9.

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

The poison of dragons; for although some write that the dragons of Greece have no poison in them, yet that the African and Arabian dragons, of which Moses here writes, have poison in them, is confessed by ancient heathen authors.

The cruel venom of asps; whose poison kills certainly and speedily, as Aristotle and others write.

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

33. Their wine is the poison of dragons — The wine that this vine of Sodom bears is as the poison of deadly serpents. The figures employed suggest that the nation will become utterly corrupt. The chosen people of God will deserve to perish as the inhabitants of Sodom.

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

The wine of these grapes is poison and venom. Dragons; tannin (cf. Exo_7:9, Exo_7:10) Cruel deadly venom of asps. The pethen, one of the most poisonous of snakes, the bite of which was immediately fatal (Kitto, "Bibl. Cycl.," 3:494; Smith"s "Dict.," 1:21). These figures express the thought that Israel had utterly corrupted their way and become abominable; probably also it is intimated that, as they had imitated the impiety of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, they deserved to perish as they did (J.H. Michaelis).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

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

Their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps

Moses continues comparing the enemies of the people of Israel to grapevines that produce poisonous fruit and wine. This means their enemies are wicked. (See: Metaphor)

asps

poisonous snakes

Is not this plan secretly kept by me, sealed up among my treasures?

This question emphasizes that Yahweh's plans for the people of Israel are kept secret like a valuable treasure. The rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. It can also be stated in active form. AT: "I know what I have planned to do to the Israelite people and to their enemies, and I have locked up those plans as someone would lock up his valuable possessions." (See: Rhetorical Question and Active or Passive)

translationWords

wine

serpent

seal

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

חמת תנינים יינם THEIR WINE IS THE POISON OF DRAGONS — Understand this as the Targum does: הא כמרת תניניא כס פורענותהון which means: Behold, like the gall of serpents is the cup of the drink of their punishment.

וראש פתנים AND AS THE VENOM OF VIPERS is their cup — venom, which proves cruel (אכזר) to him who is bitten. The sense is: a cruel enemy will come and exact punishment from them.

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.