Deuteronomy 32:37

Deu 32:37 And he shall say, Where [are] their gods, [their] rock in whom they trusted,

Ver. 37. And he shall say,] i.e., He shall upbraid them with the inability of their idols to do for them.

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 32:37-38. He shall say — The Lord, before he deliver his people, will first convince them of their former folly in forsaking him for idols. Which did eat — That is, to whom you offered sacrifices and oblations, after the manner of the Gentiles. Let them rise up and help you — If they can. Or, perhaps, instead of He shall say, (Deu 32:37,) it may be better rendered, One shall say; or, It shall be said. And then the meaning will be, Whoever beholds these judgments with due consideration will be convinced of the vanity and unprofitableness of these imaginary deities, to whom they offered their sacrifices, without receiving the least benefit from them.

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

32:37 the rocks: This sarcastic metaphor concerns the impotence of pagan gods (see 32:31).

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

Verse 37. He shall say] He shall begin to expostulate with them, to awaken them to a due sense of their ingratitude and rebellion. This may refer to the preaching of the Gospel to them in the latter days.

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

37. took refuge] As in R.V. marg., so often in the Pss., e.g. Psa_2:12, Psa_46:2.

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.

Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings,.... Alluding to the fat of the sacrifices under the law, which was claimed by the Lord as his, and represented as his food, Lev 3:11; and to the drink offerings of wine, which were of a sweet savour to God, and with respect to which wine is said to cheer him, Num 15:7. Now New Testament worship and services are here expressed in Old Testament language, which is not unusual; see Isa 56:7; and signify the best of the sacrifices and services of true believers in Christ, presenting their souls and bodies unto him as a holy, living, acceptable sacrifice, which is but their reasonable service; offering their sacrifices of prayer and praise unto him through Christ; doing all good works in his name and strength, and all acts of beneficence in love to him and his people, with which sacrifices he is well pleased; yea, cheerfully laying down their lives as victims in his cause, when called unto it. Now these words are a taunt at the Protestant doctrine of the acceptance of the service and sacrifices of believers in Christ, through him, and for his sake, and not for any merit or worthiness in them:

let them rise up and help you; their God and their rock, Jehovah the Father, their covenant God, and his Son the rock of their salvation, in whom they trust; and so they will arise and help them in this time of extreme distress; though they may seem as asleep, and to take no notice of the sad estate of saints, they will arise in wrath and indignation at their enemies, and deliver them out of their hands; the Spirit of life from God shall be sent to bring to life the slain witnesses, and Christ will rise up in the exertion of his kingly power; he will take to himself his great power, and reign, and destroy them that destroyeth the earth, Rev 11:11,

and be your protection; or "let him be your hiding place" (x); that is, the rock in whom they trusted, and so he is, and will be "an hiding place the wind, and a covert from the storm", Isa 32:2; not only from the wrath and justice of God, but from the rage and fury of men; Christ will protect and defend his people against all their enemies, and in his own time will deliver them from them; who, in answer to these taunts and derisions, rises up, and thus he says, as follows.

(x) "absconsio", Pagninus, Montanus; "latibulum", Tigurine version; "latebra", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

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

He shall say: the Lord, before he deliver his people, will first convince them of their former folly in forsaking him and following idols; he will find an occasion from that miserable and hopeless condition into which their idols have brought them, to upbraid them with it.

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

37. Where are their gods — Here Jehovah is represented as showing his people the folly of idol-worship, the helplessness of the false gods.

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

The Lord would show his people the utter worthlessness of idols, and bring them to acknowledge him as the only true God. Their gods; the idols to which Israel had turned, the strange gods which they had foolishly and sinfully preferred to Jehovah.

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

He shall say - The Lord, before he deliver his people, will first convince them of their former folly in forsaking him and following idols.

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

trusted

(See Scofield "Psa 2:12").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Moses speaks a poetic song to the people of Israel. (See: Parallelism)

Where are their gods, the rock in whom they took refuge?

Yahweh scolds the people of Israel for seeking protection from other gods. This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "Look, the gods that the Israelites thought would protect them have not come to help them." (See: Rhetorical Question and Metaphor)

The gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings?

Here Yahweh mocks the people of Israel for offering sacrifices to other gods. This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "The gods to whom the Israelites offered meat and wine have not come to help them." (See: Rhetorical Question)

Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection

Yahweh says this to mock the Israelites. He knows these gods cannot help them. AT: "These idols are not even able to get up and help or to protect you" (See: Irony)

translationWords

false god

refuge

sacrifice

wine

drink offering

raise

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

ואמר AND HE, the Omnipresent, WILL SAY with regard to them אי אלהימו WHERE ARE THEIR GODS which they served.

צור חסיו בו THE ROCK IN WHOM THEY TRUSTED — i.e. the rock beneath which they sought shelter (more lit., with which they covered themselves) from the heat and the cold; that is to say, “in which they trusted” that it would protect them against evil.

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.

AND HE SHALL SAY, WHERE ARE THEIR GODS. The enemy will say, “Where is the G-d of Israel?” as it is stated, Wherefore should the nations say: ‘Where is now their G-d?’

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.