Deuteronomy 32:6

Deu 32:6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? [is] not he thy father [that] hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

Ver. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord?] Good turns aggravate unkindnesses, and our guilt is increased by our obligations. Solomon’s idolatry was far worse than that of his wives; he had been better bred, and God had appeared to him twice. It is the ingratitude that makes the godly man’s sin so heinous, which otherwise would be far less than other men’s, since his temptations are stronger, and his resistance greater. Hebricians observe, that in Halaihovah there is in the text one ä greater than ordinary; to show that the wonder was the greater, that they should so evil requite such a Lord, Father, Redeemer, Maker, and Governor, by being so corrupt, perverse, crooked, foolish, and unwise; five opposed to five; ä being used for the number of five. {Hebrew Text Note}

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_32:6

Do ye thus requite the Lord.

Magnitude of the Divine favours

I. What God has done for us. Everything. We are indebted to Him for our being, and our well-being; for all our present comforts, and future hopes. The goodness of God is a boundless sea, without either bottom or shore. His favours for multitude, diversity, and splendour, resemble the stars of heaven, which the more attentively they are viewed, appear the more numerous, and, were we not so immensely distant from them, would equally astonish us with their magnitude and order.

1. Creation.

2. Preservation.

3. Redemption.

4. The Gospel.

5. The Holy Spirit.

II. How we ought in reason, duty, and interest to requite the Lord for His gifts.

1. If we ourselves are the creatures of Gods power, and have no faculty of soul, no member of body, no endowment of any kind, but what we have received from Him, surely it ill-becomes us to boast of anything that we have, as though we received it not; or to value ourselves on account of what is not our own, but only lent us for a little time, and to be redemanded soon with usury.

2. This leads me to a second inference, that the many mercies of God have laid an indispensable obligation upon us unfeignedly and gratefully to praise Him.

3. But again, may we not infer, from the preceding observations, that it is no less our duty to trust in God than it is humbly to praise Him? The many and wonderful things which He hath done for us leave no room to doubt either of His goodness or power; either of His inclination or ability to help and save us.

4. The loving kindness of the Lord to us-ward, so wonderfully displayed, so incessantly exercised, notwithstanding our ingratitude, certainly demands returns of love, and lays us under an indispensable obligation to serve and glorify Him. (J. Benson.)

An appeal to the conscience

No arrow is so sharp as a well-timed and well-directed question, winged with such precision as this. It goes straight to the conscience; and whatever else religion deals with, it must deal primarily with the conscience. The song proceeds to make appeal to the imagination, the memory, the judgment, the heart, but all with the view of getting, through them, at the conscience. Its grand purpose is to bring the Lord into contact with the peoples conscience; and as there are no more effective grappling hooks with which to seize the conscience and moor it closely alongside of Him than a series of questions, we have them here in a triple array: Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? that is, hath paid for thine emancipation out of Egypt, so that you, might get away scathless and free? Hath not He made and established thee? Made a people and nation of thee, given thee a name and place of unprecedented distinction among surrounding tribes, established law and settled institutions in your midst, advanced you to peculiar privileges, and put you into the condition of an orderly and well-regulated Church and State? It was a fit time to recall the past, to remember their original nothingness, to take a review of what they once were, and what they had even already become. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)

Mans ungrateful requital to God

I have sometimes had the misfortune to sit in concerts where persons would chatter and giggle and laugh during the performance of the profoundest passages of the symphonies of the great artists; and I never fail to think, at such times, I ask to know neither you, nor your father and mother, nor your name: I know what you are, by the way you conduct yourself here--by the want of sympathy and appreciation which you evince respecting what is passing around you. We could hardly help striking a man who should stand looking upon Niagara Falls without exhibiting emotions of awe and admiration. If we were to see a man walk through galleries of genius, totally unimpressed by what he saw, we should say to ourselves, Let us be rid of such an unsusceptible creature as that. Now I ask you to pass upon yourselves the same judgment. What do you suppose angels, that have trembled and quivered with ecstatic joy in the presence of God, think when they see how indifferent you are to the Divine love and goodness in which you are perpetually bathed, and by which you are blessed and sustained every moment of your lives? How can they do otherwise than accuse you of monstrous ingratitude and moral insensibility which betokens guilt as well as danger? (H. W. Beecher.)

Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee?--

Gods paternal relation and claim

I. God as the father of His people.

1. He has redeemed them by Christ (1Pe_1:18-19).

2. He is the Author of their spiritual existence (Eph_2:10).

3. He has made paternal provision for them (Php_4:19).

4. He grants parental protection to them (Psa_91:4).

5. He imparts paternal instruction (Isa_54:13).

6. He takes great delight in them (Isa_66:13).

7. He administers fatherly correction (Jer_30:11).

8. He has made paternal provision for them (Psa_31:19).

II. The claims which He has upon His children.

1. He ought to have our highest reverence (Heb_12:28).

2. He ought to have our supreme affection (Deu_6:5).

3. He should possess our unwavering confidence (Isa_12:2).

4. He should have our cheerful obedience (2Co_10:4-6).

5. Our continual gratitude and praise (1Pe_2:9). (T. B. Baker.)

The parental character of God

The term father implies all that is most tender and affectionate. The love of a father is immeasurable. It extends to everything which can affect the welfare of his offspring. Is not God your Father?

1. Did not He create you? Was it not He who, having created you, committed you to the charge of your earthly parents, and disposed their minds to watch with unceasing care over your welfare? Is it not, therefore, in a secondary sense only that we are to ascribe the term of father to our earthly parent, while the primary and full meaning of the word belongs only to our Creator? Let us remember that, in having God for our Father, we possess the highest honour and the noblest privilege which any created beings can enjoy.

2. There is another sense in which the title of Father is justly claimed by God. He is the Father who hath bought us. When I have reflected upon the signal proofs which God has given of His paternal feelings towards us, I have often been surprised that those whose gratitude to their earthly parents is unbounded, should show so little affection to their heavenly Father, and rely so little on His love and mercy.

The reasons of this inconsistency appear to me to be the following.

1. The undue attachment which we are apt to place on objects of sense. We see and converse with an earthly parent, but our bodily senses do not inform us of the presence of God. Yet the proofs of His presence are actually more strong and numerous than those which attest the existence of any material object.

2. Through the weakness of the human understanding we continually entertain an undue estimation of second causes. We do not feel the extent of our obligations to our heavenly Father, because many of the blessings which He bestows are communicated to us by some instrument appointed for that end. It will probably, however, be generally acknowledged, that the character of God is good and gracious. It is in the practical use of such knowledge that we are chiefly apt to fail.

This is, therefore, the end to which I now shall direct your attention.

1. You ought to entertain the highest reverence for His laws. Read the Bible constantly as containing the will of your heavenly Father.

2. This view of the character of God as our Father gives a just idea of the true nature of religion. Religion is the homage which you pay to your heavenly Father. It is the regulation of your lives by His holy Word. It is the enjoyment of the innumerable benefits offered to mankind through His beloved Son. Religion must bear the stamp and character of its Author.

3. Is God our Father? Then we ought to maintain an intercourse with Him by frequent prayer, and to praise Him daily for His innumerable mercies.

4. Is God our Father? Let us then place a generous confidence in Him. (J. Venn, M. A.)

The paternal character of God

I. God as the father of his people.

1. God is the Author of their spiritual existence.

2. He makes paternal provision for His children.

3. He affords parental protection to His children.

4. He imparts paternal instruction.

5. He takes paternal delight in His children.

6. He administers paternal correction to His children.

7. He lays up a paternal provision for His children.

II. The claims which He has upon His children.

1. He ought to receive from us the highest reverence. We should cultivate His fear.

2. He ought to have our supreme affections. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, etc.

3. He should possess our unwavering confidence. Trust in Him at all times.

4. He should have our cheerful obedience. Be ye followers of God as dear children, etc.

5. He shall receive from us our most exalted praises. (J. Burns, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 32:6. O foolish people and unwise! — Fools and double fools! Fools, indeed, to disoblige one on whom you so entirely depend! Who hath bewitched you to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities? Bought thee — That hath redeemed thee from Egyptian bondage. Made thee — Not only in a general, by creation, but in a peculiar manner, by making thee his peculiar people. Established — That is renewed and confirmed his favour to thee, and not taken it away, which thou hast provoked him to do.

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

Not according to the common creation, but he hath made thee a new creature by his Spirit.

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

is not he thy father that hath bought thee--or emancipated thee from Egyptian bondage.

and made thee--advanced the nation to unprecedented and peculiar privileges.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(6) “It is Jehovah that ye requite thus!

A people foolish and unwise!

Is not He thy Father that hath gotten thee?

He made thee and establisheth thee.”

The first line is an exclamatory question. A question and an exclamation have the same name in the Rabbinical writings. “Hath gotten” in the third line is the same expression which Eve used (in Gen_4:1) at the birth of Cain, and occurs also in that magnificent saying in the history of Wisdom, Pro_8:22, “The Lord begat me (as) the beginning of his way.”

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

6. Is it Jehovah ye thus requite] So the emphatic Heb. order.

foolish] See on Deu_22:21 : folly.

bought] Rather begat or produced, Gen_4:1; Gen_14:19; Gen_14:22.

established] Or framed, set up, settled.

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.

Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise,.... This is also a proper character of the Jews in the times of Christ, who are often by him called "fools", Mat 23:17; being very ignorant of the Scriptures, and of the prophecies in them respecting him, setting up their own traditions on a level with the word of God, or above it; they were ignorant of the law of God, and the meaning of it; of the righteousness of God, of the righteousness of his nature, and of what the law required, as well as of the righteousness of Christ, and of him as a spiritual Redeemer, and of salvation by him; and a most egregious instance of their folly, and of want of wisdom, was their ingratitude to him, in disesteeming and rejecting him; which is what is here referred to and meant by ill-requiting him, though not expressed till Deu 32:15; and a most sad requital of him it was indeed, that he should come to them, his own, in so kind and gracious a manner, and yet be rejected by them; that he should become man, and yet for that reason be charged with blasphemy, for making himself God; horrid ingratitude, to infer the one from the other! and because he appeared as a servant, disowned him as the Son of God; and because he came in the likeness of sinful flesh to take away sin, they traduced him as a sinner:

is not he thy Father, that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee,

and established thee? Moses, in order to aggravate this their ingratitude, rehearses the various instances of divine goodness to them, from the beginning of them as nation; it was the Lord that was the founder of them as a nation, whose Son, when sent unto them, was rejected by them; it was he that bought them, or redeemed them from Egyptian bondage, that made or formed them into a body politic, or civil commonwealth, that established and settled them in the land of Canaan: this is expressed in general terms; particular instances of the goodness of God to them are after enumerated: or if this is to be understood of Christ himself, who was rejected by them, it is true of some among them, in a spiritual and evangelic sense, and so, by a figure, the whole is put for a part, as sometimes the part is for the whole: Christ, the everlasting Father of the world to come, had many children in the Jewish nation, for whose sake he became incarnate, and whom he came to seek and to save; and whom he "bought" with his precious blood, and whom, by his Spirit and grace, he "made" new creatures, the children of God, kings and priests unto God; and "established" them in the faith of him, and upon him, the sure foundation; or whom he fashioned, beautified, and adorned with his righteousness, and with the graces of his Spirit.

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

Possessed thee, as his peculiar inheritance. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "has purchased thee, made thee, and established thee." (Calmet) --- The Septuagint render this last word like the Vulgate as they seem to have read, ibnoc. (Calmet)

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).

Hath bought thee; that hath redeemed and rescued thee from Egyptian bondage.

Made thee, i.e. advanced thee, as that word is used, 1Sa 12:6; Est 6:6; Psa 95:6; 149:2; Isa 43:7. Made thee, not only in a general and common way, by creation or production; but in a peculiar manner, by adoption, or making thee his peculiar people and children.

Established thee, i.e. renewed and confirmed his grace and favour to thee, and not taken it away from thee, which thou hast oft provoked him to do.

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

6. Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee — The meaning is, that Jehovah is the one whose peculiar possession Israel had become. Jehovah had redeemed them from Egyptian bondage.

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

Vers. 6, 7. Instead of gratefully acknowledging the Divine beneficence, and dutifully obeying the Divine will, Israel had perversely and foolishly requited the Lord for all his benefits, by apostasy from him. Do ye thus requite? The verb here signifies primarily to do to any one either good or evil, whether in return for what he has done or not (cf. Gen_1:15; 1Sa_24:18; Pro_3:30) then, as a secondary meaning, to reward, repay, requite, as here and Psa_18:21. To bring more forcibly to their view the ingratitude and folly of their conduct, Moses dwells upon what God was and had been to the nation: their Father, in that he had, in his love, chosen, them to be his people (cf. Isa_63:16 Isa_64:7; Mal_2:10) their Purchaser, who had acquired possession of them by delivering them out of Egypt; (cf. Psa_74:2) their Maker, who had constituted them a nation; and their Establisher, by whom they had been conducted through the wilderness and settled in Canaan. Days of old; the times of Israel"s deliverance from bondage, and the times during which successive generations had lived and experienced the goodness of the Lord. The form of the word rendered "days" is poetical, and is found only here and in Psa_90:15, which is also ascribed to Moses. The years of many generations; literally, years of generation and generation; "aetatum singularum annos" (Rosenm

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

O foolish people and unwise! - Fools and double fools! Fools indeed, to disoblige one, on whom you so entirely depend! Who hath bewitched you! To forsake your own mercies for lying vanities! Bought thee - That hath redeemed thee from Egyptian bondage. Made thee - Not only in a general by creation, but in a peculiar manner by making thee his peculiar people. Established - That is, renewed and confirmed his favour to thee, and not taken it away, which thou hast often provoked him to do.

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

הלה׳ תגמלו זאת DO YOU THUS REQUITE THE LORD? — This Is an expression of astonishment: Do you mean to grieve Him Who has the power to punish you, and Who has bestowed all these favours upon you?

עם נבל A FOOLISH PEOPLE — i.e., a people that has forgotten all that has been done to them,

ולא חכם AND NOT WISE to consider what will result from their actions, viz., that it is in His power to do them good or evil according to their actions (cf. Siphre).

הלא הוא אביך קנך IS NOT HE THY FATHER קנך? The last word may mean: Who has acquired (קנה) thee, or, Who has placed thee (more lit., made thee nest, קנן) in a nest of rocks and in strong ground, or. Who has fitted you out (תקן) with everything that will benefit you.

הוא עשך HE HATH MADE THEE a nation among the nations of the world,

ויכננך AND HATH ESTABLISHED THEE afterwards on every kind of firm base and foundation (כן) (i.e. made you self-contained): out of your midst come your priests, out of your midst your Levites, and out of your midst your kings — a city in which is everything (Sifrei Devarim 309:7; Chullin 56b).

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.

AM NAVAL’ (A FOOLISH PEOPLE), AND NOT WISE. “A foolish people — that has forgotten [all] the good that He has done for them. And not wise to understand the result [of their actions], that it is in His power to do them good or evil.” This is Rashi’s language. Now, Onkelos rendered [am naval]: “a people that has received the Torah, [and who are not wise],” deriving it from [the expression] navol tibol which he translated milah thilei (“thou wilt surely become weary”). Thus the verse here states: “it is a people weary of the observance of the Torah and they are not wise [enough to realize] that it is for their eternal good.” Similarly Onkelos rendered b’goi naval — “with a foolish people,” apathetic in becoming wise or people of faith. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted: “Naval (foolish) in deeds, and not wise in heart.”In my opinion he who performs an unrequired act [of goodness or kindness] is called nadiv (generous), while he who repays his benefactor with evil is called naval (a vile person). And so it is stated, ‘L’naval’ (the vile person) will no longer be called ‘nadiv’ (generous), for one is the opposite of the other. Therefore it was said of Nabal the Carmelite, for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and ‘n’valah’ (vileness) is with him. For David did him a great favor — he guarded all his belongings — and he [Nabal] did not want to pay him any recompense; instead, he shouted at his [David’s] messengers, Verse 14. and disgraced them. And this is the sense of the verse concerning [G-d’s words to] the friends of Job: [And my servant Job shall pray for you; for him alone will I receive favorably,] so as not to do unto you ‘n’valah’ (an unseemly act) [because you have not spoken of Me properly, as My servant Job hath;] if they were to be punished, although they were to be blamed for having spoken certain things which were not right nor true. since they had defended the deed of the glorious and fearful Name, saying it was done justly, and if He were to punish them now, it would appear as n’valah (an unseemly act). if they were to be punished, although they were to be blamed for having spoken certain things which were not right nor true.It is possible that the term naval is used [for a vile person] because he is an inferior type of a human being, just as the expression as an oak whose leaf ‘noveleth’ which means “falls” [because it withered. Thus, the word noveleth (withers), spelled with a beth, is related to nofeleth (falls) spelled with a fei. Similarly, a person who is nofel, “falls” short of acceptable standards of conduct, is referred to as naval.] A dead animal is called n’veilah because “it falls” upon the earth and dies, just as it is said, to see the ‘mapeleth’ (carcass) of the lion. If so, Scripture states here: “Do you thus requite G-d for all the good He has done for you? It is an am naval that repays evil for good, and unwise not to know that they have wrought this evil unto themselves,” and not to G-d. It is similar to what is stated, If thou hast sinned, what doest thou against Him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him? or what receiveth He of thy hand? For G-d is thy Father, Who brought you forth and raised you; and He is ‘konecha,’ Who made you a kinyan (a possession), for He brought you forth from nothingness and you became a being, and every tangible reality can be acquired as a possession. [Therefore, the word koneh is used interchangeably to mean “make” or “create” and “acquire” as shown in the following examples.] It is similar to what is said, The Eternal ‘kanani’ (made) me as the beginning of His way; likewise, ‘Koneih’ (Maker) of heaven and earth, as I have explained., (Vol. I, pp. 190-191). And He created you, made thee, and established thee, similar to the expression, and One fashioned us in the womb.

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.