Deuteronomy 32:24

saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. 20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. 24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. The method of this song follows the method of the predictions in the foregoing chapter, and therefore, after the revolt of Israel from God, described in the foregoing verses, here follow immediately the resolves of divine Justice concerning them; we deceive ourselves if we think that God will be thus mocked by a foolish faithless people, that play fast and loose with him. I.

32:19-25 The revolt of Israel was described in the foregoing verses, and here follow the resolves of Divine justice as to them. We deceive ourselves, if we think that God will be mocked by a faithless people. Sin makes us hateful in the sight of the holy God. See what mischief sin does, and reckon those to be fools that mock at it.

They shall be burnt with hunger,.... This is the arrow of famine, Ezekiel 5:16 ; the force of which is such that it makes the skin black as if burnt, Lamentations 5:10 ; Onkelos paraphrases it,"inflated or swelled with famine,''which is a phrase Josephus (b) makes use of in describing the famine at the siege of Jerusalem. Jarchi observes, that one of their writers (c) interprets the words "hairs of hunger", because he says that a man that is famishing and pining, his hair grows, and he becomes hairy: this judgment was notorious among the Jews, at the siege of Jerusalem, and was very sore and dreadful: See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:53 , and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction; with burning fevers, pestilential ones, with the plague, the arrow of the Lord that flies by day, the pestilence that walks in darkness, and the destruction that wastes at noonday, Psalm 91:5; and which also raged at the siege of Jerusalem, arising from the stench of dead bodies, which lay in all parts of the city, and is one of the signs of the destruction of it given by our Lord, Matthew 24:7, I will also send the teeth, of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust; another of the arrows in the quiver of the Lord of hosts, or of his four judgments, and which he used to threaten the people of the Jews with in case of disobedience, Leviticus 26:22.

And such of the Jews who fled to deserts, and caves and dens of the earth, for shelter, could not escape falling into the hands of wild beasts, and of meeting with poisonous serpents that go upon their bellies, and feed on the dust of the earth; and besides, when Titus had taken Jerusalem, he disposed of his captives some one way and some another; and, among the rest, many were cast to the wild beasts in the theatre, as Josephus relates (d); add to this, that both Rome Pagan, and Roman Papal, are called beasts, Revelation 13:1; into both whose hands the Jews fell, and from whom they have suffered much; with which in part agrees the Targum of Jerusalem, "the teeth of the four monarchies, which are like to wild beasts, I will send upon them;''and particularly the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,"and the Greeks, who bite with their teeth like wild beasts, I will send upon them;''but it would have been much better to have interpreted it of the Romans. (b) , de Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 23. sect. 4. (c) R. Moses Hadarsan. (d) De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 2. & l. 7. c. 3. sect. 1.

(24, 25) “Consumed[8] with hunger, and devoured with pestilence, and bitter destruction— [8] Or, possibly, “Regaled with hunger, and fed with bread of pestilence and bitter destruction,” &c. I will also send the tooth of the beasts upon them, with the poison of crawling things of the dust. Outside the sword bereaveth, and in the chambers terror: Both young man and maiden, the suckling with the man of grey hairs.” God’s four sore judgments are all depicted here—“the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence.” With Deuteronomy 32:25 comp. Jeremiah 14:18, “If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.”

Verses 24, 25. - The evils threatened are famine, pestilence, plague, wild beasts, poisonous reptiles, and war. They shall be burnt with hunger , etc.; render: Sucked out by hunger, consumed with pestilential heat, and bitter plague; I will send against them the tooth of beasts and the poison of things that crawl in the dust. When hunger, pestilence, and contagious disease had wasted and exhausted them, then God would send on them wild beasts and poisonous reptiles. Shall be burnt . The Hebrew word occurs only here; it is a verbal adjective, meaning, literally, sucked out , i . e . utterly exhausted; LXX., τηκομένοι λιμῷ . Tooth of beasts and poison of serpents ; poetical for ravenous and poisonous animals ¢cf. Leviticus 26:22). Shall destroy ; literally, shall make childless , shall bereave , viz. the land which is thought of as a mother whose children were destroyed. The verb is here sensu prsegnanti , shall bereave by destroying, etc. (cf. 1 Samuel 15:23 ; Lamentations 1:20 ; Jeremiah 18:21 ). Deuteronomy 32:24

With hunger; with famine, which burneth and parcheth the inward parts, and makes the face black as a coal, Lamentations 4:8 . With burning heat; from fevers or carbuncles or other inflaming distempers. Serpents of the dust, who feed upon the dust, Genesis 3:14 , and lurk in it, that they may surprise unwary passengers, Genesis 49:17 .

"Have they wasted away with hunger, are they consumed with pestilential heat and bitter plague: I will let loose the tooth of beasts upon them, with the poison of things that crawl in the dust." ( Deuteronomy 32:25 ) "If the sword without shall sweep them away, and in the chambers of terrors, the young man as the maiden, the suckling with the grey-haired man." The evils mentioned are hunger, pestilence, plague, wild beasts, poisonous serpents, and war. The first hemistich in Deuteronomy 32:24 contains simply nouns construed absolutely, which may be regarded as a kind of circumstantial clause. The literal meaning is, "With regard to those who are starved with hunger, etc., I will send against them;" i.e., when hunger, pestilence, plague, have brought them to the verge of destruction, I will send, etc. מזי, construct state of מזה, ἁπ. λεγ. with which Cocceius compares מצה and מצץ, to suck out, and for which Schultens has cited analogies from the Arabic. "Sucked out by hunger," i.e., wasted away. "Tooth of beasts and poison of serpents:" poetical for beasts of prey and poisonous animals. See Leviticus 26:22 , where wild beasts are mentioned as a plague along with pestilence, famine, and sword.

[Bible] 32:20. And he said: I will hide my face from them, and will consider what their last end shall be: for it is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children. 32:21. They have provoked me with that which was no god, and have angered me with their vanities: and I will provoke them with that which is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation. 32:22. A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell: and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains. 32:23. I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among them. 32:24. They shall be consumed with famine, and birds shall devour them with a most bitter bite: I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground, and of serpents. 32:25. Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and terror within, both the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man in years. 32:26. I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men. 32:27. But for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it: lest perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things. 32:28. They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom. 32:29. O that they would be wise and would understand, and would provide for their last end. 32:30. How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand? Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? 32:31. For our God is not as their gods: our enemies themselves are judges. 32:32. Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the suburbs of Gomorrha: their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters most bitter. 32:33. Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the venom of asps, which is incurable. 32:34. Are not these things stored up with me, and sealed up in my treasures?