Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 32:15
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses delivers this as a prophetic song to the assembled congregation of Israel (Deut 31:19–22), forecasting what will happen after they enter the promised land. He speaks of their future apostasy in the third person before turning to direct address.
The words — יִבְעַט (yiv'at, "he kicked") is the same root used for a donkey's kick; it is not a gentle turning away but a violent, dismissive motion. The shift from third person ("he grew fat, he kicked") to second person ("you have grown fat, you have become bloated, you have become gorged") moves from narrator to prosecutor.
The thread — Deuteronomy 31:20 predicts this exact sequence before the land is entered; Hosea 13:6 repeats the pattern (satisfied → proud → they did wrong). The name "Jeshurun" (Deut 33:5), meaning "the upright one," makes the reversal sharper.
Why it lands — The verse names a mechanism, not a mood: material sufficiency breeds the conviction that God is unnecessary, and that conviction produces active scorn. It asks the reader to identify where in their own life the sequence has already begun.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 31:20 When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to other gods and worship them, and they will reject Me and break My covenant.
- Hosea 13:6 When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
- Deuteronomy 33:5 So the LORD became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.
- 1 Samuel 2:29 Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’
- Psalms 89:26 He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
- Acts 28:27 For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Jeremiah 5:28 They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
- Deuteronomy 8:10 When you eat and are satisfied, you are to bless the LORD your God for the good land that He has given you.
- Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.