Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 32:27
if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Moses in the Song of Moses, explaining why He withholds total destruction of Israel despite their rebellion. He addresses the nation's impending judgment while noting His restraint stems from how surrounding nations would interpret His actions.
The words — The Hebrew לוּלֵי (luLei, "if not") establishes the conditional ground for God's restraint, while יְנַכְּרוּ (yeNaKHeru, "they should misconstrue") describes the fear that foreign adversaries would misread His judgment as mere human victory.
The thread — This concern about enemy misinterpretation runs through Exodus 32:12 and Numbers 14:15, where God hesitates to destroy Israel for the same reason, and echoes Joshua 7:9 when Canaanite nations fear wiping out Israel's name.
Why it lands — The text states that God's judgment is deliberately moderated to prevent hostile nations from claiming credit for Israel's fate, requiring readers to acknowledge that divine action is fundamentally about preserving the accuracy of God's reputation rather than human merit.
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
Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.
Cross-references
- Numbers 14:15 If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
- Exodus 32:12 Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.
- Joshua 7:9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
- 1 Samuel 12:22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Psalms 140:8 Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah
- Zechariah 1:14 Then the angel who was speaking with me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
- Psalms 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.
- Isaiah 10:8 “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Isaiah 37:10 “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- Isaiah 37:12 Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?