Deuteronomy 32:36

For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses delivers this verse as part of a covenant song addressed to Israel, positioned immediately after a declaration of impending divine vengeance and before a rhetorical challenge to idolatry. The passage responds to a moment of national exhaustion following prolonged rebellion.

The words — The text emphasizes יָדִ֤ין (ya.Din), meaning he will judge or vindicate, and יִתְנֶחָ֑ם (yit.ne.Cham), meaning he will have compassion or relent. These verbs establish the sequence: divine judgment gives way to mercy when human strength is exhausted.

The thread — The identical phrasing regarding vindication and compassion appears in Psalms 135:14. The observation that God sees the bitter affliction of both slave and free runs through 2 Kings 14:26, while the motive of covenant remembrance parallels Psalms 106:45.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine intervention follows, rather than prevents, the collapse of human self-sufficiency. It requires the reader to acknowledge that mercy is triggered by the cessation of strength, not by 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

כִּֽי־ki-for יָדִ֤יןya.Dinhe will judge יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahweh עַמּ֔וֹa.M/opeople/ his וְעַל־ve./'al-and/ on עֲבָדָ֖יו'a.va.Da/vservants/ his יִתְנֶחָ֑םyit.ne.Chamhe will have compassion כִּ֤יkiif יִרְאֶה֙yir.'Ehhe will see כִּי־ki-that אָ֣זְלַת'A.ze.latit has been used up יָ֔דYadhand וְאֶ֖פֶסve./'E.fesand/ there not עָצ֥וּר'a.Tzur[is] shut up וְעָזֽוּב׃ve./'a.Zuvand/ freed

King James Version

For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

Cross-references

Psalms 135:14 For the LORD will vindicate His people and will have compassion on His servants.
2 Kings 14:26 For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,
Psalms 106:45 And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
Deuteronomy 30:1 “When all these things come upon you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the LORD your God has banished you,
Judges 2:18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for the Israelites, He was with that judge and saved them from the hands of their enemies while the judge was still alive; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them.
1 Kings 14:10 Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!
Jeremiah 31:20 Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.
Joel 2:14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him—grain and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
Judges 10:15 “We have sinned,” the Israelites said to the LORD. “Deal with us as You see fit; but please deliver us today!”
1 Kings 21:21 This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.