Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 32:6
Is this how you repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is He not your Father and Creator? Has He not made you and established you?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab at the close of his covenant speech, confronting a generation that has grown corrupt and perverse. He speaks just before their entry into Canaan, framing their current rebellion against past divine deliverance.
The words — The Hebrew verb תִּגְמְלוּ (tigmelu) literally means "do you repay," casting Israel's actions as a failed transaction with Yahweh. It directly modifies the noun נָבָל (nabal), "foolish," identifying their lack of discernment as the root of the complaint.
The thread — The passage grounds Israel's identity in God's prior acts of making and establishing them, linking to the covenant remembrance in Psalm 74:2 and the paternal address in Isaiah 63:16. It also anticipates the New Testament identification of believers as called children of God in 1 John 3:1.
Why it lands — The text states that God is Father and Creator who made and established Israel. It requires the reader to stop treating divine provision as a debt to be repaid and to acknowledge their dependent status.
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
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?
Cross-references
- Isaiah 63:16 Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
- 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- Psalms 74:2 Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion, where You dwell.
- Isaiah 44:2 This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- Deuteronomy 1:31 and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
- Psalms 74:18 Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.
- Psalms 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.