Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 32:6
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?
6. Is it Jehovah ye thus requite ] So the emphatic Heb. order.
foolish ] See on Deu 22:21: folly.
bought ] Rather begat or produced, Gen 4:1; Gen 14:19; Gen 14:22.
established ] Or framed, set up, settled.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deu 32:6
Do ye thus requite the Lord.
Magnitude of the Divine favours
I. What God has done for us. Everything. We are indebted to Him for our being, and our well-being; for all our present comforts, and future hopes. The goodness of God is a boundless sea, without either bottom or shore. His favours for multitude, diversity, and splendour, resemble the stars of heaven, which the more attentively they are viewed, appear the more numerous, and, were we not so immensely distant from them, would equally astonish us with their magnitude and order.
1. Creation.
2. Preservation.
3. Redemption.
4. The Gospel.
5. The Holy Spirit.
II. How we ought in reason, duty, and interest to requite the Lord for His gifts.
1. If we ourselves are the creatures of Gods power, and have no faculty of soul, no member of body, no endowment of any kind, but what we have received from Him, surely it ill-becomes us to boast of anything that we have, as though we received it not; or to value ourselves on account of what is not our own, but only lent us for a little time, and to be redemanded soon with usury.
2. This leads me to a second inference, that the many mercies of God have laid an indispensable obligation upon us unfeignedly and gratefully to praise Him.
3. But again, may we not infer, from the preceding observations, that it is no less our duty to trust in God than it is humbly to praise Him? The many and wonderful things which He hath done for us leave no room to doubt either of His goodness or power; either of His inclination or ability to help and save us.
4. The loving kindness of the Lord to us-ward, so wonderfully displayed, so incessantly exercised, notwithstanding our ingratitude, certainly demands returns of love, and lays us under an indispensable obligation to serve and glorify Him. (J. Benson.)
An appeal to the conscience
No arrow is so sharp as a well-timed and well-directed question, winged with such precision as this. It goes straight to the conscience; and whatever else religion deals with, it must deal primarily with the conscience. The song proceeds to make appeal to the imagination, the memory, the judgment, the heart, but all with the view of getting, through them, at the conscience. Its grand purpose is to bring the Lord into contact with the peoples conscience; and as there are no more effective grappling hooks with which to seize the conscience and moor it closely alongside of Him than a series of questions, we have them here in a triple array: Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? that is, hath paid for thine emancipation out of Egypt, so that you, might get away scathless and free? Hath not He made and established thee? Made a people and nation of thee, given thee a name and place of unprecedented distinction among surrounding tribes, established law and settled institutions in your midst, advanced you to peculiar privileges, and put you into the condition of an orderly and well-regulated Church and State? It was a fit time to recall the past, to remember their original nothingness, to take a review of what they once were, and what they had even already become. (A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)
Mans ungrateful requital to God
I have sometimes had the misfortune to sit in concerts where persons would chatter and giggle and laugh during the performance of the profoundest passages of the symphonies of the great artists; and I never fail to think, at such times, I ask to know neither you, nor your father and mother, nor your name: I know what you are, by the way you conduct yourself here–by the want of sympathy and appreciation which you evince respecting what is passing around you. We could hardly help striking a man who should stand looking upon Niagara Falls without exhibiting emotions of awe and admiration. If we were to see a man walk through galleries of genius, totally unimpressed by what he saw, we should say to ourselves, Let us be rid of such an unsusceptible creature as that. Now I ask you to pass upon yourselves the same judgment. What do you suppose angels, that have trembled and quivered with ecstatic joy in the presence of God, think when they see how indifferent you are to the Divine love and goodness in which you are perpetually bathed, and by which you are blessed and sustained every moment of your lives? How can they do otherwise than accuse you of monstrous ingratitude and moral insensibility which betokens guilt as well as danger? (H. W. Beecher.)
Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee?–
Gods paternal relation and claim
I. God as the father of His people.
1. He has redeemed them by Christ (1Pe 1:18-19).
2. He is the Author of their spiritual existence (Eph 2:10).
3. He has made paternal provision for them (Php 4:19).
4. He grants parental protection to them (Psa 91:4).
5. He imparts paternal instruction (Isa 54:13).
6. He takes great delight in them (Isa 66:13).
7. He administers fatherly correction (Jer 30:11).
8. He has made paternal provision for them (Psa 31:19).
II. The claims which He has upon His children.
1. He ought to have our highest reverence (Heb 12:28).
2. He ought to have our supreme affection (Deu 6:5).
3. He should possess our unwavering confidence (Isa 12:2).
4. He should have our cheerful obedience (2Co 10:4-6).
5. Our continual gratitude and praise (1Pe 2:9). (T. B. Baker.)
The parental character of God
The term father implies all that is most tender and affectionate. The love of a father is immeasurable. It extends to everything which can affect the welfare of his offspring. Is not God your Father?
1. Did not He create you? Was it not He who, having created you, committed you to the charge of your earthly parents, and disposed their minds to watch with unceasing care over your welfare? Is it not, therefore, in a secondary sense only that we are to ascribe the term of father to our earthly parent, while the primary and full meaning of the word belongs only to our Creator? Let us remember that, in having God for our Father, we possess the highest honour and the noblest privilege which any created beings can enjoy.
2. There is another sense in which the title of Father is justly claimed by God. He is the Father who hath bought us. When I have reflected upon the signal proofs which God has given of His paternal feelings towards us, I have often been surprised that those whose gratitude to their earthly parents is unbounded, should show so little affection to their heavenly Father, and rely so little on His love and mercy.
The reasons of this inconsistency appear to me to be the following.
1. The undue attachment which we are apt to place on objects of sense. We see and converse with an earthly parent, but our bodily senses do not inform us of the presence of God. Yet the proofs of His presence are actually more strong and numerous than those which attest the existence of any material object.
2. Through the weakness of the human understanding we continually entertain an undue estimation of second causes. We do not feel the extent of our obligations to our heavenly Father, because many of the blessings which He bestows are communicated to us by some instrument appointed for that end. It will probably, however, be generally acknowledged, that the character of God is good and gracious. It is in the practical use of such knowledge that we are chiefly apt to fail.
This is, therefore, the end to which I now shall direct your attention.
1. You ought to entertain the highest reverence for His laws. Read the Bible constantly as containing the will of your heavenly Father.
2. This view of the character of God as our Father gives a just idea of the true nature of religion. Religion is the homage which you pay to your heavenly Father. It is the regulation of your lives by His holy Word. It is the enjoyment of the innumerable benefits offered to mankind through His beloved Son. Religion must bear the stamp and character of its Author.
3. Is God our Father? Then we ought to maintain an intercourse with Him by frequent prayer, and to praise Him daily for His innumerable mercies.
4. Is God our Father? Let us then place a generous confidence in Him. (J. Venn, M. A.)
The paternal character of God
I. God as the father of his people.
1. God is the Author of their spiritual existence.
2. He makes paternal provision for His children.
3. He affords parental protection to His children.
4. He imparts paternal instruction.
5. He takes paternal delight in His children.
6. He administers paternal correction to His children.
7. He lays up a paternal provision for His children.
II. The claims which He has upon His children.
1. He ought to receive from us the highest reverence. We should cultivate His fear.
2. He ought to have our supreme affections. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, etc.
3. He should possess our unwavering confidence. Trust in Him at all times.
4. He should have our cheerful obedience. Be ye followers of God as dear children, etc.
5. He shall receive from us our most exalted praises. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Hath bought thee; that hath redeemed and rescued thee from Egyptian bondage.
Made thee, i.e. advanced thee, as that word is used, 1Sa 12:6; Est 6:6; Psa 95:6; 149:2; Isa 43:7. Made thee, not only in a general and common way, by creation or production; but in a peculiar manner, by adoption, or making thee his peculiar people and children.
Established thee, i.e. renewed and confirmed his grace and favour to thee, and not taken it away from thee, which thou hast oft provoked him to do.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. is not he thy father that hathbought theeor emancipated thee from Egyptian bondage.
and made theeadvancedthe nation to unprecedented and peculiar privileges.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise,…. This is also a proper character of the Jews in the times of Christ, who are often by him called “fools”, Mt 23:17; being very ignorant of the Scriptures, and of the prophecies in them respecting him, setting up their own traditions on a level with the word of God, or above it; they were ignorant of the law of God, and the meaning of it; of the righteousness of God, of the righteousness of his nature, and of what the law required, as well as of the righteousness of Christ, and of him as a spiritual Redeemer, and of salvation by him; and a most egregious instance of their folly, and of want of wisdom, was their ingratitude to him, in disesteeming and rejecting him; which is what is here referred to and meant by ill-requiting him, though not expressed till
De 32:15; and a most sad requital of him it was indeed, that he should come to them, his own, in so kind and gracious a manner, and yet be rejected by them; that he should become man, and yet for that reason be charged with blasphemy, for making himself God; horrid ingratitude, to infer the one from the other! and because he appeared as a servant, disowned him as the Son of God; and because he came in the likeness of sinful flesh to take away sin, they traduced him as a sinner:
[is] not he thy Father, [that] hath bought thee? hath he not made thee,
and established thee? Moses, in order to aggravate this their ingratitude, rehearses the various instances of divine goodness to them, from the beginning of them as nation; it was the Lord that was the founder of them as a nation, whose Son, when sent unto them, was rejected by them; it was he that bought them, or redeemed them from Egyptian bondage, that made or formed them into a body politic, or civil commonwealth, that established and settled them in the land of Canaan: this is expressed in general terms; particular instances of the goodness of God to them are after enumerated: or if this is to be understood of Christ himself, who was rejected by them, it is true of some among them, in a spiritual and evangelic sense, and so, by a figure, the whole is put for a part, as sometimes the part is for the whole: Christ, the everlasting Father of the world to come, had many children in the Jewish nation, for whose sake he became incarnate, and whom he came to seek and to save; and whom he “bought” with his precious blood, and whom, by his Spirit and grace, he “made” new creatures, the children of God, kings and priests unto God; and “established” them in the faith of him, and upon him, the sure foundation; or whom he fashioned, beautified, and adorned with his righteousness, and with the graces of his Spirit.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. Do ye thus requite the Lord. In order to expose the ingratitude of the people to greater infamy, he now begins to commemorate the benefits whereby God had laid them under obligation to Himself: for the more liberally God deals with us, the more earnest ought to be the piety awakened in our hearts; nay, His goodness, as soon as we have tasted of it, ought to draw us at once to Him. Now God, although he has been always bountiful towards the whole human race, had, in a peculiar manner showered down an immense abundance of His bounty upon that people; this, then, Moses alleges, and shows how basely ungrateful they had been. He first expostulates with them interrogatively, asking them whether this was a fitting return for God’s especial blessings; and then proceeds to enumerate them. He inquires of them, then, whether God was not their father, from the time when He had honored them with the distinction of His adoption: and under this single head he comprehends many things, because from this source proceeded whatever blessings God had conferred upon them. Not, however, to examine every point with the accuracy it deserves, what more binding obligation could be imagined than that God should have chosen one nation for Himself out of the whole world, whose father He should be by special privilege? For, although all human beings, since they were created in the image of God, are sometimes called His children, still to be accounted His children was the special privilege of the sons of Abraham. And, in order to prove that this was not a natural, but an acquired dignity, Moses immediately afterwards explains in what way God was their Father: viz., that he purchased, made, and prepared them. The foundation and origin, then, was the gratuitous good pleasure of God, when He took them to be His own peculiar people. Elsewhere, indeed, His second purchase of them is mentioned, when He redeemed them from Egypt; here, however, Moses goes back farther, viz., to the covenant made with Abraham, whereby they were separated from other nations, as will presently more clearly appear. I reject, as not in harmony with the context, the translation which some give of the word, קנה, kanah, i.e., to possess. (254)
In the same sense it is added, that they were made by God: which does not. refer to the general creation, but only to the privilege of adoption, whereby they became God’s new work, and in which another form was imparted to them; in which sense also He is called their framer, or Maker. Elsewhere, also, when the Prophet says,
“
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves,” (Psa 100:3,)
he undoubtedly magnifies that special prerogative, whereby God had distinguished the sons of Abraham above all other races. For, since the fall of Adam had brought disgrace upon all his posterity, God restores those, whom He separates as His own, so that their condition may be better than that of all other nations. At the same time it must be remarked, that this grace of renewal is effaced in many who have afterwards profaned it. Consequently the Church is called God’s work and creation, in two senses, i.e., generally with respect to its outward calling, and specially with respect to spiritual regeneration, as far as regards the elect; for the covenant of grace is common to hypocrites and true believers. On this ground all whom God gathers into His Church, are indiscriminately said to be renewed and regenerated: but the internal renovation belongs to believers only; whom Paul, therefore, calls God’s “workmanship, created unto good works, which God hath prepared,” etc. (Eph 2:10.) The same is the tendency of the third word, which may, however, be taken for to “establish;” (255) although I have preferred to follow the more received sense, viz, that God had prepared His people, as the artificer fashions and fits his work.
(254) S. M. has rendered this word possessed. A. V. agrees more nearly with C. in rendering it bought. — W.
(255) So in., which Ainsworth follows; but explains, ”formed, fitted; and ordered, firm and stable, that thou mightest abide in his grace.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6)
It is Jehovah that ye requite thus!
A people foolish and unwise!
Is not He thy Father that hath gotten thee?
He made thee and establisheth thee.
The first line is an exclamatory question. A question and an exclamation have the same name in the Rabbinical writings. Hath gotten in the third line is the same expression which Eve used (in Gen. 4:1) at the birth of Cain, and occurs also in that magnificent saying in the history of Wisdom, Pro. 8:22, The Lord begat me (as) the beginning of his way.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Is not he thy Father that hath bought thee The meaning is, that Jehovah is the one whose peculiar possession Israel had become. Jehovah had redeemed them from Egyptian bondage.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A Series of Questions Is Then Put To Them ( Deu 32:6 ).
Deu 32:6
“Do you (ye) thus requite Yahweh,
O foolish people and unwise?
Is not he your (thy) father who has bought you (thee)?
He has made you (thee), and established you (thee).”
He then faces the people up with their folly and lack of wisdom. Is this really the way that they repay Yahweh for all He has done for them? Do they not recognise that He is their Father (Deu 14:1 compare Exo 4:22) Who has redeemed them (from bondage in Egypt – Deu 7:8; Deu 9:26; Deu 13:5; Deu 15:15; Deu 24:18), and has brought them through the wilderness (Deu 1:31), and has made them into a fruitful and abundant nation, and has shaped them and established them so that they are there ready to possess God’s land and live in it securely?
These are questions that we should put to ourselves. So often we forget that He is our Father, and that what He does is for our good. That is why we so often take little notice of Him and what He requires from our lives.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Reader! suppose you drop the view of Israel for a moment, and fancy this expostulation addressed to yourself, at any time when causing the LORD to serve with your sins, and wearying him with your iniquities. Is not GOD your FATHER by adoption and grace in CHRIST JESUS? Hath he not chosen you in CHRIST; called you in CHRIST; justified you in Christ; fed you, taught you, purchased you, redeemed you, sanctified you; and for which of these acts is it, that a pressing temptation leads you thus to requite him?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 32:6 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?
Ver. 6. Do ye thus requite the Lord? ] Good turns aggravate unkindnesses, and our guilt is increased by our obligations. Solomon’s idolatry was far worse than that of his wives; he had been better bred, and God had appeared to him twice. It is the ingratitude that makes the godly man’s sin so heinous, which otherwise would be far less than other men’s, since his temptations are stronger, and his resistance greater. Hebricians observe, that in Halaihovah there is in the text one greater than ordinary; to show that the wonder was the greater, that they should so evil requite such a Lord, Father, Redeemer, Maker, and Governor, by being so corrupt, perverse, crooked, foolish, and unwise; five opposed to five; being used for the number of five. Hebrew Text Note
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Do . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
requite: Deu 32:18, Isa 1:2, 2Co 5:14, 2Co 5:15, Tit 2:11-14
O foolish: Psa 74:18, Jer 4:22, Jer 5:21, Gal 3:1-3
thy father: Exo 4:22, Isa 63:16, Luk 15:18-20, Joh 8:41, Rom 8:15, Gal 3:26, Gal 4:6, 1Jo 3:1
hath bought: Exo 15:16, Psa 74:2, Isa 43:3, Isa 43:4, Act 20:28, 1Co 6:20, 2Pe 2:1
made thee: Job 10:8, Psa 95:6, Psa 100:3, Psa 149:2, Isa 27:11, Isa 43:7, Isa 44:2
Reciprocal: Deu 9:7 – from the day Deu 32:28 – General 2Sa 16:17 – Is this thy 2Sa 24:10 – foolishly 2Ch 32:25 – rendered Psa 103:2 – forget not Isa 5:2 – he looked Isa 64:8 – thou art Jer 31:9 – for I Eph 2:10 – we are 1Pe 2:15 – foolish
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 32:6. O foolish people and unwise! Fools and double fools! Fools, indeed, to disoblige one on whom you so entirely depend! Who hath bewitched you to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities? Bought thee That hath redeemed thee from Egyptian bondage. Made thee Not only in a general, by creation, but in a peculiar manner, by making thee his peculiar people. Established That is renewed and confirmed his favour to thee, and not taken it away, which thou hast provoked him to do.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
32:6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? [is] not he thy father [that] hath bought thee? hath he not {d} made thee, and established thee?
(d) Not according to the common creation, but he has made you a new creature by his Spirit.