Passage

Deuteronomy 32.8-9

Book: Deuteronomy · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. Do ye thus requite Jehovah, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? He hath made thee, and established thee. 7. Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.

8. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel. 9. For Jehovah's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

He found him in a desert land, And in the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye. 11. As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, That fluttereth over her young, He spread abroad his wings, he took them, He bare them on his pinions. (Deuteronomy 32:6-11, ASV)

WEB

6. Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. 7. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.

8. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. 9. For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. 11. As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. (Deuteronomy 32:6-11, WEB)

KJV

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? 7. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. ^{many: Heb. generation and generation}

8. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9. For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. ^{lot: Heb. cord}

He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. ^{led: or, compassed} 11. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: (Deuteronomy 32:6-11, KJV)

YLT

6. To Jehovah do ye act thus, O people foolish and not wise? Is not He thy father, thy possessor? He made thee, and doth establish thee. 7. Remember days of old, Understand the years of many generations, Ask thy father, and he doth tell thee; Thine elders, and they say to thee:

8. In the Most High causing nations to inherit, In His separating sons of Adam, He setteth up the borders of the peoples By the number of the sons of Israel. 9. For Jehovah's portion [is] His people, Jacob [is] the line of His inheritance.

He findeth him in a land, a desert, And in a void, a howling wilderness, He turneth him round, He causeth him to understand, He keepeth him as the apple of His eye. 11. As an eagle waketh up its nest, Over its young ones fluttereth, Spreadeth its wings, taketh them, Beareth them on its pinions; (Deuteronomy 32:6-11, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Moses, in the Song of Moses
Audience: Israel, on the plains of Moab before the entry into Canaan
Location: the plains of Moab
Time period: traditionally the end of the wilderness period; the Song is widely regarded, including by critical scholars, as containing very old material

Theological reading

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance... he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. This is one of the most consequential textual variants in the Hebrew Bible, and translations differ because the manuscripts differ.

The Masoretic Text reads according to the number of the sons of Israel, bene yisrael. A Qumran manuscript, 4QDeut-j, reads sons of God, and the Septuagint reads angels of God. The critical judgment of most textual scholars is that the shorter and stranger reading, sons of God, is original, and that the Masoretic reading is a later adjustment, since a scribe is far more likely to change sons of God into sons of Israel than the reverse. Several modern translations, including the ESV and NRSV, print the Qumran and Septuagint reading in the text. This is a case where the codex follows the manuscript evidence rather than the traditional text.

The reading matters because of what verse 9 then does. If the nations were apportioned to divine beings while the LORD's own portion is Jacob, the passage sets up a structure in which other nations are placed under subordinate powers and Israel is retained directly. That structure is what the Divine Council material draws on, and it is echoed when Paul says that what the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and when Deuteronomy 32:17 says they sacrificed to demons which were not God.

The passage does not teach polytheism, and reading it that way ignores the frame. The Song is a sustained argument that the LORD alone is God and that there is no god with him, stated flatly at verse 39. Whatever the bene elohim are, the Song places them under the Most High who apportions, not alongside him.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H0120 - adam, adam, Strong's H0120
H1121 - ben, ben, Strong's H1121
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Passages:

Psalms 82

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.