Deut. 32:19-25 And Yahweh Will See And He Will Spurn Them - 2025-11-03 - Initial Draft Podcast

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Transcript

Welcome to the InAllWisdom Podcast,
A daily podcast dedicated to wisdom for life.
I am Jim Donnelly, your host.
 
The title of today’s podcast is: 
And Yahweh Will See And He Will Spurn Them

You will learn that Yahweh will grieve. Yahweh will experience marital loss. Yahweh will have his hopes destroyed. Stay tuned; you will not be disappointed.

For each podcast about the song of Moses, I read a single stanza or two, a paragraph, short or long. Every paragraph in this song contains strophes, or turns of thought in the conversation. 

These turns and twists of thought provide my podcast titles.   

Reading a paragraph, long or short, will help many readers who may know nothing about this song.  
And others who know some things will better understand this song. 

I use a different translation each month. 

This will help us hear and better understand one of the longest songs in the Bible.  

This song should bring the reader to a knowledge and understanding 

of what God has already done, is doing now, and will continue to do, 

until He returns on the clouds of the sky.

Let’s continue to learn some things about the song of Moses 

by considering Stanzas Six and Seven, Deuteronomy 32:19-25.

Today, November 3, 2025, I am reading from the Contemporary Torah, 2006, 
The Jewish Publication Society. 

This edition prints out the verses in half-lines, half-sentences. 

Deuteronomy 32:19-25

19 יהוה
saw and was vexed
And spurned these sons and daughters.
20 [God] said: I will hide My countenance from them,
And see how they fare in the end.
For they are a treacherous breed,
Children with no loyalty in them.

21 They incensed Me with no-gods,
Vexed Me with their futilities;*
I’ll incense them with a no-folk,
Vex them with a nation of fools.

22 For a fire has flared in My wrath
And burned to the bottom of Sheol,
Has consumed the earth and its increase,
Eaten down to the base of the hills.

23 I will sweep misfortunes on them,
Use up My arrows on them:
24 Wasting famine, ravaging plague,
Deadly pestilence, and fanged beasts
Will I let loose against them,
With venomous creepers in dust.

25 The sword shall deal death without,
As shall the terror within,
To youth and maiden alike,
The suckling as well as the aged. 

The Contemporary Torah, 2006, The Jewish Publication Society

Deuteronomy 32:19-25, Stanzas Six and Seven, contain five strophes [turns or twists of thought]:   
32:19-20      - Thought 1 - Yahweh will see and He will spurn them  
32:21    - Thought 2 - They will incense Me with no-gods 
32:22    - Thought 3 - For a fire has flared in My wrath  
32:23-24    - Thought 4 - I will sweep misfortunes on them   
32:25    - Thought 5 - The sword shall deal without and terror within



And Yahweh Will See And He Will Spurn Them - Deuteronomy 32:19a

וַיַּ֥רְא יְהוָ֖ה 
וַיִּנְאָ֑ץ
wa=yïrʾ YHWH
wa=yinʾaṣ 

A Hebrew word search 

yields the following list of key passages 

of the Hebrew Bible.  

Establishing the setting, and 

the background.

Giving the reader a good understanding 


Don’t know Hebrew, Not to worry.

Just focus on the English.

Especially the bold text. 

And you will arrive at a good understanding of Deuteronomy 32:19-25.

1.  Gen 6:5וַיַּ֣רְא יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכָל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבֹּ֔ו רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כָּל־הַיֹּֽום׃

Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

2.  Gen 29:31וַיַּ֤רְא יְהוָה֙ כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָ֣ה לֵאָ֔ה וַיִּפְתַּ֖ח אֶת־רַחְמָ֑הּ וְרָחֵ֖ל עֲקָרָֽה׃

And Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

3.  Exodus 3: 4 וַיַּ֥רְא יְהוָ֖ה כִּ֣י סָ֣ר לִרְאֹ֑ות וַיִּקְרָא֩ אֵלָ֨יו אֱלֹהִ֜ים מִתֹּ֣וךְ הַסְּנֶ֗ה וַיֹּ֛אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֥ה מֹשֶׁ֖ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃

And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to look, so God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

4.  Deut 32:19וַיַּ֥רְא יְהוָ֖ה וַיִּנְאָ֑ץ מִכַּ֥עַס בָּנָ֖יו וּבְנֹתָֽיו׃

And Yahweh saw this and spurned them because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.


Notice that our passage Deut. 32:19 is last on the list 

Showing that the three previous occurrences inform the Song of Moses.

And Yahweh Will See   - Deuteronomy 32:19a
“And Yahweh will see” first points back to Genesis 6:1-9. 
It is a very sad, grievous situation, early in the Book of Genesis: “Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The very forming of the thoughts of man was only evil all day long. 

“And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (Gen 6:6, LSB). 
“And Yahweh said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.” (Ge 6:7–8, LSB). 
“And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.” (Ge 6:12, LSB).

In the setting of Genesis chapter six, “corrupt” translates the same Hebrew word used later in the Song of Moses: “They have acted corruptly toward Him.”

What Will Yahweh See?

Deut 32:15 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—
You grew fat, thick, and sleek—
Then he abandoned God who made him, 
And treated the Rock of his salvation with wicked foolishness. 
16 “They made Him jealous with strange gods; 
With abominations they provoked Him to anger. 
17 “They sacrificed to demons who were not God, 
To gods whom they have not known, 
New gods who came lately, 
Whom your fathers did not dread. 
18 “You neglected the Rock who begot you, 
And forgot the God who brought you forth.” (Dt 32:15–18, LSB). 

What Will Yahweh Do?

And He Will Spurn Them - Deuteronomy 32:19b

Definitions for Spurned

Adjective
rebuffed (by a lover) without warning;
jilted at the altar

D.I. Block picks up on the marital rebuff: 
“[regarding] The Preamble to Israel’s National Anthem (31:16–22) On first sight, verses 16–22 seem unrelated to the induction of Joshua. Here Yahweh introduces the Song (preserved in chap. 32) with a speech predicting Israel’s future apostasy (vv. 16–18) and describing his answer to the crisis this will create (vv. 19–21).

The problem: Israel’s apparently inevitable apostasy (vv. 16–18). Beginning abruptly by announcing Moses’ imminent death, Yahweh describes the consequences of this event as a chain of actions and responses… Yahweh describes the Israelites’ anticipated response to Moses’ departure with four verbs: (1) They will “rise” (untrans. in NIV) in rebellion against Yahweh; (2) they will “prostitute themselves” to foreign gods of the land they are entering (cf. Ex. 34:15–16); (3) they will “forsake” Yahweh (cf. 29:25[24]); and (4) they will “break the covenant.”

It is fitting that Yahweh should speak of Israel’s infidelity as “prostitution,” since his relationship with Israel is portrayed in marital terms, and his jealousy/passion is kindled whenever his people flirt with other gods. Furthermore, the gods competing for the people’s allegiance are lusty fertility gods, who will seduce the Israelites with promises of prosperity and security…  Yahweh chose the covenant partner, he set the terms and graciously revealed them to his people, he graciously announced the consequences of fidelity/infidelity.

The three expressions Yahweh uses to describe his response to Israel’s apostasy reflect the intensity of his rage (v. 17a). While Moses had spoken earlier of Yahweh’s anger and his abandonment of his people, the idiom “to hide the face”35 occurs here for the first time. The expression signifies the withdrawal of favor. In ancient courtly contexts, for a king to turn his face from a subject signaled disaster,37 though the idiom was often applied to gods as well.

As in extrabiblical texts, when a deity hid his face the effects were devastating (v. 17b). Yahweh speaks of the resultant “disasters” and “difficulties” as carnivorous beasts that seek and devour prey. To the disasters the people will respond with a curious rhetorical question: “Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us? ”


We have come to the end of today’s InAllWisdom Podcast. A daily podcast dedicated to wisdom for life. 

Thank you for listening! 

Please join me again for another interesting episode of Wisdom for Life.

Until he comes on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, 
may
“Yahweh bless you, and keep you;
Yahweh make His face shine on you, 
And be gracious to you; 
Yahweh lift up His face on you, 
And give you peace.’”  

 Legacy Standard Bible (The Book of Numbers, 6:24–27, LSB).