Deuteronomy 32:40

For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(40, 41) For I lift up my hand.—This is the form in taking an oath. (Comp. Revelation 10:5.) The two verses may be connected thus: “For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, As I live for ever, if I whet my lightning sword, and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and repay them that hate me.”

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 32:40-42. I lift up my hand to heaven — I solemnly swear I will do what here follows. It was the custom to stretch out the hand in swearing, Genesis 14:22. And say, I live for ever — As surely as I live for ever, I will whet my sword, &c. If I whet — If once I begin to prepare for war, and for the execution of my sentence. Mine hand take hold on judgment — The instruments of judgments, the weapons of war. A metaphor from warriors that take their weapons into their hands when they intend to fight. Glittering sword — Hebrew, the lightning of my sword. A similitude which shows God’s judgments to be swift, powerful, and terrible, Ezekiel 21:10; Zechariah 9:14. I will render vengeance to mine enemies — No power shall be able to stop or hinder my proceedings. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood — I will execute vengeance upon them to the full. A strong poetical figure, implying the abundance of blood that should be shed. The blood — of the captives — Whom my sword hath sorely wounded, though not utterly killed. The beginning of revenges — When once I begin to revenge myself and people upon mine and their enemies, and will go on and make a full end.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

32:39-43 This conclusion of the song speaks, 1. Glory to God. No escape can be made from his power. 2. It speaks terror to his enemies. Terror indeed to those who hate him. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against them. 3. It speaks comfort to his own people. The song concludes with words of joy. Whatever judgments are brought upon sinners, it shall go well with the people of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Render: For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, As I live forever, if I whet, etc. On Deuteronomy 32:40, in which God is described as swearing by Himself, compare Isaiah 45:23; Jeremiah 22:5; Hebrews 6:17. The lifting up of the hand was a gesture used in making oath (compare Genesis 14:22; Revelation 10:5).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

32. vine of Sodom … grapes of gall—This fruit, which the Arabs call "Lot's Sea Orange," is of a bright yellow color and grows in clusters of three or four. When mellow, it is tempting in appearance, but on being struck, explodes like a puffball, consisting of skin and fiber only.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I lift up my hand to heaven, i.e. I solemnly swear that I will do what here follows, that as I will deliver my people, so I will fully avenge myself upon all mine enemies, whom I have used as rods to scourge my people.

I live for ever, i.e. As sure as I live. Compare Jeremiah 4:2 Hebrews 6:13 Revelation 10:5,6.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For I lift up my hand to heaven,.... Which is a gesture used in swearing, Genesis 14:22, and is ascribed to a divine Person, Ezekiel 20:5; and particularly to Christ the angel, that is so wonderfully described, Revelation 10:1; though sometimes it is used, as Aben Ezra observes, to excite the attention of hearers, but here it signifies swearing; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,"I have lift up my hands with an oath to heaven;''and to the same sense is the Septuagint version:

and say, I live for ever; which is the form of an oath; when men swear, they are to swear, the Lord liveth, or to swear by the living God, and him only, Jeremiah 4:2; and when the Lord swears in this manner, he swears by his life, by himself, because he can swear by no greater; and his form of swearing is, "as truly as I live, saith the Lord", Numbers 14:21; so the above angel is said to swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, Revelation 10:6; and since Christ is the living God, without beginning of days, and end of life, and lives for evermore, he may be thought to swear by himself, by his own life, which is for ever; and as the oath of the Lord is used in condescension by him, to confirm the faith of his people in the immutability of his counsel and promises, and to ascertain unto them the sure performance of them; so it is also used to assure wicked men of the certain performance of his threatenings; and it is as if Christ here said, as sure as I am the living God, and do and shall live for ever, I will most certainly do the things which next follow.

Geneva Study Bible

For I {t} lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

(t) That is, I swear, read Ge 14:22.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

40. lift up, etc.] Cp. Genesis 14:22, Exodus 6:8, Numbers 14:30 and many instances in Ezekiel.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 40, 41. - These verses should be read continuously: For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, As I live forever, if I whet my glittering sword, and if my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, etc. Lifting up the hand to heaven was a gesture intended to express that the person taking an oath appealed to God as a witness of his oath, and who would perish for falsehood (cf. Genesis 14:22); and "as the Lord liveth" was a common formula in taking an oath (cf. Numbers 14:21; 1 Samuel 14:39, 45; Jeremiah 5:2). As God could swear by none greater, he swore by himself (cf. Exodus 6:8; Numbers 14:30; Isaiah 45:23; Jeremiah 22:5; Hebrews 6:17), that if he did come forth to avenge himself of his enemies, he would not spare, but would do thoroughly what he had come forth to do. - Glittering sword; literally, lightning of sword (cf. Ezekiel 21:10 [15]). Deuteronomy 32:40

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Lord will show Himself as the only true God, who slays and makes alive, etc. He will take vengeance upon His enemies, avenge the blood of His servants, and expiate His land, His people. With this promise, which is full of comfort for all the servants of the Lord, the ode concludes. "For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, As truly as I live for ever, if I have sharpened My flashing sword, and My hand grasps for judgment, I will repay vengeance to My adversaries, and requite My haters. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword will eat flesh; with the blood of the slain and prisoners, with the hairy head of the foe." Lifting up the hand to heaven was a gesture by which a person taking an oath invoked God, who is enthroned in heaven, as a witness of the truth and an avenger of falsehood (Genesis 14:22). Here, as in Exodus 6:8 and Numbers 14:30, it is used anthropomorphically of God, who is in heaven, and can swear by no greater than Himself (vid., Isaiah 45:23; Jeremiah 22:5; Hebrews 6:17). The oath follows in Deuteronomy 32:41 and Deuteronomy 32:42. אם, however, is not the particle employed in swearing, which has a negative meaning (vid., Genesis 14:23), but is conditional, and introduces the protasis. As the avenger of His people upon their foes, the Lord is represented as a warlike hero, who whets His sword, and has a quiver filled with arrows (as in Psalm 7:13). "As long as the Church has to make war upon the world, the flesh, and the devil, it needs a warlike head" (Schultz). חרב בּרק, the flash of the sword, i.e., the flashing sword (vid., Genesis 3:24; Nahum 3:3; Habakkuk 3:11). In the next clause, "and My hand grasps judgment," mishpat (judgment) does not mean punishment or destruction hurled by God upon His foes, nor the weapons employed in the execution of judgment, but judgment is introduced poetically as the thing which God takes in hand for the purpose of carrying it out. נקם השׁיב, to lead back vengeance, i.e., to repay it. Punishment is retribution for evil done. By the enemies and haters of Jehovah, we need not understand simply the heathen enemies of the Israelites, for the ungodly in Israel were enemies of God quite as much as the ungodly heathen. If it is evident from Deuteronomy 32:25-27, where God is spoken of as punishing Israel to the utmost when it had fallen into idolatry, but not utterly destroying it, that the punishment which God would inflict would also fall upon the heathen, who would have made an end of Israel; it is no less apparent from Deuteronomy 32:37 and Deuteronomy 32:38, especially from the appeal in Deuteronomy 32:38, Let your idols arise and help you (Deuteronomy 32:38), which is addressed, as all admit, to the idolatrous Israelites, and not to the heathen, that those Israelites who had made worthless idols their rock would be exposed to the vengeance and retribution of the Lord. In Deuteronomy 32:42 the figure of the warrior is revived, and the judgment of God is carried out still further under this figure. Of the four different clauses in this verse, the third is related to the first, and the fourth to the second. God would make His arrows drunk with the blood not only of the slain, but also of the captives, whose lives are generally spared, but were not to be spared in this judgment. This sword would eat flesh of the hairy head of the foe. The edge of the sword is represented poetically as the mouth with which it eats (2 Samuel 2:26; 2 Samuel 18:8, etc.); "the sword is said to devour bodies when it slays them by piercing" (Ges. thes. p. 1088). פּרעות, from פּרע, a luxuriant, uncut growth of hair (Numbers 6:5; see at Leviticus 10:6). The hairy head is not a figure used to denote the "wild and cruel foe" (Knobel), but a luxuriant abundance of strength, and the indomitable pride of the foe, who had grown fat and forgotten his Creator (Deuteronomy 32:15). This explanation is confirmed by Psalm 68:22; whereas the rendering ἄρχοντες, princes, leaders, which is given in the Septuagint, has no foundation in the language itself, and no tenable support in Judges 5:2.