Passage

Deuteronomy 32.39

Book: Deuteronomy · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

37. And he will say, Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge; 38. Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink-offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection.

39. See now that I, even I, am he, And there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

For I lift up my hand to heaven, And say, As I live for ever, 41. If I whet my glittering sword, And my hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, And will recompense them that hate me. (Deuteronomy 32:37-41, ASV)

WEB

37. He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge; 38. which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection.

39. “See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand.

For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever, 41. if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me. (Deuteronomy 32:37-41, WEB)

KJV

37. And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, 38. Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. ^{your: Heb. an hiding for you}

39. See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 41. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. (Deuteronomy 32:37-41, KJV)

YLT

37. And He hath said, Where [are] their gods, The rock in which they trusted; 38. Which the fat of their sacrifices do eat, They drink the wine of their libation! Let them arise and help you, Let it be for you a hiding-place!

39. See ye, now, that I, I [am] He, And there is no god with Me: I put to death, and I keep alive; I have smitten, and I heal; And there is not from My hand a deliverer,

For I lift up unto the heavens My hand, And have said, I live, to the age! 41. If I have sharpened the brightness of My sword, And My hand doth lay hold on judgment, I turn back vengeance to Mine adversaries, And to those hating Me, I repay! (Deuteronomy 32:37-41, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Jehovah, speaking in the first person (from 32:37) within the Song of Moses (32:1-43), which Moses recites to Israel (31:30; 32:44)
Audience: "all the assembly of Israel" (31:30)
Location: the land of Moab, east of the Jordan, before the entry into Canaan (1:5)
Time period: the fortieth year after the exodus (1:3), shortly before Moses' death (32:48-52). Conservative dates place this in the late fifteenth or the thirteenth century BC; critical scholars date the book's composition much later, while many treat the Song as an older poem.

Theological reading

"See now that I, even I, am he, And there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; And there is none that can deliver out of my hand." This is the climax of the Song. God has just mocked the gods Israel turned to: "Where are their gods, The rock in which they took refuge ... Let them rise up and help you" (32:37-38). Now he answers his own taunt.

"I, even I, am he." The Hebrew is ani ani hu, "I, I am he." The shorter ani hu, "I am he," becomes a signature of God's speech in Isaiah: "I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he" (Isaiah 41:4; compare 43:10; 46:4). The Greek Old Testament renders the phrase here, as in those Isaiah sayings, with ego eimi.

"No god with me." "God" here is elohim (Strong's H430). The Song has already said what Israel's rival gods are: "demons, which were no God" (32:17), "that which is not God" (32:21). They cannot help those who trusted them (32:38). The God who speaks holds life and death ("I kill," H4191; "I make alive," H2421), wounding and healing (H4272, H7495), and no one can deliver (H5337) out of his hand (H3027). Hannah's song says the same: "Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive" (1 Samuel 2:6).

The divine council question. Earlier in the same Song, at 32:8, a Dead Sea Scroll reads "sons of God" and the Greek Old Testament "angels of God" where the Masoretic text has "children of Israel," and some scholars, such as Michael Heiser, read the Song against a background of lesser heavenly beings. Whatever is made of that verse, this one leaves none of them standing as a partner: there is "no god with me," none who shares the power to kill and make alive. See Elohim Is a Divine Council Objection Defeater and Monotheism.

Against many gods. Latter-day Saint theology allows for many exalted beings who are gods, and Latter-day Saint writers often read texts like this one as concerning which God we worship. The speaker's claim is wider than worship: he looks at reality and says there is no god with him. That is why Mormonism vs the Christian God sets this verse beside Isaiah 44:8, "Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no Rock; I know not any."

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.

H4191 - mut, mut, Strong's H4191
H0430 - elohim, elohim, Strong's H0430

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

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.