Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
Parallel Translations
-
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
-
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
-
Vengeance is Mine, and recompense, against the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 32:35 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 12:19 Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Nahum 1:2 Yahweh is a jealous God and avenges. Yahweh avenges and is full of wrath. Yahweh takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he maintains wrath against his enemies.
- Hebrews 10:30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me;” says the Lord, “I will repay.” Again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
- Psalms 73:17-19 until I entered God’s sanctuary, and considered their latter end. Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
- 2 Peter 2:3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
- Deuteronomy 32:43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.
- Psalms 94:1 Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs, you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
- Jeremiah 23:12 Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness. They will be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh.
- Nahum 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken apart by him.
- 2 Peter 3:8-10 But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Ezekiel 7:8-9 Now I will shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways. I will bring on you all your abominations. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways. Your abominations will be among you. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, strike.
- Luke 18:7-8 Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them? I tell you that he will avenge them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
- Jeremiah 6:21 Therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together will stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend will perish.”
- Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it deep darkness.
- Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
- 1 Peter 2:8 and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
- Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.
- Isaiah 5:19 who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!”
- Isaiah 8:15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
- Isaiah 30:12-13 Therefore the Holy One of Israel says, “Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
- Isaiah 60:22 The little one will become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, Yahweh, will do this quickly in its time.”
- Romans 13:4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 32:35 To me [belongeth] vengeance, and recompence; their…
Deu 32:35 To me [belongeth] vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in [due] time: for the day of their calamity [is] at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Ver. 35. To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.] The Hebrew word for vengeance, זהם, signifies comfort also; for God will be comforted in the execution of his wrath. {Eze 5:13} {See Trapp on "Deu 28:63"} He shows such severity sometimes as if he had blotted that out of his title, {Exo 34:6} and now took up that Emperor’s motto, Fiat iustitia, pereat mundus.
Read full note →
Their foot shall slide in due time.] "They are set in slippery places"; {Psa 73:18} they ever walk as upon a mine of gunpowder ready to be blown up: Nemo crimen gerit in pectore, qui non idem Nemesin in tergo. Nemesis dicitur Aδραστεια, quod ουκ αν τις αυτην αποδρασαιτο. God’s wrath is such, as none can avert or avoid.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain It is my office to punish sin, and therefore…
It is my office to punish sin, and therefore as I know their sins, so I will assuredly punish them. Their feet shall slide; they who now think they stand fast and unmovable, they shall fall into utter destruction.
In due time; though not so soon as some may expect it, yet in that time when it shall be most proper and seasonable, when they have filled up the measure of their sins. This due time may be the same with that fulness of time, Gal 4:4, when Christ came into the world, whom this people by wicked hands crucified and slew, Act 2:23, for which wrath came upon them to the uttermost, 1Th 2:15,16.
Read full note →
Is at hand, Heb. is near. So the Scripture oft speaks of those things which are at many hundred years’ distance, to meet with objections arising in men’s minds from the delays of them, and to signify, that though they may be afar off as to our measures of time and expectation of the things, yet in God’s account they are near, they are as near as may be; as soon as ever the fit and the full time is come, they come instantly, they are nearer than sinners would have them; when the measure of their sins is once full, the judgment shall not be deferred.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For the Lord shall judge his people,.... The true…
For the Lord shall judge his people,.... The true church and members of it, in opposition to the false and apostate church; his chosen and covenant people, whom he gave to Christ, and who are redeemed by his blood, and effectually called by his grace; the people he shall call out of Babylon, or preserve from the corruptions of it before its fall; and who are the objects of his love and delight; a distinct, peculiar, and special people, near unto him, and all righteous: these he will judge at this time, distinguish between them and the followers of antichrist; he will take their cause in hand, and plead it, and do justice to them; he will right their wrongs and injuries, and take vengeance on their enemies; he will protect and defend them, reign and rule over them. Now will be the time, when the witnesses slain are raised, that he will take to himself his great power and reign, and the time of the dead when they will be judged, and a reward given to his servants and prophets, to his saints, and all that fear his name; and when he will destroy them that have destroyed the earth, Rev 11:17; so the Targum of Jonathan interprets this of the word of the Lord that shall judge his people in mercy:
and repent himself for his servants; by whom are meant not only the ministers of the Gospel, his witnesses that prophesy in sackcloth, and who will be slain when they have finished their testimony; but all that are effectually called by grace, who though they have been the servants of sin, and the vassals of Satan, yet by the grace of God become the servants of God and of righteousness; dislike and cast off their old masters; readily, willingly, and cheerfully, take upon them the yoke of Christ, and freely obey him, constrained by his love, and influenced by views of interest in him: and so serve him without any selfish views, owning that, when they have done all they can, they are but unprofitable servants: now for or on account of these he will repent himself, because of the evils he has suffered to come upon them, being moved with pity, and compassion to them in their miserable circumstances, as they will be in when the witnesses his servants will be slain; not that, properly speaking, repentance is in God; he never changes his mind, counsel, and purposes; he never alters his love, his choice, nor his covenant; or repents of his gifts, and calling of special grace; though he is sometimes said to repent of outward good things he has bestowed, or promised to bestow conditionality; and of evils he has threatened or inflicted; yet this is only to be understood of a change of his outward dealings and dispensations with men, according to his changeable will; and this will be the case now with respect to his servants, whom he will have suffered to be slain, and lie unburied; but repenting or changing his manner of conduct to them will revive them, and cause them to ascend to heaven; see Rev 11:11,
Read full note →
when he seeth that their power is gone; not the hand and power of the enemy, going and prevailing over them, and strong upon them, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi; but rather the hand and power of the righteous, as the Targum of Jerusalem; and respects not their internal power and strength, which they have not in themselves, but in Christ; though the exertion of that power, and the exercise of their graces, as faith, and hope, and love, will be greatly declined; but their external power, and protection which they had from Protestant princes; they being removed, and others not like them succeeding, or apostatizing to the church of Rome: the outward court or national establishments are a fence and protection to the inward court worshippers, or servants of God; when that shall be given to the Gentiles, the Papists, as it will, Rev 11:2; the power or hand, the protecting sheltering hand of the saints, will be gone, and they will become a prey to their adversaries:
and there is none shut up or left; a phrase used to express the miserable state and condition of a people, when none are left, but all are carried off, or cut off, and destroyed, and there is none to help them; see Kg1 14:10; when there are none shut up in garrisons, and left there to defend a people; or there are none shut up in prison, or any left to till the ground; which is sometimes the case when a nation is conquered, and the greater part are carried captives; but it denotes such a general destruction, that there are none remaining any where, and thus it will be at the slaying of the witnesses. This passage has respect to their dead bodies, which will not be shut up in graves, nor any left to bury them, Rev 11:9. There will scarcely be a professor of religion, or any that will appear to favour the witnesses slain in any respect; there will be"none to support and uphold,''as the Targum of Jerusalem; not to support and uphold the true religion, or to help the people of God in these their distresses: and when the Lord shall see all this, he will look upon them with an eye of pity and compassion; he will repent for his servants, according to the multitude of his tender mercies; and will plead their cause, and judge them, and will put on the garments of vengeance, and repay fury and recompense to his and their enemies, Isa 59:15; who will insultingly say as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Their feet shall slide - They who now think…
Their feet shall slide - They who now think they stand fast and unmoveable, shall fall into utter destruction. In due time - Though not so soon as some may expect, yet in that time when it shall be most proper, when they have filled up the measure of their sins. At hand - Hebrew. is near. So the scripture often speaks of those things which are at many hundred years distance, to signify, that though they may be afar off as to our measures of time, yet in God's account they are near, they are as near as may be, when the measure of their sins is once full, the judgment shall not be deferred.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 35. Their foot shall slide in due time,…
Verse 35. Their foot shall slide in due time, &c.] But Calmet thinks that this verse is spoken against the Canaanites, the enemies of the Jewish people.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 32:35. To me belongeth vengeance — As the…
Deu 32:35. To me belongeth vengeance — As the supreme Lord and Judge of the world, whose power no force can resist, from whose knowledge no secret can be concealed, and from whose justice no art can escape. Their feet shall slide — Though they think themselves immoveably fixed in their power and prosperity, they shall certainly be visited with national judgments, and overthrown. In due time — Though not so soon as some may expect, yet in that time when it shall be thought most proper, when they have filled up the measure of their sins. At hand — Hebrew, is near. So the Scripture often speaks of those things which are at many hundred years’ distance, to signify, that though they may be afar off as to our measures of time, yet in God’s account they are near, they are as near as may be; when the measure of their sins is once full, the judgment shall not be deferred.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Time. Men are eager to punish their enemies, for…
Time. Men are eager to punish their enemies, for fear lest they should escape. But God defers his chastisements frequently in this world, designing to make his enemies feel the weight of his indignation for all eternity. How consoling it is for the just, to think they have God for an avenger! "If thou, says Tertullian, remit the injury, which thou hast received, into his hands, he is the avenger....How much ought patience to endure, in order to make God a debtor." Adeo satisidoneus patientiæ sequester Deus. --- That. Septuagint, "when" (Calmet) they shall fall and come to ruin. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 35. To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot…
35. To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time — More literally, vengeance and retribution is mine when their foot shall shake. “The shaking of the foot is a figure representing the commencement of a fall or of stumbling.” — Keil. Comp. Psa_38:16; Psa_94:18. The first part of this verse is quoted in Rom_12:19, and Heb_10:30. It is to be impressed upon the nation that when disasters come to them they are not fortuitous, but inflicted by Jehovah as the punishment for their sins.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 35. Mine are vengeance, etc.] Sam. and LXX read…
35. Mine are vengeance, etc.] Sam. and LXX read for the day of vengeance, etc.; and perhaps rightly, see Ginsburg, Intr. p. 168. Here intended as an assurance to Israel, but in Rom_12:19 as a warning against undertaking revenge oneself, cp. Heb_10:30.
day of their disaster] Jer_18:17; Jer_46:21, Oba_1:13, Psa_18:18 (19).
Read full note →
things destined for them] A late expression.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (35) To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence.—In the Epistle…
(35) To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence.—In the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb_10:30) this sentence is quoted with the first clause of Deu_32:36, “For we know Him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith the Lord.” And so in Rom_12:19.
Their foot shall slide in due time.—Rather, for the time when their foot shall slide.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Render: Vengeance is mine, and retribution for the time…
Render: Vengeance is mine, and retribution for the time when their feet shall totter; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and that which is prepared for them maketh haste. The tottering of the feet represents the incipient fall. God would manifest himself as the Avenger when their calamity began to come upon them.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Their foot shall slide in due time.
Deu_32:35
Their foot shall slide in due time.
Read full note →
The awakening of sinners
This is the culmination of the most dreadful denunciation of sinners to be found in the Bible.
I. The insecurity of the sinner.
A sense of sin and impending punishment is ever present in mans heart. Heathen nations of the old and of the new world recognised it, and established forms of religious worship in order to avoid it, But the Bible makes assurance doubly sure, and issues solemn warnings of the fact.
II. The certainty of the result. Human life knows no such thing as remaining in one place. Man is ever going forward or backward--which depends upon himself. Men shut their eyes and fancy themselves secure, None plunge headlong into the extremities of sin at once. Nearly everyone can recollect the first falsehood, the first profane word, the first dishonest act, after they have reached depths of depravity of which they never dreamed. They took the devil for their master, and he presses them hard at every turn. The down-slide is governed by an inexorable law.
III. Consider where they are sliding. Away from virtue, away from peace, away from good company, away from God! Men watch the downward progress of the drunkard with pity and disgust. The wilful wrecking of all that is noble in man seems incomprehensible. (J. O. Peck, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses speaks a poetic song to the people of Israel. This is the end of Moses's quotation of Yahweh's words that begins in Deuteronomy 32:20. (See: Parallelism)
Read full note →
Vengeance is mine to give, and recompense
The words "vengeance" and "recompense" mean basically the same thing. AT: "I will have vengeance and punish Israel's enemies" (See: Doublet)
recompense
to punish or reward a person for what he has done
their foot slips
Something bad has happened to them. AT: "they are helpless" (See: Idiom)
the day of disaster for them
"the time for me to destroy them"
the things that are to come on them will hurry to happen
Yahweh speaks of the bad things that will happen to his enemies as if the bad things were people running eagerly to punish them. AT: "I will punish them quickly" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
avenge
time
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.