Deuteronomy 32:26 — Word Study
WLCאָמַ֖רְתִּי אַפְאֵיהֶ֑ם אַשְׁבִּ֥יתָה מֵאֱנ֖וֹשׁ זִכְרָֽם׃
BSAI would have said thatʼâmar■ [declared, spoken] I would cut them to piecespâʼâh△ [scatter them into corners, blow them away, into fragments, afar] and blot outshâbath [cause to cease, make disappear] their memoryzêker [remembrance, memorial] from mankindʼĕnôwsh [human, among men, from among human beings]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| אָמַ֖רְתִּי | I said | Verb, Qal, perfect first person common singular |
| אַפְאֵיהֶ֑ם | I will cut in pieces them | Verb hiphil imperfect first person common singular, suffix |
| אַשְׁבִּ֥יתָה | I will make cease | Verb, Hiphil, infinitive construct first person common singular |
| מֵאֱנ֖וֹשׁ | from humankind | Preposition, noun common masculine singular absolute |
| זִכְרָֽם׃ | memory their | Noun common masculine singular construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind, |
| KJV | I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: |
| ASV | I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men; |
| YLT | I have said: I blow them away, I cause their remembrance to cease from man; |
| WEB | I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; |
| BBE | I said I would send them wandering far away, I would make all memory of them go from the minds of men: |
Where they part company is אַפְאֵיהֶם — see How Translations Differ.
The main clause is followed by two phrases that elaborate on the intended actions, highlighting the gravity of the statement.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
verbאָמַר
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 5 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Deuteronomy 32:26
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Song of Mosesgenerated
Deuteronomy 32:26 is part of Moses' song, where he reflects on the consequences of Israel's disobedience to God. The surrounding verses describe the impending judgment and the devastation that will come upon the nation due to their unfaithfulness. This passage serves as a warning and a reminder of God's justice and the seriousness of turning away from Him.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deuteronomy 28:25–37 | The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. |
| 2 | Leviticus 26:33–38 | But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste. |
| 3 | Isaiah 63:16 | Yet You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father; our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name. |
| 4 | Luke 21:24 | They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — אָמַ֖רְתִּי, 'a.Mar.tigenerated
The verb אָמַר (amar) is a perfect tense form meaning 'I said' or 'I declared'. It emphasizes the act of speaking with authority and intention. The use of the first person singular indicates that the speaker is expressing a personal resolve or declaration.
This word appears frequently in the Hebrew Bible, often in contexts where commands, promises, or significant statements are made, highlighting its importance in conveying God's messages.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
Translations generally agree on the meaning of the verse.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main verb is אָמַ֖רְתִּי, I said, which governs the entire clause. It is followed by a series of phrases that detail what the speaker intends to do: to cut them to pieces and to blot out their memory.
The structure places emphasis on the speaker's declaration and the severity of the intended actions, illustrating a clear cause-and-effect relationship in the consequences of disobedience.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates אָמַ֖רְתִּי as εἶπα, meaning 'I said'. This choice aligns closely with the Hebrew, maintaining the authoritative tone of the declaration.
For אַפְאֵיהֶם, the LXX uses αὐτούς, which translates to 'them'. This reflects a direct rendering of the Hebrew intent but does not capture the imagery of scattering.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Deuteronomy 32:26 expresses God's intention to destroy a rebellious people and erase their memory from existence. This verse is part of a larger song by Moses, reflecting on Israel's disobedience and the consequences that follow.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
This phrase indicates a desire for complete destruction, symbolizing the severity of God's judgment against unfaithfulness.
Memory signifies the legacy of a people. To blot it out means to erase their existence and impact from history.
This verse is part of a song that warns Israel about the consequences of their disobedience and serves as a reminder of God's justice.
It shows God's holiness and the seriousness with which He views rebellion against His commandments.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What does this verse teach about the consequences of disobedience?
- In what ways can I ensure that I remember God's commands in my life?
- How does understanding God's judgment influence my relationship with Him?
- What actions can I take to avoid the fate described in this verse?
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Deuteronomy 32:26 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleI said,.... Or could have said, or might have said; that is, determined and resolved, as it was in his power, and in right and justice might have done what follows: I would scatter them into corners;
Read John Gill on Deuteronomy 32 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryI said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men: I said, I would scatter them.
Read Robert Jamieson on Deuteronomy 32 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsDeuteronomy 32:26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:Ver. 26. I said I will scatter them.] See a like text, Ezekiel 20:8-9. We are sometimes safe by our enemies’ insolences, and as much beholden to their blasphemies as to our own prayers.
Read John Trapp on Deuteronomy 32 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(26, 27) The argument of these verses is such as no man would dare to put into the mouth of the Most High. Moses had pleaded it (in Numbers 14:13-16; Exodus 32:12), but none but Jehovah Himself would say for Himself, “I feared the wrath of the enemy.”
Read Charles John Ellicott on Deuteronomy 32 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges26–33. The Stay of God’s Vengeance 26‘I had said, “I will blow them away (?) And still among men their remembrance,” 27Had I feared not the taunt of the foe, Lest their enemies misconstrue, And should say, “Our hand was high, Nor was this the work of Jehovah!” 28For a rede-lorn people are they, And among them insight is not. 29Were they wise this would they ken, See through to their fate at the last.’ 30How could one have chased a thousand, Or two put ten thousand to flight, Were it not that their Rock had sold them And the Lord had given them up!
Read Cambridge on Deuteronomy 32 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible26. I said, I would scatter them into corners — The word which our translators render scatter into corners rather means, I will blow them away, so as to effectually disperse them.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Deuteronomy 32 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men;
I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
“I said, ‘I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed.
Tyndale line
I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
I said, I would scatter them afar, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
I haue said, I would scatter them abroade: I would make their remembrance to cease from among men,
Strictly literal
I would say, I will scatter, I will make the remembrance of them to cease from among men,
I have said: I blow them away, I cause their remembrance to cease from man;
I have said: I blow them away, || I cause their remembrance to cease from man;
I said, I would drive them into one corner, I would cause their remembrance to cease from among men:
I said that I would scatter them far away, that I would make the memory of them to cease from among mankind.
From the Latin
I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men.
Simplified
I would have told them I was going to cut them to pieces and wipe out even the memory of them;
I said I would send them wandering far away, I would make all memory of them go from the minds of men:
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text is supported by the Septuagint in three of the five words. The Samaritan Pentateuch differs in three words, using 'אפי' (nose) instead of 'אַפְאֵיהֶם' (cut them), which changes the meaning significantly. The Dead Sea Scrolls show partial restorations but align closely with the Masoretic Text.
אָמַ֖רְתִּי אַפְאֵיהֶ֑ם אַשְׁבִּ֥יתָה מֵאֱנ֖וֹשׁ זִכְרָֽם׃
3 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
אמרתי אפי הם אשׁבית מאנושׁ זכרם
3 words differ from the Masoretic Text: אפי (nose), הם (they), אשׁבית (cease)
[אמרתי] [אפאי׳הם] אשבית [מאנוש] [זכר׳ם]
nothing on the leather here — 1 partly restored, 4 supplied entire by an editor.
אמרתי [אפאי׳הם] [אשביתה] [מאנוש] [זכר׳ם]
nothing on the leather here — 1 partly restored, 4 supplied entire by an editor.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Deuteronomy 32:26
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
אָמַר (amar) is a Hebrew verb meaning 'to say' or 'to utter,' with a broad range of uses including to promise, command, or even boast. It appears in various forms, such as in the Qal (to say), Niphal (to be told), and Hiphil (to avow). The entries highlight its versatility in both spoken and internal contexts, though no specific verse is noted.
אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say
Qal
Say
Say in the heart (= think)
Promise
Command (esp. late)
Niph. be said, told
Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
Hithp. act proudly, boast
base
H559 אָמַר utter, say .. Say
. Say in the heart (= think)
. Promise
. Command (esp. late)
. be said, told
. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)
. act proudly, boast
559 'amar aw-mar'
a primitive root; to say (used with great
latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call,
certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment),
commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X
expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise,
publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X
suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech),
utter, X verily, X yet.
אָמַר (a.mar) — to say.
1) to say, speak, utter
1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend
1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called
1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly
1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch
Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)
V-Qal-Perf-1cs — Verb · Qal · perfect first person common singularHVqp1cs
פָּאָה (pa'ah) is a Hebrew verb that suggests the action of cleaving or breaking into pieces. The entries indicate that it may also imply scattering or blowing away, particularly in the Hiphil form, as noted in Deuteronomy 32:26. The lexicons generally agree on its meanings without significant disagreement.
[פָּאָה] vb. perh. cleave in pieces;—Hiph. Dt 32:26
ref
H6284 [פָּאָה] perh. cleave in pieces
6284 pa'ah paw-aw'
a primitive root; to puff, i.e. blow away:--scatter into
corners.
פָּאָה (pa.ah) — to cleave.
1) to cleave in pieces, break into pieces, shatter
1a) (Hiphil) to cleave in pieces, dash to pieces
V-Hiphil-1cs | Suff — Verb hiphil imperfect first person common singular · suffixHVhi1cs/Sp3mp
שָׁבַת (shabath) is a Hebrew verb meaning to cease or rest, often in the context of stopping work. It can also imply causing something to cease or fail, and is associated with observing the Sabbath. The entries indicate its use in various forms, including Qal, Niphal, and Hiphil, covering a range of meanings from simple cessation to destruction.
שָׁבַת 71 vb. cease, desist, rest
Qal 27
cease
desist from labour, rest
Niph. cease
Hiph.
40 cause to cease, put an end to
= exterminate, destroy
cause to desist from
remove
cause to fail, let be lacking
base
[שָׁבַת] vb. denom. keep, observe (sabbath)
base
H7673a שָׁבַת cease, desist, rest .. cease
. desist from labour, rest
. cease
. . cause to cease, put an end to
. = exterminate, destroy
. cause to desist from
. remove
. cause to fail, let be lacking
H7673b שָׁבַת vb. denom. keep, observe (sabbath)
7673 shabath shaw-bath'
a primitive root; to repose, i.e. desist from exertion; used
in many implied relations (causative, figurative or
specific):--(cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause
(make) to fail, keep (sabbath), suffer to be lacking, leave,
put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.
שָׁבַת (sha.vat) — to cease.
1) to cease, desist, rest
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to cease
1a2) to rest, desist (from labour)
1b) (Niphal) to cease
1c) (Hiphil)
1c1) to cause to cease, put an end to
1c2) to exterminate, destroy
1c3) to cause to desist from
1c4) to remove
1c5) to cause to fail
שָׁבַת (sha.vat) — to keep.
(Qal) to keep or observe the sabbath
V-Hiphil-1cs — Verb · Hiphil · infinitive construct first person common singularHVhc1cs
ses: A remarkable array of 20 Hebrew and 6 Greek words is so translated. In the King James Version 15 of the former and 3 of the latter are used only once with this rendering. The originals most frequently in use are chadhal, "to leave off"; shabhath "to rest from" (labor); pauomai, "to make to cease." Few words illustrate better the fertility of the Hebrew in expressing limitless shades of meaning, impoverished by the use of one English word. This extensive variety is, however, well expressed by "cease": i.e. stop, come to an end, e.g. ceasing of tears (Jer 14:17); work (Ezr 4:24); grinders (Ec 12:3); thunder (Ex 9:29); the wicked (
אֱנוֹשׁ (enowsh) refers to man or mankind, often used in a poetic context. It denotes a mortal individual, distinguishing humans from more dignified terms for man. The word encompasses both singular and collective meanings, indicating people or persons in general. Its Aramaic equivalent is אֱנָשׁ (e.nash), also meaning 'man'.
אֱנוֹשׁ n.m. man, mankind, mostly poet.
of individ.
coll. men
man, mankind
base
H582 אֱנוֹשׁ man, mankind, mostly poet.
582 'enowsh en-oshe'
from 605; properly, a mortal (and thus differing from the
more dignified 120); hence, a man in general (singly or
collectively):--another, X (blood-)thirsty, certain,
chap(-man); divers, fellow, X in the flower of their age,
husband, (certain, mortal) man, people, person, servant, some
( X of them), + stranger, those, + their trade. It is often
unexpressed in the English versions, especially when used in
apposition with another word . Compare 376.
see HEBREW for 0605
see HEBREW for 0120
see HEBREW for 0376
אֱנוֹשׁ (e.nosh) — human.
1) man, mortal man, person, mankind
1a) of an individual
1b) men (collective)
1c) man, mankind
Aramaic equivalent: e.nash (אֱנָשׁ "man" H0606)
Prep | N-ms — Preposition · noun common masculine singular absoluteHR/Ncmsa
זֵ֫כֶר (zeker) refers to concepts of remembrance and memorial. It is derived from the root meaning to remember and encompasses meanings such as memory and commemoration. The entries consistently highlight its use in contexts related to memorials and recollections.
זֵ֫כֶר n.m. remembrance, memorial
base
H2143 זֵ֫כֶר remembrance, memorial
2143 zeker zay'-ker
or zeker {zeh'-ker}; from 2142; a memento, abstr.
recollection (rarely if ever); by implication,
commemoration:--memorial, memory, remembrance, scent.
see HEBREW for 02142
זֵ֫כֶר (ze.kher) — memorial.
1) memorial, remembrance
1a) remembrance, memory
1b) memorial
N-ms | Suff — Noun common masculine singular construct · suffixHNcmsc/Sp3mp