Deuteronomy 32:21
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Study Note
Study Note
In the Song of Moses, God declares that because Israel has provoked his jealousy with 'no-god' and angered him with idols, he will provoke them with 'no-people' and anger them with a foolish nation. This lex talionis of covenant violation — answered in kind — is remarkable: Israel's use of 'no-gods' will be countered by God's use of 'no-people.' Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10:19 to argue that the Gentiles' reception of the gospel is God's intended provocation to Jewish jealousy, making this ancient song a key text in his theology of Israel's eschatological restoration. The verse grounds Paul's mission strategy in the logic of God's own ironic covenant judgment.
Other Translations
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
They have made Me zealous by `no-god,' They made Me angry by their vanities; And I make them zealous by `no-people,' By a foolish nation I make them angry.
They have given my honour to that which is not God, moving me to wrath with their false worship: I will give their honour to those who are not a people, moving them to wrath by a foolish nation,
Cross References
They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they …
For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made …
For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which …
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art …
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far …
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, …