Vengeance is mine, and recompense, For the time when their foot shall slip. For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Moses' song points ahead to a day God has kept in reserve. Whose foot slips? Who holds the right to repay? And what should a believer do until then?
God often works through people. Vengeance is the one work He keeps in His own hands.
When God has acted in government, again and again He has been pleased to use His people as the instruments of it. Now that His grace is being announced across the earth, His normal way of working is through human servants. But sometimes it is neither grace nor government. When God carries out wrath and vengeance on men whose sin has risen to its dreadful height, He acts alone. He has said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." It is His right alone. No one may share it with Him.
A foot slips and a day of calamity rushes near. Commentators differ over whose foot it is. One reading takes it as Israel's own.
Vengeance belongs to God, and recompense (v.35). But in the meantime Israel's foot will slip, and the day of their calamity will come with its many troubles.
Another reading points to the nations God used to punish Israel. Their own turn comes.
After describing how Israel was sold into the hands of their enemies, God says, "Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries? Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip." So who have been the instruments of judgment and oppression on the Jews? Whose feet, then, shall slip in due time?
The verse says the day of calamity is near, yet it has not come. Commentators explain the delay as mercy.
But a day of vengeance will come. He delays it in long-suffering mercy, but it will come as sure as there is a God on the throne of heaven. A day is coming for the nations that have treated Israel with pride. They will answer for their conduct before the Son of Man. They will hear His solemn sentence and meet His unsparing wrath.
God's judgment on His own people has a limit. It corrects them; it does not destroy them.
Yet vengeance is His, and recompense. Their feet shall slip. The day of their calamity shall come. Judgment shall come, and the LORD shall judge His people. Yes, judge — but not destroy! He will see them struck down and helpless, their power gone, with no one left to help them, and their false gods proved worthless. Then He will call them to Himself, and no one else can compare with Him. The rod that corrected them has finished its work and shall be broken. He will turn His hand against their enemies.
The New Testament hands these words to Christians who have been wronged, as a reason to stand down.
Whatever the provocation, a Christian must never take revenge. We must leave that matter to God, who in His own good time will avenge His "beloved." Nothing could be more touching and beautiful than such words of affection. Wicked and unreasonable men provoke us and stir us to strike back — and just then the voice of tenderest love rises above the noise of human passion: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God." Step back from the scene. Make room for My government, because of the injury you have received. Punishing is My right.
That leaves a subtler danger: handing the sword back to God while still hoping to watch Him use it.
God avenges the wrongs done to His people. That truth is not meant to stir up in us the smallest wish that His vengeance would fall on our enemies. We must guard against that as a secret desire. To march out in arms against them; to watch for their stumbling; to wait for a chance to pour out what we have been nursing inside; to exaggerate their failures, so that they get double for their sins; to be glad in our hearts when we think they have been paid back in their own coin — all this is a spirit completely contrary to the mind of the Lord.
The same warning falls on people who claim to belong to God, not only on outsiders.
Two quotations from the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 32:35-36) confirm the teaching of a special judgment on those who argue against the truth and those who abandon it. The Lord will judge His people. He already stands at the door, ready to visit the great house of those who profess His name and to deal with it justly, according to what it really is.
- Reserved — vengeance is God's own possession. He acts alone in it, and no one shares that right.
- Delayed — the wait is long-suffering mercy, not indifference. The day will come as sure as God is on the throne.
- Disputed — commentators differ on whose foot slips: Israel, or the nations that oppressed them.
- Redemptive — He judges, but He does not destroy. When their strength is gone, He breaks the rod of correction and turns His hand against their enemies.
- Released — because He repays, a believer can step back from every private quarrel — and must not even hope to watch the blow fall.
For Jehovah will judge his people, And shall repent in favour of his servants; When he seeth that power is gone, And there is none shut up or left.
Moses' song has just traced Israel's corruption, God's anger, and the vengeance stored up. At this verse the song turns. Two questions follow: what does "judge" mean here, and why does God act only when His people have nothing left?
One writer quotes the verse in an older translation and lists what "judge" can mean here. He then brings the promise into the present.
"To me belongs vengeance and repayment; their foot will slip in due time. For the Lord will judge [vindicate, defend or avenge] His people, and have compassion on His servants, when He sees that their power is gone, and there is none remaining, bond or free." What precious grace for Israel in the day to come — and for each and all, now, who feel and admit their need!
The ESV takes the first of those words: the LORD "will vindicate his people."
The timing is not random. One writer explains what blocks God's grace until the moment of collapse.
The Lord's judgment here means judging on behalf of Israel, His people. He has compassion on them when He sees that their power is gone (v.36). God steps in with grace only when a person faces his own helpless condition. As long as Israel stays self-assertive and self-confident, she will not and cannot depend on the grace of God. But when she has nothing left and admits it, she will find God ready to deliver her.
God has worked this way before. One writer points to Haman's plot against the Jews in Persia, then carries the same pattern forward to Jerusalem's last siege.
The decree had fixed a day for their destruction, and that decree would not, could not, be changed. Their Amalekite persecutor was in power, and all, as far as the eye could reach, was utter destruction. But Haman fell, and the Jews were delivered. The same will happen again with the same people. The city will fall. All the peoples of the earth will surround it in its day of siege and distress. Half of it will go into captivity, its houses stripped bare, and all will be waste and ruin. But at that very moment the Lord from heaven will plead their cause.
Later Scripture quotes this verse next to God's words to Moses in Egypt. One writer shows why the pairing matters.
The two verses that follow are quoted from Exodus and Deuteronomy. The first comes from the beginning of Israel's history in Egypt. It presents God in His enduring, unchanging character as Jehovah — the ground of all blessing for Israel (Ex. 3:15). The other comes from the song Moses sang just before the people entered the land. It shows that when their own folly has left them with no power and no one to help, the Lord will act for them (Deut. 32:36).
Hebrews quotes this line, and commentators differ over how far it reaches. One writer reads it as a warning about how God deals with His own people:
He is gracious beyond measure. But we know Him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:30-31). If He punished the vile practices of the doomed nations who had intruded into His land, He disciplines His own people even more strictly.
Another writer agrees that God deals with believers now, but ties this sentence to the nation it was first spoken about:
It hardly needs saying that the Lord judges His saints today; 1 Corinthians 11:30-32 makes that plain enough. But the passage here is limited to Israel.
The principle is not locked to one nation. One writer applies it wherever strength has replaced dependence.
We have so much of the world's dignity, influence and riches! These things do not hide us from God or from Satan, but they do hide our real poverty from ourselves. If only we knew how destitute we are! If only we cried to the Lord! Then He, "when He saw that there was none remaining, bond or free," would deliver us and lift us up. Whether for Israel, for an individual, or for the Church, the lesson to be learned is the same: its poverty and need. It does not matter how poor we are, as long as we feel our poverty; for there is all fullness in Christ.
- Judge means defend. The verb here carries the sense of vindicating and avenging His people, not condemning them.
- Power gone. Self-confidence keeps grace out. God acts when His people have nothing left and admit it.
- Proven pattern. Haman held every advantage, and no one could change the decree — yet he fell and God delivered the Jews. Jerusalem's last siege will end the same way.
- Unchanging name. Scripture sets this promise beside the name Jehovah, given at the start of Israel's history. Deliverance rests on who God is, not on what Israel became.
- Wider reach. Hebrews takes up these words as a warning. Commentators differ on whether they reach past Israel. Still, the poverty that draws God out can be Israel's, a church's, or one person's.
And he shall say, Where are their gods, Their rock in whom they trusted,
Moses' song reaches the point where God Himself speaks. He does not open with a verdict. He opens with a question about the gods Israel had chosen instead of Him.
God does not ask this while Israel is still confident. He waits until every other support has collapsed.
But the Lord's judgment includes His judging on behalf of Israel His people. He has compassion on them when He sees that their power is gone (v.36). God steps in with grace when a person faces the fact that he is helpless. As long as Israel keeps up her self-assertion and self-confidence, she will not and cannot depend on the grace of God. But when she has been reduced to nothing, and honestly sees it, she will find God ready to deliver her.
The question is not the end of the story. God sets a limit on this judgment.
Yet vengeance is His, and repayment. Their feet will slip. The day of their disaster will come. Judgment will come, and the Lord will judge His people. Yes, judge — but not destroy! He will see them struck down and helpless, their power gone, with no one left to help them, and the emptiness of their false gods in full view. Then He will call them to Himself, for no other can compare with Him. The rod that corrected them will have finished its work, and He will break it. He will turn His hand against their enemies.
The question is not for information. God calls the idols to do now what they promised to do all along.
Then God may well ask them the question as to where their idols are now, the false rock which they expected to be a refuge (v.37). Did their gods eat the fat of their sacrifices and drink the wine of their drink offerings? (v.38). Then let them respond by helping Israel now and providing the refuge they promised! God needs to speak this way. It probes their consciences, so that they see the folly and evil of their idol worship.
The verse calls the idols a rock. That word invites a comparison they cannot survive.
There is, there can be, only the one Rock. Blessed throughout all ages be His glorious Name!
Israel's disaster was never proof that their God had failed. Even their enemies could settle that question.
They were defeated, broken by a worthless enemy. How could that happen unless their Rock had sold them, and the unchangeable Lord handed them over! Was He less a Rock? Was their God as poor a support as the things other people trust in? Their bitter enemies could easily settle that question themselves.
The gods in question were newcomers, and Israel was not the last to make that exchange.
Then the heart, now estranged from Him, turned to His opposites. Foreign gods came in with their detestable ways. Newly invented gods replaced Him who had brought Israel into being. The same thing has been repeated ever since, in every form you can imagine.
Long after Moses, a prophet used the same words again.
In Jeremiah 2:28 the prophet says, "But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble." This is clearly a quotation of Deut. 32:37-38.
One day the question will come back from Israel's own lips.
When the Lord acts on behalf of Israel, He will say, "Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge" (Deut. 32:37). Here we get Israel's answer, as they pass judgment on the idols of the nations and on all who put their trust in them.
- Helpless — God asks the question only when Israel's power is gone. Empty hands are where His grace begins.
- Judged, not destroyed — the rod does its work, and then God breaks it. The same God who strikes turns His hand against their enemies.
- Probed — the question aims at the conscience. Let the gods that ate the fat and drank the wine now give the refuge they promised.
- One Rock — there is only one true Rock. Defeat never proved God weak, and even the enemy could settle that.
- Answered — one day Israel will take up God's question themselves. They will pass sentence on the idols and on all who trust them.
Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, [And] drank the wine of their drink-offering? Let them rise up and help you, That there may be a protection over you.
Moses' song reaches the point where Israel's power is gone. God speaks, and His first word is not comfort but a question: where are the gods they had been feeding, and can they save anyone now?
The dare comes at the turning point of the song. God speaks when Israel has nothing left, and He judges His people without destroying them.
God is not asking for information. He wants Israel to face what their idols are worth.
God may well ask them where their idols are now — the false rock they expected to be their refuge (v.37). Did their gods eat the fat of their sacrifices and drink the wine of their drink offerings? (v.38). Then let them answer by helping Israel now and giving the refuge they promised! God has to speak this way to search their consciences, so that they see the folly and evil of their idol worship.
The verse pictures gods eating fat and drinking wine. But who received those offerings?
In 1 Corinthians 10:20 the apostle quotes Deuteronomy 32:17 and says what idol worship really is, whatever form it takes. Both the Old Testament and the New declare that what they sacrificed they sacrificed to demons, not to God. Demons stood behind the idols. The idols were nothing in themselves, but the demons were a terrible reality of subtle and vicious evil, and they ruined everyone who honoured the idols.
God dares the idols to rise up and help. The dare lands because an idol is the wrong way round.
The LORD is the Maker, but an idol must be made. Once made, it does not carry others; others have to carry it. Once it is set in place, it cannot move. It cannot answer a cry for help, and it cannot save anyone from trouble.
God's help arrives at a set moment. It waits until Israel has no strength of her own left to trust.
God steps in with grace when a person faces the fact that he is helpless. As long as Israel keeps asserting herself and trusting herself, she will not and cannot depend on the grace of God. But when she is brought to nothing and admits it, she will find God ready to rescue her.
A false refuge does not have to be a carved image. Israel once fetched the ark of the covenant — a sacred chest — and trusted it to save them from their enemies.
What a miserable ground of confidence! Not a word about the Lord Himself. They did not think of Him as the source of their strength. They did not make Him their shield and defence. No — they trusted in the ark. They imagined it could save them, and the hope was empty. How could it help them at all without the presence of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel?
- Fed. Israel gave their gods the fat of their sacrifices and the wine of their drink offerings. Their best worship went to what could never repay it.
- Filled. Behind the images stood demons, real and evil. The idol was nothing, but the power behind it was not.
- Failed. An idol must be made and carried. It cannot answer a cry or save anyone, and God's dare exposes that.
- Emptied. God waits until self-confidence collapses. Only a people brought to nothing will lean on His grace.
- Found. Every false refuge stays silent. Then God calls Israel to Himself, breaks the rod that corrected them, and turns His hand against their enemies.
See now that I, 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 delivereth out of my hand,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
For I lift up my hand to the heavens, and say, I live for ever!
God has just declared that no one can rescue anyone from His hand, and now He raises that same hand in a solemn oath. Everything that follows in the song — the sword, the vengeance, the mercy — rests on what He swears by: His own endless life.
When people swear, they appeal to someone greater than themselves. God has no such option, so the guarantee He offers is Himself, and the hand lifted to heaven is the sign of it.
He, and He alone, can swear by Himself. He raises His hand to heaven and says, "As I live forever, if I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and will repay those who hate Me" (vs.40-41). For the Son, not the Father, is the One who carries out the judgment of God (Jn.5:22). He lives forever, just as the Father lives forever. For many centuries He has been patient with the rebellious wickedness of mankind. But His patience will give way to sudden and awesome judgment, and He will not spare those who have proved themselves His enemies.
God forbids His creatures to swear, yet He takes an oath Himself. The difference lies in what a man can do and what God can do.
Man's utter weakness — shown plainly by the fact that he cannot even change the colour of one hair — is part of the basis of the prohibition. God may swear, for He can carry out everything He pledges Himself to, and He knew all its consequences too. And we find Him doing it beautifully when He seeks to assure the soul of His creature, who is so ready to doubt the perfect faithfulness even of his God: "when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things" — His word being as certain as His oath, though not so to man — "in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement" (Heb. 6:13-18).
These words are not a boast about long life. They are the language of the One who owes His being to no one — and the form of the sentence itself is striking.
Remember that God is self-existent. The name He revealed to Moses was "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex. 3:14). Psalm 68:4 gives His name as JAH. Again He says, "I, even I, am He … I lift up My hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever." This last passage is all the more remarkable, because the form of the sentence implies that the Speaker is on earth.
In verse 39 God calls Himself "I am He." One writer traces that name forward to the risen Christ.
Then the Spirit shows us this truth shining out in full in the Book of Revelation. There we see it whole, for it shines from its clear centre, our Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 1:17 He says, "Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and the living One." This leaves us in no doubt about who "THE SAME" of the Old Testament is. We find Him so named in Deuteronomy 32:39, first of all. … "I am He" should read "I am the Same," meaning the self-existing One.
The same raised hand appears again near the end of the Bible, in a scene where an angel takes an oath.
The angel lifts up His hand to heaven. He swears by the living God, the Creator of heaven, earth and sea and everything in them, that there should be no more delay (v. 6). He is one with God, so that this is really God swearing by Himself. He had done this when showing grace to Abraham and his seed (Hebrews 6:13-14); now He does so when executing the judgment that subdues all things under Him.
The sworn vengeance of verses 40-42 is not the end of the song. The same chapter that promises the sword also calls the nations to gladness.
No doubt the Gentiles proved completely unworthy, and God will take vengeance on them (vv. 40-42). But even when He restores Israel, as He will (v. 36), He calls the Gentiles to rejoice with His people (v. 43). The gospel already carries out this principle, as we know, and the kingdom of Messiah will fulfil it.
- Sworn. God can appeal to no one higher, so He swears by Himself. The hand lifted to heaven pledges His own life — to steady those who trust Him and to warn those who hate Him.
- Living. "As I live forever" is the language of self-existence, the "I AM" of Exodus 3. The form of the sentence even suggests a Speaker standing on earth.
- Named. "I am He" in verse 39 means "I am the Same," the self-existing One. He speaks again in Revelation 1:17 as "the First and the Last, and the living One" — the Son who carries out God's judgment.
- Repeated. The same gesture appears again in Revelation: God swore this way in grace to Abraham, and He swears it now in judgment that subdues all things.
- Finished. Long patience ends in sudden judgment on His enemies. Yet the song closes with the nations called to rejoice with His people.
If I have sharpened my gleaming sword, And my hand take hold of judgment, I will render vengeance to mine adversaries, And will recompense them that hate me.
Moses' song ends with a drawn sword: God swears by His own endless life that He will settle accounts with everyone set against Him. Three questions follow — who are these enemies, when does the sword fall, and what should a reader do with it today?
In verse 40 God lifts His hand to heaven and swears by His own life. One writer ties that oath to the Person who carries it out.
He, and He alone, can swear by Himself, raising His hand to heaven, saying, "As I live forever, if I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me" (vv. 40-41). For the Son, not the Father, is the One who carries out God's judgment (Jn. 5:22). He lives forever, just as the Father lives forever. For many centuries He has patiently put up with the rebellious wickedness of mankind. But His patience will give way to awesome, sudden judgment. He will not spare those who have proven themselves enemies.
The same God who wounds also heals. So the sword is not blind fury, and the sentence reaches further than ancient nations.
"I wound and I heal" — wound in governmental wrath, and heal in pardoning grace; all honour to His great and holy Name, through the everlasting ages! — "If I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment" — as it most certainly will — "I will take vengeance on My adversaries and will repay those who hate Me" — whoever and wherever they are. A tremendous sentence for all whom it may concern — for all haters of God, all lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God!
Earlier the song spoke of Israel sold into the hands of enemies. Those enemies are the target of the sharpened sword.
After describing the sale of the children of Israel into the hands of their enemies, He says, "Is not this laid up in store with Me, and sealed up among My treasures? Vengeance belongs to Me, and repayment; their foot shall slide in due time." Who have been the instruments of judgment and oppression against the Jews? Whose feet, then, shall slide in due time? Then we see the order of this (v. 36, 40-43): "For the Lord shall judge His people and relent concerning His servants, when He sees that their power is gone…"
The sword is sharpened but not yet swung. Jesus marked the pause when He read Isaiah aloud at Nazareth.
When He stood up and read at Nazareth (Luke 4), He stopped at the first comma of Isaiah 61:2. Here, after centuries of patience, He goes on to fulfil the next sentence of that verse. The first is a "year"; the second is "a day." The first is the long "year" of mercy and grace, still going on, in which God finds delight. The second is the short "day" of God's just judgment, soon to come and soon to be over — His "strange work," in which He has no pleasure. Long centuries before, in Deuteronomy 32:35-43, He had foretold this time.
God says He will repay. That leaves the believer nothing to avenge.
At the same time we realise that "vengeance" belongs to God. Surely the Christian needs reminding of this truth. The Apostle Paul can say to us: "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" In the presence of provocation, anger, and deliberate insults, let us beware of seeking to take vengeance. The insults and injustice may arouse righteous indignation, but we cannot be trusted to take vengeance.
The song does not stop at bloodshed. Its last verse says what the judgment makes way for.
The closing words of Moses' wilderness song (Deut. 32:43) describe the situation at the end, when the judgments of God have done their work… Israel's wrongs are avenged. The people and their land are reconciled to God through Christ's atonement. All the nations of the earth share Israel's joy. Such are the gracious purposes of God when the fighting days are done.
- Sworn — The judgment rests on an oath God takes by His own endless life, which is why it cannot fail.
- Sharpened — The sword is ready but held back; His long patience will one day give way to sudden judgment.
- Deserved — The sword falls on His enemies: first the oppressors of His people, then all who love pleasure rather than God.
- Delayed — We live in the long "year" of grace. Jesus stopped reading before the "day of vengeance," and that comma still holds.
- Surrendered — Vengeance is His, not ours. He swings the sword at last so that mercy can reach His land, His people, and the nations.
Mine arrows will I make drunk with blood, And my sword shall devour flesh; [I will make them drunk] with the blood of the slain and of the captives, With the head of the princes of the enemy.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Shout for joy, ye nations, with his people, For he avengeth the blood of his servants, And rendereth vengeance to his enemies, And maketh atonement for his land, for his people.
Moses ends his song with joy, not judgment — and that joy comes only after God has dealt with His enemies and cleansed His people's land. The verse raises three questions: whom God calls to rejoice, when this happens, and what it means for Him to cleanse the land.
The song has run through judgment and anger. One writer reads its last verse as the point where the whole prophetic story lands:
The last verse of this song (verse 43) shows the glorious end. After the storm of judgment and indignation, peace will come to this earth. The nations will learn war no more; they will learn righteousness. Then the world will be converted. The Lord will be merciful to His land and to His people. The blessings and glories promised to Israel have come. Therefore the nations will rejoice with His people. The song of Moses is the key to all prophecy.
Older English translations open the verse, "Rejoice, O nations, with his people," and the writers quoted here follow that wording. The little word "with" carries a lot, and so does the mention of the land:
First, the joy of the Gentiles here is joy with His people, and not without them. Second, "people" means the nation, and not the elect remnant. The mention of the land makes that clear.
Paul lifts this line into his argument that God blesses Gentiles alongside Israel. One writer draws a careful line between the principle Paul uses and the full event Moses foresaw:
In the future kingdom both Jews and Gentiles will be blessed. The apostle uses this truth. He points to both enjoying the blessings of grace, and that is enough to silence the Jew. So we find the Old Testament applied in Romans 15:10, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." How could the Jew object without contradicting himself?... Yet the apostle never says that the prophecy is now fulfilled in full or to the letter. The principle is true under the gospel. The fulfilment of the prophecy waits for another age and a different state of things, when Christ appears and reigns in visible power and glory.
The closing clause is stronger in Hebrew than "merciful" suggests. The verb behind it is the ordinary word for atonement:
The Hebrew word Kaphar means to atone, or make atonement. That is its regular sense. Deuteronomy 32:43 and passages like Ezekiel 16:63 and 45:15 are the same in substance, though in some cases the effect is what is meant — pacified, purged, forgiven, merciful, and so on. "Propitiate" would be just as good a translation as "atone".
So the last line is a promise that covers both the people and the ground they live on:
Moses, in his prophetic song, concludes with all nations rejoicing when God's end is reached... "Merciful" here means "to make expiation for"; so a real day of Atonement is coming for both Israel and the land they possess.
The Greek Old Testament has a fuller form of this verse, and Hebrews 1 quotes it. One writer explains who is told to bow, and who receives the honour:
The Epistle to the Hebrews quotes the Greek version of Deuteronomy 32:43 word for word, at least in the Vatican manuscript... So there is no ground for doubt that "angels" are meant, and that they are commanded to pay supreme honour to the Son as the risen and glorified Man — who is no less a divine person. Indeed, if He were not, His worthiness as man and the dignity given to Him could not warrant the honour God claims for His Son from the highest creatures of heaven. "Gods (Elohim)" is often applied to those who represent God in government, or who are commissioned to announce and carry out His will; the Lord makes this plain in John 10:34-35... In that day all must bow in honour of Him Who appears to reign.
- Judgment first. Peace comes to the earth only after the storm. God first deals with the enemies who shed the blood of His servants.
- Atonement next. "Merciful" translates the usual Hebrew word for atonement. A real day of Atonement is coming for Israel and for their land.
- Joy shared. God calls the nations to rejoice with His people, not instead of them. "People" means the nation itself, since the land is named beside them.
- Two stages. Paul applies the line to Gentiles blessed by the gospel now. The literal fulfilment waits for Christ's reign in visible power.
- Worship at the centre. The Greek version adds a clause, quoted in Hebrews 1, that commands angels to honour the Son. No mere creature could receive such honour.