Deuteronomy 32 · Verse 24

Deuteronomy 32:24

They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
Deuteronomy 32:24, King James Version

Deuteronomy 32:24 in other translations

BSBThey will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
WEBThey shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
ASVThey shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat And bitter destruction; And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them, With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
YLTExhausted by famine, And consumed by heat, and bitter destruction. And the teeth of beasts I send upon them, With poison of fearful things of the dust.
DARBYThey shall be consumed with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, And with poisonous pestilence; And the teeth of beasts will I send against them, With the poison of what crawleth in the dust.
BBEThey will be wasted from need of food, and overcome by burning heat and bitter destruction; and the teeth of beasts I will send on them, with the poison of the worms of the dust.
WebsterThey shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

What does Deuteronomy 32:24 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 They shall be burnt with hunger - Their land shall be cursed, and famine shall prevail. This is one of the arrows. Burning heat - No showers to cool the atmosphere; or rather boils, blains, and pestilential fevers; this was a second. Bitter destruction - The plague; this was a third. Teeth of beasts - with the poison of serpents - The beast of the field should multiply upon and destroy them; this was a fourth: and poisonous serpents, infesting all their steps, and whose mortal bite should produce the utmost anguish, were to be a fifth arrow. Added to all these, the sword of their enemies - terror among themselves, Deu 32:25, and captivity were to complete their ruin, and thus the arrows of God were to be spent upon them. There is a beautiful saying in the Toozuki Teemour, which will serve to illustrate this point, while it exhibits one of the finest metaphors that occurs in any writer, the sacred writers excepted. "It was once demanded of the fourth Khaleefeh, (Aaly), on whom be the mercy of the Creator, 'If the canopy of heaven were a Bow; and if the earth were the cord thereof; and if calamities were Arrows; if mankind were the mark for those arrows; and if Almighty God, the tremendous and the glorious, were the unerring Archer; to whom could the sons of Adam flee for protection?' The Khaleefeh answered, saying, 'The sons of Adam must flee unto the Lord.'"

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:19-25

The revolt of Israel was described in the foregoing verses, and here follow the resolves of Divine justice as to them. We deceive ourselves, if we think that God will be mocked by a faithless people. Sin makes us hateful in the sight of the holy God. See what mischief sin does, and reckon those to be fools that mock at it.

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 32:19-25 →

Deuteronomy 32:24 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מְזֵ֥יme.Zei[people] weakened ofH4198
רָעָ֛בra.'AvfamineH7458
וּלְחֻ֥מֵיu.le.Chu.meiand [people] consumed ofH3898
רֶ֖שֶׁףRe.shefplagueH7565
וְקֶ֣טֶבve.Ke.tevand destructionH6986
מְרִירִ֑יme.ri.RibitterH4815
וְשֶׁן\־ve.shen-and tooth ofH8127
בְּהֵמוֹת֙be.he.mOtanimalsH929
אֲשַׁלַּח\־'a.sha.lach-I will sendH7971
בָּ֔םBamon <the> them
עִם\־'im-withH5973
חֲמַ֖תcha.Mat[the] venom ofH2534
זֹחֲלֵ֥יzo.cha.Lei[things which] crawl ofH2119
עָפָֽר\׃'a.Far[the] dustH6083

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 32:24

  • Leviticus 26:22

    I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

  • Ezekiel 5:17

    So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it.

  • Genesis 3:14

    And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

  • Deuteronomy 28:22

    The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

  • Lamentations 5:10

    Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

  • Psalms 91:6

    Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

  • Jeremiah 15:3

    And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

  • Deuteronomy 28:53

    And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

  • Psalms 18:12-14

    At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

  • Lamentations 4:4-9

    The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: …

  • Genesis 49:15

    And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

  • Amos 9:3

    And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
burnt.
28:53; Jer 14:18; La 4:4-9; 5:10
burning heat. Heb. burning coals.
Ps 18:12-14; 120:4; Hab 3:5
the teeth.
Le 26:22; Jer 15:3; 16:4; Eze 5:17; 14:15,21
serpents.
Ge 3:14; 49:15; Isa 65:25; Am 9:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 32:23

    I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

  • Deuteronomy 32:24

    They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

  • Deuteronomy 32:25

    The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

Read all of Deuteronomy 32

Deuteronomy 32:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Consumidos serán de hambre, y comidos de fiebre ardiente y de amarga pestilencia; diente de bestias enviaré también sobre ellos, con veneno de serpiente de la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ils seront consumés par la famine et rongés par des ardeurs dévorantes, et par une peste maligne; Et j’enverrai contre eux la dent des bêtes, avec le venin de ce qui rampe dans la poussière.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Vergehen sie vor Hunger, und sind sie aufgezehrt von Fieberglut und giftiger Pest, so werde ich den Zahn wilder Tiere gegen sie senden, samt dem Gifte der im Staube Schleichenden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Consumentur fame, et devorabunt eos aves morsu amarissimo: dentes bestiarum immittam in eos, cum furore trahentium super terram, atque serpentium.