What Does Deuteronomy 32:35 Mean?
To me belongs vengeance, and repayment. At its appointed time their foot slips, for the day of their falling is near, and what is readied comes hurrying upon them.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
The verse places repayment under God’s claim and describes the condemned as already losing their footing.
THE MEANING
The verse says now that vengeance and repayment belong to God, while those under judgment stand on footing that can give way. Their calamity is near, and what is appointed for them is hastening toward them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that those who bring calamity can remain secure and unanswered indefinitely: their footing gives way, and the day of repayment is near.
THE ROOT
שִׁלֵּם
shillēm
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
To be whole or complete; in this form, to repay or settle what is owed.
“Recompence” shares its root with words for wholeness and completion. Here, repayment means bringing what is owed to its due completion, while the surrounding vengeance and calamity keep the warning severe.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
It shows the root’s reach from repayment to wholeness.
shalem: Whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
It makes visible the sense of completion carried alongside repayment.
נָקָם
naqam
GROWS FROM
נקם
To avenge or exact retribution.
The verse names vengeance as belonging to God before describing the calamity. The root carries the force of retribution; “to me” identifies who claims it.
ALSO GROWS
neqamah: Vengeance, retribution
נְקָמָה
This noun names the act the verse places under God’s claim.
noqem: Avenger, one who takes vengeance
נֹקֵם
This form shows the root can name the one who carries out retribution.
תָּמוּט
tamut
GROWS FROM
מוט
To totter, be shaken, or lose stability.
“slips” in this verse is tamut. “Slide” can sound like a passing stumble, but this root describes something losing its stability. The image is of a foot that can no longer hold the body upright.
ALSO GROWS
emmot: I shall be moved or shaken
אֶמּוֹט
The same root describes whether one’s footing can remain secure.
timmot: You shall be moved or shaken
תִּמּוֹט
It echoes the verse’s image of stability giving way.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places vengeance and final repayment under God’s claim.
O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but give room to wrath. For it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will give back, says the LORD.For we know the one who said, Mine is the vengeance; I will give back, says the LORD. And again, the LORD shall judge his people.THE THREAD
And yours, O Lord, is faithful love, for you repay each man according to his deed.The Hebrew verb translated “renderest” is תְּשַׁלֵּם (teshallem, repay or render), from שׁלם (sh-l-m, wholeness or completion), the same root as שִׁלֵּם (shillēm, recompense) in Deuteronomy. Here, repayment stands beside faithful love, revealing the root’s wider range without softening this verse’s warning.
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