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Deuteronomy 32:43

The New Testament’s use of Deuteronomy

6 places · 3 kinds of echo

The source

Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people.

The Greek the author follows

Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.

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Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.

Quotation2

A formal citation — high verbal volume, often introduced by a saying-formula.

Heb 1:6 ?

A textual fork. The Hebrew of Deut 32:43 (‘Rejoice, you nations, with his people…’) has no such line; the clause exists only in the Septuagint the author read. Hays' first test — availability — in action: the Scripture available to him was the Greek Bible, and that is the text he quotes.

High confidence
Rom 15:7-13

Second link (15:10), formula-introduced ('Again he says'): 'Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.' Follows the longer LXX/Qumran (4QDeut) text of the Song of Moses, where the nations are summoned to rejoice WITH Israel — exactly the with-his-people inclusion Paul needs. High volume; the Song of Moses is a recurring witness to the nations' destiny.

High confidence

Allusion2

A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.

Rev 6:9–11

The Song of Moses promises that God will 'avenge the blood of his servants' and render vengeance on adversaries; the verbal core (avenge / blood / servants) is echoed directly in the martyrs' petition. LXX expands the blood-vengeance language, sharpening the parallel.

High confidence
Rev 19:1-5

Song of Moses: God 'avenges the blood of his servants' and 'renders vengeance to his adversaries' - the verbatim conceptual source of 'he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand' (Rev 19:2). LXX expands with heavenly rejoicing, strengthening the link; cf. Rev 6:10. Volume + thematic coherence very high.

High confidence

Echo2

A fainter, low-volume reuse, carried by recurrence or thematic coherence.

Rev 16:1-7

Song of Moses: God 'avenges the blood of his servants.' The bowls as covenant vengeance for shed saintly blood; conceptual backbone of the 'they deserve this' verdict. LXX adds 'and will recompense.'

Medium confidence
Rev 18:20-24

'Rejoice, O nations/heavens, with his people, for he avenges the blood of his servants' (LXX/4QDeut expanded) — the call for heaven to rejoice because God avenges his servants' blood parallels v.20 + v.24 (blood of prophets and saints avenged). Hays: thematic coherence; the vengeance-of-blood frame.

Medium confidence
Elsewhere in Deuteronomy 32
Deuteronomy 32:4 8Deuteronomy 32:5 10Deuteronomy 32:8 2Deuteronomy 32:11 3Deuteronomy 32:15 3Deuteronomy 32:17 3Deuteronomy 32:18 2Deuteronomy 32:20 6Deuteronomy 32:21 8Deuteronomy 32:35 5Deuteronomy 32:39 9Deuteronomy 32:40 2Deuteronomy 32:42 2Deuteronomy 32:47 2