The Meaning of Deuteronomy 32:1 Explained

Deuteronomy 32:1

KJV: Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

YLT: 'Give ear, O heavens, and I speak; And thou dost hear, O earth, sayings of my mouth!

Darby: Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth!

ASV: Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

What is the context of Deuteronomy 32:1?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Give ear,  O ye heavens,  and I will speak;  and hear,  O earth,  the words  of my mouth. 

What does Deuteronomy 32:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 32:1-14 - Moses' Song: The Lord's Favor Upon Israel
The song of Moses, like the fabled song of the swan, was his last and sweetest. It is probably the noblest ode in the whole compass of the Bible, and is the source from which subsequent singers derived suggestions for their noblest outbursts. The marginal references prove how deeply it dyed the national sentiment.
It excels in the names and designations of the Almighty. He is the Rock: Deuteronomy 31:4; Deuteronomy 31:15; Deuteronomy 31:18; Deuteronomy 31:30; Jehovah: Deuteronomy 31:6; Father: Deuteronomy 31:6; the Most High: Deuteronomy 31:8; God: El, the strong, Deuteronomy 31:15, etc. What a study are the names of God, scattered through the Bible! Each was coined to meet some need of the human soul. What the rocks of the desert are to its shifting sands God is amid the changes of this mortal existence.
This earlier part of the song is very tender. We are God's portion; the apple of His eye; as young eaglets, whom the mother-bird is carefully teaching to fly, the favored recipients of God's richest gifts, Deuteronomy 31:13, etc. [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 32

1  Moses' song, which sets forth God's mercy and vengeance
46  He exhorts them to set their hearts upon it
48  God sends him up to mount Nebo to see the land, and to die

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 32:1 mean?

Give ear heavens and I will speak and hear earth the words of my mouth
הַאֲזִ֥ינוּ הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וַאֲדַבֵּ֑רָה וְתִשְׁמַ֥ע הָאָ֖רֶץ אִמְרֵי־ פִֽי

הַאֲזִ֥ינוּ  Give  ear 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: אָזַן  
Sense: to hear, listen.
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם  heavens 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
וַאֲדַבֵּ֑רָה  and  I  will  speak 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
וְתִשְׁמַ֥ע  and  hear 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
הָאָ֖רֶץ  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
אִמְרֵי־  the  words 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: אֵמֶר 
Sense: utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command.
פִֽי  of  my  mouth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.