The Meaning of Deuteronomy 32:8 Explained

Deuteronomy 32:8

KJV: When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

YLT: In the Most High causing nations to inherit, In His separating sons of Adam -- He setteth up the borders of the peoples By the number of the sons of Israel.

Darby: When the Most High assigned to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.

ASV: When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When the most High  divided  to the nations  their inheritance,  when he separated  the sons  of Adam,  he set  the bounds  of the people  according to the number  of the children  of Israel. 

What does Deuteronomy 32:8 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 32:8 mean?

When divided their inheritance to the Most High the nations when He separated the sons of Adam He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of God
בְּהַנְחֵ֤ל עֶלְיוֹן֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם בְּהַפְרִיד֖וֹ בְּנֵ֣י אָדָ֑ם יַצֵּב֙ גְּבֻלֹ֣ת עַמִּ֔ים לְמִסְפַּ֖ר בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

בְּהַנְחֵ֤ל  When  divided  their  inheritance  to 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: נָחַל  
Sense: to get as a possession, acquire, inherit, possess.
עֶלְיוֹן֙  the  Most  High 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: עֶלְיׄון 
Sense: high, upper.
גּוֹיִ֔ם  the  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
בְּהַפְרִיד֖וֹ  when  He  separated 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: פָּרַד  
Sense: to separate, divide.
בְּנֵ֣י  the  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
אָדָ֑ם  of  Adam 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
יַצֵּב֙  He  set 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: הֻצַּב 
Sense: to stand, take one’s stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish.
גְּבֻלֹ֣ת  the  boundaries 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: גְּבוּלָה  
Sense: border, boundary.
עַמִּ֔ים  of  the  peoples 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
לְמִסְפַּ֖ר  According  to  the  number 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מִסְפָּר  
Sense: number, tale.
בְּנֵ֥י  of  the  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל  of  God 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.