Deuteronomy 32:24

 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.

a. ASV:  They 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. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: Exhausted 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.  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured with burning heat and poisonous pestilence; and the teeth of beasts will I send against them, with the poison of crawling things of the dust. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. NLT: I will weaken them with famine, burning fever, and deadly disease. I will send the fangs of wild beasts and poisonous snakes that glide in the dust.  [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Bloating of famine, battles of flaming demons, cutting down be the noontime demon, and the teeth of beasts shall i dispatch against them.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

f. The Israel Bible: Wasting famine, ravaging plague, Deadly pestilence, and fanged beasts Will I let loose against them, With venomous creepers in dust.  [The English Translation was adapted by Israel 365 from the JPS Tanakh. Copyright Ⓒ 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved.]

1. “They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction…”

a. [They shall be] burnt [Strong: 4198 mazeh maw-zeh' from an unused root meaning to suck out; exhausted:--burnt.]

b. [with] hunger [Strong: 7458 ra`ab raw-awb' from 7456; hunger (more or less extensive):--dearth, famine, + famished, hunger.]

c. [and] devoured [Strong: 3898 lacham law-kham' a primitive root; to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction):--devour, eat, X ever, fight(-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war(-ring).]

d. [with] burning heat [Strong: 7565 resheph reh'-shef from 8313; a live coal; by analogy lightning; figuratively, an arrow, (as flashing through the air); specifically, fever:--arrow, (burning) coal, burning heat, + spark, hot thunderbolt.]

e. [and with] bitter [Strong: 4815 mriyriy mer-ee-ree' from 4843; bitter, i.e. poisonous:--bitter.]

f. destruction [Strong: 6986 qeteb keh'-teb from an unused root meaning to cut off; ruin:--destroying, destruction.]

2. “...I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.”

a. [I will also] send [Strong: [Strong: 7971 shalach shaw-lakh' a primitive root; to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications):--X any wise, appoint, bring (on the way), cast (away, out), conduct, X earnestly, forsake, give (up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose), push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send (away, forth, out), set, shoot (forth, out), sow, spread, stretch forth (out).]

1). Troy Edwards, He only permits: Shalah (or shalach) is another word too often translated in the Bible in a way that distorts God’s reputation. One lexicon defines it as “to send, send away, let go, stretch out, to let loose.” Stephen D. Renn further elaborates on the definition of this word: Shala is a common verb meaning “to send,” plus a variety of related nuances throughout the nearly 850 occurrences of the term. In a number of contexts, however, the meaning “let (someone or something) go” in the sense of “allowing” them to go is indicated.

2). Troy Edwards, He only permits: The sending in this passage is “shalah (or shalach). The context shows that it should be “permissive” rather than “causative”. You see, the Lord will “send,” or rather “allow” all these sicknesses and diseases to come on the disobedient ones because they have forsaken Him. Sadly, forsaking God automatically causes one to be forsaken ( 1 Chronicles 15:2).

3). Troy Edwards, The Permissive Sense: Most people have read this list (Deuteronomy 28:16-68) with the erroneous idea that God will use His divine creative power to bring about these curses. Nevertheless, when we use the principle of interpreting the Bible with the Bible, we learn that these curses will come because God forsaking His people and withdrawing His protection. 

a). Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

31:18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

b. [the] teeth [Strong: 8127 shen shane from 8150; a tooth (as sharp); specifically (for 8143) ivory; figuratively, a cliff:--crag, X forefront, ivory, X sharp, tooth.]

c. [of] beasts [upon them] [Strong: 929 bhemah be-hay-maw' from an unused root (probably meaning to be mute); properly, a dumb beast; especially any large quadruped or animal (often collective):--beast, cattle.]

d. with [Strong: 5973 `im eem from 6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):--accompanying, against, and, as (X long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-)to, with(-al).]

e. [the] poison [Strong: 2534 chemah khay-maw' or (Dan. 11:44) chemaC {khay-maw'}; from 3179; heat; figuratively, anger, poison (from its fever):--anger, bottles, hot displeasure, furious(-ly, -ry), heat, indignation, poison, rage, wrath(- ful).]

f. [of] serpents [of the dust] [Strong: 2119 zachal zaw-khal' a primitive root; to crawl; by implication, to fear:--be afraid, serpent, worm.]

1). The only difference between this verse (Deuteronomy 8:15), of Israel going through the desert with not being bit by serpents, and this passage (Numbers 21:4-7), of Israel going through the desert and getting bit, was their sin.