32:10 waste howling wilderness. This picturesque description of the Sinai desert speaks of it as “howling” as if in anguish. This was the dismal home of the faithless Israelites for forty years, until the Lord could develop them into a nation ready to conquer the promised land.

32:10 apple of his eye. There are five references in the Bible to “the apple of the eye,” meaning the pupil of the eye, and speaking of something of great value to the owner. Three times (Deuteronomy 32:10, Lamentations 2:18 and Zechariah 2:8), the phrase refers to Israel as God’s choice permission. It is also applied to individual believers (Psalm 17:7-8). Perhaps most significantly, it is applied to the written word of God (Proverbs 7:1-2).