John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 32:22

"For a fire is kindled in mine anger, And burneth unto the lowest Sheol, And devoureth the earth with its increase, And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains." — Deuteronomy 32:22 (ASV)

For a fire is kindled in mine anger. He confirms what preceded, but more generally; for He compares His anger to a burning fire, which would penetrate to the deepest abysses and utterly consume their land, so as not to spare the very roots of the mountains. This metaphor is, indeed, frequently used, but here more is expressed by it than in other passages.

In the same sense, it is also added shortly that God would spend all His scourges and arrows upon them, since, when His implacable anger is once aroused, there are no bounds to His severity. The verb אספה aspheh, may, however, also be understood as heap, or superadd;²⁷⁰ but I willingly follow the more common interpretation, namely, that God will not omit anything to destroy them, as if He would apply to this purpose all weapons that were at hand.

²⁷⁰ It will be seen that C. translates both the verbs in this verse, . translates both the verbs in this verse, אספה aspheh, and and אכלה, , acalleh, by the same word, by the same word, consumam; whilst whilst A. V. renders the first . renders the first I will heap, and the latter, and the latter, I will spend; in accordance with the view of Ainsworth, Mareldus, and Dathe.; in accordance with the view of Ainsworth, Mareldus, and Dathe.