Deuteronomy 32:5

Corrupted themselves. The Hebrew text is obscure. A literal rendering of the first two expressions would probably be, “corruption is not his; his children, theirs is the blemish.” It seems that a contrast between God and His people is intended, between His perfection and their imperfection.

Perverse. The word thus translated is from a root meaning “to twist.” Applied to the heart, lips, mouth, or ways, it denotes crookedness and the pursuit of devious methods in order to achieve questionable objectives. Using this verb root Isaiah says, “They have made them crooked paths” (Isa. 59:8; see also (Prov. 2:15). The English word “perverse” is not adequate to the Hebrew sense; “perverted” is closer, for the Hebrew term includes the idea of making everything crooked that should be straight, a “twisting” of things.

Crooked. The second adjective, here rendered “crooked,” emphasizes the meaning of the first one. It occurs only this once in the Bible, and may be rendered “tortuous.” The root appears in 2 Sam. 22:27 as “unsavoury,” and in Ps. 18:26 as “froward.”

It is certain that Moses here describes this generation as crooked, unruly, intractable. Christ’s description of His generation is comparable (see Matt. 16:4; 17:17), as also Paul’s comments (see 1 Thess. 2:15; 2 Thess. 3:2).