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Deuteronomy 28:16 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

16 Cursed H779 shalt thou be in the city, H5892 and cursed H779 shalt thou be in the field. H7704

Cross Reference

Jeremiah 26:6 STRONG

Then will I make H5414 this house H1004 like Shiloh, H7887 and will make H5414 this city H5892 a curse H7045 to all the nations H1471 of the earth. H776

Malachi 4:6 STRONG

And he shall turn H7725 the heart H3820 of the fathers H1 to the children, H1121 and the heart H3820 of the children H1121 to their fathers, H1 lest I come H935 and smite H5221 the earth H776 with a curse. H2764

Malachi 3:9-12 STRONG

Ye are cursed H779 with a curse: H3994 for ye have robbed H6906 me, even this whole nation. H1471 Bring H935 ye all the tithes H4643 into the storehouse, H214 that there may be meat H2964 in mine house, H1004 and prove H974 me now herewith, H2063 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 if I will not open H6605 you the windows H699 of heaven, H8064 and pour you out H7324 a blessing, H1293 that there shall not be room enough H1767 to receive it. And I will rebuke H1605 the devourer H398 for your sakes, and he shall not destroy H7843 the fruits H6529 of your ground; H127 neither shall your vine H1612 cast her fruit H7921 before the time in the field, H7704 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635 And all nations H1471 shall call you blessed: H833 for ye shall be a delightsome H2656 land, H776 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635

Malachi 2:2 STRONG

If ye will not hear, H8085 and if ye will not lay H7760 it to heart, H3820 to give H5414 glory H3519 unto my name, H8034 saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 I will even send H7971 a curse H3994 upon you, and I will curse H779 your blessings: H1293 yea, I have cursed H779 them already, because ye do not lay H7760 it to heart. H3820

Haggai 2:16-17 STRONG

Since those days were, when one came H935 to an heap H6194 of twenty H6242 measures, there were but ten: H6235 when one came H935 to the pressfat H3342 for to draw out H2834 fifty H2572 vessels out of the press, H6333 there were but twenty. H6242 I smote H5221 you with blasting H7711 and with mildew H3420 and with hail H1259 in all the labours H4639 of your hands; H3027 yet ye turned not to me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068

Haggai 1:9-11 STRONG

Ye looked H6437 for much, H7235 and, lo, it came to little; H4592 and when ye brought H935 it home, H1004 I did blow H5301 upon it. Why? saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635 Because H3282 of mine house H1004 that is waste, H2720 and ye run H7323 every man H376 unto his own house. H1004 Therefore the heaven H8064 over you is stayed H3607 from dew, H2919 and the earth H776 is stayed H3607 from her fruit. H2981 And I called H7121 for a drought H2721 upon the land, H776 and upon the mountains, H2022 and upon the corn, H1715 and upon the new wine, H8492 and upon the oil, H3323 and upon that which the ground H127 bringeth forth, H3318 and upon men, H120 and upon cattle, H929 and upon all the labour H3018 of the hands. H3709

Amos 4:6-9 STRONG

And I also have given H5414 you cleanness H5356 of teeth H8127 in all your cities, H5892 and want H2640 of bread H3899 in all your places: H4725 yet have ye not returned H7725 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 And also I have withholden H4513 the rain H1653 from you, when there were yet three H7969 months H2320 to the harvest: H7105 and I caused it to rain H4305 upon one H259 city, H5892 and caused it not to rain H4305 upon another H259 city: H5892 one H259 piece H2513 was rained H4305 upon, and the piece H2513 whereupon it rained H4305 not withered. H3001 So two H8147 or three H7969 cities H5892 wandered H5128 unto one H259 city, H5892 to drink H8354 water; H4325 but they were not satisfied: H7646 yet have ye not returned H7725 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 I have smitten H5221 you with blasting H7711 and mildew: H3420 when your gardens H1593 and your vineyards H3754 and your fig trees H8384 and your olive trees H2132 increased, H7235 the palmerworm H1501 devoured H398 them: yet have ye not returned H7725 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068

Joel 2:3 STRONG

A fire H784 devoureth H398 before H6440 them; and behind H310 them a flame H3852 burneth: H3857 the land H776 is as the garden H1588 of Eden H5731 before H6440 them, and behind H310 them a desolate H8077 wilderness; H4057 yea, and nothing shall escape H6413 them.

Joel 1:8-18 STRONG

Lament H421 like a virgin H1330 girded H2296 with sackcloth H8242 for the husband H1167 of her youth. H5271 The meat offering H4503 and the drink offering H5262 is cut off H3772 from the house H1004 of the LORD; H3068 the priests, H3548 the LORD'S H3068 ministers, H8334 mourn. H56 The field H7704 is wasted, H7703 the land H127 mourneth; H56 for the corn H1715 is wasted: H7703 the new wine H8492 is dried up, H3001 the oil H3323 languisheth. H535 Be ye ashamed, H3001 O ye husbandmen; H406 howl, H3213 O ye vinedressers, H3755 for the wheat H2406 and for the barley; H8184 because the harvest H7105 of the field H7704 is perished. H6 The vine H1612 is dried up, H3001 and the fig tree H8384 languisheth; H535 the pomegranate H7416 tree, the palm tree H8558 also, and the apple tree, H8598 even all the trees H6086 of the field, H7704 are withered: H3001 because joy H8342 is withered away H3001 from the sons H1121 of men. H120 Gird H2296 yourselves, and lament, H5594 ye priests: H3548 howl, H3213 ye ministers H8334 of the altar: H4196 come, H935 lie all night H3885 in sackcloth, H8242 ye ministers H8334 of my God: H430 for the meat offering H4503 and the drink offering H5262 is withholden H4513 from the house H1004 of your God. H430 Sanctify H6942 ye a fast, H6685 call H7121 a solemn assembly, H6116 gather H622 the elders H2205 and all the inhabitants H3427 of the land H776 into the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 your God, H430 and cry H2199 unto the LORD, H3068 Alas H162 for the day! H3117 for the day H3117 of the LORD H3068 is at hand, H7138 and as a destruction H7701 from the Almighty H7706 shall it come. H935 Is not the meat H400 cut off H3772 before our eyes, H5869 yea, joy H8057 and gladness H1524 from the house H1004 of our God? H430 The seed H6507 is rotten H5685 under their clods, H4053 the garners H214 are laid desolate, H8074 the barns H4460 are broken down; H2040 for the corn H1715 is withered. H3001 How do the beasts H929 groan! H584 the herds H5739 of cattle H1241 are perplexed, H943 because they have no pasture; H4829 yea, the flocks H5739 of sheep H6629 are made desolate. H816

Joel 1:4 STRONG

That which the palmerworm H1501 hath left H3499 hath the locust H697 eaten; H398 and that which the locust H697 hath left H3499 hath the cankerworm H3218 eaten; H398 and that which the cankerworm H3218 hath left H3499 hath the caterpiller H2625 eaten. H398

Lamentations 5:10 STRONG

Our skin H5785 was black H3648 like an oven H8574 because H6440 of the terrible H2152 famine. H7458

Lamentations 4:1-13 STRONG

How is the gold H2091 become dim! H6004 how is the most H2896 fine gold H3800 changed! H8132 the stones H68 of the sanctuary H6944 are poured out H8210 in the top H7218 of every street. H2351 The precious H3368 sons H1121 of Zion, H6726 comparable H5537 to fine gold, H6337 how are they esteemed H2803 as earthen H2789 pitchers, H5035 the work H4639 of the hands H3027 of the potter! H3335 Even the sea monsters H8577 draw out H2502 the breast, H7699 they give suck H3243 to their young ones: H1482 the daughter H1323 of my people H5971 is become cruel, H393 like the ostriches H3283 in the wilderness. H4057 The tongue H3956 of the sucking child H3243 cleaveth H1692 to the roof of his mouth H2441 for thirst: H6772 the young children H5768 ask H7592 bread, H3899 and no man breaketh H6566 it unto them. They that did feed H398 delicately H4574 are desolate H8074 in the streets: H2351 they that were brought up H539 in scarlet H8438 embrace H2263 dunghills. H830 For the punishment of the iniquity H5771 of the daughter H1323 of my people H5971 is greater H1431 than the punishment H2403 of the sin of Sodom, H5467 that was overthrown H2015 as in a moment, H7281 and no hands H3027 stayed H2342 on her. Her Nazarites H5139 were purer H2141 than snow, H7950 they were whiter H6705 than milk, H2461 they were more ruddy H119 in body H6106 than rubies, H6443 their polishing H1508 was of sapphire: H5601 Their visage H8389 is blacker H2821 than a coal; H7815 they are not known H5234 in the streets: H2351 their skin H5785 cleaveth H6821 to their bones; H6106 it is withered, H3001 it is become like a stick. H6086 They that be slain H2491 with the sword H2719 are better H2896 than they that be slain H2491 with hunger: H7458 for these H1992 pine away, H2100 stricken H1856 through for want of the fruits H8570 of the field. H7704 The hands H3027 of the pitiful H7362 women H802 have sodden H1310 their own children: H3206 they were their meat H1262 in the destruction H7667 of the daughter H1323 of my people. H5971 The LORD H3068 hath accomplished H3615 his fury; H2534 he hath poured out H8210 his fierce H2740 anger, H639 and hath kindled H3341 a fire H784 in Zion, H6726 and it hath devoured H398 the foundations H3247 thereof. The kings H4428 of the earth, H776 and all the inhabitants H3427 of the world, H8398 would not have believed H539 that the adversary H6862 and the enemy H341 should have entered H935 into the gates H8179 of Jerusalem. H3389 For the sins H2403 of her prophets, H5030 and the iniquities H5771 of her priests, H3548 that have shed H8210 the blood H1818 of the just H6662 in the midst H7130 of her,

Lamentations 2:11-22 STRONG

Mine eyes H5869 do fail H3615 with tears, H1832 my bowels H4578 are troubled, H2560 my liver H3516 is poured H8210 upon the earth, H776 for the destruction H7667 of the daughter H1323 of my people; H5971 because the children H5768 and the sucklings H3243 swoon H5848 in the streets H7339 of the city. H7151 They say H559 to their mothers, H517 Where is corn H1715 and wine? H3196 when they swooned H5848 as the wounded H2491 in the streets H7339 of the city, H5892 when their soul H5315 was poured out H8210 into their mothers' H517 bosom. H2436 What thing shall I take to witness H5749 H5749 for thee? what thing H4100 shall I liken H1819 to thee, O daughter H1323 of Jerusalem? H3389 what shall I equal H7737 to thee, that I may comfort H5162 thee, O virgin H1330 daughter H1323 of Zion? H6726 for thy breach H7667 is great H1419 like the sea: H3220 who can heal H7495 thee? Thy prophets H5030 have seen H2372 vain H7723 and foolish things H8602 for thee: and they have not discovered H1540 thine iniquity, H5771 to turn away H7725 thy captivity; H7622 H7622 but have seen H2372 for thee false H7723 burdens H4864 and causes of banishment. H4065 All that pass H5674 by clap H5606 their hands H3709 at thee; H1870 they hiss H8319 and wag H5128 their head H7218 at the daughter H1323 of Jerusalem, H3389 saying, Is this the city H5892 that men call H559 The perfection H3632 of beauty, H3308 The joy H4885 of the whole earth? H776 All thine enemies H341 have opened H6475 their mouth H6310 against thee: they hiss H8319 and gnash H2786 the teeth: H8127 they say, H559 We have swallowed her up: H1104 certainly H389 this is the day H3117 that we looked for; H6960 we have found, H4672 we have seen H7200 it. The LORD H3068 hath done H6213 that which he had devised; H2161 he hath fulfilled H1214 his word H565 that he had commanded H6680 in the days H3117 of old: H6924 he hath thrown down, H2040 and hath not pitied: H2550 and he hath caused thine enemy H341 to rejoice H8055 over thee, he hath set up H7311 the horn H7161 of thine adversaries. H6862 Their heart H3820 cried H6817 unto the Lord, H136 O wall H2346 of the daughter H1323 of Zion, H6726 let tears H1832 run down H3381 like a river H5158 day H3119 and night: H3915 give H5414 thyself no rest; H6314 let not the apple H1323 of thine eye H5869 cease. H1826 Arise, H6965 cry out H7442 in the night: H3915 in the beginning H7218 of the watches H821 pour out H8210 thine heart H3820 like water H4325 before H5227 the face H6440 of the Lord: H136 lift up H5375 thy hands H3709 toward him for the life H5315 of thy young children, H5768 that faint H5848 for hunger H7458 in the top H7218 of every street. H2351 Behold, H7200 O LORD, H3068 and consider H5027 to whom thou hast done H5953 this. H3541 Shall the women H802 eat H398 their fruit, H6529 and children H5768 of a span long? H2949 shall the priest H3548 and the prophet H5030 be slain H2026 in the sanctuary H4720 of the Lord? H136 The young H5288 and the old H2205 lie H7901 on the ground H776 in the streets: H2351 my virgins H1330 and my young men H970 are fallen H5307 by the sword; H2719 thou hast slain H2026 them in the day H3117 of thine anger; H639 thou hast killed, H2873 and not pitied. H2550 Thou hast called H7121 as in a solemn H4150 day H3117 my terrors H4032 round about, H5439 so that in the day H3117 of the LORD'S H3068 anger H639 none escaped H6412 nor remained: H8300 those that I have swaddled H2946 and brought up H7235 hath mine enemy H341 consumed. H3615

Lamentations 1:1 STRONG

How doth the city H5892 sit H3427 solitary, H910 that was full H7227 of people! H5971 how is she become as a widow! H490 she that was great H7227 among the nations, H1471 and princess H8282 among the provinces, H4082 how is she become tributary! H4522

Jeremiah 44:22 STRONG

So that the LORD H3068 could H3201 no longer bear, H5375 because H6440 of the evil H7455 of your doings, H4611 and because H6440 of the abominations H8441 which ye have committed; H6213 therefore is your land H776 a desolation, H2723 and an astonishment, H8047 and a curse, H7045 without an inhabitant, H3427 as at this day. H3117

Genesis 3:17-18 STRONG

And unto Adam H121 he said, H559 Because thou hast hearkened H8085 unto the voice H6963 of thy wife, H802 and hast eaten H398 of the tree, H6086 of which H834 I commanded thee, H6680 saying, H559 Thou shalt not eat H398 of it: cursed H779 is the ground H127 for thy sake; in sorrow H6093 shalt thou eat H398 of it all H3605 the days H3117 of thy life; H2416 Thorns also H6975 and thistles H1863 shall it bring forth H6779 to thee; and thou shalt eat H398 the herb H6212 of the field; H7704

Jeremiah 14:18 STRONG

If I go forth H3318 into the field, H7704 then behold the slain H2491 with the sword! H2719 and if I enter H935 into the city, H5892 then behold them that are sick H8463 with famine! H7458 yea, both the prophet H5030 and the priest H3548 go about H5503 into a land H776 that they know H3045 not.

Jeremiah 14:2-5 STRONG

Judah H3063 mourneth, H56 and the gates H8179 thereof languish; H535 they are black H6937 unto the ground; H776 and the cry H6682 of Jerusalem H3389 is gone up. H5927 And their nobles H117 have sent H7971 their little ones H6810 to the waters: H4325 they came H935 to the pits, H1356 H1360 and found H4672 no water; H4325 they returned H7725 with their vessels H3627 empty; H7387 they were ashamed H954 and confounded, H3637 and covered H2645 their heads. H7218 Because the ground H127 is chapt, H2865 for there was no rain H1653 in the earth, H776 the plowmen H406 were ashamed, H954 they covered H2645 their heads. H7218 Yea, the hind H365 also calved H3205 in the field, H7704 and forsook H5800 it, because there was no grass. H1877

Jeremiah 9:11 STRONG

And I will make H5414 Jerusalem H3389 heaps, H1530 and a den H4583 of dragons; H8577 and I will make H5414 the cities H5892 of Judah H3063 desolate, H8077 without an inhabitant. H3427

Isaiah 43:28 STRONG

Therefore I have profaned H2490 the princes H8269 of the sanctuary, H6944 and have given H5414 Jacob H3290 to the curse, H2764 and Israel H3478 to reproaches. H1421

Isaiah 24:6-12 STRONG

Therefore hath the curse H423 devoured H398 the earth, H776 and they that dwell H3427 therein are desolate: H816 therefore the inhabitants H3427 of the earth H776 are burned, H2787 and few H4213 men H582 left. H7604 The new wine H8492 mourneth, H56 the vine H1612 languisheth, H535 all the merryhearted H8056 H3820 do sigh. H584 The mirth H4885 of tabrets H8596 ceaseth, H7673 the noise H7588 of them that rejoice H5947 endeth, H2308 the joy H4885 of the harp H3658 ceaseth. H7673 They shall not drink H8354 wine H3196 with a song; H7892 strong drink H7941 shall be bitter H4843 to them that drink H8354 it. The city H7151 of confusion H8414 is broken down: H7665 every house H1004 is shut up, H5462 that no man may come in. H935 There is a crying H6682 for wine H3196 in the streets; H2351 all joy H8057 is darkened, H6150 the mirth H4885 of the land H776 is gone. H1540 In the city H5892 is left H7604 desolation, H8047 and the gate H8179 is smitten H3807 with destruction. H7591

Proverbs 3:33 STRONG

The curse H3994 of the LORD H3068 is in the house H1004 of the wicked: H7563 but he blesseth H1288 the habitation H5116 of the just. H6662

1 Kings 17:12 STRONG

And she said, H559 As the LORD H3068 thy God H430 liveth, H2416 I have H3426 not a cake, H4580 but an handful H4393 H3709 of meal H7058 in a barrel, H3537 and a little H4592 oil H8081 in a cruse: H6835 and, behold, I am gathering H7197 two H8147 sticks, H6086 that I may go in H935 and dress H6213 it for me and my son, H1121 that we may eat H398 it, and die. H4191

1 Kings 17:5 STRONG

So he went H3212 and did H6213 according unto the word H1697 of the LORD: H3068 for he went H3212 and dwelt H3427 by the brook H5158 Cherith, H3747 that is before H6440 Jordan. H3383

1 Kings 17:1 STRONG

And Elijah H452 the Tishbite, H8664 who was of the inhabitants H8453 of Gilead, H1568 said H559 unto Ahab, H256 As the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 liveth, H2416 before H6440 whom I stand, H5975 there shall not be dew H2919 nor rain H4306 these years, H8141 but according H6310 to my word. H1697

Deuteronomy 28:55 STRONG

So that he will not give H5414 to any H259 of them of the flesh H1320 of his children H1121 whom he shall eat: H398 because he hath nothing left H7604 him in the siege, H4692 and in the straitness, H4689 wherewith thine enemies H341 shall distress H6693 thee in all thy gates. H8179

Deuteronomy 28:3-14 STRONG

Blessed H1288 shalt thou be in the city, H5892 and blessed H1288 shalt thou be in the field. H7704 Blessed H1288 shall be the fruit H6529 of thy body, H990 and the fruit H6529 of thy ground, H127 and the fruit H6529 of thy cattle, H929 the increase H7698 of thy kine, H504 and the flocks H6251 of thy sheep. H6629 Blessed H1288 shall be thy basket H2935 and thy store. H4863 Blessed H1288 shalt thou be when thou comest in, H935 and blessed H1288 shalt thou be when thou goest out. H3318 The LORD H3068 shall cause H5414 thine enemies H341 that rise up H6965 against thee to be smitten H5062 before thy face: H6440 they shall come out H3318 against thee one H259 way, H1870 and flee H5127 before H6440 thee seven H7651 ways. H1870 The LORD H3068 shall command H6680 the blessing H1293 upon thee in thy storehouses, H618 and in all that thou settest H4916 thine hand H3027 unto; and he shall bless H1288 thee in the land H776 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee. The LORD H3068 shall establish H6965 thee an holy H6918 people H5971 unto himself, as he hath sworn H7650 unto thee, if thou shalt keep H8104 the commandments H4687 of the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and walk H1980 in his ways. H1870 And all people H5971 of the earth H776 shall see H7200 that thou art called H7121 by the name H8034 of the LORD; H3068 and they shall be afraid H3372 of thee. And the LORD H3068 shall make thee plenteous H3498 in goods, H2896 in the fruit H6529 of thy body, H990 and in the fruit H6529 of thy cattle, H929 and in the fruit H6529 of thy ground, H127 in the land H127 which the LORD H3068 sware H7650 unto thy fathers H1 to give H5414 thee. The LORD H3068 shall open H6605 unto thee his good H2896 treasure, H214 the heaven H8064 to give H5414 the rain H4306 unto thy land H776 in his season, H6256 and to bless H1288 all the work H4639 of thine hand: H3027 and thou shalt lend H3867 unto many H7227 nations, H1471 and thou shalt not borrow. H3867 And the LORD H3068 shall make H5414 thee the head, H7218 and not the tail; H2180 and thou shalt be above only, H4605 and thou shalt not be beneath; H4295 if that thou hearken H8085 unto the commandments H4687 of the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 which I command H6680 thee this day, H3117 to observe H8104 and to do H6213 them: And thou shalt not go aside H5493 from any of the words H1697 which I command H6680 thee this day, H3117 to the right hand, H3225 or to the left, H8040 to go H3212 after H310 other H312 gods H430 to serve H5647 them.

Genesis 8:21-22 STRONG

And the LORD H3068 smelled H7306 a sweet H5207 savour; H7381 and the LORD H3068 said H559 in H413 his heart, H3820 I will not again H3254 curse H7043 the ground H127 any more for man's H120 sake; H5668 for the imagination H3336 of man's H120 heart H3820 is evil H7451 from his youth; H5271 neither will I again H3254 smite H5221 any more every thing living, H2416 as I have done. H6213 While the earth H776 remaineth, H3117 seedtime H2233 and harvest, H7105 and cold H7120 and heat, H2527 and summer H7019 and winter, H2779 and day H3117 and night H3915 shall not cease. H7673

Genesis 5:29 STRONG

And he called H7121 his name H8034 Noah, H5146 saying, H559 This same shall comfort H5162 us concerning our work H4639 and toil H6093 of our hands, H3027 because H4480 of the ground H127 which the LORD H3068 hath cursed. H779

Genesis 4:11-12 STRONG

And now art thou cursed H779 from the earth, H127 which hath opened H6475 her mouth H6310 to receive H3947 thy brother's H251 blood H1818 from thy hand; H3027 When H3588 thou tillest H5647 the ground, H127 it shall not henceforth H3254 yield H5414 unto thee her strength; H3581 a fugitive H5128 and a vagabond H5110 shalt thou be in the earth. H776

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 28

Commentary on Deuteronomy 28 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-14

For the purpose of impressing upon the hearts of all the people in the most emphatic manner both the blessing which Israel was to proclaim upon Gerizim, and the curse which it was to proclaim upon Ebal, Moses now unfolds the blessing of fidelity to the law and the curse of transgression in a longer address, in which he once more resumes, sums up, and expands still further the promises and threats of the law in Exodus 23:20-33, and Lev 26.

Deuteronomy 28:1-6

The Blessing. - Deuteronomy 28:1. If Israel would hearken to the voice of the Lord its God, the Lord would make it the highest of all the nations of the earth. This thought, with which the discourse on the law in Deuteronomy 26:19 terminated, forms the theme, and in a certain sense the heading, of the following description of the blessing, through which the Lord, according to the more distinct declaration in Deuteronomy 28:2, would glorify His people above all the nations of the earth. The indispensable condition for obtaining this blessing, was obedience to the word of the Lord, or keeping His commandments. To impress this condition sine qua non thoroughly upon the people, Moses not only repeats it at the commencement (Deuteronomy 28:2), and in the middle (Deuteronomy 28:9), but also at the close (Deuteronomy 28:13, Deuteronomy 28:14), in both a positive and a negative form. In Deuteronomy 28:2, “the way in which Israel was to be exalted is pointed out” ( Schultz ); and thus the theme is more precisely indicated, and the elaboration of it is introduced. “All these blessings (those mentioned singly in what follows) will come upon thee and reach thee.” The blessings are represented as actual powers, which follow the footsteps of the nation, and overtake it. In Deuteronomy 28:3-6, the fulness of the blessing of God in all the relations of life is depicted in a sixfold repetition of the word “blessed.” Israel will be blessed in the town and in the field, the two spheres in which its life moves (Deuteronomy 28:3); blessed will be the fruit of the body, of the earth, and of the cattle, i.e., in all its productions (Deuteronomy 28:4; for each one, see Deuteronomy 7:13-14); blessed will be the basket (Deuteronomy 26:2) in which the fruits are kept, and the kneading - trough (Exodus 12:34) in which the daily bread is prepared (Deuteronomy 28:5); blessed will the nation be in all its undertakings (“coming in and going out;” vid., Numbers 27:17).

Deuteronomy 28:7-14

Deuteronomy 28:7-14 describe the influence and effect of the blessing upon all the circumstances and situations in which the nation might be placed: in Deuteronomy 28:7-10, with reference ( a ) to the attitude of Israel towards its enemies (Deuteronomy 28:7); ( b ) to its trade and handicraft (Deuteronomy 28:8); ( c ) to its attitude towards all the nations of the earth (Deuteronomy 28:9, Deuteronomy 28:10). The optative forms, יתּן and יצו (in Deuteronomy 28:7 and Deuteronomy 28:8), are worthy of notice. They show that Moses not only proclaimed the blessing to the people, but desired it for them, because he knew that Israel would not always or perfectly fulfil the condition upon which it was to be bestowed. “ May the Lord be pleased to give thine enemies...smitten before thee ,” i.e., give them up to thee as smitten ( לפני נתן , to give up before a person, to deliver up to him: cf. Deuteronomy 1:8), so that they shall come out against thee by one way, and flee from thee by seven ways, i.e., in wild dispersion (cf. Leviticus 26:7-8).

Deuteronomy 28:8

May the Lord command the blessing with thee (put it at thy disposal) in thy barns (granaries, store-rooms) and in all thy business ” (“to set the hand;” see Deuteronomy 12:7).

Deuteronomy 28:9-12

The Lord will exalt thee for a holy nation to Himself,...so that all the nations of the earth shall see that the name of Jehovah is named upon thee, and shall fear before thee .” The Lord had called Israel as a holy nation, when He concluded the covenant with it (Exodus 19:5-6). This promise, to which the words “as He hath sworn unto thee” point back, and which is called an oath, because it was founded upon the promises given to the patriarchs on oath (Genesis 22:16), and was given implicite in them, the Lord would fulfil to His people, and cause the holiness and glory of Israel to be so clearly manifested, that all nations should perceive or see “ that the name of the Lord is named upon Israel .” The name of the Lord is the revelation of His glorious nature. It is named upon Israel, when Israel is transformed into the glory of the divine nature (cf. Isaiah 63:19; Jeremiah 14:9). It was only in feeble commencements that this blessing was fulfilled upon Israel under the Old Testament; and it is not till the restoration of Israel, which is to take place in the future according to Romans 11:25., that its complete fulfilment will be attained. In Deuteronomy 28:11 and Deuteronomy 28:12, Moses returns to the earthly blessing, for the purpose of unfolding this still further. “ Superabundance will the Lord give thee for good (i.e., for happiness and prosperity; vid., Deuteronomy 30:9), in fruit of thy body ,” etc. (cf. Deuteronomy 28:4). He would open His good treasure-house, the heaven, to give rain to the land in its season (cf. Deuteronomy 11:14; Leviticus 26:4-5), and bless the work of the hands, i.e., the cultivation of the soil, so that Israel would be able to lend to many, according to the prospect already set before it in Deuteronomy 15:6.

Deuteronomy 28:13-14

By such blessings He would “ make Israel the head, and not the tail ,” - a figure taken from life (vid., Isaiah 9:13), the meaning of which is obvious, and is given literally in the next sentence, “ thou wilt be above only, and not beneath ,” i.e., thou wilt rise more and more, and increase in wealth, power, and dignity. With this the discourse returns to its commencement; and the promise of blessing closes with another emphatic repetition of the condition on which the fulfilment depended ( Deuteronomy 28:13 and Deuteronomy 28:14. On Deuteronomy 28:14, see Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 11:28).


Verses 15-68

The Curse, in case Israel should not hearken to the voice of its God, to keep His commandments. After the announcement that all these (the following) curses would come upon the disobedient nation (Deuteronomy 28:15), the curse is proclaimed in all its extent, as covering all the relations of life, in a sixfold repetition of the word “cursed” (Deuteronomy 28:16-19, as above in Deuteronomy 28:3-6); and the fulfilment of this threat in plagues and diseases, drought and famine, war, devastation of the land, and captivity of the people, is so depicted, that the infliction of these punishments stands out to view in ever increasing extent and fearfulness. We are not to record this, however, as a gradual heightening of the judgments of God, in proportion to the increasing rebellion of Israel, as in Leviticus 26:14., although it is obvious that the punishments threatened did not fall upon the nation all at once.

Deuteronomy 28:16-19

Deuteronomy 28:16-19 correspond precisely to Deuteronomy 28:3-6, so as to set forth the curse as the counterpart of the blessing, except that the basket and kneading-trough are mentioned before the fruit of the body.

Deuteronomy 28:20-22

The first view, in which the bursting of the threatened curse upon the disobedient people is proclaimed in all its forms. First of all, quite generally in Deuteronomy 28:20. “ The Lord will send the curse against thee, consternation and threatening in every undertaking of thy hand which thou carriest out (see Deuteronomy 12:7), till thou be destroyed, till thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings, because thou hast forsaken Me .” The three words, מארה , מהוּמה , and מגערת , are synonymous, and are connected together to strengthen the thought. מארה , curse or malediction; המּהוּמה , the consternation produced by the curse of God, namely, the confusion with which God smites His foes (see at Deuteronomy 7:23); המּגערה is the threatening word of the divine wrath. - Then Deuteronomy 28:21. in detail. “ The Lord will make the pestilence fasten upon (cleave to) thee, till He hath destroyed thee out of the land...to smite thee with giddiness and fever (cf. Leviticus 26:16), inflammation, burning, and sword, blasting of corn, and mildew (of the seed);” seven diseases therefore (seven as the stamp of the words of God), whilst pestilence in particular is mentioned first, as the most terrible enemy of life. דּלּקת , from דּלק to burn, and חרחר , from חרר to glow, signify inflammatory diseases, burning fevers; the distinction between these and קדּחת cannot be determined. Instead of חרב , the sword as the instrument of death, used to designate slaughter and death, the Vulgate , Arabic , and Samaritan have adopted the reading חרב , aestus , heat (Genesis 31:40), or drought, according to which there would be four evils mentioned by which human life is attacked, and three which are injurious to the corn. But as the lxx, Jon ., Syr ., and others read חרב , this alteration is very questionable, especially as the reading can be fully defended in this connection; and one objection to the alteration is, that drought is threatened for the first time in Deuteronomy 28:23, Deuteronomy 28:24. שׁדּפון , from שׁדף to singe or blacken, and ירקון , from ירק to be yellowish, refer to two diseases which attack the corn: the former to the withering or burning of the ears, caused by the east wind (Genesis 41:23); the other to the effect produced by a warm wind in Arabia, by which the green ears are turned yellow, so that they bear no grains of corn.

Deuteronomy 28:23-24

To this should be added terrible drought, without a drop of rain from heaven (cf. Leviticus 26:19). Instead of rain, dust and ashes should fall from heaven. נתן construed with a double accusative: to make the rain of the land into dust and ashes, to give it in the form of dust and ashes. When the heat is very great, the air in Palestine is often full of dust and sand, the wind assuming the form of a burning sirocco, so that the air resembles the glowing heat at the mouth of a furnace (Robinson, ii. 504).

Deuteronomy 28:25-26

Defeat in battle, the very opposite of the blessing promised in Deuteronomy 28:7. Israel should become לזעוה , “ a moving to and fro ,” i.e., so to speak, “a ball for all the kingdoms of the earth to play with” ( Schultz ). זעוה , here and at Ezekiel 23:46, is not a transposed and later form of זועה , which has a different meaning in Isaiah 28:19, but the original uncontracted form, which was afterwards condensed into זועה ; for this, and not זועה , is the way in which the Chethib should be read in Jeremiah 15:4; Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 29:18; Jeremiah 34:17, and 2 Chronicles 29:8, where this threat is repeated (vid., Ewald , §53, b .). The corpses of those who were slain by the foe should serve as food for the birds of prey and wild beasts - the greatest ignominy that could fall upon the dead, and therefore frequently held out as a threat against the ungodly (Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 16:4; 1 Kings 14:11, etc.).

Deuteronomy 28:27-34

The second view depicts still further the visitation of God both by diseases of body and soul, and also by plunder and oppression on the part of their enemies. - In Deuteronomy 28:27 four incurable diseases of the body are threatened: the ulcer of Egypt (see at Exodus 9:9), i.e., the form of leprosy peculiar to Egypt, elephantiasis ( Aegypti peculiare malum: Plin . xxvi. c. 1, s. 5), which differed from lepra tuberosa , however, or tubercular leprosy (Deuteronomy 28:35; cf. Job 2:7), in degree only, and not in its essential characteristics (see Tobler, mediz. Topogr. v. Jerus. p. 51). עפלים , from עפל , a swelling, rising, signifies a tumour, and according to the Rabbins a disease of the anus: in men, tumor in posticis partibus; in women, durius quoddam οἴδημα in utero . It was with this disease that the Philistines were smitten (1 Samuel 5:1-12). גּרב (see Leviticus 21:20) and חרס , from חרס , to scrape or scratch, also a kind of itch, of which there are several forms in Syria and Egypt.

Deuteronomy 28:28-29

In addition to this, there would come idiocy, blindness, and confusion of mind, - three psychical maladies; for although עוּרון signifies primarily bodily blindness, the position of the word between idiocy and confusion of heart, i.e., of the understanding, points to mental blindness here.

Deuteronomy 28:29-34

Deuteronomy 28:29 leads to the same conclusion, where it is stated that Israel would grope in the bright noon-day, like a blind man in the dark, and not make his ways prosper, i.e., not hit upon the right road which led to the goal and to salvation, would have no good fortune or success in its undertakings (cf. Psalms 37:7). Being thus smitten in body and soul, it would be only ( אך as in Deuteronomy 16:15), i.e., utterly, oppressed and spoiled evermore. These words introduce the picture of the other calamity, viz., the plundering of the nation and the land by enemies (Deuteronomy 28:30-33). Wife, house, vineyard, ox, ass, and sheep would be taken away by the foe; sons and daughters would be carried away into captivity before the eyes of the people, who would see it and pine after the children, i.e., with sorrow and longing after them; “ and thy hand shall not be to thee towards God ,” i.e., all power and help will fail thee. (On this proverbial expression, see Genesis 31:29; and on חלּל , in Genesis 31:30, see at Deuteronomy 20:6.) - In Deuteronomy 28:33, Deuteronomy 28:34, this threat is summed up in the following manner: the fruit of the field and all their productions would be devoured by a strange nation, and Israel would be only oppressed and crushed to pieces all its days, and become mad on account of what its eyes would be compelled to see.

Deuteronomy 28:35-46

The third view. - With the words, “ the Lord will smite thee ,” Moses resumes in Deuteronomy 28:35 the threat of Deuteronomy 28:27, to set forth the calamities already threatened under a new aspect, namely, as signs of the rejection of Israel from covenant fellowship with the Lord.

Deuteronomy 28:35

The Lord would smite the people with grievous abscesses in the knees and thighs, that should be incurable, even from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. רע שׁחין ר is the so-called joint-leprosy, a form of the lepra tuberosa (vid., Pruner , p. 167). From the clause, however, “ from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head ,” it is evident that the threat is not to be restricted to this species of leprosy, since “the upper parts of the body often remain in a perfectly normal state in cases of leprosy in the joints; and after the diseased parts have fallen off, the patients recover their previous health to a certain degree” ( Pruner ). Moses mentions this as being a disease of such a nature, that it would render it utterly impossible for those who were afflicted with it either to stand or walk, and then heightens the threat by adding the words, “from the sole of the foot to the top of the head.” Leprosy excluded from fellowship with the Lord, and deprived the nation of the character of a nation of God.

Deuteronomy 28:36-37

The loss of their spiritual character would be followed by the dissolution of the covenant fellowship. This thought connects Deuteronomy 28:36 with Deuteronomy 28:35, and not the thought that Israel being afflicted with leprosy would be obliged to go into captivity, and in this state would become an object of abhorrence to the heathen ( Schultz ). The Lord would bring the nation and its king to a foreign nation that it did not know, and thrust them into bondage, so that it would be obliged to serve other gods - wood and stone (vid., Deuteronomy 4:28), - and would become an object of disgust, a proverb, and a byword to all nations whither God should drive it (vid., 1 Kings 9:7; Jeremiah 24:9).

Deuteronomy 28:38-39

Even in their own land the curse would fall upon every kind of labour and enterprise. Much seed would give little to reap, because the locust would devour the seed; the planting and dressing of the vineyard would furnish no wine to drink, because the worm would devour the vine. תּולעת is probably the ἴψ or ἴξ of the Greeks, the convolvulus of the Romans, our vine-weevil.

Deuteronomy 28:40

They would have many olive-trees in the land, but not anoint themselves with oil, because the olive-tree would be rooted out or plundered ( ישּׁל , Niphal of שׁלל , as in Deuteronomy 19:5, not the Kal of נשׁל , which cannot be shown to have the intransitive meaning elabi ).

Deuteronomy 28:41

Sons and daughters would they beget, but not keep, because they would have to go into captivity.

Deuteronomy 28:42

All the trees and fruits of the land would the buzzer take possession of. צלצל , from צלל to buzz , a rhetorical epithet applied to locusts , not the grasshopper, which does not injure the fruits of the tree or ground sufficiently for the term ירשׁ , “to take possession of,” to be applicable to it.

Deuteronomy 28:43

Israel would be utterly impoverished, and would sink lower and lower, whilst the stranger in the midst of it would, on the contrary, get above it very high; not indeed “because he had no possession, but was dependent upon resources of other kinds” ( Schultz ), but rather because he would be exempted with all his possessions from the curse of God, just as the Israelites had been exempted from the plagues which came upon the Egyptians (Exodus 9:6-7, Exodus 9:26).

Deuteronomy 28:44-46

The opposite of Deuteronomy 28:12 and Deuteronomy 28:13 would come to pass. - In Deuteronomy 28:46 the address returns to its commencement in Deuteronomy 28:15, with the terrible threat, “ These curses shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever ,” for the purpose of making a pause, if not of bringing the whole to a close. The curses were for a sign and wonder ( מופת , that which excites astonishment and terror), inasmuch as their magnitude and terrible character manifested most clearly the supernatural interposition of God (vid., Deuteronomy 29:23). “ For ever ” applies to the generation smitten by the curse, which would remain for ever rejected, though without involving the perpetual rejection of the whole nation, or the impossibility of the conversion and restoration of a remnant, or of a holy seed (Isaiah 10:22; Isaiah 6:13; Romans 9:27; Romans 11:5).

Deuteronomy 28:47-57

The fourth view. - Although in what precedes every side of the national life has been brought under the curse, yet love to his people, and the desire to preserve them from the curse, by holding up before them the dreadful severity of the wrath of God, impel the faithful servant of the Lord to go still further, and depict more minutely still the dreadful horrors consequent upon Israel being given up to the power of the heathen, and first of all in Deuteronomy 28:47-57 the horrible calamities which would burst upon Israel on the conquest of the land and its fortresses by its foes.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48

Because it had not served the Lord its God with joy and gladness of heart, “ for the abundance of all ,” i.e., for the abundance of all the blessings bestowed upon it by its God, it would serve its enemies in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and want of everything, and wear an iron yoke, i.e., be obliged to perform the hardest tributary service till it was destroyed ( השׁמיד for השׁמיד , as in Deuteronomy 7:24).

Deuteronomy 28:49-50

The Lord would bring against it from afar a barbarous, hardhearted nation, which knew not pity. “ From afar ” is still further strengthened by the addition of the words, “ from the end of the earth .” The greater the distance off, the more terrible does the foe appear. He flies thence like an eagle, which plunges with violence upon its prey, and carries it off with its claws; and Israel does not understand its language, so as to be able to soften its barbarity, or come to any terms. A people “ firm, hard of face, ” i.e., upon whom nothing makes an impression (vid., Isaiah 50:7), - a description of the audacity and shamelessness of its appearance (Daniel 8:23; cf. Proverbs 7:13; Proverbs 21:29), which spares neither old men nor boys. This description no doubt applies to the Chaldeans, who are described as flying eagles in Habakkuk 1:6., Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3, Ezekiel 17:7, as in the verses before us; but it applies to other enemies of Israel beside these, namely to the great imperial powers generally, the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Romans, whom the Lord raised up as the executors of His curse upon His rebellious people. Isaiah therefore depicts the Assyrians in a similar manner, namely, as a people with an unintelligible language (Deuteronomy 5:26; Deuteronomy 28:11; Deuteronomy 33:19), and describes the cruelty of the Medes in Deuteronomy 13:17-18, with an unmistakeable allusion to Deuteronomy 28:50 of the present threat.

Deuteronomy 28:51-52

This foe would consume all the fruit of the cattle and the land, i.e., everything which the nation had acquired through agriculture and the breeding of stock, without leaving it anything, until it was utterly destroyed (see Deuteronomy 7:13), and would oppress, i.e., besiege it in all its gates (towns, vid., Deuteronomy 12:12), till the lofty and strong walls upon which they relied should fall ( ירד as in Deuteronomy 20:20).

Deuteronomy 28:53

It would so distress Israel, that in their distress and siege they would be driven to eat the fruit of their body, and the flesh of their own children (with regard to the fulfilment of this, see the remarks on Leviticus 26:29). - This horrible distress is depicted still more fully in Deuteronomy 28:54-57, where the words, “ in the siege and in the straitness ,” etc. (Deuteronomy 28:53), are repeated as a refrain , with their appalling sound, in Deuteronomy 28:55 and Deuteronomy 28:57.

Deuteronomy 28:54-55

The effeminate and luxurious man would look with ill-favour upon his brother, the wife of his bosom, and his remaining children, “to give” (so that he would not give) to one of them of the flesh of his children which he was consuming, because there was nothing left to him in the siege. “ His eye shall be evil ,” i.e., look with envy or ill-favour (cf. Deuteronomy 15:9). השׁאיר מבּלי , on account of there not being anything left for himself. כּל with בּלי signifies literally “ all not ,” i.e., nothing at all. השׁאיר , an infinitive, as in Deuteronomy 3:3 (see at Deuteronomy 28:48).

Deuteronomy 28:56-57

The delicate and luxurious woman, who had not attempted to put her feet to the ground (had always been carried therefore either upon a litter or an ass: cf. Judges 5:10, and Arvieux, Sitten der Beduinen Ar. p. 143), from tenderness and delicacy - her eye would look with envy upon the husband of her bosom and her children, and that ( vav expl .) because of (for) her after-birth, which cometh out from between her feet, and because of her children which she bears (sc., during the siege); “ for she will eat them secretly in the want of everything ,” that is to say, first of all attempt to appease her hunger with the after-birth, and then, when there was no more left, with her own children. To such an awful height would the famine rise!

Deuteronomy 28:58-68

The fifth and last view. - And yet these horrible calamities would not be the end of the distress. The full measure of the divine curse would be poured out upon Israel, when its disobedience had become hardened into disregard of the glorious and fearful name of the Lord its God. To point this out, Moses describes the resistance of the people in Deuteronomy 28:58; not, as in Deuteronomy 28:15 and Deuteronomy 28:45, as not hearkening to the voice of the Lord to keep all His commandments, which he (Moses) had commanded this day, or which Jehovah had commanded (Deuteronomy 28:45), but as “not observing to do all the words which are written in this book, to fear the glorified and fearful name,” (viz.) Jehovah its God. “ This book ” is not Deuteronomy, even if we should assume that Moses had not first of all delivered the discourses in this book to the people and then written them down, but had first of all written them down and then read them to the people (see at Deuteronomy 31:9), but the book of the law, i.e., the Pentateuch, so far as it was already written. This is evident from Deuteronomy 28:60, Deuteronomy 28:61, according to which the grievous diseases of Egypt were written in this book of the law, which points to the book of Exodus, where grievous diseases occur among the Egyptian plagues. In fact, Moses could not have thought of merely laying the people under the obligation to keep the laws of the book of Deuteronomy, since this book does not contain all the essential laws of the covenant, and was never intended to form an independent book of the law. The infinitive clause, “ to fear ,” etc., serves to explain the previous clause, “ to do ,” etc., whether we regard the two clauses as co-ordinate, or the second as subordinate to the first. Doing all the commandments of the law must show and prove itself in fearing the revealed name of the Lord. Where this fear is wanting, the outward observance of the commandments can only be a pharisaic work-righteousness, which is equivalent to a transgress of the law. But the object of this fear was not to be a God, according to human ideas of the nature and working of God; it was to be “ this glorified and fearful name ,” i.e., Jehovah the absolute God, as He glories Himself and shows Himself to be fearful in His doings upon earth. “ The name ,” as in Leviticus 24:11. נכבּד in a reflective sense, as in Exodus 14:4, Exodus 14:17-18; Leviticus 10:3.

Deuteronomy 28:59-60

If Israel should not do this, the Lord would make its strokes and the strokes of its seed wonderful, i.e., would visit the people and their descendants with extraordinary strokes, with great and lasting strokes, and with evil and lasting diseases (Deuteronomy 28:60), and would bring all the pestilences of Egypt upon it. השׁיב , to turn back, inasmuch as Israel was set free from them by the deliverance out of Egypt. מדוה is construed with the plural as a collective noun.

Deuteronomy 28:61

Also every disease and every stroke that was not written in this book of the law, - not only those that were written in the book of the law, but those also that did not stand therein. The diseases of Egypt that were written in the book of the law include the murrain of cattle, the boils and blains, and the death of the first-born (Exodus 9:1-10; Exodus 12:29); and the strokes ( מכּה ) the rest of the plagues, viz., the frogs, gnats, dog-flies, hail, locusts, and darkness (Ex 8-10). יעלּם , an uncommon and harder form of יעלם (Judges 16:3; cf. Ewald , §138, a .).

Deuteronomy 28:62

Israel would be almost annihilated thereby. “ Ye will be left in few people (a small number; cf. Deuteronomy 26:5), whereas ye were as numerous as the stars of heaven .”

Deuteronomy 28:63

Yea, the Lord would find His pleasure in the destruction and annihilation of Israel, as He had previously rejoiced in blessing and multiplying it. With this bold anthropomorphic expression Moses seeks to remove from the nation the last prop of false confidence in the mercy of God. Greatly as the sin of man troubles God, and little as the pleasure may be which He has in the death of the wicked, yet the holiness of His love demands the punishment and destruction of those who despise the riches of His goodness and long-suffering; so that He displays His glory in the judgment and destruction of the wicked no less than in blessing and prospering the righteous.

Deuteronomy 28:63-64

Those who had not succumbed to the plagues and strokes of God, would be torn from the land of their inheritance, and scattered among all nations to the end of the earth, and there be compelled to serve other gods, which are wood and stone, which have no life and no sensation, and therefore can hear no prayer, and cannot deliver out of any distress (cf. Deuteronomy 4:27.).

Deuteronomy 28:65-66

When banished thus among all nations, Israel would find no ease or rest, not even rest for the sole of its foot, i.e., no place where it could quietly set its foot, and remain and have peace in its heart. To this extreme distress of homeless banishment there would be added “ a trembling heart, failing of the eyes (the light of life), and despair of soul ” (vid., Leviticus 26:36.).

Deuteronomy 28:66

Thy life will be hung up before thee ,” i.e., will be like some valued object, hanging by a thin thread before thine eyes, which any moment might tear down ( Knobel ), that is to say, will be ever hanging in the greatest danger. “ Thou wilt not believe in thy life ,” i.e., thou wilt despair of its preservation (cf. Job. Deuteronomy 24:22).

(Note: “I have never seen a passage which describes more clearly the misery of a guilty conscience, in words and thoughts so fitting and appropriate. For this is just the way in which a man is affected, who knows that God is offended, i.e., who is harassed with the consciousness of sin”' ( Luther ).)

Deuteronomy 28:67

In the morning they would wish it were evening, and in the evening would wish it were morning, from perpetual dread of what each day or night would bring.

Deuteronomy 28:68

Last of all, Moses mentions the worst, namely, their being taken back to Egypt into ignominious slavery. “If the exodus was the birth of the nation of God as such, return would be its death” ( Schultz ). “ In ships: ” i.e., in a way which would cut off every possibility of escape. The clause, “ by the way whereof I spake unto thee, thou shalt see it no more again, ” is not a more precise explanation of the expression “in ships,” for it was not in ships that Israel came out of Egypt, but by land, through the desert; on the contrary, it simply serves to strengthen the announcement, “The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again,” namely, in the sense that God would cause them to take a road which they would never have been again if they had continued in faithful dependence upon the Lord. This was the way to Egypt, in reality such a return to this land as Israel ought never to have experienced, namely, a return to slavery. “ There shall ye be sold to your enemies as servants and maids, and there shall be no buyer ,” i.e., no one will buy you as slaves. This clause, which indicates the utmost contempt, is quite sufficient to overthrow the opinion of Ewald , Riehm , and others, already referred to at pp. 928, 929, namely, that this verse refers to Psammetichus, who procured some Israelitish infantry from Manasseh. Egypt is simply mentioned as a land where Israel had lived in ignominious bondage. “As a fulfilment of a certain kind, we might no doubt adduce the fact that Titus sent 17,000 adult Jews to Egypt to perform hard labour there, and had those who were under 17 years of age publicly sold (Josephus, de bell. Jud. vi. 9, 2), and also that under Hadrian Jews without number were sold at Rachel's grave ( Jerome, ad Jer 31). But the word of God is not so contracted, that it can be limited to one single fact. The curses were fulfilled in the time of the Romans in Egypt (vid., Philo in Flacc., and leg. ad Caium ), but they were also fulfilled in a horrible manner during the middle ages (vid., Depping, die Juden im Mittelalter ); and they are still in course of fulfilment, even though they are frequently less sensibly felt” ( Schultz ).