18 Cursed H779 shall be the fruit H6529 of thy body, H990 and the fruit H6529 of thy land, H127 the increase H7698 of thy kine, H504 and the flocks H6251 of thy sheep. H6629
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
And I will break H7665 the pride H1347 of your power; H5797 and I will make H5414 your heaven H8064 as iron, H1270 and your earth H776 as brass: H5154 And your strength H3581 shall be spent H8552 in vain: H7385 for your land H776 shall not yield H5414 her increase, H2981 neither shall the trees H6086 of the land H776 yield H5414 their fruits. H6529
Thou shalt not bow down H7812 thyself unto them, nor serve H5647 them: for I the LORD H3068 thy God H430 am a jealous H7067 God, H410 visiting H6485 the iniquity H5771 of the fathers H1 upon the children H1121 unto the third H8029 and fourth H7256 generation of them that hate H8130 me,
Cursed H779 shalt thou be in the city, H5892 and cursed H779 shalt thou be in the field. H7704
His roots H8328 shall be dried up H3001 beneath, and above H4605 shall his branch H7105 be cut off. H5243 His remembrance H2143 shall perish H6 from the earth, H776 and he shall have no name H8034 in the street. H6440 H2351 He shall be driven H1920 from light H216 into darkness, H2822 and chased H5074 out of the world. H8398 He shall neither have son H5209 nor nephew H5220 among his people, H5971 nor any remaining H8300 in his dwellings. H4033
Let his children H1121 be fatherless, H3490 and his wife H802 a widow. H490 Let his children H1121 be continually H5128 vagabonds, H5128 and beg: H7592 let them seek H1875 their bread also out of their desolate places. H2723 Let the extortioner H5383 catch H5367 all that he hath; and let the strangers H2114 spoil H962 his labour. H3018 Let there be none to extend H4900 mercy H2617 unto him: neither let there be any to favour H2603 his fatherless children. H3490 Let his posterity H319 be cut off; H3772 and in the generation H1755 following H312 let their name H8034 be blotted out. H4229 Let the iniquity H5771 of his fathers H1 be remembered H2142 with the LORD; H3068 and let not the sin H2403 of his mother H517 be blotted out. H4229 Let them be before the LORD H3068 continually, H8548 that he may cut off H3772 the memory H2143 of them from the earth. H776
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
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
As for Ephraim, H669 their glory H3519 shall fly away H5774 like a bird, H5775 from the birth, H3205 and from the womb, H990 and from the conception. H2032 Though they bring up H1431 their children, H1121 yet will I bereave H7921 them, that there shall not be a man H120 left: yea, woe H188 also to them when I depart H5493 from them! Ephraim, H669 as I saw H7200 Tyrus, H6865 is planted H8362 in a pleasant place: H5116 but Ephraim H669 shall bring forth H3318 his children H1121 to the murderer. H2026 Give H5414 them, O LORD: H3068 what wilt thou give? H5414 give H5414 them a miscarrying H7921 womb H7358 and dry H6784 breasts. H7699
Although the fig tree H8384 shall not blossom, H6524 neither shall fruit H2981 be in the vines; H1612 the labour H4639 of the olive H2132 shall fail, H3584 and the fields H7709 shall yield H6213 no meat; H400 the flock H6629 shall be cut off H1504 from the fold, H4356 and there shall be no herd H1241 in the stalls: H7517
For, G3754 behold, G2400 the days G2250 are coming, G2064 in G1722 the which G3739 they shall say, G2046 Blessed G3107 are the barren, G4723 and G2532 the wombs G2836 that G3739 never G3756 bare, G1080 and G2532 the paps G3149 which G3739 never G3756 gave suck. G2337 Then G5119 shall they begin G756 to say G3004 to the mountains, G3735 Fall G4098 on G1909 us; G2248 and G2532 to the hills, G1015 Cover G2572 us. G2248
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 28
Commentary on Deuteronomy 28 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 28
De 28:1-68. The Blessings for Obedience.
1. if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God—In this chapter the blessings and curses are enumerated at length, and in various minute details, so that on the first entrance of the Israelites into the land of promise, their whole destiny was laid before them, as it was to result from their obedience or the contrary.
2. all these blessings shall come on thee—Their national obedience was to be rewarded by extraordinary and universal prosperity.
7. flee before thee seven ways—that is, in various directions, as always happens in a rout.
10. called by the name of the Lord—That they are really and actually His people (De 14:1; 26:18).
11. the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods—Beside the natural capabilities of Canaan, its extraordinary fruitfulness was traceable to the special blessing of Heaven.
12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure—The seasonable supply of the early and latter rain was one of the principal means by which their land was so uncommonly fruitful.
thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow—that is, thou shalt be in such affluent circumstances, as to be capable, out of thy superfluous wealth, to give aid to thy poorer neighbors.
13, 14. the head, and not the tail—an Oriental form of expression, indicating the possession of independent power and great dignity and acknowledged excellence (Isa 9:14; 19:15).
15-20. But … if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord—Curses that were to follow them in the event of disobedience are now enumerated, and they are almost exact counterparts of the blessings which were described in the preceding context as the reward of a faithful adherence to the covenant.
21. pestilence—some fatal epidemic. There is no reason, however, to think that the plague, which is the great modern scourge of the East, is referred to.
22. a consumption—a wasting disorder; but the modern tuberculosis is almost unknown in Asia.
fever … inflammation … extreme burning—Fever is rendered "burning ague" (Le 26:16), and the others mentioned along with it evidently point to those febrile affections which are of malignant character and great frequency in the East.
the sword—rather, "dryness"—the effect on the human body of such violent disorders.
blasting, and with mildew—two atmospheric influences fatal to grain.
23. heaven … brass … earth … iron—strong Oriental figures used to describe the effects of long-continued drought. This want of regular and seasonable rain is allowed by the most intelligent observers to be one great cause of the present sterility of Palestine.
24. the rain of thy land powder and dust—an allusion probably to the dreadful effects of tornadoes in the East, which, raising the sands in immense twisted pillars, drive them along with the fury of a tempest. These shifting sands are most destructive to cultivated lands; and in consequence of their encroachments, many once fertile regions of the East are now barren deserts.
27. the botch of Egypt—a troublesome eruption, marked by red pimples, to which, at the rising of the Nile, the Egyptians are subject.
emerods—fistulæ or piles.
scab—scurvy.
itch—the disease commonly known by that name; but it is far more malignant in the East than is ever witnessed in our part of the world.
28. madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart—They would be bewildered and paralyzed with terror at the extent of their calamities.
29-33. thou shalt grope at noonday—a general description of the painful uncertainty in which they would live. During the Middle Ages the Jews were driven from society into hiding-places which they were afraid to leave, not knowing from what quarter they might be assailed and their children dragged into captivity, from which no friend could rescue, and no money ransom them.
35. the Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs—This is an exact description of elephantiasis, a horrible disease, something like leprosy, which attacks particularly the lower extremities.
36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, &c.—This shows how widespread would be the national calamity; and at the same time how hopeless, when he who should have been their defender shared the captive fate of his subjects.
there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone—The Hebrew exiles, with some honorable exceptions, were seduced or compelled into idolatry in the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities (Jer 44:17-19). Thus, the sin to which they had too often betrayed a perverse fondness, a deep-rooted propensity, became their punishment and their misery.
37. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee, &c.—The annals of almost every nation, for eighteen hundred years, afford abundant proofs that this has been, as it still is, the case—the very name of Jew being a universally recognized term for extreme degradation and wretchedness.
49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far—the invasion of the Romans—"they came from far." The soldiers of the invading army were taken from France, Spain, and Britain—then considered "the end of the earth." Julius Severus, the commander, afterwards Vespasian and Hadrian, left Britain for the scene of contest. Moreover, the ensign on the standards of the Roman army was "an eagle"; and the dialects spoken by the soldiers of the different nations that composed that army were altogether unintelligible to the Jews.
50. A nation of fierce countenance—a just description of the Romans, who were not only bold and unyielding, but ruthless and implacable.
51. he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, &c.—According to the Jewish historian, every district of the country through which they passed was strewn with the wrecks of their devastation.
52. he shall besiege thee … until thy high and fenced walls come down—All the fortified places to which the people betook themselves for safety were burnt or demolished, and the walls of Jerusalem itself razed to the ground.
53-57. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body—(See 2Ki 6:29; La 4:10). Such were the dreadful extremities to which the inhabitants during the siege were reduced that many women sustained a wretched existence by eating the flesh of their own children. Parental affection was extinguished, and the nearest relatives were jealously, avoided, lest they should discover and demand a share of the revolting viands.
62. ye shall be left few in number—There has been, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem, only an inconsiderable remnant of Jews existing in that land—aliens in the land of their fathers; and of all classes of the inhabitants they are the most degraded and miserable beings, dependent for their support on contributions from other lands.
63. ye shall be plucked from off the land—Hadrian issued a proclamation, forbidding any Jews to reside in Judea, or even to approach its confines.
64. the Lord shall scatter thee among all people—There is, perhaps, not a country in the world where Jews are not to be found. Who that looks on this condition of the Hebrews is not filled with awe, when he considers the fulfilment of this prophecy?
68. The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships—The accomplishment of this prediction took place under Titus, when, according to Josephus, multitudes of Jews were transported in ships to the land of the Nile, and sold as slaves. "Here, then, are instances of prophecies delivered above three thousand years ago; and yet, as we see, being fulfilled in the world at this very time; and what stronger proofs can we desire of the divine legation of Moses? How these instances may affect others I know not; but for myself, I must acknowledge, they not only convince but amaze and astonish me beyond expression; they are truly, as Moses foretold (De 28:45, 46) they would be, 'a sign and a wonder for ever'" [Bishop Newton].