25 `Jehovah giveth thee smitten before thine enemies; in one way thou goest out unto them, and in seven ways dost flee before them, and thou hast been for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth;
One thousand because of the rebuke of one, Because of the rebuke of five ye flee, Till ye have been surely left as a pole On the top of the mountain, And as an ensign on the height.
For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Bring up against them an assembly, And give them to trembling and to spoiling.
And I have given them for a trembling, For evil -- to all kingdoms of the earth, For a reproach, and for a simile, For a byword, and for a reviling, In all the places whither I drive them.
and I have set My face against you, and ye have been smitten before your enemies; and those hating you have ruled over you, and ye have fled, and there is none pursuing you.
`And those who are left of you -- I have also brought a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a leaf driven away hath pursued them, and they have fled -- flight from a sword -- and they have fallen, and there is none pursuing. And they have stumbled one on another, as from the face of a sword, and there is none pursuing, and ye have no standing before your enemies,
And it hath come to pass, when they say to thee, Whither do we go out? that thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah: Those who `are' for death -- to death, And those who are for the sword, to the sword, And those who are for famine, to famine, And those who are for captivity, to captivity. And I have appointed over them four kinds, an affirmation of Jehovah, The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour. And I have given them for a trembling To all kingdoms of the earth, Because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, For that which he did in Jerusalem. For who hath pity on thee, O Jerusalem? And who doth bemoan for thee? And who turneth aside to ask of thy welfare? Thou -- thou hast left Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Backward thou goest, And I stretch out My hand against thee, And I destroy thee, I have been weary of repenting, And I scatter them with a fan, in the gates the land, I bereaved, I have destroyed My people, From their ways they turned not back. Its widows have been more to Me than the sand of the seas, I brought in to them -- against the mother -- A young man -- a spoiler -- at noon. I caused to fall upon her suddenly, wrath and trouble. Languished hath the bearer of seven, She hath breathed out her spirit, Gone in hath her sun while yet day, It hath been ashamed and confounded, And their residue to the sword I give up before their enemies, An affirmation of Jehovah.
And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them,
`Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbour; lo, I am proclaiming to you liberty -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 28
Commentary on Deuteronomy 28 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 28
This chapter is a very large exposition of two words in the foregoing chapter, the blessing and the curse. Those were pronounced blessed in general that were obedient, and those cursed that were disobedient; but, because generals are not so affecting, Moses here descends to particulars, and describes the blessing and the curse, not in their fountains (these are out of sight, and therefore the most considerable, yet least considered, the favour of God the spring of all the blessings, and the wrath of God the spring of all the curses), but in their streams, the sensible effects of the blessing and the curse, for they are real things and have real effects.
Deu 28:1-14
The blessings are here put before the curses, to intimate,
Deu 28:15-44
Having viewed the bright side of the cloud, which is towards the obedient, we have now presented to us the dark side, which is towards the disobedient. If we do not keep God's commandments, we not only come short of the blessing promised, but we lay ourselves under the curse, which is as comprehensive of all misery as the blessing is of all happiness. Observe,
Deu 28:45-68
One would have thought that enough had been said to possess them with a dread of that wrath of God which is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. But to show how deep the treasures of that wrath are, and that still there is more and worse behind, Moses, when one would have thought that he had concluded this dismal subject, begins again, and adds to this roll of curses many similar words: as Jeremiah did to his, Jer. 36:32. It should seem that in the former part of this commination Moses foretells their captivity in Babylon, and the calamities which introduced and attended that, by which, even after their return, they were brought to that low and poor condition which is described, v. 44. That their enemies should be the head, and they the tail: but here, in this latter part, he foretels their last destruction by the Romans and their dispersion thereupon. And the present deplorable state of the Jewish nation, and of all that have incorporated themselves with them, by embracing their religion, does so fully and exactly answer to the prediction in these verses that it serves for an incontestable proof of the truth of prophecy, and consequently of the divine authority of the scripture. And, this last destruction being here represented as more dreadful than the former, it shows that their sin, in rejecting Christ and his gospel, was more heinous and more provoking to God than idolatry itself, and left them more under the power of Satan; for their captivity in Babylon cured them effectually of their idolatry in seventy years' time; but under this last destruction now for above 1600 years they continue incurably averse to the Lord Jesus. Observe,