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Deuteronomy Chapter
Twenty-eight
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 28
In
this chapter Moses enlarges on the blessings and the curses which belong, the
one to the doers, the other to the transgressors of the law; the blessings, Deuteronomy 28:1;
the curses, some of which concern individual persons, others the whole nation
and body of people, and that both under the former and present dispensations,
and which had their fulfilment in their former captivities, and more especially
in their present dispersion, Deuteronomy 28:15.
Deuteronomy 28:1 “Now it shall
come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command
you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above
all nations of the earth.
YLT
1`And it hath been, if thou
dost hearken diligently to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all
His commands which I am commanding thee to-day, that Jehovah thy God hath made
thee uppermost above all the nations of the earth,
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto
the voice of the Lord thy God,.... In his law, and by his prophets:
to observe and to do all his commandments, which I command
thee this day; for without observing them to do them, hearing them would be to
little purpose, and they were all of them to be observed and done, the lesser
and weightier matters of the law as they were commanded by Moses in the name of
the Lord, and as they would be taught, explained, and enforced by the prophets:
that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of
the earth: as they were in the times of David and Solomon; See Gill on Deuteronomy 26:19.
Deuteronomy 28:2 2 And
all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the
voice of the Lord your God:
YLT
2and all these blessings
have come upon thee, and overtaken thee, because thou dost hearken to the voice
of Jehovah thy God:
And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee,.... After
mentioned, which should come upon them from God from heaven, by the direction
of his providence, and that freely and plentifully, and beyond their
expectations and deserts, and continue with them:
if thou shall hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God; obedience to
the law being the condition of their coming and continuance; for only temporal
blessings in the land of Canaan are here intended, as follow.
Deuteronomy 28:3 3 “Blessed
shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be
in the country.
YLT
3`Blessed [art] thou in the
city, and blessed [art] thou in the field.
Blessed shalt thou be in the city,.... Not only
in the city of Jerusalem, where the temple would be built, and there be blessed
with the service, worship, and ordinances of God, but in all other cities of
the land; where they should dwell in title, large, and spacious houses, and
their cities should be walled and fenced, and be very populous; yet should
enjoy health, and have plenty of all sorts of provisions brought unto them, as
well as prosper in all kinds of merchandise there, as Aben Ezra notes:
and blessed shalt thou be in the field; in the
country villages, and in all rural employments, in sowing and planting, as the
same writer observes; in all kinds of husbandry, in the culture of the fields
for corn, and of vineyards and oliveyards; all should prosper and succeed, and
bring forth fruit abundantly.
Deuteronomy 28:4 4 “Blessed
shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase
of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
YLT
4`Blessed [is] the fruit of
thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, increase of
thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body,.... Their
children, of which they should have many, and these live; be healthful, thrive,
and arrive to manhood, and increase and perpetuate their families. Grotius
thinks this was eminently fulfilled in Mary, the mother of our Lord; see Luke 1:42,
and the fruit of thy ground; of their gardens,
orchards, and fields; grass for the cattle, and the wheat, barley, vines, figs,
pomegranates, olives, and dates for the use of men:
and the fruit of thy cattle; which being
distinguished from oxen and sheep in the following clause, must be understood
of camels and asses, which were used for the carriage both of persons and
burdens, and were very serviceable, and were a considerable part of their
substance in those countries; see Job 1:3,
the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep; of their cows
and oxen, and of their sheep and goats, which were very increasing creatures,
and in the increase of which much of their outward happiness lay; see Psalm 144:13.
Deuteronomy 28:5 5 “Blessed
shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
YLT
5`Blessed [is] thy basket
and thy kneading-trough.
Blessed shall be thy basket,.... Which the Targums of
Jonathan and Jerusalem restrain to the basket of firstfruits, and the cake of
the first of their dough; but it intends any and every vessel in which they put
their provisions for present use, and that that should never be empty of them,
and that they should always have a sufficiency:
and thy store; what remained, and was laid up in their
barns, cellars, and storehouses, for future use, or in proper places for seed.
Deuteronomy 28:6 6 “Blessed
shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be
when you go out.
YLT
6`Blessed [art] thou in thy
coming in, and blessed [art] thou in thy going out.
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. In all their
business and employments of life whether within doors or without; in the
administration of every office, whether more public or private; and in all
their journeys going out and coming home; and particularly when they went out
to war, and returned, all should be attended with success.
Deuteronomy 28:7 7 “The
Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before
your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven
ways.
YLT
7`Jehovah giveth thine
enemies, who are rising up against thee -- smitten before thy face; in one way
they come out unto thee, and in seven ways they flee before thee.
The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be
smitten before thy face,.... As the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, and
Ammonites were, especially in the times of David:
they shall come out against thee one way: in a body,
all together, in large numbers, marching in great order, to give them battle:
and flee before thee seven ways; be entirely routed, and
flee some one way, and some another, even every way they could take to make
their escape. The phrase is expressive of an entire victory, and of a complete
rout and dispersion of an enemy.
Deuteronomy 28:8 8 “The
Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to
which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
YLT
8`Jehovah commandeth with
thee the blessing in thy storehouses, and in every putting forth of thy hand,
and hath blessed thee in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.
The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses,.... Barns,
granaries, and cellar, where their corn, wine, and oil, were laid up; by
preserving the corn from being devoured by vermin, and the casks of wine and
oil from bursting and running out:
and in all thou settest thine hand unto; in all their
manufactures, occupations, and trades, in which they were employed, and in the
culture of their vines, olives, and other fruit trees:
and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee; with health and long life in it, and with an abundance of all
good things, it being a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 28:9 9 “The
Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has
sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.
YLT
9`Jehovah doth establish
thee to Himself for a holy people, as He hath sworn to thee, when thou keepest
the commands of Jehovah thy God, and hast walked in His ways;
And the Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself,.... Having
separated them from all others, for his service, honour, and glory, should
continue them as such, and settle them in the land, and confirm all their
privileges, natural, civil, and religious. The Targum of Jonathan is,"the
Word of the Lord shall establish thee, &c.'he that brought them out of
Egypt, through the Red sea and wilderness, to the land of Canaan:
as he hath sworn unto thee: and to their fathers;
see Deuteronomy 7:12,
if thou shall keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk
in his ways; by which tenure they held the land of Canaan, and their
settlement and continuance in it, and enjoyment of all the good things thereof;
see Isaiah 1:19.
Deuteronomy 28:10 10 Then
all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.
YLT
10and all the peoples of the
land have seen that the name of Jehovah is called upon thee, and they have been
afraid of thee.
And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by
the name of the Lord,.... Called his children, his people, his portion, and his
inheritance; and that they are his, and he is theirs, by the care he takes of
them, the provision he makes for them, and the protection they have from him:
and they shall be afraid of thee; as not only the
Canaanites were, but all other nations; see Deuteronomy 11:25.
Deuteronomy 28:11 11 And
the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the
increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of
which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
YLT
11`And Jehovah hath made thee
abundant in good, in the fruit of the womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and
in the fruit of thy ground, on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to thy
fathers to give to thee.
And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods,.... In all
temporal good things, give them an affluence of them, even all things richly to
enjoy; the Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall,
&c."
in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in
the fruit of thy ground: increase their children, cattle, and substance, as before, Deuteronomy 28:4,
in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee; the land of
Canaan, often thus described.
Deuteronomy 28:12 12 The
Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain
to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall
lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
YLT
12`Jehovah doth open to thee
his good treasure -- the heavens -- to give the rain of thy land in its season,
and to bless all the work of thy hand, and thou hast lent to many nations, and
thou -- thou dost not borrow.
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure,.... The Lord
has his treasures of snow and of hail, and of wind, Job 38:22; but here
his good treasure, as appears by what follows, is his treasure of rain. In the
Targum of Jonathan it is said,
"there
are four keys in the hand of the Lord of the whole world, which he does not
deliver into the hands of any prince; the keys of life, and of the grave, and
of food, and of rain:"
the heaven, to give the rain unto thy land in its season; that is, he
will open the heaven, where his good treasure of rain is laid up, and bring it
forth or, the land of Canaan for the enriching of it; or will open the windows
thereof, and pour down the blessing; see Malachi 3:10; and
that at the proper time, both in autumn and spring, the one is called the
former, and the other the latter rain; the one was in Marchesvan, or October,
and the other in Nisan, or March, as the Targum of Jonathan; the former rain
for the fitting the earth for seed, or for watering it when sown, and the latter
for the plumping of it before harvest:
and to bless all the work of thine hand; in
agriculture, for without the blessing of rain, all the labour of the husbandman
would be to little purpose:
and thou shall lend unto many nations, and thou shall not borrow; See Gill on Deuteronomy 15:16.
The connection of these words with what goes before may lead to observe this
sense of them, that they should furnish other countries with corn, and not need
any of theirs; see Ezekiel 27:17.
Deuteronomy 28:13 13 And
the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only,
and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.
YLT
13`And Jehovah hath given
thee for head, and not for tail; and thou hast been only above, and art not
beneath, for thou dost hearken unto the commands of Jehovah thy God, which I am
commanding thee to-day, to keep and to do,
And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail,.... Give them
dominion over others, and not make them subject to them; the head signifies
rulers and governors, and the tail the common people that are subjects; or the
one such that are honourable and in high esteem, and the other such that are
mean and base; see Isaiah 9:14; the
Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall make thee, &c."
and thou shalt be above only, and thou shall not be beneath; which
explains what is meant by head and tail, being uppermost and lowermost, as the
head is the upper part, and the tail the lower part of a creature; the one is
more honourable, the other vile: the sense is, that they should be superior to
other people in honour and dignity, and not below them, or vassals to them:
if that thou hearken to the commandments of the Lord thy God,
which I command thee this day to observe and to do them; which is the
condition on which all this happiness depended.
Deuteronomy 28:14 14 So
you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to
the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
YLT
14and thou dost not turn
aside from all the words which I am commanding you to-day -- right or left --
to go after other gods, to serve them.
And thou shall not go aside from any of the words which I command
thee this day,.... Depart from them as a rule to walk by, turn out from them as
a path to walk in, neglect and disobey them, and go into practices contrary to
them: turning
to the right hand or to the
left, to go after other gods to serve them; which to do was to break
the first and principal table of the law, than which nothing was more
abominable and provoking to God.
Deuteronomy 28:15 15 “But
it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His
statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you
and overtake you:
YLT
15`And it hath been, if thou
dost not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God to observe to do all His
commands, and His statutes, which I am commanding thee to-day, that all these
revilings have come upon thee, and overtaken thee:
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice
of the Lord thy God,.... As directed, exhorted, and encouraged to, Deuteronomy 28:1,
&c.
to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I
command thee this day; both moral and ceremonial:
that all these curses shall come upon thee; from the hand
of God, certainly, suddenly, and unawares:
and overtake thee; pursuing after thee, will come up to thee,
and seize upon thee, though they may seem to move slowly; see Zechariah 5:3;
namely, the curses which follow. Manasseh Ben IsraelF6De Termino
Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 126. divides them into two parts, the first from hence
to Deuteronomy 28:45;
which respects the destruction of the first temple, and the things that went
before or related to that; and the second from thence to the end of the
chapter, which he thinks refers to the destruction of the second temple, and
their present case and circumstances; and it must be owned that for the most
part the distinction may seem to hold good; what is prophesied of that should
befall the Jews for their disobedience being more remarkably and distinctly
fulfilled in the one than in the other; yet there are things in the whole which
respect both, or that were fulfilled, some under one dispensation, and some
under another, and some that were fulfilled in both; but chiefly and more
manifestly at and since their dispersion by the Romans.
Deuteronomy 28:16 16 “Cursed
shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be
in the country.
YLT
16`Cursed [art] thou in the
city, and cursed [art] thou in the field.
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt
thou be in the field. In Deuteronomy 28:16
the curses are delivered out in form, as the reverse of the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:3;
and by observing what the blessings mean, the sense of the curses may easily be
understood, the one being directly opposite to the other. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:3.
Deuteronomy 28:17 17 “Cursed
shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
YLT
17`Cursed [is] thy basket and
thy kneading-trough.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:5, Deuteronomy 28:16.
Deuteronomy 28:18 18 “Cursed
shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the
increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
YLT
18`Cursed [is] the fruit of
thy body, and the fruit of thy land, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy
flock.
Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:4, Deuteronomy 28:16.
Deuteronomy 28:19 19 “Cursed
shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be
when you go out.
YLT
19`Cursed [art] thou in thy
coming in, and cursed [art] thou in thy going out.
Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed
shalt thou be when thou goest out. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:6, Deuteronomy 28:16.
Deuteronomy 28:20 20 “The
Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set
your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because
of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.
YLT
20`Jehovah doth send on thee
the curse, the trouble, and the rebuke, in every putting forth of thy hand
which thou dost, till thou art destroyed, and till thou perish hastily, because
of the evil of thy doings [by] which thou hast forsaken Me.
The Lord shall send upon thee cursing,.... Which is
either a general word for all that follows, or rather, since that had been
expressed before in various instances, this may denote some particular
judgment. Jarchi interprets it of penury, of want of all good things, extreme
poverty, so as to be reduced to the utmost necessity, and as to stand in need
of the common comforts and supports of life, and even to have their blessings
and mercies turned into curses; the consequence of which must needs be
vexation; trouble, distress, and anguish of spirit:
and rebuke; this may well be considered as a rebuke and correction in
Providence for sins committed, to awaken to a sense and acknowledgment of them,
and to repentance for them:
in all that thou settest thine hand to do; nothing done
should prosper, to relieve them under their pressing wants, a curse attending
all their efforts, and so sad disappointment follows; and all as a just rebuke
for their many sins: and this would be their case more or less:
until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; through
famine, and want of the common necessaries of life; as at the sieges of Samaria
and Jerusalem, by the kings of Syria, Assyria, and Babylon:
because of the wickedness of thy doings, because thou hast
forsaken me; their several immoralities and impieties, and particularly their
idolatry, which was a forsaking the worship of the true God, and following
idols; an iniquity to be punished by the judge, and of all things the most
provoking to the Lord.
Deuteronomy 28:21 21 The
Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from
the land which you are going to possess.
YLT
21`Jehovah doth cause to
cleave to thee the pestilence, till He consume thee from off the ground whither
thou art going in to possess it.
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee,.... Not only
to come upon them; but to continue with them:
until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest
to possess it; which shows that this respects not some particular seasons, when
the pestilence came and continued awhile, and then ceased, as in the times of
David; but when it became more general, and issued with other judgments in the
utter consumption of them, as at the destruction of Jerusalem, both by the
Babylonians and the Romans; at what times the pestilence raged and remained,
until by that and other sore judgments the land was wholly depopulated.
Deuteronomy 28:22 22 The
Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation,
with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew;
they shall pursue you until you perish.
YLT
22`Jehovah doth smite thee
with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with extreme
burning, and with sword, and with blasting, and with mildew, and they have
pursued thee till thou perish
The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption,.... An
emaciation of their bodies, either through famine or wasting diseases, whereby
the fluids are washed off, and men are reduced to skin and bones:
and with a fever; a hot burning disease, which dries up the
radical moisture, consumes it, and so threatens with death; of which there are
various sorts, and some very pestilential and mortal Jarchi and Aben Ezra
interpret it of a fire in the face, by which they seem to mean what is called
St. Anthony's fire:
and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning; either in the
inward parts, as an inflammation of the lungs; or in the outward parts, as
carbuncles, burning ulcers, and the like:
and with the sword; in the margin it is, "with
drought"; so Aben Ezra interprets the word, which seems better to suit
with what it is in company with; and designs either drought in human bodies,
occasioned by fevers, inflammations, and extreme burnings; or in the earth,
through the force of the sun, and want of rain, which render the earth barren
and unfruitful, and so cause a famine:
and with blasting and with mildew; whereby the corn that is
sown, and springs up, comes to nothing, being blasted by east winds, or turns
pale and yellow by the mildew, and so withers away; the consequence of which is
want of food, and so destruction and ruin; see Amos 4:9,
and they shall pursue thee until thou perish; follow hard
after them, and come so close one after another upon them, until they are
utterly destroyed.
Deuteronomy 28:23 23 And
your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth
which is under you shall be iron.
YLT
23`And thy heavens which
[are] over thy head have been brass, and the earth which [is] under thee iron;
And the heaven that is over thy head shall be brass,.... Or like brass,
not for its clearness, brightness, and splendour, or for its being spread out
like a molten looking glass which was of brass, Job 37:18; but for
its dryness and hardness, no moisture being in it, or passing through it; no
showers of rain nor dew being let down from it:
and the earth that is under thee shall be iron; or like iron,
hard and impenetrable, into which the plough and spade will not enter; nor
anything spring out of it, for want of rain and dew to moisten and soften it.
The same is said in Leviticus 26:19;
only there is an inversion of the figures; there the heaven is said to be as
iron, and the earth like brass, but signify the same thing.
Deuteronomy 28:24 24 The
Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the
heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.
YLT
24Jehovah giveth the rain of
thy land -- dust and ashes; from the heavens it cometh down on thee till thou
art destroyed.
The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust,.... That is,
instead of showers of rain in their season, to water, refresh, and enrich the
earth, and make it fruitful; and for want of them, and through the heat of the
sun, being dried and parched, and its clods crumbled into dust, this should be
raised up into the air by the force of winds, and let down again in showers of
dust; whereby the few herbs, plants, or green trees on it would be utterly
destroyed: and so the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of the Lord's sending a
wind that should raise the dust and earth upon the herbs of their fields. Such
ploughing winds, that cast up the earth and sand, and dust, into the air,
whereby men and cattle are sometimes covered, are frequent in the eastern
countries; of which See Gill on Jonah 4:8,
from heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed; that is, from
the air, up to which the dust is carried by the wind, and then let fall in vast
quantities, like showers, which are very destructive.
Deuteronomy 28:25 25 “The
Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out
one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become
troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.
YLT
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;
The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten fore thine enemies,.... And by
them, as they sometimes were by the Philistines and others, before their utter
destruction, when they sinned against the Lord; and by the Assyrians,
Babylonians, and Romans:
thou shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before
them; march out against them in a body, promising themselves victory,
but be utterly routed; so that they shall flee every way they can for their
safety; see Deuteronomy 28:7,
and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth; this shows
that Manasseh's case 2 Kings 21:1,
observed Deuteronomy 28:15;
will not strictly and entirely hold good, nor is there any necessity to adhere
closely to it; it is enough that the things threatened and prophesied of were
at one time or another fulfilled in these people; for neither the ten tribes,
when taken captive by Shalmaneser, were carried into all the kingdoms of the
earth, only to some particular places mentioned in 2 Kings 17:6; nor
the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar, who were carried by him to Babylon, and
returned from thence again at the end of seventy years; but this was exactly
fulfilled at their last destruction by the Romans, when they were sent by them
into various countries, and have been ever since scattered about in each of the
nations of the world. And yet it must be owned that StraboF7Apud
Joseph. Antiqu. l. 14. c. 7. sect. 2. , who wrote before the last destruction
of them, affirms, that it was not easy to find any place in the world which had
not received them, and was not occupied by them.
Deuteronomy 28:26 26 Your
carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the
earth, and no one shall frighten them away.
YLT
26and thy carcase hath been
for food to every fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and there
is none causing trembling.
And thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto
the beasts of the earth,.... Which was always reckoned a very grievous calamity, have no
other burial than in the bowels of beasts and birds; and was the case of many
of the Jews in the Antiochian persecution, Psalm 79:2; and in
a treatise of theirsF8Shebat Judahm sive Hist. Jud. a Gentio, sect.
46. p. 312. , which relates their many afflictions and sufferings in their
present captivity, speaking of a persecution of them in Spain, in the Jewish
year 5172, it is reported, how that those that fled to avoid punishment were
killed in the fields, where their carcasses lying unburied became a prey to
beasts:
and no man shall fray them away; the fowls and
the beasts; none of their friends being left to do it, and their enemies would
not show so much respect to them, and care of them.
Deuteronomy 28:27 27 The
Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the
scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.
YLT
27`Jehovah doth smite thee
with the ulcer of Egypt, and with emerods, and with scurvy, and with itch, of
which thou art not able to be healed.
The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt,.... Which
some understand of the leprosy, Of that sort of it called
"elephantiasis", frequent among the Egyptians; See Gill on Leviticus 13:2.
ThevenotF9Apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 426, 427.
relates, that when the time of the increase of the Nile expires, the Egyptians
are attended with sharp prickings in their skin like needles. So Vansleb saysF11Relation
of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 35, 36. ,"the waters of the Nile cause an itch in
the skin, which troubles such as drink of them when the river increases. This
itch is very small, and appears first about the arms, next upon the stomach,
and spreads all about the body, which causes a grievous pain; and not only the
river water, but that out of the cisterns drank of, brings it, and it lasts
about six weeks.'Though some take this botch to be the botch and blain which
the Egyptians were plagued with for refusing to let Israel go, Exodus 9:9,
and with the emerods; or haemorrhoids, the
piles, a disease of the fundament, attended sometimes with ulcers there; see 1 Samuel 5:9,
and with the scab and with the itch: the one moist, the other
dry, and both very distressing:
whereof thou canst not be healed; by any art of men; which
shows these to be uncommon ones, and from the immediate hand of God.
Deuteronomy 28:28 28 The
Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart.
YLT
28`Jehovah doth smite thee
with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
The Lord shall smite thee with madness,.... At the
calamities befallen them, and through the force of diseases on them:
and blindness; not of body, but of mind; with judicial
blindness and hardness of heart:
and astonishment of heart; at the miserable
condition they and their families should be in.
Deuteronomy 28:29 29 And
you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not
prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually,
and no one shall save you.
YLT
29and thou hast been gropling
at noon, as the blind gropeth in darkness; and thou dost not cause thy ways to
prosper; and thou hast been only oppressed and plundered all the days, and
there is no saviour.
And thou shalt grope at noon day as the blind gropeth in darkness,.... That is,
being in darkness through the loss of their sight; otherwise the darkness and
the light are alike to them, and they grope in the one as well as in the other.
This comparison shows that the darkness and blindness of the Jews, threatened
them, is to be understood not of the darkness of their bodily eyes, but of
their minds; not being able to understand, or form a judgment of things that
are as clear as noon day; and being at the utmost loss what methods to take and
pursue, when they are plain and manifest before them; but being infatuated and
besotted, follow the lusts and counsels of their own hearts, which lead them
wrong:
and thou shall not prosper in thy ways; in any steps
they may take to extricate themselves out of their difficulties, distresses,
and calamities, or to bring themselves into easy and comfortable circumstances;
to get wealth and riches, and honour and esteem with men; but, on the contrary,
become forlorn and miserable, poor and wretched, mean and despicable:
and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore; continually,
every day, all the days of their lives, oppressed with taxes and tributes, with
mulcts and fines, and spoiled of their goods and substance under one pretence
or another; which has been generally their case in Popish countries; for this
seems not to refer to the Babylonish captivity, where they built houses, and
dwelt in them, and planted gardens, and ate the fruit of them; and in the peace
of cities had peace themselves, Jeremiah 29:5,
and no man shall save thee; from the oppressions,
exactions, and spoils of their enemies, nor deliver them out of their hands;
whereas in process of time they had deliverance and salvation from the
Babylonish captivity, by the means of Cyrus king of Persia.
Deuteronomy 28:30 30 “You
shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a
house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not
gather its grapes.
YLT
30`A woman thou dost betroth,
and another man doth lie with her; a house thou dost build, and dost not dwell
in it; a vineyard thou dost plant, and dost not make it common;
Thou shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her,.... Espouse a
woman in order to make her his wife, and before he can take her home, and
consummate the marriage, through some calamity or another coming upon them,
they should be set at a distance from each other, and she should fall into the
hands of another man, who either should ravish her, or gain her consent to lie
with her, or become his wife; which, when the marriage was so near being
consummated, must be a grievous disappointment, and a great vexation:
thou shall build an house, and thou shall not dwell therein; being, before
it is quite finished, or however before he is got into it, carried captive, or
obliged to flee to a distant place:
thou shall plant a vineyard, and shall not gather the grapes
thereof; or make it common, on the fourth year to eat the fruits of it,
as Jarchi; which might not be done until sanctified and redeemed according to
the law in Leviticus 19:23;
See Gill on Deuteronomy 20:6.
Deuteronomy 28:31 31 Your
ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it;
your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not
be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you
shall have no one to rescue them.
YLT
31thine ox [is] slaughtered
before thine eyes, and thou dost not eat of it; thine ass [is] taken violently
away from before thee, and it is not given back to thee; thy sheep [are] given
to thine enemies, and there is no saviour for thee.
Thine ox shall be
slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof,.... Shall be
taken from the herd, and out of the field or stall, by the enemy, and killed
for the soldiers to feed on, and not the least part of it given to them:
thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy
face, and shall not be restored unto thee; no leave shall be asked
to take it, but without their consent, and against their will, it should be
taken away by the soldiers to carry them and their burdens, and it may be the
booty and spoil of them, and never returned more:
thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shall
have none to rescue them; not given them by themselves, but they
should be suffered to fall into their hands, and they should never be able to get
them out again, nor any for them. These, strictly and literally taken, suppose
them to be in their own land, when those things would be done, where they were
possessed of farms, and fields, cattle, being much employed in husbandry; but
they may be put for any kind of substance they would be possessed of, which
they should be stripped of under one pretence or another; which has been
frequently their case in their present dispersion in several countries, and in
ours; when Popish princes have wanted money, they have made very exorbitant
demands on the Jews in their countries, and sadly squeezed and oppressed them,
and who were not able to resist them, and never had any restoration made to
them.
Deuteronomy 28:32 32 Your
sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes
shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there
shall be no strength in your hand.
YLT
32`Thy sons and thy daughters
[are] given to another people, and thine eyes are looking and consuming for
them all the day, and thy hand is not to God!
Thy sons and thy daughters
shall be given unto another people,.... This also was not
true in the Babylonish captivity; for then their sons and daughters went with
them, and continued with them, and returned again; but has been oftentimes
verified since their captivity by the Romans; frequently their sons and
daughters have been taken from them by force, to be brought up in another
religion, by the edicts of kings and popes, and by the canons of councils, and
particularly of the fourth council of Toledo:
and thine eyes shall look and fail; with longing:
for them all the day long; expecting every day
their children would be returned to them, at least wishing and hoping they
would; their hearts yearning after them, but all in vain:
and there shall be no might in thy hand; to recover
them out of the hands of those who had the possession of them, or fetch them
back from distant countries, whither they were carried. By an edict of the
Portuguese, the children of the Jews were ordered to be carried to the
uninhabited islands; and when, by the king's command, they were had to the
ships in which they were to be transported, it is incredible, the Jewish
historian saysF12Shebet Judah, sive Hist. Jud. sect. 59. p. 332. ,
what howlings and lamentations were made by the women; and there wore none
pitied them and comforted them, or could help them.
Deuteronomy 28:33 33 A
nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce
of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually.
YLT
33The fruit of thy ground,
and all thy labour, eat up doth a people whom thou hast not known; and thou
hast been only oppressed and bruised all the days;
The fruit of thy land, and
all thy labour, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up,.... The same
was prophesied of by Jeremiah, concerning the Babylonish captivity, and was
fulfilled in it, Jeremiah 5:17; and
has been also verified in the frequent pillage and spoil of this people, in
their present state; for though they have no land to till, from whence to
gather fruit, yet they are employed in manufactures and merchandise, the fruit
and benefit of which they have been frequently stripped of:
and thou shall be only oppressed and crushed always; this seems
best to agree with their present case; for in their former captivities they
were not always oppressed and crushed, but had respite and deliverance; See
Gill on Deuteronomy 28:29.
Deuteronomy 28:34 34 So
you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see.
YLT
34and thou hast been mad,
because of the sight of thine eyes which thou dost see.
So that thou shalt be mad,
for the sight of thine eyes that thou shall see. On account of the
shocking things seen by them, their dreadful calamities, oppressions, and
persecutions, such as before related; not only violent diseases on their
bodies, which were grievous to behold, as well as their pains were intolerable,
and made them mad; but to be deprived of a betrothed wife, a newly built house,
and a newly planted vineyard; to have an ox slain, and an ass taken away by
their enemies, and their sheep given to them before their eyes; to have their
sons and daughters taken from them, and brought up in another religion, and to
be stripped of their substance; these have made them stark mad, insomuch that
they have sometimes destroyed themselves and their families. In Germany, in
their rage and madness, they burnt a city and themselves in it; and, in the
same country, being summoned by an edict to change their religion, or to be
burnt, they agreed to meet together in a certain house, and destroy one
another; and first parents killed their children, and husbands their wives, and
then killed themselves; leaving only one person to be their doorkeeper, who
finished the tragedy by destroying himself, as their own historian relatesF13Ib.
(Shebet Judah, sive Hist. Jud.) sect. 34,36. p. 214,215,216,217. . Other
stories of the like kind are reported of them, and some such facts as done in
our own nationF14See Bishop Patrick in loc. and Dr. Newton (Bishop
of Bristol) on Prophecies, vol. 1. Dissert. 7. sect. 14. p. 195,196. .
Deuteronomy 28:35 35 The
Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils
which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
YLT
35`Jehovah doth smite thee
with an evil ulcer, on the knees, and on the legs (of which thou art not able
to be healed), from the sole of thy foot even unto thy crown.
The Lord shall smite thee
in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch, that cannot be healed,.... Which in
those parts as it is very painful, so is not easily cured; and this which is
threatened was incurable by the art of man, as others in Deuteronomy 28:27;
and which should not stop there in the lower parts of the body, but proceed and
spread:
from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head; and so be
filled with them, as Job was with his boils and ulcers.
Deuteronomy 28:36 36 “The
Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which
neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other
gods—wood and stone.
YLT
36`Jehovah doth cause thee to
go, and thy king whom thou raisest up over thee, unto a nation which thou hast
not known, thou and thy fathers, and thou hast served there other gods, wood
and stone;
And the Lord shall bring
thee, and thy king which thou shall set over thee,.... This was
fulfilled both in Jehoiachin and in Zedekiah, kings of Judah, who were carried
captive to Babylon, by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 24:15,
unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; the land of
Babylon, which was at a distance from them, and is represented in Scripture as
afar off, Jeremiah 5:15; and
which the Jews, not being a trading people, or dealing in merchandise in
foreign parts, were unacquainted with:
and there shall thou serve other gods, wood and stone; which they
were obliged to do in Babylon, of which it seems best to understand it; for
though it may be interpreted of their compliance with the image worship of the
Papists in their present condition, as the former clause may be of their rulers
and governors, included in the name of king, carried captive by the Romans; who
were a nation as little, if not less known than the Babylonians: but the former
sense seems to suit best here, as this does with Deuteronomy 28:64;
where the language is somewhat different, and very appropriate. The Targum of
Jonathan is,"shall pay tribute to those that worship idols of wood and
stone.'
Deuteronomy 28:37 37 And
you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations
where the Lord will drive you.
YLT
37and thou hast been for an
astonishment, for a simile, and for a byword among all the peoples whither
Jehovah doth lead thee.
And thou shall become an
astonishment,.... To neighbouring nations, that shall hear of their overthrow
and captivity, and that shall see the miserable condition they are brought
into:
a proverb and a byword among all nations whither the Lord shall
lead thee; both for the wickedness committed by them, and for the ill usage
of them by the nations among whom they should be, as they were in the
Babylonish captivity; see Jeremiah 24:9; and
now are, it being common to say,"do you think I am a Jew?'or,"none
but a Jew would have done such a thing.'
Deuteronomy 28:38 38 “You
shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust
shall consume it.
YLT
38`Much seed thou dost take
out into the field, and little thou dost gather in, for the locust doth consume
it;
Thou shall carry much seed
into the field,.... And sow it plentifully; this and what is said in some
following verses plainly refer to them while in their own land, before carried
captive, and not to their present case and circumstances:
and shall gather but little in at harvest; little
springing up, or not coming to perfection, being blighted and blasted, and so
yielded but a small crop; see Haggai 1:9; and
chiefly for the following reason:
for the locust shall consume it; which is a great
destroyer of the fruits of the earth; see Joel 1:4.
Deuteronomy 28:39 39 You
shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of
the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
YLT
39vineyards thou dost plant,
and hast laboured, and wine thou dost not drink nor gather, for the worm doth
consume it;
Thou shalt plant
vineyards, and dress them,.... Plant them and prune
them, in expectation of much fruit from them:
but shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the
grapes; so far from drinking of the wine of them, that they should not
be able to gather any grapes from them:
for the worms shall eat them; a sort of worms
pernicious to vines, which the Greeks call "ipes", or
"ikes"F15See Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 27. Colossians 622,623. ; and the Latins
"convolvuli" and "volvoces", as PlinyF16Nat.
Hist. l. 17. c. 28. .
Deuteronomy 28:40 40 You
shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself
with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.
YLT
40olives are to thee in all
thy border, and oil thou dost not pour out, for thine olive doth fall off.
Thou shalt have olive
trees throughout thy coasts,.... In the several parts of the land of
Canaan, which is therefore called a land of olive oil, Deuteronomy 8:8,
but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; nor any other
relations, friends, guests, as was usual at entertainments; see Psalm 23:5; for the
phrase "thyself" is not in the text. The reason why they should not
anoint is, because they would have no oil to anoint with:
for thine olive shall cast his fruit; before it is
ripe, by one means or another, as by winds, or blasting and mildew; see Amos 4:9.
Deuteronomy 28:41 41 You
shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go
into captivity.
YLT
41`Sons and daughters thou
dost beget, and they are not with thee, for they go into captivity;
Thou shalt beget sons and
daughters, but thou shall not enjoy them,.... Or, "they shall
not be thine"F17ולא יהיו לך "et non erunt
tibi", Pagninus, Montanus. ; being taken from them, and given to others,
see Deuteronomy 28:32;
and for the following reason:
for they shall go into captivity; as when the ten tribes
were carried captive by Shalmaneser, and the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar, and
all the people of the Jews by the Romans.
Deuteronomy 28:42 42 Locusts
shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.
YLT
42all thy trees and the fruit
of thy ground doth the locust possess;
All thy trees and fruit of
thy land shall the locust consume. Which is a creature that
not only consumes grass, and herbs, and the corn of the field, but all green
trees; see Exodus 10:15. This
sort here has its name from the shade they make, hiding the light of the sun,
and darkening the face of the earth at no on day; or from the noise they make
with their wings in flying; see Joel 2:5.
Deuteronomy 28:43 43 “The
alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you
shall come down lower and lower.
YLT
43the sojourner who [is] in
thy midst goeth up above thee very high, and thou goest down very low;
The stranger that is
within thee shall get up above thee very high,.... In wealth and
riches, in power and authority, in honour and dignity. This Manasseh Ben IsraelF18De
Termino Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 128. interprets of the Samaritans, whom the
king of Assyria drove out of Samaria, and the neighbouring places; but the
design of the expression is to show how mean and abject they should be in
another country; that even one who had been a stranger or proselyte of the
gate, when in their own country, should now be vastly above them:
and thou shall come down, very low; into a very mean
condition, to be in great subjection, a vassal and a slave; see Psalm 106:41; and
much more when reduced by the Romans, and sent to the mines in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 28:44 44 He
shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you
shall be the tail.
YLT
44he doth lend [to] thee, and
thou dost not lend [to] him; he is for head, and thou art for tail.
He shall lend to thee, and
thou shall not lend to him,.... The stranger, or one of another nation,
shall be in a capacity of lending to the Jew, when the Jew would not be able to
lend to the Gentile, his circumstances being so low and mean; to show which is
the design of the expression, and not the kindness or unkindness of either; see
Deuteronomy 28:12,
he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail; he shall be
ruler and governor, and thou shalt be subject to him; see Deuteronomy 28:13.
Deuteronomy 28:45 45 “Moreover
all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are
destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He
commanded you.
YLT
45`And come upon thee have
all these curses, and they have pursued thee, and overtaken thee, till thou art
destroyed, because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to
keep His commands, and His statutes, which he hath commanded thee;
Moreover, all these curses
shall come upon thee,.... Before related, as well as what follow:
and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee till thou be destroyed; which though
they would endeavour to flee from and escape, should not be able, since they
would follow them so closely and swiftly, and overtake them, and seize upon
them; see Deuteronomy 28:15,
because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God,
to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee; to which
disobedience all the curses are to be imputed that go before or follow after.
Deuteronomy 28:46 46 And
they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants
forever.
YLT
46and they have been on thee
for a sign and for a wonder, also on thy seed -- to the age.
And they shall be upon
thee for a sign and for a wonder,.... That is, those
curses before pronounced, Deuteronomy 27:15,
and what follow, should rest and remain upon them, continue with them, and be
very visible on them; so as to be observed by others, as a sign of the wrath
and displeasure of God, and of the fulfilment of prophecy, and of the truth of
divine revelation: and so "for a wonder": as it is most astonishing
to observe how exactly all the curses threatened them have fallen upon them and
have abode with them, as they did in their former captivities, and more
especially do in the present one: and, what is the greater wonder, that
notwithstanding these dreadful calamities, and so long continued, enough to
have crushed any people from being a people, yet they have continued, and still
do continue, a distinct people; which is a standing miracle, and one would
think sufficient to convince the most hardened and obstinate deist of the truth
and authority of the sacred Scriptures; in which stand so many glaring
prophecies that have been fulfilled, and are continually fulfilling in this
people:
and upon thy seed for ever; this shows that these
curses, said to be upon them, not only refer to those that came upon them at
and in the Babylonish captivity, but to those that came upon them at their
destruction by the Romans, and which have continued on them nineteen hundred
years; and how much longer they will continue none can say: it will be their
case, until new heavens and a new earth are created, or there will be a new
state of things, at least with them; when they shall be converted to the Lord,
and all Israel saved; see Isaiah 65:17; and
it may be observed, that the ten tribes carried captive never returned.
Deuteronomy 28:47 47 “Because
you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness
of heart, for the abundance of everything,
YLT
47`Because that thou hast not
served Jehovah thy God with joy, and with gladness of heart, because of the
abundance of all things –
Because thou servedst not
the Lord thy God,.... By attending his worship, and keeping his commandments:
with joyfulness and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; which they
enjoyed in the land of Canaan, a land that abounded with all good things; which
laid them under great obligations to serve the Lord: and yet, as they were
wanting in a ready attendance on his worship, and in a cheerful obedience to
his laws, so in their sacrifices, of praise and thanksgivings for their
manifold mercies; and, because of all this, the curses written in this book
came upon them.
Deuteronomy 28:48 48 therefore
you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send
against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and
He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.
YLT
48thou hast served thine
enemies, whom Jehovah sendeth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in
nakedness, and in lack of all things; and he hath put a yoke of iron on thy
neck, till He hath destroyed thee.
Therefore shall thou serve
thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee,.... Since
they would not serve the Lord their God, who was so good a master to them, and
supplied them with all good things, and with plenty of them, they should serve
other lords, their enemies, whom God would raise up and send against them; not
only, the Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Babylonians, but the Romans, after
described, whom they should find hard masters, and from whom they; should have
very severe usage, and should be
in hunger and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all good
things; being destitute of food, and drink and raiment, and the common
necessaries of life, and so in famishing and starving circumstances:
and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck; bring them
into a state of subjection to their enemies, which would be intolerable to
them, and from which they would not be able to free themselves, any more than
to break an iron yoke; which, as it agrees with the Babylonish captivity, and
their subjection in that state, see Jeremiah 28:13; so
more especially with their bondage under the Romans, who are the legs of iron
in Nebuchadnezzar's image, and the fourth beast with great iron teeth in
Daniel's vision, Daniel 2:33, and
this yoke was to continue
until he have destroyed thee; the Jews were under the
Roman yoke, Roman governors being set over them, and Judea made a Roman
province many years before the destruction of their nation, city, and temple,
by them.
Deuteronomy 28:49 49 The
Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the
earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not
understand,
YLT
49`Jehovah doth lift up
against thee a nation, from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle it
flieth; a nation whose tongue thou hast not heard,
The Lord shall bring a
nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth,.... Now
though Babylon is represented as a country distant from Judea, and said to be a
nation "from far", Jeremiah 5:15; yet
not "from the end of the earth"; as here; and though the Roman
nation, strictly speaking, was not at so great a distance from Jerusalem, yet
the Roman emperors, and great part of their armies brought against it, were
fetched from our island of Great Britain, which in former times was reckoned
the end of the earth, and the uttermost parts of the worldF19"----In
ultimos orbis Britannos", Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 35. ; and so Manasseh
Ben IsraelF20De Termino Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 129. interprets
this nation of Rome, and observes, that Vespasian brought for his assistance
many nations (or soldiers) out of England, France, Spain, and other parts of
the world: and not only Vespasian was sent for from Britain to make war with
the Jews, but when they rebelled, in the times of Adrian, Julius Severus, a
very eminent general, was sent for from thence to quell them. And it appears to
be a very ancient opinion of the Jews, that this passage is to be understood of
the Romans, from what is related in one of their TalmudsF21T.
Hieros. Succah, fol. 55. 2. : they say, that"Trajan, being sent for by his
wife to subdue the Jews, determined to come in ten days, and came in five; he
came and found them (the Jews) busy in the law on that verse, "the Lord
shall bring a nation against thee from far", &c. he said unto them, what
are ye busy in? they answered him, so and so; he replied to them, this is the
man (meaning himself) who thought to come in ten days, and came in five; and he
surrounded them with his legions, and slew them:"
as swift as the eagle
flieth; which may respect not so much the swiftness of this creature,
the words which convey the idea being a supplement of the text, as the force
with which it flies when in sight of its prey, and hastes unto it and falls
upon it, which is irresistible; and this is the sense of the Septuagint and
Vulgate Latin versions, and is what is ascribed to the eagle by other writersF23Vid.
Homer. Iliad. 21. l. 252. . Now though this figure is used of the Chaldeans and
Babylonians, Jeremiah 4:13; it
agrees full as well or better with the Romans, because of their swiftness in
coming from distant parts, and because of the force and impetus with which they
invaded Judea, besieged Jerusalem, and attacked the Jews everywhere; and
besides, the eagle was borne on the standard in the Roman armyF24Vid.
Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 4. :
a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; which, though
it is also said of the language of the Chaldean nation, Jeremiah 5:15; yet
as the Chaldee and Hebrew languages were only dialects of one and the same
language, common to the eastern nations, the Chaldee language, though on
account of termination of words, pronunciation, and other things, might be
difficult, and hard to be understood by the Jews, yet must be much more easy to
understand than the Roman language, so widely different from theirs.
Deuteronomy 28:50 50 a
nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor
to the young.
YLT
50a nation -- fierce of
countenance -- which accepteth not the face of the aged, and the young doth not
favour;
A nation of fierce
countenance,.... Or, "strong of face"F25עז פנים "fortem
faciebus", Montanus; "robustam facie", Vatablus. ; which aptly
describes the old Romans, who are always represented as such; and whereas it is
said of the Chaldeans, that they were a nation dreadful and terrible, Habakkuk 1:7; the
same is said of the fourth beast, or Roman empire, Daniel 7:7; who
were a terror to all the world:
which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to
the young: cruel, unmerciful, and uncompassionate, to persons of whatsoever
age or sex; which, as it was the character of the Chaldeans, 2 Chronicles 36:17;
so of the Romans, who especially showed no mercy to the Jews, as JosephusF26De
Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 7. sect. 1. , who was an eyewitness, testifies."The
Romans (says he) showed no mercy to any age, out of hatred to the nation (of
the Jews), and in remembrance of the injuries done to Cestius;'one of their
governors, when among them. And in another place he saysF1Ibid.
sect. 34. ,"the Romans, remembering what they suffered in the siege,
spared none, and showed no mercy.'
Deuteronomy 28:51 51 And
they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land,
until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or
the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have
destroyed you.
YLT
51and it hath eaten the fruit
of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, till thou art destroyed; which
leaveth not to thee corn, new wine, and oil, increase of thine oxen, and wealth
of thy flock, till it hath destroyed thee.
And he shall eat the fruit
of thy cattle,.... Larger and lesser, oxen and sheep, as their calves and
lambs, and kids of the goat:
and the fruit of thy land; their wheat, barley,
figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives, and dates:
until thou be destroyed; the land of Judea, and
all the increase of it: this being before said, Deuteronomy 28:31;
and here repeated, shows that the same should be fulfilled at different times,
as by the Chaldeans, so by the Romans; whose nation, or army, with their
general at the head of them, may be more especially here intended by
"he", that should eat up their fruit until utter destruction was
brought upon them:
which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine,
or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he
have destroyed thee; all being consumed by the Roman army. There is a promise and
prophecy, that though this would be the case, as it has been, there shall be a
time when it shall be so no more; see Isaiah 62:8.
Deuteronomy 28:52 52 “They
shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in
which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you
at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you.
YLT
52`And it hath laid siege to
thee in all thy gates, till thy walls come down, the high and the fenced ones
in which thou art trusting, in all thy land; yea, it hath laid siege to thee in
all thy gates, in all thy land, which Jehovah thy God hath given to thee;
And he shall besiege thee
in all thy gates,.... That is, in all their cities and walled towns, which had
gates and bars for security:
until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst,
throughout all thy land; the Jews had several
cities well fenced and strongly fortified, besides Jerusalem, which was
fortified both by art and nature, and in which they greatly put their trust and
confidence; but these were broken down, particularly by the battering rams of
the Romans:
and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, throughout all thy
land,
which the Lord thy God hath given thee; this is
repeated for the certainty of it, and that it might be taken notice of, and
abate their trust and confidence in their outward strength. Now all this was
fulfilled, partly in the siege of Samaria by the king of Assyria, who went
through all the land of the ten tribes, 2 Kings 17:5; and
in Sennacherib's taking the fenced cities of Judah, 2 Kings 18:13; and
in the siege of Jerusalem, and breaking down the walls of it by Nebuchadnezzar,
2 Kings 25:10; and,
last of all, in the siege of Jerusalem, and battering down the walls of it, by
the Romans; at which time also all their strong and fenced cities throughout
the land were taken and demolished.
Deuteronomy 28:53 53 You
shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters
whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which
your enemy shall distress you.
YLT
53and thou hast eaten the fruit
of thy body, flesh of thy sons and thy daughters (whom Jehovah thy God hath
given to thee), in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemies do
straiten thee.
And thou shall eat the
fruit of thine body,.... Than which nothing can be more shocking and unnatural, which
is explained as follows:
the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God
hath given thee; which is an aggravation of the cruel and inhuman fact:
in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall
distress thee; this shows the cause of it, a famine by reason of the closeness
of the siege, so that no provisions could be brought in for their relief; and
all within being eaten up, and everything that was eatable, even the most
nauseous and disagreeable, they would be led on to this strange, unheard of,
and barbarous action, eating their own children. This was fulfilled in the
siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 6:25; and
in the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lamentations 2:10
and again in the Apocrypha:"Moreover he hath delivered them to be in
subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and
desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered
them.' (Baruch 2:4)and in the
siege of the same city by the Romans; of which an instance will be hereafter
given.
Deuteronomy 28:54 54 The
sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother,
toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he
leaves behind,
YLT
54`The man who is tender in
thee, and who [is] very delicate -- his eye is evil against his brother, and
against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his sons whom he
leaveth,
So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate,.... Not only
the rustic that has been brought up meanly, and used to hard living; but one that
has been bred very tenderly, and lived in a delicate manner, like the rich man
in Luke 16:19; that
fared sumptuously every day:
his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of
his bosom, and towards the remnant of his children which he shall leave; that is, he
shall begrudge his brother, who is so nearly related to him, the least bit of
food; yea, his wife, he dearly loved, and is one flesh with him, his other
self, and even his children, which are parts of himself, such of them as were
left not eaten by him; or his eye should be evil upon then, he should look with
an evil eye on them, determining within himself to kill and eat them next. Though
the particular instance in which his eye would be evil to them follows, yet no
doubt there are other instances in which his eye would be evil towards them, as
there were at the siege of Jerusalem, and have been since. JosephusF2De
Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 3. says,"that in every house where there was
any appearance of food (or anything that looked like it, that had the shadow of
it) there was a battle; and the dearest friends fought with one another,
snatching away from each other, the miserable supports of life;'as the husband
from his wife and children, and the wife from her husband and children; see
more in Deuteronomy 28:56;
and, in later times, we told by the Jewish historianF3Shebet Judah,
sive Hist. Jud. p. 326. , that wrote an account of their sufferings and
distresses since their dispersion, that at Fez the Jews sold their children for
slaves for bread.
Deuteronomy 28:55 55 so
that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat,
because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your
enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
YLT
55against giving to one of
them of the flesh of his sons whom he eateth, because he hath nothing left to
him, in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten
thee in all thy gates.
So that he will not give
to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat,.... Neither
give to a brother, nor to a wife, nor to any of his remaining children, the
least bit of the flesh of a child he has killed and dressed for his own food;
which adds to the barbarity of his action:
because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the
straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates; every
creature being eaten up, dogs, cats, &c. and whatsoever else could be any
ways made food of; as the dung of beasts, belts, shoes, the leather on shields,
&c. as JosephusF4De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 3. says they
did eat; and this being the case, nothing eatable remaining, therefore his
heart would be hardened against his nearest relations, and not allow them the
least part with him, even of what was so shocking and unnatural.
Deuteronomy 28:56 56 The
tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of
her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse[a] to the
husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter,
YLT
56`The tender woman in thee,
and the delicate, who hath not tried the sole of her foot to place on the
ground because of delicateness and because of tenderness -- her eye is evil
against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her
daughter,
And the tender and
delicate woman amongst you,.... Who is instanced in because of her sex,
which is more pitiful and compassionate, and especially one that has been
brought up genteelly, and has always lived deliciously, on the most delicate
fare, and nicest dainties, and used to all the delights of nature:
which would not venture to set her foot upon the ground for
delicateness and tenderness; for fear of taking cold, or defiling her
feet:
her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom, and
towards her son, and towards her daughter; begrudge them every bit
they eat, and restrain food from them as much as in her lies, and even snatch
it out of their mouths; so JosephusF5De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. l0.
sect. 3. relates, that"women snatched the food out of the mouths of their
husbands, and sons out of the mouths of their fathers; and, what is most
miserable, mothers out of the mouths of their infants.'
Deuteronomy 28:57 57 her
placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears;
for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and
desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
YLT
57and against her seed which
cometh out from between her feet, even against her sons whom she doth bear, for
she doth eat them for the lacking of all things in secret, in the siege and in
the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten thee within thy gates.
And toward her young one
that cometh out from between her feet,.... Or her secundine,
"her afterbirth", as in the margin of our Bibles; so the Targum of
Jonathan and Aben Ezra interpret it. The latter describes it,"the place of
the fetus, while it abides in the womb of its mother;'the membrane in which the
child is wrapped; and it is suggested that, as nauseous as that is, the
delicate woman should eat it, and then the newborn child that was wrapped in
it; so Jarchi interprets it, little children; though it seems to be
distinguished from the children she bears or brings forth in the next clause:
and towards her children which she shall bear; that is, have
an evil eye towards them, to eat them as follows:
for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in
the siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates; that is, eat
her children, being reduced to the utmost extremity, being in want of all
things, having nothing at all to abate her sharp hunger; which, and nothing
else, could incline her, and prevail upon her to do an action so monstrously
horrid: and which she would do in the most private and secret manner; both lest
others should partake with her, as well as being conscious of the foulness and
blackness of the crime, that would not by any means bear the light; and all
this owing to the closeness of the siege, and the unspeakable distress they
should be in through it. For the illustration of this, take the following story
as related by JosephusF6De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4. ;"a
woman, whose name was Mary, that lived beyond Jordan, illustrious for her descent
and riches fled with the multitude to Jerusalem when besieged carrying with her
her substance, and what food she could get that were left to her by the
spoilers; where being pressed with famine, she took her sucking child, killed
it boiled it, and ate half of it, and then laid up the rest, and covered it;
and when the seditious party entered the house, they smelt it, and demanded her
food, threatening to kill her if she did not deliver it; which when she brought
forth, declaring what she had done, they were struck with horror; to whom she
said, this is my son, and this my own deed; eat, for I have eaten; be not more
tender or softer than a woman, and more sympathizing or more pitiful than a
mother.'All the ideas that this prophecy of Moses conveys are to be met with in
this account; as of a woman well bred and delicate, reduced to the utmost
distress, and wanting all the necessaries of life, killing her tender infant, a
sucking babe, eating it secretly, and laying up the rest covered for another
time. If Moses had lived to have known the fact committed, as Josephus did, he
could not have expressed it well in stronger and clearer terms than he has
done. This is a most amazing instance of a prophecy delivered out two thousand
years or more before the fact was done, and of the exact accomplishment of it;
and if the observation of a learned criticF7Dr. Kennicot's State of
the Hebrew Text, Dissert. 1. p. 421. can be established, that the first word of
this verse should be ובשלה, and so be rendered,
"and she shall boil that which cometh out from between her feet, even her
children which she shall bear", the fulfilment of the prophecy will appear
still more exact, both at the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 6:20; and
of Jerusalem, as in the above relation of Josephus.
Deuteronomy 28:58 58 “If
you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this
book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,
YLT
58`If thou dost not observe
to do all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this
honoured and fearful name -- Jehovah thy God –
If thou wilt not observe
to do all the words this law, that are written in this book,.... Of
Deuteronomy, in which there is a repetition of the laws before delivered, and
an addition of some new ones; all which were to be so observed as to be done,
to this end:
that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name of the Lord
thy God; or that it might appear that the fear of God was before their
eyes, and in their hearts, by their obedience to his law; that they had a
proper awe and reverence of him, who is glorious in his titles and attributes,
and whose name Jehovah is holy and reverend; and who, as the covenant God of
his people, is to, be feared for his goodness sake.
Deuteronomy 28:59 59 then
the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary
plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses.
YLT
59then hath Jehovah made
wonderful thy strokes, and the strokes of thy seed -- great strokes, and
stedfast, and evil sicknesses, and stedfast.
Then the Lord will make
thy plagues wonderful,.... Visible, remarkable, distinguishable, and astonishing to all
that see them:
and the plagues of thy seed; for they were to
continue, as they have done, With their posterity, age after age:
even great plagues,
and of long continuance; great as to quality and quantity, and firm, sure, lasting, and
durable; the word used is rendered "sure" in Isaiah 55:3; sure
by prophecy and in the event; and which when inflicted remained, as they have
1700 years; all which might be believed as certain, or what would certainly
come to pass, and be depended on:
and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance; besides those
diseases mentioned Deuteronomy 28:27;
or however others including them.
Deuteronomy 28:60 60 Moreover
He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid,
and they shall cling to you.
YLT
60`And He hath brought back
on thee all the diseases of Egypt, of the presence of which thou hast been
afraid, and they have cleaved to thee;
Moreover, he will bring
upon thee all the diseases of Egypt,.... All that in a way of
judgment were brought upon the Egyptians for refusing to let Israel go; or all
such diseases as were peculiar to them, and common among them, as the leprosy,
the itch, ulcers, &c.
which thou wast afraid of; when living among them,
lest they should catch them of them, or they should be inflicted on them by the
hand of God:
and they shall cleave unto thee; not only should come
upon them, but continue with them; they should not easily get rid of them, or
be cured of them.
Deuteronomy 28:61 61 Also
every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of
the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are
destroyed.
YLT
61also every sickness and
every stroke which is not written in the book of this law; Jehovah doth cause
them to go up upon thee till thou art destroyed,
Also every sickness and every
plague which is not written in the book of this law,.... Which is
not here mentioned or threatened; and it suggests, that whatsoever sickness or
disease that could be thought of or named, or were at any time in any place
among men, might be expected to come upon them for their disobedience:
them will the Lord bring upon thee until thou be destroyed; the Jews
themselvesF8Shebet Judah, p. 318. own this has been fulfilled on
them.
Deuteronomy 28:62 62 You
shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in
multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
YLT
62and ye have been left with
few men, instead of which ye have been as stars of the heavens for multitude,
because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah thy God.
And ye shall be left few
in number,.... There were but very few left in the land of Judea by
Nebuchadnezzar's general when Jerusalem was taken by him; and these were of the
poorer sort, and were left for vinedressers and husbandmen, Jeremiah 39:10; and
how much they were reduced by the Romans will appear by the accounts Josephus
gives of those that were slain, and made prisoners by them: he saysF9De
Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 3. ,"there were 1,100,000 slain at the siege
of Jerusalem and by the war, and 97,000 made prisoners;'and it is computed that
1,240,490 were destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of the nationF11See
Dr. Newton (Bp. of Bristol) on Prophecies, vol. 1. Dissert. 7. sect. 6. p. 186.
; and it is also said by their historianF12Shebet Judah, sect. 49.
p. 316. , that of those that were transported from Jerusalem and other parts of
Palestine into Spain, scarce a thousandth part remained and that an infinite
number were slain in France and Germany; and though their number equalled those
that came out of Egypt, yet scarce five thousand of them were left:
whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; and, as it is
sometimes said, as the sand of the sea, as was promised to Abraham, Genesis 15:5; and
was fulfilled in the days of Solomon 1 Kings 4:20,
because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God; in his law,
and by his prophets; and especially by the voice of the true Messiah, in his
everlasting Gospel; of whom it is said, "today if ye will hear his
voice"; &c. Hebrews 3:7.
Deuteronomy 28:63 63 And
it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced
over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will
rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be
plucked from off the land which you go to possess.
YLT
63`And it hath been, as
Jehovah hath rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so doth
Jehovah rejoice over you to destroy you, and to lay you waste; and ye have been
pulled away from off the ground whither thou art going in to possess it;
And it shall come to pass,
that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good,.... The Word
of the Lord, as the Targum of Jonathan; who with great delight and pleasure in
them brought them out of Egypt, conducted them through the wilderness,
protecting them and providing all good things for them; and brought them into
the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, and settled them there;
and gave them judges and kings, priests and prophets, for a long series of
time, with other innumerable blessings he bestowed upon them:
and to multiply you; so that they became as
the stars of heaven, and the sand of the sea, as before observed:
so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you
to nought; take as much pleasure in their ruin and destruction, whereby his
justice would be glorified, and the honour of his laws preserved, as before in
bestowing good things on them, in which mercy and kindness were displayed:
and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to
possess it; in a violent manner, by their enemies, and against their wills,
they being loath to leave it. The Emperor Adrian, to prevent their
insurrections and rebellions, which had given him a great deal of trouble,
ordered by an edict that no Jew should come into Jerusalem, nor into the land
of Judea, or be seen in it, which is observed by several writersF13Justin
Martyr, Tertullian, Eusebius. See Dr. Newton ut supra. (Prophesies, vol. 1.
Dissert. 7. sect. 6. p. 186.) ; by which means the country was cleared of them.
In later times some of them did get thither again, but they were but few.
Benjamin of Tudela, a Jew of the twelfth century, travelled into several parts
of the world in quest of his countrymen, and particularly into Judea, and his
view was to magnify his people; and yet owns he found at Jerusalem only two
hundred persons, whose employment was dyeing wool, and dwelt in a corner of the
town under the tower of David; and but twelve at Bethlehem, three at Maresha,
at Shunem indeed three hundred, none at Gilead, two at Nob, who were dyers,
three at Ramah, one at Joppa, none at Jafne, where had been a famous academy,
none at Ashdod, and at Tiberias about fiftyF14Itinerar. p. 41-53. .
And our countryman SandysF15Travels, sect. 3. p. 114. Ed. 5. , who
travelled into Judea in the seventeenth century, says,"here be some Jews,
yet inherit they no part of the land, but in their own country do live as
aliens.'
Deuteronomy 28:64 64 “Then
the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to
the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your
fathers have known—wood and stone.
YLT
64and Jehovah hath scattered
thee among all the peoples, from the end of the earth even unto the end of the
earth; and thou hast served there other gods which thou hast not known, thou
and thy fathers -- wood and stone.
And the Lord shall scatter
thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other,.... Which
refers to their present dispersion, being now, more or fewer, in all parts of
the world, east, west, north, and south:
and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy
fathers have known, even wood and stone: it may be observed, that
the phrase, "which either thou nor fathers have known", is fitly
added here, which is not used of them, Deuteronomy 28:36;
and well agrees with the idols of the Papists, their images of the Virgin Mary,
and saints departed, made of wood and stone, which were such the fathers of the
Jews never knew; just as it is said of the host, the consecrated wafer, the
breaden god honoured by antichrist, that it is "a god who his fathers knew
not", Daniel 11:38; the
apostles and ancient fathers of the church. Now in Popish countries the Jews
have often been prevailed upon to change, or at least dissemble their religion,
and embrace Popery: and have worshipped images of wood and stone. The author of
the history of their calamities and sufferings owns this;"multitudes (he
saysF16Shebet Judah, p. 108, 154, 312, 313, 338, 339. ) in Spain and
Portugal forsook the law of Moses, and joined the Papists, pretending at least
to be of their religion.'
He
makes mention of sixteen thousand at one timeF17Ibid. p. 312. , and
some, he sayF18Ibid. sect. 56. p. 327. ,"that were driven out
of Spain, came into Italy, where the young men pressed with famine could not
bear it, and changed their religion, and began to worship images that they
might have to satisfy their hunger; and the Papists used to go about with a
crucifix in one hand, and a piece of bread in the other, promising the bread to
those that would worship the crucifix; and so many famishing persons forsook
the law of Moses, and mixed with them:'and to this day the convents of monks
and nuns in Spain are full of them; and most of their canons, inquisitors, and
bishops, are JewsF19See Addison's present State of the Jews, c. 3.
p. 3o, 31. Dr. Newton ut supra, (Prophesies, vol. 1. Dissert. 7.) sect. 15. p.
197. . The Targum of Jonathan indeed, to clear them from idolatry itself, gives
another sense of these words, paraphrasing them,"ye shall pay tribute to
the worshippers of idols.'
Deuteronomy 28:65 65 And
among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot
have a resting place; but there the Lord will give
you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.
YLT
65`And among those nations
thou dost not rest, yea, there is no resting-place for the sole of thy foot,
and Jehovah hath given to thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes,
and grief of soul;
And among these nations
shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest,.... No quiet
settlement, nor certain dwelling, being obliged to move from place to place
through cruel edicts, heavy fines and mulcts, exorbitant taxes and impositions,
and diligent search made after them by the courts of the inquisition,
especially where any substance was to be gotten. The Jews themselvesF20Shebet
Judah, p. 108,109. Manasseh Ben Israel de Termino Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 132.
own that this passage is now fulfilled in them:
but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart; being always
in fear lest their persons should be seized on, their children taken from them,
and their goods confiscated; hence the poetF21"----Judea
tremens----". Juvenal, Satyr 6. v. 543. gives them the epithet of
"trembling":
and failing of eyes: in looking for a vainly
expected Messiah, to deliver them from all their fears and troubles:
and sorrow of mind; under their present afflictions and
calamities.
Deuteronomy 28:66 66 Your
life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no
assurance of life.
YLT
66and thy life hath been
hanging in suspense before thee, and thou hast been afraid by night and by day,
and dost not believe in thy life;
And thy life shall hang in
doubt before thee,.... Whether it shall be spared or not by the enemy:
and thou shalt fear day and night; being in continual dread
of being killed:
and shalt have none assurance of thy life; of its being
continued a moment scarcely, but live in constant fear and expectation of its
being taken away.
Deuteronomy 28:67 67 In
the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall
say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your
heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.
YLT
67in the morning thou sayest,
O that it were evening! and in the evening thou sayest, O that it were morning!
from the fear of thy heart, with which thou art afraid, and from the sight of
thine eyes which thou seest.
In the morning thou shalt
say, would God it were even,.... Wishing they might get through the day
well, fearing their life would be taken away before night, or some sad calamity
befall them before the day was past:
and at even thou shall say, would God it were morning; dreading what
would happen to them in the night, that some messenger of death would be sent
to dispatch them, or they should be haled out of bed to a court of inquisition,
and cast into a dungeon:
for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the
sight of thine eyes which, thou shalt see; often beholding such
dreadful sights, as their countrymen put upon the rack, and cruelly tortured,
and then burnt alive; and so their hearts would fear and tremble, lest they
should be the next that would be taken up and used in this manner; besides
other severities and hard usages, with which their brethren were treated, and they
in continual fear of.
Deuteronomy 28:68 68 “And
the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to
you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to
your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
YLT
68`And Jehovah hath brought
thee back to Egypt with ships, by a way of which I said to thee, Thou dost not
add any more to see it, and ye have sold yourselves there to thine enemies, for
men-servants and for maid-servants, and there is no buyer.'
And the Lord shall bring
thee into Egypt again with ships,.... Either into a state
of hard bondage and slavery, like that their fathers were in, in Egypt; or
rather, strictly and literally, should be brought into Egypt again, since it is
said to be "with" or "in ships". This does not respect the
going of those Jews into Egypt who were left in the land of Judea, after the
destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; for that was against the express
command of God, Jeremiah 42:13.
There were several movings of them into Egypt after that time; an Heathen
historianF23Hecataeus apud Joseph. contr. Apion, l. 1. sect. 22.
tells us, that not a few thousands of Jews went into Egypt and Phoenicia,
because of the sedition in Syria after the death of Alexander; and where, it
seems, in process of time, they became slaves: for we are told by JosephusF24Antiqu.
l. 12. c. 2. sect. 1. , that 120,000 slaves were set free by Ptolemy
Philadelphus; but what is chiefly respected here is their case in the times of
the Romans, and by their means. Now when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, those
above seventeen years of age were sent by him to the works, or mines, in Egypt,
as the same historian relatesF25De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 9. sect. 2. ;
and after their last overthrow by Adrian many thousands were sold, and what
could not be sold were transported into Egypt, and perished by
"shipwreck", or famine, or were slaughtered by the peopleF26Hieron.
in Zech. ii. fol. 120. I. whereby this prophecy was literally and exactly
fulfilled, and which is owned by the Jews themselves. Manasseh Ben IsraelF1De
Termino Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 131, 132. observes, that though Vespasian
banished the Jews into various countries, Egypt is only mentioned by way of
reproach, as if it had been said, ye shall go captives into the land from which
ye went out triumphant:
by the way whereof I spake unto thee, thou shall see it no more
again; the Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall bring
thee into Egypt again in ships;'even the same divine Word, the Son of God, that
brought them out of it, and went before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, now
provoked by their rejection of him, would lead them back again thither; the
paraphrast adds,"through the midst of the Red sea, in the path in which ye
passed;'as if they were carried over into Egypt in ships, just in that part of
the sea in which they had passed before; but that was an unknown and unseen
path, after the waters were closed up, and never to be seen more, and which is
here meant; for not Egypt, but the way in which they passed, was to be seen no
more:
and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and for
bondwomen, and no man shall buy you; that is, there in Egypt
they would be offered to sale, and so many would be sold until the market was
glutted with them, and there would be no buyers. The Targum of Jonathan
is,"ye shall be sold there at first to your enemies, at a dear price, as
artificers, and afterwards at a mean price as servants and handmaids, until ye
become despised, and be brought to serve for nothing, and there be none to take
you in.'Jarchi interprets it of they themselves being desirous, and seeking to
be sold, to avoid cruelties and death; which agrees with the sense of the word,
which may be rendered, "ye shall offer yourselves for sale"; but
there will be no buyer, because their enemies will determine upon the slaughter
and consumption of them; and to the same purpose Aben Ezra. There were such
numbers of them to be sold both at Egypt and at Rome, that the sellers of them
had but a poor market for them; and it seems not only because of their number,
but the ill opinion had of them as servants. HegesippusF2De excidio
Urb. Hieros. l. 5. c. 47. p. 645. says,"there were many to be sold, but
there were few buyers; for the Romans despised the Jews for service, nor were
there Jews left to redeem their own.'It is saidF3Ib. p. 680. , that
thirty were sold for a penny; a just retaliation to them, who had sold their
Messiah for thirty pieces of silver.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)