Deuteronomy 28:39

39 Thou shalt plant and till vineyards, but shalt drink no wine, nor gather [the fruit]; for the worms shall eat it.

Deuteronomy 28:39 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:39

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" ^F15; and the Latins "convolvuli" and "volvoces", as Pliny ^F16.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F15 See Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 27. col. 622, 623.
F16 Nat. Hist. l. 17. c. 28.

Deuteronomy 28:39 In-Context

37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall lead thee.

38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall devour it.

39 Thou shalt plant and till vineyards, but shalt drink no wine, nor gather [the fruit]; for the worms shall eat it.

40 Olive-trees shalt thou have throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil; for thine olive-tree shall cast its fruit.

41 Sons and daughters shalt thou beget, but thou shalt not have them [to be with thee]; for they shall go into captivity.