Deuteronomy 28:15

Curses for Disobedience

15 "But 1if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and 2overtake you.

Deuteronomy 28:15 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:15

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 )

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 Zechariah 5:4 ) ; namely, the curses which follow. Manasseh Ben Israel F6 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 De Termino Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 126.

Deuteronomy 28:15 In-Context

13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
16 Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

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Cross References 2

  • 1. Leviticus 26:14; Lamentations 2:17; Daniel 9:11, 13; Malachi 2:2
  • 2. ver. 2
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.