Deuteronomy 28:24

24 The Lord give dust for rain to thy land, and ash come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be all-broken. (The Lord shall give dust to thy land instead of rain, and ashes shall come down upon thee from the sky, until thou be all-broken.)

Deuteronomy 28:24 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:24

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 28:24 In-Context

22 The Lord shall smite thee with neediness, with fever, and cold, with burning, and heat, with corrupt air, and mildew, either rust; and he shall pursue thee till thou perish.
23 Heaven, that is above thee, be it brazen; and the earth, that thou treadest on, be it iron. (The heavens, that be above thee, shall become as hard as brass; and the earth, which thou treadest upon, shall become as hard as iron.)
24 The Lord give dust for rain to thy land, and ash come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be all-broken. (The Lord shall give dust to thy land instead of rain, and ashes shall come down upon thee from the sky, until thou be all-broken.)
25 The Lord give thee (to) falling before thine enemies; by one way go thou [out] against them, and by seven ways flee thou from them, and be thou scattered by all the realms of [the] earth; (The Lord shall cause thee to fall before thy enemies; thou shalt go out against them by one way, but thou shalt flee from them by seven ways, and thou shalt be scattered into all the kingdoms of the earth;)
26 and thy dead body be it into meat to all birds of heaven, and to beasts of the earth, and none be that may drive them away. (and thy dead bodies shall be food for all the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one who can drive them away.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.