Deuteronomy 28:32

32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and languish for them all the day long; and there shall be no power in thy hand [to help it].

Deuteronomy 28:32 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:32

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 says F12, what howlings and lamentations were made by the women; and there wore none pitied them and comforted them, or could help them.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Shebet Judah, sive Hist. Jud. sect. 59. p. 332.

Deuteronomy 28:32 In-Context

30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her; thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not eat of it.
31 Thine ox shall be slaughtered before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof; thine ass shall be snatched away from before thy face, and shall not return to thee; thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to recover them.
32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and languish for them all the day long; and there shall be no power in thy hand [to help it].
33 The fruit of thy ground and all thy labour, shall a people that thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed continually.
34 And thou shalt be mad through the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lit. 'and thy hand shall not be for a god (el),' or 'for strength.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.