Deuteronomy 28:56

56 The most refined and the [most] delicate [woman] among you, who shall not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being [so] delicate and from [such] gentleness, {shall be mean to her beloved husband} and against her son and against her daughter,

Deuteronomy 28:56 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:56

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 Josephus ^F5 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.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. l0. sect. 3.

Deuteronomy 28:56 In-Context

54 The most refined and the very sensitive man among you {shall be mean with his brother} and {against his beloved wife} and against the rest of his children that he has left over,

55 {by refraining from giving} to [even] one of them any of the meat of his children that he eats, because [there is] not anything [that is] left over for him {during the siege and distress} that your enemy inflicts upon you.

56 The most refined and the [most] delicate [woman] among you, who shall not venture to put the sole of her foot on the ground from being [so] delicate and from [such] gentleness, {shall be mean to her beloved husband} and against her son and against her daughter,

57 and [even] concerning her afterbirth {that goes out} from between her feet and [also] concerning her children that she bears, because she eats them for lack of anything in secret {during the siege and during the distress} that your enemy inflicts upon her in your {towns}.

58 "If {you do not diligently observe} all the words of this law written in this scroll by revering this glorious and awesome name, Yahweh your God,

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "would"
• [b]. Literally "shall be bad her eye against the husband of her lap"