Deuteronomy 11:17

17 lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

Deuteronomy 11:17 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 11:17

And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you
For their idolatry, nothing being more provoking to him than that, it being contrary to his nature and being, as well as to his will, and to his honour and glory:

and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain;
the treasures and storehouses of it there, or the windows of it, the clouds, which when opened let it down, but when shut withhold it; the key of rain is one of the keys which the Jews say ^F11 the Lord keeps in his own hand, and with it he opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens; see ( Deuteronomy 28:12 ) ( Malachi 3:10 )

and that the land yield not her fruit;
which is unavoidably the case when rain is withheld:

and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth
you;
for if the land does not yield its fruits sufficient to support the inhabitants of it, they must in course perish.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Targum Jon. in Deut. xxviii. 12.

Deuteronomy 11:17 In-Context

15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.'

16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,

17 lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.