Devarim 28:15

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer to do all His mitzvot and His chukkot which I command thee today, that all these kelalot (curses) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Devarim 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Devarim 28:15 In-Context

13 And Hashem shall make thee the rosh, and not the zanav (tail); and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou give heed unto the mitzvot Hashem Eloheicha, which I command thee today, to be shomer to do them;

14 And thou shalt not turn aside from any of the devarim which I command thee today, to the right, or to the left, to go after elohim acherim to serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer to do all His mitzvot and His chukkot which I command thee today, that all these kelalot (curses) shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

16 Arur shalt thou be in the town, and Arur shalt thou be in the sadeh.

17 Arur shall be thy basket and thy kneading bowl.