Deuteronomy 28:13

13 And the Lorde shall sett the before and not behinde, and thou shalt be aboue only and not beneth: yf that thou herken vnto the commaundmentes of the Lorde thy God which I commaunde the this daye to kepe and to doo them.

Deuteronomy 28:13 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:13

And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail
Give them dominion over others, and not make them subject to them; the head signifies rulers and governors, and the tail the common people that are subjects; or the one such that are honourable and in high esteem, and the other such that are mean and base; see ( Isaiah 9:14 Isaiah 9:15 ) ; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``the Word of the Lord shall make thee''

and thou shalt be above only, and thou shall not be beneath;
which explains what is meant by head and tail, being uppermost and lowermost, as the head is the upper part, and the tail the lower part of a creature; the one is more honourable, the other vile: the sense is, that they should be superior to other people in honour and dignity, and not below them, or vassals to them: if that thou hearken to the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I
command thee this day to observe and to do [them];
which is the condition on which all this happiness depended.

Deuteronomy 28:13 In-Context

11 And the Lorde shall make the plenteous in goodes, in the frute of thy body, in the frute off thy catell and in the frute of thy grounde, in the londe whiche the Lorde sware vnto thy fathers to geue the.

12 The Lorde shall open vnto the his good treasure, euen the heauen, to geue rayne vnto thy londe in due ceason and to blesse all the laboures of thine hande. And thou shalt lende vnto many nacyos, but shalt not nede to borowe thy selfe.

13 And the Lorde shall sett the before and not behinde, and thou shalt be aboue only and not beneth: yf that thou herken vnto the commaundmentes of the Lorde thy God which I commaunde the this daye to kepe and to doo them.

14 And se that thou bowe not from any of these wordes which I commaunde the this daye ether to the right hande or to the lefte, that thou woldest goo after straung goddes to serue them.

15 But and yf thou wilt not herken vnto the voyce of the Lorde thy God to kepe and to doo all his commaundmentes and ordinaunces which I commaunde the this daye: then all these curses shall come vppon the and ouertake the: