Deuteronomy 28:39

39 Thou shalt plant, and dig a vinery, and thou shalt not drink the wine of it, neither thou shalt gather thereof anything; for it shall be wasted with worms. (Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, but thou shalt not drink the wine of it, nor shalt thou gather anything from it; for it shall be wasted by worms.)

Deuteronomy 28:39 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:39

Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress [them]
Plant them and prune them, in expectation of much fruit from them:

but shall neither drink [of] the wine nor gather [the grapes];
so far from drinking of the wine of them, that they should not be able to gather any grapes from them:

for the worms shall eat them;
a sort of worms pernicious to vines, which the Greeks call "ipes", or "ikes" ^F15; and the Latins "convolvuli" and "volvoces", as Pliny ^F16.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 See Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 27. col. 622, 623.
F16 Nat. Hist. l. 17. c. 28.

Deuteronomy 28:39 In-Context

37 And thou shalt be lost, or forgotten, into a proverb, and into a fable, to all peoples, to whom the Lord shall bring thee in. (And thou shalt become a proverb, and a fable, to all the people into whom the Lord shall bring thee.)

38 Thou shalt cast much seed into the earth, and thou shalt gather again little; for locusts shall devour all things.

39 Thou shalt plant, and dig a vinery, and thou shalt not drink the wine of it, neither thou shalt gather thereof anything; for it shall be wasted with worms. (Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, but thou shalt not drink the wine of it, nor shalt thou gather anything from it; for it shall be wasted by worms.)

40 Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy coasts, and thou shalt not be anointed with (the) oil of them; for they shall fall down, and perish. (Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy land, but thou shalt not be anointed with their oil; for they shall all fall down, and perish.)

41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and thou shalt not use them (but thou shalt not have them near); for they shall be led into captivity.