Deuteronomy 28:15

15 `And it hath been, if thou dost not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God to observe to do all His commands, and His statutes, which I am commanding thee to-day, that all these revilings have come upon thee, and overtaken thee:

Deuteronomy 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.

Deuteronomy 28:15 In-Context

13 `And Jehovah hath given thee for head, and not for tail; and thou hast been only above, and art not beneath, for thou dost hearken unto the commands of Jehovah thy God, which I am commanding thee to-day, to keep and to do,

14 and thou dost not turn aside from all the words which I am commanding you to-day -- right or left -- to go after other gods, to serve them.

15 `And it hath been, if thou dost not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God to observe to do all His commands, and His statutes, which I am commanding thee to-day, that all these revilings have come upon thee, and overtaken thee:

16 `Cursed [art] thou in the city, and cursed [art] thou in the field.

17 `Cursed [is] thy basket and thy kneading-trough.