And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord ,.... Called his children, his people, his portion, and his inheritance; and that they are his, and he is theirs, by the care he takes of them, the provision he makes for them, and the protection they have from him: and they shall be afraid of thee ; as not only the Canaanites were, but all other nations; see Deuteronomy 11:25 . read more
And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods ,.... In all temporal good things, give them an affluence of them, even all things richly to enjoy; the Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall, &c.;" in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground : increase their children, cattle, and substance, as before, Deuteronomy 28:4 , in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee ; the land of Canaan, often thus... read more
The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure ,.... The Lord has his treasures of snow and of hail, and of wind, Job 38:22 ; but here his good treasure, as appears by what follows, is his treasure of rain. In the Targum of Jonathan it is said, "there are four keys in the hand of the Lord of the whole world, which he does not deliver into the hands of any prince; the keys of life, and of the grave, and of food, and of rain:" the heaven, to give the rain unto thy land in its season ;... read more
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 ; the Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall make thee, &c.;" and thou shalt be above only, and thou shall not be beneath ; which explains... read more
And thou shall not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day ,.... Depart from them as a rule to walk by, turn out from them as a path to walk in, neglect and disobey them, and go into practices contrary to them: turning to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them ; which to do was to break the first and principal table of the law, than which nothing was more abominable and provoking to God. read more
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 , &c.; 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... read more
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. In Deuteronomy 28:16 the curses are delivered out in form, as the reverse of the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:3 ; and by observing what the blessings mean, the sense of the curses may easily be understood, the one being directly opposite to the other. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:3 . read more
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:5 , Deuteronomy 28:16 . read more
Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. See Gill on Deuteronomy 28:4 , Deuteronomy 28:16 . read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:9
And the Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself ,.... Having separated them from all others, for his service, honour, and glory, should continue them as such, and settle them in the land, and confirm all their privileges, natural, civil, and religious. The Targum of Jonathan is,"the Word of the Lord shall establish thee, &c.;'he that brought them out of Egypt, through the Red sea and wilderness, to the land of Canaan: as he hath sworn unto thee : and to their fathers;... read more