Second group . The Lord should afflict them with various loathsome diseases, vex them with humiliating and mortifying calamities, and give them over to be plundered and oppressed by their enemies. read more
Besides bodily ailments, mental diseases should come upon them—insanity, incapacity, confusion of mind, so that even at midday they should grope as a blind man gropes, i . e . under the most favorable circumstances they should be unable to find the right path, to hit on the right and safe course. It is of mental blindness that the word is here used (cf. Isaiah 42:19 ; Lamentations 4:14 ; Zephaniah 1:17 ; Romans 11:25 ; 2 Corinthians 4:4 ). Thou shalt grope (cf. Isaiah 59:10 ... read more
The curses correspond in form and number Deuteronomy 28:15-19 to the blessings Deuteronomy 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deuteronomy 28:20-68.Deuteronomy 28:20-26First series of judgments. The curse of God should rest on all they did, and should issue in manifold forms of disease, in famine, and in defeat in war.Deuteronomy 28:20Vexation - Rather, confusion: the word in the original is used Deuteronomy 7:23;... read more
Deuteronomy 28:27-29. The botch of Egypt Such boils or blains as the Egyptians were plagued with, spreading from head to foot. The emerods Those painful swellings of the hemorrhoidal vessels, called piles. Blindness Of mind, so that they should not know what to do. Astonishment They should be filled with wonder and horror because of the strangeness and soreness of their calamities. Grope at noon-day In the most clear and evident matters thou shalt grossly mistake. Thy ways Thy... read more
Obedience and disobedience (28:1-68)Further blessings and curses are now listed. These were connected more with the life of the people as a whole and were directly dependent on the people’s obedience or disobedience. The blessings mainly concerned agricultural prosperity, family happiness, victory over enemies and honour in the eyes of other nations (28:1-10). God’s assurance that he would supply their needs was linked to a warning. They were not to look for family increase or agricultural... read more
Ver. 28. With madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart— These calamities at home will in time throw you into distraction, stupidity, and infatuation: quite astonish and confound your undertakings, and put you upon methods opposite to common sense, whereby you shall run into the very jaws of general destruction, groping at noon-day; ver. 29. i.e. your minds will be so darkened, that, in the plainest things, you shall mistake the means of your own preservation. See Elsner's Observat.... read more
Ver. 29-31. Thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, &c.— See ver. 33. How often has this threatening been verified! What frequent seizures have been made of their effects in almost all countries! How often have they been fined and fleeced by almost all governments! Instances are innumerable: we will only cite an historian of our own, who says, that "Henry III. always polled the Jews at every low ebb of his fortunes. One Abraham, who was found delinquent, was forced to pay seven... read more
28. madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart—They would be bewildered and paralyzed with terror at the extent of their calamities. read more
29-33. thou shalt grope at noonday—a general description of the painful uncertainty in which they would live. During the Middle Ages the Jews were driven from society into hiding-places which they were afraid to leave, not knowing from what quarter they might be assailed and their children dragged into captivity, from which no friend could rescue, and no money ransom them. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:15-68
A nation becoming a beacon. If Mount Gerizim had the weight cf. the people on the side of the blessing, Mount Ebal had certainly the weight of the deliverance. No wonder the Law was to be written on its rocky tablets, since the major part of the Law consists in such denunciation of possible disobedience as might serve to render it improbable. As Dr. Arnold has said, "As if, too, warning were far more required than encouragement, we find that the blessings promised for obedience bear a... read more