Deuteronomy 28:13

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

The blessings are here put before the curses, to intimate, 1. That God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy: he has said it, and sworn, that he would much rather we would obey and live than sin and die. It is his delight to bless. 2. That though both the promises and the threatenings are designed to bring and hold us to our duty, yet it is better that we be allured to that which is good by a filial hope of God's favour than that we be frightened to it by a servile fear of his wrath. That... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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 ; 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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

God's blessing promised to the obedient. The aged lawgiver was finishing his course. Ere the end comes he would open up to the people once more the dread alternative of blessing and cursing, and would show them that they must accept either one or the other. And so, before the Holy Land is taken possession of, they are reminded how very much the realization of the promises of temporal good depends on what they are. We cannot be too frequently reminded of the fact, however, that, though ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

The blessing. Blessing and curse, as Keil says, are viewed in these verses "as actual powers, which follow in the footsteps of the nation, and overtake it" ( Deuteronomy 28:2 , Deuteronomy 28:15 , Deuteronomy 28:22 ; Zechariah 1:6 ). The blessing of God is a vera causa in human life. It is not to be resolved entirely into natural tendencies. A cheerful mind conduces to health; virtuous habits tend to prosperity, etc. But this is not the whole. Conspiring with natural tendencies,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

The purpose of temporal blessing. After the "Amens" from Mount Ebal had been faithfully given, the Levites turned to Gerizim with the detail of blessings , and received from the assembled thousands the grand "Amen." We have in these verses before us the purpose of the blessing. The children of Israel had been brought out of Egypt by a Divine deliverance, they were about to settle in Canaan as the people of the Lord. They were a spectacle, therefore, to the rest of the world of how a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

The present portion of a good man. The natural world may be fitly regarded as the visible symbol of the spiritual world, the earthly state a lower copy of the heavenly. The order of cause and effect is as uniform in the spiritual sphere as in the material. Fire in contact with gunpowder will result in explosion. True seed in fitting soil will bear fruit. "Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." I. WE HAVE HERE A DESCRIPTION OF A GOOD MAN . 1. He is described... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:13

They should be manifestly superior to other nations, heading them and being above them, their leader and not their subject or follower (cf. Isaiah 9:13 ). Note the contrast in Deuteronomy 28:43 , Deuteronomy 28:44 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 28:13

Moral gravitation. In studying the histories of the good men of the Bible, we notice how, notwithstanding the numerous causes which act adversely to their fortunes, the constant tendency of their piety is to lift them upwards. A law is none the less a law because other laws come in to interfere with, modify, suspend, or counteract its operation. A cork or other light body may be pushed under water, but the law of its nature is to rise to the top. Violence may abnormally depress the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 28:1-14

A comparison of this chapter with Exodus 23:20-23 and Leviticus 26:0 will show how Moses here resumes and amplifies the promises and threats already set forth in the earlier records of the Law. The language rises in this chapter to the sublimest strains, especially in the latter part of it; and the prophecies respecting the dispersion and degradation of the Jewish nation in its later days are among the most remarkable in scripture. They are plain, precise, and circumstantial; and the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Deuteronomy 28:13

Deuteronomy 28:13. The head The chief of all people in power, or at least in dignity and privileges; so that even they that are not under thy authority shall reverence thy greatness and excellence. So it was in David’s and Solomon’s time, and so it should have been oftener and much more, if they had performed the conditions. read more

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