Deuteronomy 28:15-68

D. The curses that follow disobedience to general stipulations 28:15-68

In this section Moses identified about four times as many curses as he had listed previous blessings (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). The lists of curses in other ancient Near Eastern treaty texts typically were longer than the lists of blessings. [Note: Gordon J. Wenham, "The Structure and Date of Deuteronomy" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1969), p. 161.] The reason was probably to stress the seriousness of violating the covenant by describing the consequences in detail. [Note: Merrill, Deuteronomy, p. 357.] Israel was entering a very dangerous environment in Canaan and needed strong warnings against yielding to the temptations she would encounter (cf. Genesis 3:14-19).