And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: Ver. 1. _If thou shalt hearken diligently._] Heb., I... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God._ Ver. 2. _And overtake thee._] Unexpectedly befall thee. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow thee," Psa 23:6 as the evening sunbeams follow the passenger, as the rock water... [ Continue Reading ]
Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. Ver. 3. _Blessed shalt thou be._] What blessedness is, _See Trapp on "_ Mat 5:3 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Blessed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Ver. 4. _The fruit of thy body._] Which is thy chief possession; but without my blessing will be bitter sweets, _a_ "Blessed is the man that hat... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed [shall be] thy basket and thy store._ Ver. 5. _Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store._] Or, Thy dough trough. The Greek hath it, Thy barns and thy remainders. The meaning is, Thou shalt know no want. Cicero _a_ saith, One friend should wish to another three things only, to enjoy health... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out._ Ver. 6. _Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in._] "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow thee all the days of thy life"; Psa 23:6 thou shalt have a confluence of all, both inward and outward, co... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. Ver. 7. _The Lord shall cause thine enemies._] Mr Fox observes, _a_ that in King Edward VI's time, the English put to flight their e... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Ver. 8. _The Lord shall command the blessing._] Now if he send his _Mandamus,_ who shall withstand it?... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. Ver. 9. _The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself._] This is more and better than all the former: he shall "bless the... [ Continue Reading ]
And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. Ver. 10. _And they shall be afraid of thee._] Natural conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped upon the natures and works of the godly. When they see in them that... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. Ver. 12. _And thou shalt lend._] This was our condition in the happy days of that inco... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them]: Ver. 13. _And the Lord shall make thee._] See a parallel... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, [to] the right hand, or [to] the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Ver. 14. _And thou shalt not go aside._] But keep my commandments curiously, even "as the apple of thine eye," Pro 7:2 with all chariness and... [ Continue Reading ]
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Ver. 15. _All these curses shall come._] Far more curses are m... [ Continue Reading ]
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. Ver. 16. _See Trapp on "_ Deu 28:15 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Cursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store. Ver. 17. _See Trapp on "_ Deu 28:15 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 18. _See Trapp on "_ Deu 28:15 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. Ver. 19. _See Trapp on "_ Deu 28:15 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. Ver. 20. _See Trapp on "_ Deu 28:15 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. Ver. 21. _The Lord shall make the pestilence._] Which Hippocrates calls Tο θειον, as the falling sickness is called _Morbus sacer,_ as more immediately sent of God.... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. Ver. 22. _The Lord shall smite thee, &c._] _See Trapp on "_ Lev 26:16 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
And thy heaven that [is] over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee [shall be] iron. Ver. 23. See on Leviticus 26:19 .... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. Ver. 24. _Powder and dust._] Which the wind and other things raise in times of drought.... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. Ver. 25. _The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten._] David well understood the heaviness of this stroke, an... [ Continue Reading ]
And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray [them] away. Ver. 26. _And thy carcass shall be meat._] Thou shalt want the honour of honest burial; which the Jews accounted worse than death, Ecc 6:3 and the Gentiles extreme misery.... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. Ver. 27. _With the botch of Egypt,_] i.e., With the leprosy called Elephantiasis, when the skin grows hard as the elephant's skin. This, saith one, was bre... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: Ver. 28. _With madness and blindness._] Spiritual, especially; such as befell the Jews of old, Romans 11:18 2Co 3:14 the chief priests and scribes especially, who, being questioned by Herod about the King of the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save [thee]. Ver. 29. _And thou shalt be only oppressed._] As the Thebans, ever till then victorious, were, after the de... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. Ver. 30. _Thou shalt built a house, &c._] A great aggravation of a man's misery it is, to fall from high... [ Continue Reading ]
Thine ox [shall be] slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass [shall be] violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep [shall be] given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue [them]. Ver. 31. _Thine ox shall be slain... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy sons and thy daughters [shall be] given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail [with longing] for them all the day long: and [there shall be] no might in thine hand. Ver. 32. _And thine eyes shall look._] A sad sight to see our children butchered before our eyes, as Mauricius... [ Continue Reading ]
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: Ver. 33. _The fruit of thy land, &c._] So Ezekiel 25:4. They shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. See Jeremiah 5:17; Jeremiah 1:7 .... [ Continue Reading ]
So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. Ver. 34. _So that thou shalt be mad, &c._] As Bajazet was in his iron cage; as Pope Boniface VIII was the time when shut up in St. Angelo by Sara Columnus, his mortal enemy, renting himself with his teeth, and devouring his... [ Continue Reading ]
_The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head._ Ver 35. _See Trapp on "_ Deu 28:34 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. Ver. 36. _Thee and thy king._] As he did Joachim, Manasseh, Zedekiah, &c. Our Edward III had the king of Scots... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. Ver. 37. _And thou shalt become._] See on Psalms 44:14 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather [but] little in; for the locust shall consume it. Ver. 38. _For the locust shall consume it._] See this fulfilled in Joe 1:4 Amos 4:9; Amos 7:1,2 Haggai 1:6; Haggai 1:11 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. Ver. 41. _Thou shalt not enjoy them._] Heb., They shall not be thine; thou shalt be least master of them.... [ Continue Reading ]
All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. Ver. 42. _The locusts._] All sorts of vermin.... [ Continue Reading ]
The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. Ver. 43. _The stranger._] The Lurdaines, as once here the Lord Danes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: Ver. 45. _Pursue thee and overtake thee._] Though tho... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Ver. 46. _For a sign._] Of God's heavy displeasure.... [ Continue Reading ]
Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things]; Ver. 47. _For the abundance all things._] Aristotle was wont to tax his Athenians, _Quod cum duas res invenissent, frumenta ac leges, frumentis ut erentur, legibus nequaquam; i... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. Ver. 48. _In want of all things._] The want whereof shall teach thee... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; Ver. 49. _As the eagle fleeth._] Swiftly, strongly, greedily, the Vulturine eagle especially.... [ Continue Reading ]
A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: Ver. 50. _A nation of fierce countenance._] Heb., Strong of face, _i.e., _ bold, fierce, cruel, impudent; as was Antiochus Epiphanes. Dan 8:23 See there.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which [also] shall not leave thee [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. Ver. 51. _Fruit of thy cattle._] See on Deuteronomy 28:31... [ Continue Reading ]
And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. Ver. 52. _In all thy gates._] See this fulfilled in 2 K... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: Ver. 53. _And thou shalt eat._] _See Trapp on "_ Lev 26:29 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 28:54 [So that] the man [that is] tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: Ver. 54. _His eye shall be evil,_] _i.e., _ Envious and grutchful.... [ Continue Reading ]
The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, Ver. 56. _The tender and delicate._] These threatenings... [ Continue Reading ]
And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all [things] secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. Ver. 57. _And toward her young one._] Heb., Her... [ Continue Reading ]
If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; Ver. 58. _This glorious and fearful name._] That _Nomen maiestativum,_ as Bernard calleth it. The wiser sort of heathens acknowledged, _Aug... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, [even] great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Ver. 59. _And of long continuance._] So that thy living shall be no better than to lie a-dying.... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Ver. 60. _All the diseases of Egypt._] Which what they were, see Exodus 8:2; Exodus 8:16; Exodus 8:21; Exodus 9:3; Exodus 9:9; Exodus 9:15; Exodus 9:18; Exodus 10:4;... [ Continue Reading ]
Also every sickness, and every plague, which [is] not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. Ver. 61. _Which is not written._] God hath treasuries of plagues, such as were never yet read of. Few years but bring forth new diseases, such as puzzl... [ Continue Reading ]
And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. Ver. 62. _And ye shall be left few in number._] And so "shall know my breach of covenant," because ye broke first.... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass, [that] as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. Ver. 63. _So the Lord will rejoice over you.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. Ver. 64. _And the Lord shall scatter thee._] The Jews are to this day a miserable, deject... [ Continue Reading ]
And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: Ver. 65. _A trembling heart._] Juvenal by a jeer calls them _Iudaeos trementes,_ trembling Jews (Sat. vi.). I... [ Continue Reading ]
And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: Ver. 66. _And thy life shall hang in doubt._] _Semper et indesinenter desperabis de vita; _ thou shalt live in continual expectation of death: as Tiberius caused such to do as... [ Continue Reading ]
In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. Ver. 67. _Would God it were even._] A graphical description of misery. Compare J... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy [you]. Ver. 68. _And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt._] This is the las... [ Continue Reading ]