Deuteronomy 28:1

_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:_ If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God. In this chapter the blessings and curses are enumerated at length, and in various minute details, so that on the first entry of the Israelites into the land of promise, their whole destiny was laid before them, as it was to result from their obedience or the contrary....

1._And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken_. He teaches the same thing as before in different words; but the diversity of expression, as well as the repetition, tends to its confirmation. First, God says that He would deal with them so bountifully that they should excel all other nations; for this is the meaning of the words, that they should be illustrious above all the rest of the world on account of the special blessings of God. He afterwards enumerates the blessings which shall never depart from them, if they persevere in the service of God; and here it must be observed that they are reminded, not only in how many ways God is bountiful towards His servants, but also to how many necessities they are exposed, which require His direct and constant aid; for if we are blessed in the city and in the field, we can no more move a foot than stand still, except by His blessing. Such a...

1-14 This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. They are real things and have real effects. The blessings are here put before the curses. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. It is his delight to bless. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God's favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns....

CHAPTER XXVIII _The blessings which God pronounces on the obedient_, 1-6. _Particular privileges which the faithful shall receive_, 7-13. _The curses pronounced against the ungodly and idolatrous_, 14-19. _A detailed account of the miseries which should be inflicted on_ _them, should they neglect the commandments of the Lord_, 20. _They shall be smitten with the pestilence_, 21; _with consumption, fever, c._, 22 _drought and barrenness_, 23, 24; _they shall be defeated by their enemies_, 25, 26; they shall be afflicted with the bot

A comparison of this chapter with Exodus 23:20 and Leviticus 26 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 fulfillment of them has been literal, complete, and undeniable. The Blessing. The six repetitions of the word “blessed” introduce the particular forms which the blessing would take in the various relations of life....

EXPOSITION THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE. Having enjoined the proclamations of the blessing and the curse on their entering into possession of Canaan, Moses, for the sake of impressing on the minds of the people both the blessing and the curse, proceeds here to dilate upon both, dwelling especially upon the latter as that which the people the more needed to have brought home to them. As he proceeds, the language of terrible denunciation passes into that of no less terrible prediction, in which the calamities that should come upon the nation because of their apostasy and rebellion are clearly and pointedly foretold. DEUTERONOMY 28:1 _The_ _blessing_._ _The condition _sine qua non _of all enjoyment of the Divine bounty was obedience on

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, IF THOU SHALT HEARKEN DILIGENTLY UNTO THE VOICE OF THE LORD THY GOD,.... In his law, and by his prophets: TO OBSERVE [AND] TO DO ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS, WHICH I COMMAND THEE THIS DAY; for without observing them to do them, hearing them would be to little purpose, and they were all of them to be observed and done, the lesser and weightier matters of the law as they were commanded by Moses in the name of the Lord, and as they would be taught, explained, and enforced by the prophets: THAT THE LORD THY GOD WILL SET THEE ON HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH: as they were in the times of David and Solomon; Deuteronomy 26:19....

IF THOU SHALT HEARKEN Chapters 28-29 are, properly, an integral part of the Palestinian covenant, (Deuteronomy 30:1). (_ See Scofield) - (Deuteronomy 30:3). _...

24. THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE CHAPTER 28 _ 1. The blessing promised (Deuteronomy 28:1)_ 2. The curse announced (Deuteronomy 28:15) This is one of the most solemn Chapter s in the Pentateuch. Orthodox Hebrews read in their synagogues each year through the entire five books of Moses. When they read this chapter, the Rabbi reads in a subdued voice. And well may they read it softly and ponder over it, for here is prewritten the sad and sorrowful history of that wonderful nation. Here thousands of years ago the Spirit of God through Moses outlined the history of the scattered nation, all their suffering and tribulations, as it has been for well nigh two millenniums and as it is still. Here are arguments for the divine, the supernatural origin of this book which

DEUTERONOMY 28. BLESSINGS AND CURSES. This chapter is held by Kuenen, Dillmann, Driver, Addis, etc. to belong in the main to D (Deuteronomy 28:12 or Deuteronomy 28:5?). In favour of this conclusion note: (_a)_ Moses speaks in the first person as in Deuteronomy 28:5. (_b)_ It forms a fitting hortatory conclusion to Deuteronomy 28:12 (or Deuteronomy 28:5); _cf._ Exodus 23:20, and...