Deuteronomy 28:62

_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._ Ye shall be left few in number. Notwithstanding the teeming population of ancient Judea, there has been ever since the destruction of Jerusalem only an inconsiderable remnant of Jews existing in that land. This diminution took place at an early period; for, according to Josephus, 1,100,000 persons died by famine, pestilence, and other causes, at the time of the siege; and more than 90,000 were carried captives by the Romans. In the subsequent war of Hadrian, 580,000 were slain and destroyed through various causes. Ever since, Palestine has been in the hands of many successive masters; but all have been equally hostile to the Jewish race; comparatively few have remained in that country; those who did so were aliens in the land of their...

62._And ye shall be left few in number_. Since it had been promised to Abraham that his seed should be like the stars of heaven in multitude, it was a signal token of God’s wrath that his posterity should be reduced (252) to so small a number; thus the comparison which is here made for the purpose of heightening their calamity, must not simply be referred to the “multitude” or great band, and the “fewness in number,” but must be extended to the promise, the truth of which had been clearly manifested; so that, on the other hand, they might perceive that their former populousness could only have been put an end to, like waters dried up by the excessive heat of the sun, through the wrath of God....

45-68 If God inflicts vengeance, what miseries his curse can bring upon mankind, even in this present world! Yet these are but the beginning of sorrows to those under the curse of God. What then will be the misery of that world where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched! Observe what is here said of the wrath of God, which should come and remain upon the Israelites for their sins. It is amazing to think that a people so long the favourites of Heaven, should be so cast off; and yet that a people so scattered in all nations should be kept distinct, and not mixed with others. If they would not serve God with cheerfulness, they should be compelled to serve their enemies. We may justly expect from God, that if we do not fear his fearful name, we shall feel his fearful plagues; for one way or other God will be feared. The destruction threatened is described. They have, indeed,...

The curses correspond in form and number Deuteronomy 28:15 to the blessings Deuteronomy 28:3, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deuteronomy 28:20. Deuteronomy 28:20 First 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 28:20...

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 YE SHALL BE LEFT FEW IN NUMBER,.... There were but very few left in the land of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar's general when Jerusalem was taken by him; and these were of the poorer sort, and were left for vinedressers and husbandmen, Jeremiah 39:10; and how much they were reduced by the Romans will appear by the accounts Josephus gives of those that were slain, and made prisoners by them: he says i, "there were 1,100,000 slain at the siege of Jerusalem and by the war, and 97,000 made prisoners;'' and it is computed that 1,240,490 were destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of the nation k; and it is also said by their historian l, that of those that were transported from Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine into Spain, scarce a thousandth part remained and that an infinite number were slain in France and Germany; and though their number equalled those that came

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

The curses to follow disobedience. These answer generally to the blessings of Deuteronomy 28:1, only that the order Deuteronomy 28:5; Deuteronomy 28:4 is presumed and Deuteronomy 28:1_ b_ and Deuteronomy 28:2_ b_ are ignored. Deuteronomy 28:21. pestilence: a general term; so Jeremiah 14:12....

Still Further Development of the Curses After a fresh statement of the condition on which they will be inflicted, viz. Israel's disobedience to the law (Deuteronomy 28:58), diseases are again threatened with the sore diminution of the people (Deuteronomy 28:59-62); and their banishment is predicted and utter despair (Deuteronomy 28:63-67). God shall bring them again to Egypt, where when they seek to sell themselves no man shall buy them (Deuteronomy 28:68). In the substance of this section there is nothing incompatible with a pre-exilic date or with the ideas and principles of D. But s

_VER._ 62. _YE SHALL BE LEFT FEW IN NUMBER, WHEREAS YE WERE AS THE STARS,_ &C.— To mention no other of the calamities and slaughters which they have undergone, there was in the last siege of Jerusalem by Titus, an infinite multitude, who, according to Josephus, perished by famine: he computes that, during the whole siege, the number of those who were destroyed by that, and by the war, amounted to 1,100,000; the people being assembled from all parts to celebrate the passover. The same author hath given us an account of 1,240,490 destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of Judea, besides 99,200 made prisoners. See Bell. Jud. lib. 6: cap. 3 sect. 3 and cap. 9 sect. 3. Basnage's Hist. of the Jews, b. 1 Chronicles 8 sect. 19 and the conclusion of Usher's Annals. Indeed, there is not a nation upon earth that hath been exposed to so many massacres and persecutions. Their history abounds