Deuteronomy 28:9

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

9._The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself_. This refers indeed to earthly blessings, as if Moses said, that by them would be manifested God’s love towards His chosen people; still it rises higher, so that the Israelites, led on by degrees, should learn to embrace God alone, and to trust in Him according to the covenant which He had made with Abraham, “I am thy exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:1.) For the children of Abraham were set apart and chosen to be a holy people, not only in order that, being well fed, and with a full belly, they should aspire to nothing but earthly things, but that they might be confidently assured that they would be blessed in death as well as life. Although their adoption was gratuitous, still, inasmuch as they were called unto purity, it is not without reason that God promises that what He had spoken should be sure, if by keeping the L

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....

Verse Deuteronomy 28:9. _THE LORD SHALL ESTABLISH THEE A HOLY PEOPLE UNTO_ _HIMSELF_] This is the sum of all blessings, to be made _holy_, and be preserved in _holiness_. _IF THOU SHALT KEEP, C._] Here is the solemn condition _if they_ _did not_ keep God's testimonies, taking them for the regulators of their lives, and according to their direction walking in his ways, under the influence and aids of his grace, then the _curses_, and not the _blessings_, must be their portion. See Deuteronomy 28:15, c....

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 THE LORD SHALL ESTABLISH THEE AN HOLY PEOPLE UNTO HIMSELF,.... Having separated them from all others, for his service, honour, and glory, should continue them as such, and settle them in the land, and confirm all their privileges, natural, civil, and religious. The Targum of Jonathan is, "the Word of the Lord shall establish thee, c.'' he that brought them out of Egypt, through the Red sea and wilderness, to the land of Canaan: AS HE HATH SWORN UNTO THEE: and to their fathers see Deuteronomy 7:12; IF THOU SHALL KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD THY GOD, AND WALK IN HIS WAYS; by which tenure they held the land of Canaan, and their settlement and continuance in it, and enjoyment of all the good things thereof; see Isaiah 1:19....

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...

HOLY. See note on Exodus 3:5. AS. according as....