Text -- Deuteronomy 28:1-16 (NET)

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. 28:4 Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do– yes, he will bless you in the land he is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments and obey him. 28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he promised your ancestors he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his commandments which I am urging you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship them.

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 28:1

¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

² tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

NET Notes: Deu 28:2

¹ tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”

NET Notes: Deu 28:3

¹ tn Or “in the country” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). This expression also occurs in v. 15.

NET Notes: Deu 28:4

¹ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

NET Notes: Deu 28:6

¹ sn Come in…go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.

NET Notes: Deu 28:7

¹ tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).

² tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).

NET Notes: Deu 28:8

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.

NET Notes: Deu 28:9

¹ tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

² tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

NET Notes: Deu 28:10

¹ tn Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).

NET Notes: Deu 28:11

¹ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”

² tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).

NET Notes: Deu 28:12

¹ tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”

NET Notes: Deu 28:13

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

² tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”

NET Notes: Deu 28:14

¹ tn Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”

² tn Heb “in order to serve.”

NET Notes: Deu 28:15

¹ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

² tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”