Text -- Deuteronomy 28:1-8 (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.

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.