
Text -- Deuteronomy 28:24 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley -> Deu 28:24
Wesley: Deu 28:24 - -- Either thy rain shall be as unprofitable to thy ground and seed as if it were only so much dust. Or instead of rain shall come nothing but dust from h...
Either thy rain shall be as unprofitable to thy ground and seed as if it were only so much dust. Or instead of rain shall come nothing but dust from heaven, which being raised and carried up by the wind in great abundance, returns, and falls upon the earth as it were in clouds or showers.
JFB -> Deu 28:24
JFB: Deu 28:24 - -- An allusion probably to the dreadful effects of tornadoes in the East, which, raising the sands in immense twisted pillars, drive them along with the ...
An allusion probably to the dreadful effects of tornadoes in the East, which, raising the sands in immense twisted pillars, drive them along with the fury of a tempest. These shifting sands are most destructive to cultivated lands; and in consequence of their encroachments, many once fertile regions of the East are now barren deserts.
Clarke -> Deu 28:24
Clarke: Deu 28:24 - -- The rain of thy land powder and dust - As their heavens - atmosphere, clouds, etc., were to be as brass - yielding no rain; so the surface of the ea...
The rain of thy land powder and dust - As their heavens - atmosphere, clouds, etc., were to be as brass - yielding no rain; so the surface of the earth must be reduced to powder; and this, being frequently taken up by the strong winds, would fall down in showers instead of rain. Whole caravans have been buried under showers of sand; and Thevenot, a French traveler, who had observed these showers of dust, etc., says, "They grievously annoy all they fall on, filling their eyes, ears, nostrils, etc."- Travels in the East, part 1, book ii., chap. 80. The ophthalmia in Egypt appears to be chiefly owing to a very fine sand, the particles of which are like broken glass, which are carried about by the wind, and, entering into the ciliary glands, produce grievous and continual inflammations.
TSK -> Deu 28:24
TSK: Deu 28:24 - -- make the rain : This was a natural consequence of their heaven’ s being brass, or yielding no rain; for the surface of the earth being reduced to...
make the rain : This was a natural consequence of their heaven’ s being brass, or yielding no rain; for the surface of the earth being reduced to powder, and frequently taken up by strong winds, would fall down in showers instead of rain. These showers of sand frequently, in the East, bury whole caravans. Deu 28:12; Gen 19:24; Job 18:15-21; Isa 5:24; Amo 4:11

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Deu 28:15-68
Barnes: Deu 28:15-68 - -- The curses correspond in form and number Deu 28:15-19 to the blessings Deu 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed a...
The curses correspond in form and number Deu 28:15-19 to the blessings Deu 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deut. 28:20-68.
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.
Vexation - Rather, confusion: the word in the original is used Deu 7:23; 1Sa 14:20 for the panic and disorder with which the curse of God smites His foes.
"Blasting"denotes (compare Gen 41:23) the result of the scorching east wind; "mildew"that of an untimely blight falling on the green ear, withering it and marring its produce.
When the heat is very great the atmosphere in Palestine is often filled with dust and sand; the wind is a burning sirocco, and the air comparable to the glowing heat at the mouth of a furnace.
Shalt be removed - See the margin. The threat differs from that in Lev 26:33, which refers to a dispersion of the people among the pagan. Here it is meant that they should be tossed to and fro at the will of others, driven from one country to another without any certain settlement.
Second series of judgments on the body, mind, and outward circumstances of the sinners.
The "botch"(rather "boil;"see Exo 9:9), the "emerods"or tumors 1Sa 5:6, 1Sa 5:9, the "scab"and "itch"represent the various forms of the loathsome skin diseases which are common in Syria and Egypt.
Mental maladies shah be added to those sore bodily plagues, and should Deu 28:29-34 reduce the sufferers to powerlessness before their enemies and oppressors.
Blindness - Most probably mental blindness; compare Lam 4:14; Zep 1:17; 2Co 3:14 ff.
See the marginal references for the fulfillment of these judgments.
Third series of judgments, affecting every kind of labor and enterprise until it had accomplished the total ruin of the nation, and its subjection to its enemies.
Worms - i. e. the vine-weevil. Naturalists prescribed elaborate precautions against its ravages.
Cast ... - Some prefer "shall be spoiled"or "plundered."
Contrast Deu 28:12 and Deu 28:13.
Forever - Yet "the remnant"Rom 9:27; Rom 11:5 would by faith and obedience become a holy seed.
Fourth series of judgments, descriptive of the calamities and horrors which should ensue when Israel should be subjugated by its foreign foes.
The description (compare the marginal references) applies undoubtedly to the Chaldeans, and in a degree to other nations also whom God raised up as ministers of vengeance upon apostate Israel (e. g. the Medes). But it only needs to read this part of the denunciation, and to compare it with the narrative of Josephus, to see that its full and exact accomplishment took place in the wars of Vespasian and Titus against the Jews, as indeed the Jews themselves generally admit.
The eagle - The Roman ensign; compare Mat 24:28; and consult throughout this passage the marginal references.
Evil - i. e. grudging; compare Deu 15:9.
Young one - The "afterbirth"(see the margin). The Hebrew text in fact suggests an extremity of horror which the King James Version fails to exhibit. Compare 2Ki 6:29.
Fifth series of judgments. The uprooting of Israel from the promised land, and its dispersion among other nations. Examine the marginal references.
In this book - i. e. in the book of the Law, or the Pentateuch in so far as it contains commands of God to Israel. Deuteronomy is included, but not exclusively intended. So Deu 28:61; compare Deu 27:3 and note, Deu 31:9.
Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee - i. e. shall be hanging as it were on a thread, and that before thine own eyes. The fathers regard this passage as suggesting in a secondary or mystical sense Christ hanging on the cross, as the life of the Jews who would not believe in Him.
This is the climax. As the Exodus from Egypt was as it were the birth of the nation into its covenant relationship with God, so the return to the house of bondage is in like manner the death of it. The mode of conveyance, "in ships,"is added to heighten the contrast. They crossed the sea from Egypt with a high hand. the waves being parted before them. They should go back again cooped up in slaveships.
There ye shall be sold - Rather, "there shall ye offer yourselves, or be offered for sale."This denunciation was literally fulfilled on more than one occasion: most signally when many thousand Jews were sold into slavery and sent into Egypt by Titus; but also under Hadrian, when numbers were sold at Rachel’ s grave Gen 35:19.
No man shall buy you - i. e. no one shall venture even to employ you as slaves, regarding you as accursed of God, and to be shunned in everything.
Poole -> Deu 28:24
Poole: Deu 28:24 - -- Either,
1. Thy rain shall be as unprofitable to thy ground and seed as if it were only so much dust. Or,
2. Instead of rain shall come nothing but...
Either,
1. Thy rain shall be as unprofitable to thy ground and seed as if it were only so much dust. Or,
2. Instead of rain shall come nothing but dust from heaven, which being raised and carried up by the wind in great abundance, doth return and fall upon the earth as it were in clouds or showers.
Until thou be destroyed to wit, by famine, following these great droughts.
Haydock -> Deu 28:24
Haydock: Deu 28:24 - -- Consumed. Protestants, "The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven it shall come down upon thee, till thou be destroyed."...
Consumed. Protestants, "The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven it shall come down upon thee, till thou be destroyed." (Haydock) ---
The dust coming instead of rain shall render the land more barren. (Calmet) In those dreary regions, where clouds of sand and dust overwhelm the poor traveller, the Israelites would have a good idea what inconveniences would attend such a state of the atmosphere, if it were only for a short continuance. But when it was intended for destruction, how could they possibly support life!
Gill -> Deu 28:24
Gill: Deu 28:24 - -- The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust,.... That is, instead of showers of rain in their season, to water, refresh, and enrich the e...
The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust,.... That is, instead of showers of rain in their season, to water, refresh, and enrich the earth, and make it fruitful; and for want of them, and through the heat of the sun, being dried and parched, and its clods crumbled into dust, this should be raised up into the air by the force of winds, and let down again in showers of dust; whereby the few herbs, plants, or green trees on it would be utterly destroyed: and so the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of the Lord's sending a wind that should raise the dust and earth upon the herbs of their fields. Such ploughing winds, that cast up the earth and sand, and dust, into the air, whereby men and cattle are sometimes covered, are frequent in the eastern countries; of which See Gill on Jon 4:8,
from heaven shall it come down upon thee until thou be destroyed; that is, from the air, up to which the dust is carried by the wind, and then let fall in vast quantities, like showers, which are very destructive.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Deu 28:1-68
MHCC -> Deu 28:15-44
MHCC: Deu 28:15-44 - --If we do not keep God's commandments, we not only come short of the blessing promised, but we lay ourselves under the curse, which includes all misery...
Matthew Henry -> Deu 28:15-44
Matthew Henry: Deu 28:15-44 - -- Having viewed the bright side of the cloud, which is towards the obedient, we have now presented to us the dark side, which is towards the disobedie...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Deu 28:15-68
Keil-Delitzsch: Deu 28:15-68 - --
The Curse, in case Israel should not hearken to the voice of its God, to keep His commandments. After the announcement that all these (the following...
Constable -> Deu 27:1--29:2; Deu 28:15-68
Constable: Deu 27:1--29:2 - --V. PREPARATIONS FOR RENEWING THE COVENANT 27:1--29:1
Moses now gave the new generation its instructions concerni...
