Deuteronomy 7:20

7:20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets ¹  among them until the very last ones who hide from you ²  perish.

Deuteronomy 28:20

Curses by Disease and Drought

28:20 “The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you ³  in everything you undertake ⁴  until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. ⁵ 

[7:20]  ¹ tn The meaning of the term translated “hornets” (צִרְעָה, tsir’ah) is debated. Various suggestions are “discouragement” (HALOT 1056-57 s.v.; cf. NEB, TEV, CEV “panic”; NCV “terror”) and “leprosy” (J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 360, n. 33; cf. NRSV “the pestilence”), as well as “hornet” (BDB 864 s.v.; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The latter seems most suitable to the verb שָׁלַח (shalakh, “send”; cf. Exod 23:28; Josh 24:12).

[7:20]  ² tn Heb “the remnant and those who hide themselves.”

[28:20]  ³ tn Heb “the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke” (NASB and NIV similar); NRSV “disaster, panic, and frustration.”

[28:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “in all the stretching out of your hand.”

[28:20]  ⁵ tc For the MT first person common singular suffix (“me”), the LXX reads either “Lord” (Lucian) or third person masculine singular suffix (“him”; various codices). The MT’s more difficult reading probably represents the original text.