67 In the morning you shall say, Would that it were evening! And at evening you shall say, Would that it were morning! because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 28:30 (x3), 31 (x3), 38, 39, 40, 41; Isa. Web7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. (:63-68) Hopeless Condition How Bad Will It Get? This includes various Gospel Presentations and helpful booklets. While this method of divine encouragement to keep the commandments of God might seem surprising from a theological point of view, curses were an integral part of the legal, political and religious life of the ancient Near East, found in a variety of ancient texts including the Hebrew Bible, Neo-Assyrian treaties, and Northwest Semitic inscriptions. The inscriptions are the first and only treaties that have been found in Aramaic, a Northwest Semitic language closely related to Hebrew (for the text see Donner and Rllig 2002; vocalization and translation is my own). Rather, Deuteronomy (28:1-46) mediates between the traditions of the East and West, featuring characteristic examples of the Northwest Semitic futility curse type, as well as curses more common to Akkadian, East Semitic texts such as EST. 12:13; Mic. If Israel asked how life may be filled with hope, in the enjoyment of Gods blessing and with DepartmentBldg Tucson, AZ 85721 TEL 520-621-6897 FAX 520-626-9014. 32Your sons and your daughters shall be given to (R)another people, and your eyes shall look and (S)fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be [e]no strength in your (T)hand. 26:1439; Josh. The particular curse form common to the Old Aramaic inscriptions and Deuteronomy 28 can be described as curses of futility, with a characteristic syntactical form and commonalities in both vocabulary and ideation. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. Hebrew Root. The best value in digital Bible study. Moreover, the reduction of numbers from the uncountable stars to the remnant is a deliberate harking back to the covenant promise made to Abraham that his offspring would be as multitudinous as the stars (Gen 15:5; 22:17; cf. 42Locusts shall [h]consume all your trees and the produce of your land. Deuteronomy 28 and the Aramaic Curse Tradition. Translations. Transliteration. 63Just as it pleased(CJ) the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please(CK) him to ruin and destroy you. WebDeuteronomy 29:20-28New International Version. Curses in the Book of Deuteronomy and in Old Aramaic Inscriptions, Media, Video and Lectures From The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies of the University of Arizona, Teaching the Bible in Public Schools and Higher Ed, Scholars, Frauds, the Media and the Public, Essays on Minimalism from Bible and Interpretation, Final Reports on the Yehoash Inscription and James Ossuary from the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Essays on the James Ossuary and the Temple Tablet from Bible and Interpretation, University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies, Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville. English Hebrew. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue(AB) you. Compositions in Old Aramaic, Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite or Edomite, as well as in Epigraphic Hebrew, while much narrower in scope than the possibilities presented by the Mesopotamian material due to the limited nature of the documentary finds, nevertheless should be our first point of departure when discussing the writing culture of the ancient Levant. Those normally exempted from military service would be forced to fight and be killed. GameStop Moderna Pfizer Johnson & Johnson AstraZeneca Walgreens Best Buy Novavax SpaceX Tesla. If the ritual aspect of these treaty texts is emphasized, then the need for a formal written translation of the Esarhaddon Treaties may very well be negated. Deuteronomy marries curses from the East Semitic world with native Northwest Semitic traditions, opposing the traditions against each other in a playful exchange (Quick 2017). In particular, a Neo-Assyrian treaty written in Akkadian in the seventh century BCE, The Succession Treaties of Esarhaddon (EST for short) has been suggested by some scholars to provide direct parallels with some of the curses found in Deuteronomy 28 (Weinfeld 1965; Frankena 1965; Levinson and Stackert 2012). WebDeuteronomy 28:15-68 New International Version Curses for Disobedience 15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: 16 (AM) There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 63And it shall be, that just as the Lord (AV)rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord (AW)will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be (AX)plucked[q] from off the land which you go to possess. (CG) 62You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky(CH) will be left but few(CI) in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. Your Michael Grisanti: vv. Levinson, Bernard M. and Jeffrey Stackert. WebIf they disobey the law, they will receive all the curses. 4748). The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; 29 and you shall grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness,, 2. Supported by: WebRather, Deuteronomy 28 mediates between the traditions of the East and West, featuring characteristic examples of the Northwest Semitic futility curse type, as well as curses 20:6; Job 31:8; Jer. 30(O)You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; (P)you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; (Q)you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. WebIn the third portion, Moses describes the blessings Israel will face if they keep the covenant, and the curses that will destroy them if they do not (Deut. Settings (AI) 35The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils(AJ) that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. Why is the list of curses almost 4 times as long as the blessings? View Options English. Webearlier chapters in Deuteronomy. Translations. Certainly this is the logic that underlines the treaty formalized between Jacob and Laban, and the mound of witness that acts as the sign of their covenant, named in Aramaic by Laban, and in Hebrew by Jacob (Genesis 31:47). 60Moreover He will bring back on you all (AS)the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Gerald Gerbrandt: If Israel does not obey, well-deserved punishment will follow (v. 15). 1965. WebLeviticus chapter 26 verses 14-46 speaks of the curses/punishments that would come upon Israel if they chose to disobey the laws of Yah. All rights reserved. 66Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. 29And you shall (N)grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you. (D), 17Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. Try it FREE. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. (CL) You will be uprooted(CM) from the land you are entering to possess. 17Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you shall never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually., And you shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see., The LORD will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils, from which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.. 1. 20 shall be handed over to their enemies, to those who seek to kill them. Once again, in this portion of Deuteronomy 28, the orientation of the text has shifted back to Northwest Semitic ideas and metaphors. English Hebrew. Very often some sort of sign must mark the spot of the treaty agreement. If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God,. WebThe first of these 12 curses is upon those who would treat their father or mother with contempt. This verse is a near replica of 28:1, except for the last clause. Daniel Block: The curses in verses 2729a, 34 threaten the personal health of the Israelites. WebThe most important lists of covenant blessings and curses are found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. Jack Deere: Israel had been permitted to serve the Lord but now she would be compelled to serve idols (v. 64). Cuneiform Literacy and Deuteronomic Composition,Bibliotheca Orientalis62: 204-213. 39 You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall devour them. Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. 33A nation whom you have not known shall eat (U)the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. Root Strong's. Indeed, ritual has a theoretical capacity to account for the transmission of these curse traditions cross-culturally. Used by permission. 25(I)The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become [d]troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. WebIn Deuteronomy 28 Moses sets before the congregation of Israel the blessings and the curses of the covenant that they are renewing. Hebrew. 26:29; 2 Kin. (:36) Physical Opposition Oppressive Captivity, The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you shall set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone., 2. Blight apparently refers to premature drying of grain growing in the fields, perhaps because of the desiccating effect of scorching east wind. 1:28 (x2). (W) 26Your carcasses will be food for all the birds(X) and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes. Meanwhile, across the corpus of Old Aramaic inscriptions, there are nineteen occurrences of the futility curse, stemming from three separate inscriptions datable within the range of the ninth to the eighth centuries BCE, and with a geographic distribution across the Trans- and Cisjordan: from the Tell Fakhariyah bilingual inscription (x6); the Sefire treaties (x11); and the recently discovered stele from Bukn (x2). 11:17). Whereas verse 20 declares that Yahwehs actions against Israel are precipitated by the peoples evil deeds and their abandonment of Yahweh, verse 45 specifies the offenses as refusing to obey Yahweh, not keeping his commands and decrees. 2:2, Deut. Jennie Ebeling --Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville, Copyright 2000-2023 The Bible and Interpretation| All Rights Reserved |The University of Arizona | Developed bySBS Tech Princeton University Skip Next. At critical junctures Moses inserts reminders of the causes of these disasters. What is the difference between the ceremonial law, the moral law, and the judicial law in the Old Testament? They will pursue you and overtake you(BE) until you are destroyed,(BF) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. (:59-61) Severe Plagues and Sicknesses. ^Deuteronomy 28 - This chapter proves that we are the true Jews _ Curses Verses 15 - 68 is talking about the cursing that will come to the nation of Israel. BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. 49The Lord will bring a nation against you(BM) from far away, from the ends of the earth,(BN) like an eagle(BO) swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,(BP) 50a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old(BQ) or pity for the young. 91-106 inCovenant as Context: Essays in Honour of E.W. 45All these curses will come on you. WebThe curses are terribleexile, worship of pagan idols, being beaten in battle, vicious attack, infertile soil and unproductive efforts, even to the extent of starvation under siege, such v. 35a), to be followed by a list of agents he will engage. The second is grotesque: The mother secretly eats her children, and like an animal she also devours the afterbirth. A. i. The imbalance [between blessings and curses] finds an obvious reason in light of the purpose of the exposition of the curses in the address of Moses. 54The [k]sensitive and very refined man among you (AN)will[l] be hostile toward his brother, toward (AO)the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, 55so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. A. WebHebrew Interlinear :: Deuteronomy 28:5 (WLC KJV) Search. 6:28, 29; Jer. Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs; Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! Gerald Gerbrandt: In this larger block of curses, the focus is narrowed to portray the catastrophe resulting from siege and defeat at the hand of the enemy. The first three are clearly human diseases (consumption, fever, and inflammation).