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Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Deuteronomy 28:15–44. His four-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
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 disobedient. 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 is as comprehensive of all misery as the blessing is of all happiness. Observe,
I.The equity of this curse.
It is not a curse causeless, nor for some light cause; God seeks not occasion against us, nor is he apt to quarrel with us. That which is here mentioned as bringing the curse is,
1.Despising God, refusing to hearken to his voice (Deu 28:15), which bespeaks the highest contempt imaginable, as if what he said were not worth the heeding, or we were not under any obligation to him.
2.Disobeying him, not doing his commandments, or not observing to do them. None fall under his curse but those that rebel against his command.
3.Deserting him. "It is because of the wickedness of thy doings, not only whereby thou hast slighted me, but whereby thou hast forsaken me," Deu 28:20. God never casts us off till we first cast him off. It intimates that their idolatry, by which they forsook the true God for false gods, would be their destroying sin more than any other.
II.The extent and efficacy of this curse.
1.In general, it is declared, "All these curses shall come upon thee from above, and shall overtake thee; though thou endeavour to escape them, it is to no purpose to attempt it, they shall follow thee whithersoever thou goest, and seize thee, overtake thee, and overcome thee," Deu 28:15. It is said of the sinner, when God's wrath is in pursuit of him, that he would fain flee out of his hand (Job 27:22), but he cannot; if he flee from the iron weapon, yet the bow of steel shall reach him and strike him through. There is no running from God but by running to him, no fleeing from his justice but by fleeing to his mercy. See Psa 21:7, Psa 21:8. (1.) Wherever the sinner goes, the curse of God follows him; wherever he is, it rests upon him. He is cursed in the city and in the field, Deu 28:16. The strength of the city cannot shelter him from it, the pleasant air of the country is no fence against these pestilential steams. He is cursed (Deu 28:19) when he comes in, for the curse is upon the house of the wicked (Pro 3:33), and he is cursed when he goes out, for he cannot leave that curse behind him, nor get rid of it, which has entered into his bowels like water and like oil into his bones. (2.). Whatever he has is under a curse: Cursed is the ground for his sake, and all that is on it, or comes out of it, and so he is cursed from the ground, as Cain, Gen 4:11. The basket and store are cursed, Deu 28:17, Deu 28:18. All his enjoyments being forfeited by him are in a manner forbidden to him, as cursed things, which he has no title to. To those whose mind and conscience are defiled every thing else is so, Tit 1:15. They are all embittered to him; he cannot take any true comfort in them, for the wrath of God mixes itself with them, and he is so far from having any security of the continuance of them that, if his eyes be open, he may see them all condemned and ready to be confiscated, and with them all his joys and all his hopes gone for ever. (3.) Whatever he does is under a curse too. It is a curse in all that he sets his hand to (Deu 28:20), a constant disappointment, which those are subject to that set their hearts upon the world, and expect their happiness in it, and which cannot but be a constant vexation. This curse is just the reverse of the blessing in the former part of the chapter. Thus whatever bliss there is in heaven there is not only the want of it, but the contrary to it, in hell. Isa 65:13, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry.
2.Many particular judgments are here enumerated, which would be the fruits of the curse, and with which God would punish the people of the Jews for their apostasy and disobedience. These judgments threatened are of divers kinds, for God has many arrows in his quiver, four sore judgments (Eze 14:21), and many more. They are represented as very terrible, and the descriptions of them are exceedingly lively and affecting, that men, knowing these terrors of the Lord, might, if possible, be persuaded. The threatenings of the same judgment are several times repeated, that they might make the more deep and lasting impressions, and to intimate that, if men persisted in their disobedience, the judgment which they thought was over, and of which they said, "Surely the bitterness of it is past," would return with double force; for when God judges he will overcome.
(1.)Bodily diseases are here threatened, that they should be epidemical in their land. These God sometimes makes use of for the chastisement and improvement of his own people. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. But here they are threatened to be brought upon his enemies as tokens of his wrath, and designed for their ruin. So that according to the temper of our spirits, under sickness, accordingly it is to us a blessing or a curse. But, whatever sickness may be to particular persons, it is certain that epidemical diseases raging among a people are national judgments, and are so to be accounted. He here threatens,
[1.]Painful diseases (Deu 28:35), a sore botch, beginning in the legs and knees, but spreading, like Job's boils, from heat to foot.
[2.]Shameful diseases (v. 27), the botch of Egypt (such boils and blains as the Egyptians had been plagued with, when God brought Israel from among them), and the emerods and scab, vile diseases, the just punishment of those who by sin had made themselves vile.
[3.]Mortal diseases, the pestilence (v. 21), the consumption (put for all chronical diseases), and the fever (for all acute diseases), v. 22. See Lev 26:16. And all incurable, Deu 28:27.
(2.)Famine, and scarcity of provisions; and this,
[1.]For want of rain (Deu 28:23, Deu 28:24): Thy heaven over thy head, that part that is over thy land, shall be as dry as brass, while the heavens over other countries shall distil their dews; and, when the heaven is as brass, the earth of course will be as iron, so hard and unfruitful. Instead of rain, the dust shall be blown out of the highways into the field, and spoil the little that there is of the fruits of the earth.
[2.]By destroying insects. The locust should destroy the corn, so that they should not have so much as their seed again, Deu 28:38, Deu 28:42. And the fruit of the vine, which should make glad their hearts, should all be worm-eaten, Deu 28:39. and the olive, some way or other, should be made to cast its fruit, Deu 28:40. The heathen use many superstitious customs in honour of their idol-gods for preserving the fruits of the earth; but Moses tells Israel that the only way they had to preserve them was to keep God's commandments; for he is a God that will not be sported with, like their idols, but will be served in spirit and truth. This threatening we find fulfilled in Israel, Kg1 17:1; Jer 14:1, etc.; Joe 1:4.
(3.)That they should be smitten before their enemies in war, who, it is likely, would be the more cruel to them, when they had them at their mercy, for the severity they had used against the nations of Canaan, which their neighbours in after-ages would be apt to remember against them, Deu 28:25. It would make their flight the more shameful, and the more grievous, that they might have triumphed over their enemies if they had but been faithful to their God. The carcases of those that were slain in war, or died in captivity among strangers, should be meat for the fowls (Deu 28:26); and an Israelite, having forfeited the favour of his God, should have so little humanity shown him as that no man should drive them away, so odious would God's curse make him to all mankind.
(4.)That they should be infatuated in all their counsels, so as not to discern their own interest, nor bring any thing to pass for the public good: The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness, Deu 28:28, Deu 28:29. Note, God's judgments can reach the minds of men to fill them with darkness and horror, as well as their bodies and estates; and those are the sorest of all judgments which make men a terror to themselves, and their own destroyers. That which they contrived to secure themselves by should still turn to their prejudice. Thus we often find that the allies they confided in distressed them and strengthened them not, Ch2 28:20. Those that will not walk in God's counsels are justly left to be ruined by their own; and those that are wilfully blind to their duty deserve to be made blind to their interest, and, seeing they loved darkness rather than light, let them grope at noon-day as in the dark.
(5.)That they should be plundered of all their enjoyments, stripped of all by the proud and imperious conqueror, such as Benhadad was to Ahab, Kg1 20:5, Kg1 20:6. Not only their houses and vineyards should be taken from them, but their wives and children, Deu 28:30, Deu 28:32. Their dearest comforts, which they took most pleasure in, and promised themselves most from, should be the entertainment and triumph of their enemies. As they had dwelt in houses which they built not, and eaten of vineyards which they planted not (Deu 6:10, Deu 6:11), so others should do by them. Their oxen, asses, and sheep, like Job's, should be taken away before their eyes, and they should not be able to recover them, v. 31. And all the fruit of their land and labours should be devoured and eaten up by the enemy; so that they and theirs would want necessaries, while their enemies were revelling with that which they had laboured for.
(6.)That they should be carried captives into a far country; nay, into all the kingdoms of the earth, v. 25. Their sons and daughters, whom they promised themselves comfort in, should go into captivity (v. 41), and they themselves at length, and their king in whom they promised themselves safety and settlement, v. 36. This was fully accomplished when the ten tribes first were carried captive into Assyria (Kg2 17:6), and not long after the two tribes into Babylon, and two of their kings, Kg2 24:14, Kg2 24:15; Kg2 25:7, Kg2 25:21. That which is mentioned as an aggravation of their captivity is that they should go into an unknown country, the language and customs of which would be very uncouth, and their treatment among them barbarous, and there they should serve other gods, that is, be compelled to do so by their enemies, as they were in Babylon, Dan 3:6. Note, God often makes men's sin their punishment, and chooses their delusions. You shall serve other gods, that is, "You shall serve those that do serve them;" a nation is often in scripture called by the name of its gods, as Jer 48:7. They had made idolaters their associates, and now god made idolaters their oppressors.
(7.)That those who remained should be insulted and tyrannized over by strangers, Deu 28:43, Deu 28:44. So the ten tribes were by the colonies which the king of Assyria sent to take possession of their land, Kg2 17:24. Or this may be meant of the gradual encroachments which the strangers within their gates should make upon them, so as insensibly to worm them out of their estates. We read of the fulfilling of this, Hos 7:9, Strangers have devoured his strength. Foreigners ate the bread out of the mouths of trueborn Israelites, by which they were justly chastised for introducing strange gods.
(8.)That their reputation among their neighbours should be quite sunk, and those that had been a name, and a praise, should be an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word, Deu 28:37. Some have observed the fulfilling of this threatening in their present state; for, when we would express the most perfidious and barbarous treatment, we say, None but a Jew would have done so. Thus is sin a reproach to any people.
(9.)To complete their misery, it is threatened that they should be put quite out of the possession of their minds by all these troubles (Deu 28:34): Thou shalt be mad for the sight of thy eyes, that is, quite bereaved of all comfort and hope, and abandoned to utter despair. Those that walk by sight, and not by faith, are in danger of losing reason itself, when every thing about them looks frightful; and their condition is woeful indeed that are mad for the sight of their eyes.
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Summary
Deuteronomy 28:17 is a specific declaration of divine judgment, pronouncing a curse upon the Israelites' most fundamental means of provision—their agricultural harvest and domestic food storage—should they choose disobedience to God's covenant. This verse vividly illustrates the profound and tangible consequences of covenant unfaithfulness, signaling a reversal of divine blessing that would lead to scarcity, futility, and hardship in their daily lives, directly impacting their sustenance and economic well-being.
Context
Literary Context
Deuteronomy 28 is the climactic chapter of Moses' final discourse to Israel before entering the Promised Land. It functions as a covenant renewal ceremony, outlining the blessings of obedience found in Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and the severe curses for disobedience detailed in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Verse 17 falls squarely within the extensive list of curses, which systematically dismantle every aspect of life promised as a blessing. The curses are presented as a direct antithesis to the blessings, ensuring that every sphere of life—from personal health and family prosperity to national security and agricultural yield—would be impacted by their faithfulness or unfaithfulness. This verse, following general curses on the city and field, narrows the focus to the very instruments of daily provision.
Historical & Cultural Context
The book of Deuteronomy is set on the plains of Moab, with the Israelites poised to enter Canaan. The agricultural society of ancient Israel relied heavily on the land's fertility and successful harvests. Baskets were essential for gathering crops from the fields (grapes, figs, grain), and kneading troughs or storage bins were vital for preparing and preserving food within the home. The concept of "basket and store" thus encapsulates the entire cycle of food production and consumption, from field to table. Curses on these items would signify a complete breakdown of their agrarian economy and household sustenance, a direct consequence from a God who controlled the rain, the soil, and the yield. This was not merely bad luck but a direct divine act, understood within their covenant relationship established at Mount Sinai.
Key Themes
Deuteronomy 28:17 powerfully underscores several key themes woven throughout the Mosaic covenant. Firstly, it highlights the consequences of disobedience, making clear that turning from God's commands has direct and tangible repercussions, not just spiritual but material, impacting daily provision and economic stability. This futility of labor is echoed in other prophetic warnings, such as when the people's earnings are put into "a bag with holes due to their neglect of God's house. Secondly, the verse emphasizes divine control over provision, asserting God's absolute sovereignty over the land's fertility and the people's ability to prosper. When God's blessing is withdrawn, human effort alone cannot guarantee sustenance, a truth also found in passages like Psalm 127:1. Finally, it reinforces the covenantal nature of Israel's existence, where their well-being was inextricably linked to their faithfulness to the terms of the covenant.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
From a primitive root meaning to execrate or pronounce a severe judgment. In this context, it signifies a divinely ordained state of disfavor and adverse consequences, indicating that the very objects or endeavors would be subjected to supernatural opposition and futility. This is not merely misfortune but a direct act of divine retribution for covenant infidelity.
From an unused root likely meaning to weave, this term refers to a woven container, typically made of interlaced osiers or reeds. In ancient Israel, it was a fundamental tool for gathering agricultural produce from the fields, symbolizing the initial stage of collecting the fruits of one's labor. A curse upon the "basket" implies that the act of harvesting itself would be unproductive, or that what was gathered would be lost, spoiled, or rendered useless.
Derived from a root suggesting swelling, this word denotes a kneading trough or a storage vessel, specifically where dough would rise or where provisions were kept within the household. It represents the domestic sphere of food preparation and preservation, the place where sustenance was secured for daily consumption. A curse on the "store" means that even if produce was brought in, it would not be successfully processed, stored, or kept, leading to spoilage, theft, or an inability to sustain the household, rendering all efforts futile.
Verse Breakdown
"Cursed [shall be]"
This opening declaration sets the tone, indicating a divine pronouncement of judgment and disfavor. The passive construction implies that the curse originates from God, the ultimate sovereign, as a direct consequence of Israel's actions. It is not merely misfortune but a divinely ordained reversal of blessing, signifying a state of profound spiritual and material disadvantage.
"thy basket"
This phrase directly targets the means of gathering and initial collection of agricultural produce. It signifies a failure at the very source of sustenance, implying that the harvest itself would be deficient, or that what was gathered would be lost or rendered useless. This speaks to a lack of productivity and fruitfulness in their outdoor labor.
"and thy store"
This complements "thy basket" by focusing on the domestic aspect of food provision—the kneading trough or storage bin. It means that even if something was brought in from the field, it would not be successfully processed, preserved, or made available for consumption within the home. This points to a breakdown in the entire chain of sustenance, from field to table, ensuring pervasive hunger and hardship.
Literary Devices
The verse employs several potent literary devices to convey its message of impending judgment. Merism is evident in the pairing of "basket" and "store," which together represent the totality of agricultural production and domestic provision, from the field to the household. This device emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the curse, indicating that no aspect of their food supply would be spared. The use of concrete imagery ("basket," "store") makes the abstract concept of "curse" tangible and immediately relatable to the daily lives of an agrarian society, allowing the audience to vividly imagine the practical consequences of disobedience. Furthermore, the declaration "Cursed [shall be]" functions as a performative utterance, where the very act of speaking the words brings about the reality they describe, underscoring the divine authority and certainty of the judgment. The verse also utilizes antithesis when read in the broader context of Deuteronomy 28, directly contrasting the blessings of abundance and overflowing provisions (e.g., Deuteronomy 28:5) with the curses of scarcity and futility.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Deuteronomy 28:17 profoundly illustrates the covenantal principle that God's blessing is the ultimate source of prosperity and sustenance, and that disobedience leads to a withdrawal of that blessing, resulting in futility and lack. This verse highlights God's absolute sovereignty over creation and human endeavor, reminding us that true provision is not solely the result of human labor or ingenuity but flows from divine favor. It underscores the interconnectedness of spiritual faithfulness and material well-being within the Old Covenant, where the Lord directly intervened in the natural order to reward obedience or punish rebellion. The curse on the "basket and store" serves as a stark reminder that when humanity turns from its Creator, even the most basic necessities of life can be withheld, demonstrating God's justice and His demand for covenant fidelity.
Reflection and Application
While believers today live under the new covenant of grace, Deuteronomy 28:17 offers enduring principles for reflection and application. It compels us to consider the profound impact of our relationship with God on every facet of our lives, including our material provision. Though the direct, physical curses of the Mosaic Law are not applied to New Testament believers, the principle remains that faithfulness to God's will often brings a sense of peace, purpose, and spiritual fruitfulness, while a life of persistent disobedience can lead to a sense of futility, spiritual barrenness, and a lack of true contentment. This verse challenges us to examine our priorities: do we trust in our own efforts and resources, or do we acknowledge God as the ultimate provider? It calls for a renewed commitment to stewardship, recognizing that all we possess is a gift from God, and that our use of these gifts should align with His purposes. Ultimately, it encourages a posture of dependence on God for daily bread and a life lived in grateful obedience, understanding that true abundance is found in Him.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does this verse mean that all financial or material struggles are a direct result of personal sin?
Not necessarily in the direct, cause-and-effect manner described under the Old Covenant for Israel. While persistent disobedience can certainly lead to negative consequences in various areas of life, including financial ones, the New Testament teaches that believers are under grace, not law. Furthermore, the Bible acknowledges other reasons for hardship, such as living in a fallen world (Romans 8:22), the testing of faith (James 1:2-4), or even suffering for righteousness' sake (1 Peter 4:16). Deuteronomy 28:17 primarily serves as a historical and theological warning to Israel about covenant fidelity, reminding us that God is the ultimate provider and that a life out of alignment with His will can lead to a sense of futility, even if not a direct "curse" in the Mosaic sense.
What is the significance of the "basket" and "store" specifically being cursed?
The "basket" (Hebrew: ṭeneʼ) and "store" (Hebrew: mishʼereth) represent the entire cycle of food production and consumption in an agrarian society. The basket was used for gathering the harvest from the fields, while the "store" (often a kneading trough or storage bin) was for preparing and preserving food within the home. Cursing these specific items signifies a comprehensive breakdown of their sustenance, from the initial gathering of produce to its final consumption. It means that even if they labored, their efforts would be fruitless, and what little they acquired would not be kept or would spoil, leading to pervasive hunger and hardship. This specific imagery made the curse tangible and deeply impactful for the Israelites.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Deuteronomy 28:17, with its stark warning of a cursed "basket and store" for disobedience, finds its ultimate fulfillment and transformation in Christ. While the Old Covenant pronounced material curses for physical disobedience, Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God, bore the full curse of the Law on our behalf, becoming a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:13-14). In Him, the futility and barrenness associated with a life of sin are overcome. Christ offers not a cursed basket and store, but an overflowing abundance—spiritual provision that never runs out. He himself is the Bread of Life who satisfies our deepest hunger, and the Living Water that quenches our spiritual thirst, ensuring that those who abide in Him will never truly lack. Our "store" in Christ is eternal life and spiritual fruitfulness (John 15:5), a provision that transcends earthly circumstances and guarantees a secure and blessed future in Him, regardless of material possessions, because our true treasure is found in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).