but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. but a curseThe Hebrew word for "curse" is "קְלָלָה" (qelalah), which signifies a solemn pronouncement of judgment or misfortune. In the ancient Near Eastern context, curses were understood as powerful declarations that could bring about real consequences. Theologically, this highlights the seriousness of disobedience to God's commandments. The curse is not merely punitive but serves as a divine warning to steer the Israelites back to the covenantal path. if you do not obey
The phrase "do not obey" comes from the Hebrew "לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ" (lo tishme'u), which literally means "do not listen." In the Hebrew mindset, listening is closely tied to obedience. To hear God's word is to act upon it. This reflects the covenantal relationship where obedience is a response to God's grace and love. The emphasis is on active engagement with God's commandments, not passive acknowledgment. the commandments of the LORD your God
The term "commandments" is "מִצְוֹת" (mitzvot) in Hebrew, referring to the divine laws given by God. These are not arbitrary rules but are rooted in God's character and His desire for His people to live in a way that reflects His holiness. The phrase "the LORD your God" underscores the personal relationship between God and Israel, emphasizing that these commandments are given by a personal, covenant-keeping God who desires the best for His people. and turn aside from the path
"Turn aside" is translated from "סָרָה" (sarah), meaning to deviate or stray. The "path" (דֶּרֶךְ, derek) symbolizes the way of life prescribed by God. In biblical imagery, the path represents a journey or a way of living that aligns with God's will. Turning aside implies a deliberate choice to abandon God's ways, which leads to spiritual and moral decline. I command you today
The immediacy of "today" (הַיּוֹם, hayom) stresses the urgency and relevance of God's commandments. It is a call to action in the present moment, reminding the Israelites that obedience is not a future consideration but a present responsibility. The use of "I command" highlights the authority of Moses as God's spokesperson, reinforcing the divine origin of these instructions. by following other gods
The phrase "following other gods" (לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים, lalekhet acharei elohim acherim) indicates idolatry, which was a constant temptation for Israel. In the ancient world, polytheism was prevalent, and the Israelites were often enticed to worship the deities of surrounding nations. This phrase serves as a warning against syncretism and the abandonment of exclusive devotion to Yahweh. which you have not known
The Hebrew "אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְדַעְתֶּם" (asher lo yedatem) emphasizes the foreignness and unfamiliarity of these gods. The Israelites are reminded that these gods have no history of relationship or covenant with them. Unlike Yahweh, who has revealed Himself and acted on their behalf, these "other gods" are unknown and unproven, underscoring the folly of turning to them. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe author of Deuteronomy, delivering God's laws and commandments to the Israelites. 2. IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, receiving the law and commandments as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. 3. Promised LandThe land of Canaan, which God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 4. Other godsRefers to the false deities worshiped by surrounding nations, which the Israelites are warned against following. 5. Mount Ebal and Mount GerizimThe mountains where blessings and curses were to be proclaimed to the Israelites (context from Deuteronomy 11:29). Teaching Points Obedience to God's CommandmentsThe importance of listening to and obeying God's commandments is central to maintaining a covenant relationship with Him. Consequences of DisobedienceDisobedience leads to curses, illustrating the serious consequences of turning away from God. Avoiding IdolatryThe warning against following other gods highlights the need to guard against modern forms of idolatry, such as materialism or secular ideologies. Faithfulness in WorshipTrue worship involves exclusive devotion to God, rejecting all forms of false worship. Covenant RelationshipThe passage underscores the conditional nature of the covenant, where blessings are contingent upon obedience. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the concept of blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 11:28 relate to the choices we make in our daily lives? 2. In what ways can modern Christians guard against the "other gods" that may tempt us today? 3. How does the theme of obedience in Deuteronomy 11:28 connect with Jesus' teachings in the New Testament? 4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure we are listening to God's commandments in our personal and communal lives? 5. How can the warnings in Deuteronomy 11:28 about turning aside from God's path inform our understanding of spiritual faithfulness and integrity? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 20The Ten Commandments, which form the foundation of the laws given to the Israelites. Joshua 24Joshua's call to the Israelites to choose whom they will serve, emphasizing the choice between serving God or other gods. 1 Kings 18Elijah's challenge to the prophets of Baal, illustrating the consequences of following false gods. Jeremiah 11The prophet Jeremiah reiterates the consequences of disobedience and turning to other gods. Galatians 1Paul warns against turning to a different gospel, paralleling the warning against following other gods. People Abiram, Canaanites, Dathan, Eliab, Moses, Pharaoh, ReubenPlaces Arabah, Beth-baal-peor, Egypt, Euphrates River, Gilgal, Jordan River, Lebanon, Moreh, Mount Ebal, Mount Gerizim, Red SeaTopics Aside, Command, Commanding, Commandments, Commands, Curse, Disobey, Ear, Gods, Hearken, Listen, Obey, Orders, Reviling, To-day, Turn, Yours, YourselvesDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 11:28 4020 life, of faith Deuteronomy 11:26-28 1335 blessing Library Canaan on Earth
Many of you, my dear hearers, are really come out of Egypt; but you are still wandering about in the wilderness. "We that have believed do enter into rest;" but you, though you have eaten of Jesus, have not so believed on him as to have entered into the Canaan of rest. You are the Lord's people, but you have not come into the Canaan of assured faith, confidence, and hope, where we wrestle no longer with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus--when …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856The God of the Rain
(Fifth Sunday after Easter.) DEUT. xi. 11, 12. The land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year. I told you, when I spoke of the earthquakes of the Holy Land, that it seems as if God had meant specially to train that strange people the Jews, by putting them into a country where they …
Charles Kingsley—The Gospel of the Pentateuch Gilgal, in Deuteronomy 11:30 what the Place Was.
That which is said by Moses, that "Gerizim and Ebal were over-against Gilgal," Deuteronomy 11:30, is so obscure, that it is rendered into contrary significations by interpreters. Some take it in that sense, as if it were near to Gilgal: some far off from Gilgal: the Targumists read, "before Gilgal": while, as I think, they do not touch the difficulty; which lies not so much in the signification of the word Mul, as in the ambiguity of the word Gilgal. These do all seem to understand that Gilgal which …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII The Blessings of Noah Upon Shem and Japheth. (Gen. Ix. 18-27. )
Ver. 20. "And Noah began and became an husbandman, and planted vineyards."--This does not imply that Noah was the first who began to till the ground, and, more especially, to cultivate the vine; for Cain, too, was a tiller of the ground, Gen. iv. 2. The sense rather is, that Noah, after the flood, again took up this calling. Moreover, the remark has not an independent import; it serves only to prepare the way for the communication of the subsequent account of Noah's drunkenness. By this remark, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Subjects of Study. Home Education in Israel; Female Education. Elementary Schools, Schoolmasters, and School Arrangements.
If a faithful picture of society in ancient Greece or Rome were to be presented to view, it is not easy to believe that even they who now most oppose the Bible could wish their aims success. For this, at any rate, may be asserted, without fear of gainsaying, that no other religion than that of the Bible has proved competent to control an advanced, or even an advancing, state of civilisation. Every other bound has been successively passed and submerged by the rising tide; how deep only the student …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life In the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius Cæsar and under the Pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas - a Voice in the Wilderness
THERE is something grand, even awful, in the almost absolute silence which lies upon the thirty years between the Birth and the first Messianic Manifestation of Jesus. In a narrative like that of the Gospels, this must have been designed; and, if so, affords presumptive evidence of the authenticity of what follows, and is intended to teach, that what had preceded concerned only the inner History of Jesus, and the preparation of the Christ. At last that solemn silence was broken by an appearance, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Worship of the Synagogue
One of the most difficult questions in Jewish history is that connected with the existence of a synagogue within the Temple. That such a "synagogue" existed, and that its meeting-place was in "the hall of hewn stones," at the south-eastern angle of the court of the priest, cannot be called in question, in face of the clear testimony of contemporary witnesses. Considering that "the hall of hew stones" was also the meeting-place for the great Sanhedrim, and that not only legal decisions, but lectures …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Among the People, and with the Pharisees
It would have been difficult to proceed far either in Galilee or in Judaea without coming into contact with an altogether peculiar and striking individuality, differing from all around, and which would at once arrest attention. This was the Pharisee. Courted or feared, shunned or flattered, reverently looked up to or laughed at, he was equally a power everywhere, both ecclesiastically and politically, as belonging to the most influential, the most zealous, and the most closely-connected religions …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Deuteronomy 11:28 NIVDeuteronomy 11:28 NLTDeuteronomy 11:28 ESVDeuteronomy 11:28 NASBDeuteronomy 11:28 KJV
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