Deuteronomy-Chap-28-35-69
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Remember the following truth from
our beloved Torah!
“Ye
shall NOT ADD
TO THE WORD which I command
you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT,
that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloleichem,
which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy
4:2. (JPS-1917).
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Part Two..
With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
Introduction:
The second half of the chapter intensifies the focus on the long-term consequences
of exile. It moves beyond immediate physical ailments into the profound
psychological and spiritual trauma of being a displaced people, serving foreign
masters, and living in a state of perpetual anxiety.
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Below are the verses of Deuteronomy Chapter 28, verses 35 to 69: Whilst below the verses are the Explanation’s and more. (The Chapter is from JPS-1917 version of the Torah).
Verses 35-37: יְהוָה - the LORD will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head. יְהוָה - the LORD will bring thee, and thy king whom thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation that thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples whither יְהוָה - the LORD shall lead thee away.
Explanation: Above it describes the total loss of public stature. The King and the people are led away to a land they do not know, where the once-holy nation becomes a “proverb and a byword” a mockery among the inhabitants of the earth.
Verses 38-44: Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olives shall drop off. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and the fruit of thy land shall the locust possess. The stranger that is in the midst of thee shall mount up above thee higher and higher; and thou shalt come down lower and lower. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
Explanation: Here we see the frustration of labour. The farmer sows much but gathers little because the ‘locust’, the ‘worm’, and the ‘drought’ consume the profit. The stranger living among the Israelites rises higher and higher, while the native-born sinks lower and lower, reversing the natural order.
Verses 45-48: And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ - the LORD thy Eloheicha (God), to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded thee. And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever; because thou didst not serve יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ - the LORD thy Eloheicha with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemy whom יְהוָה - the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
Explanation: depict the horror of the siege. A nation from afar, “whose tongue thou shalt not understand”, descends like an eagle. The description of the resulting famine is among the most harrowing in the Torah, showing the total collapse of human compassion and the bonds of family under the pressure of starvation.
Verses 49-57: יְהוָה - the LORD will bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the vulture swoopeth down; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, that shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be destroyed; that also shall not leave thee corn, wine, or oil, the increase of thy kine, or the young of thy flock, until he have caused thee to perish. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fortified walls come down, wherein thou didst trust, throughout all thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ - the LORD thy Eloheicha hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters whom יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ - the LORD thy Eloheicha hath given thee; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall straiten thee. The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his children whom he hath remaining; so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter; and against her afterbirth that cometh out from between her feet, and against her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in thy gates.
Explanation: This section, encompassing verses 49 to 57, describes the ultimate consequence of national spiritual decline: a devastating and total military siege by a foreign power. It envisions a “fierce-faced” nation brought from the ends of the earth, swift as an eagle and speaking an unintelligible tongue that systematically consumes the land’s resources until only the fortified cities remain as a final, futile refuge. The text then descends into the most harrowing psychological and physical depths of ancient warfare, where the “gentle and sensitive” members of society are driven to such extreme desperation by famine and isolation that the natural bonds of family are completely severed. It portrays a stark reality where survival instincts override the most basic human compassion between husbands, wives, and children, leading to the unthinkable consumption of one’s own offspring in secret. This passage serves as a terrifying warning of the “straightness” and “distress” that occur when a nation’s physical walls are trusted more than its moral foundation, resulting in a total collapse of both the social order and the human spirit.
Verses 58-63: If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that
are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this
glorious and awful Name, יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֶיךָ -
the LORD thy Eloheicha; then יְהוָה - the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and
the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore
sicknesses, and of long continuance. And He will bring back
upon thee all the diseases of
Explanation: these verses warn of “extraordinary plagues” that are “long-continued”. This section emphasizes that the Land of Israel itself will vomit out the people, and the joy the Almighty once took in doing them good will be replaced by the necessity of their removal for the sake of justice.
Verses 64-68: And יְהוָה
- the LORD shall scatter thee among all peoples,
from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; and there
thou shalt serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers,
even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou
have no repose, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot; but יְהוָה
- the LORD shall give thee there a trembling
heart, and failing of eyes, and languishing of soul. And
thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day,
and shalt have no assurance of thy life. In the morning
thou shalt say: ‘Would it were even!’ and at even thou
shalt say: ‘Would it were morning!’ for the fear of thy heart which thou shalt
fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. And
יְהוָה
- the LORD shall bring thee back into
Explanation: This concludes with the “Trembling Heart”. The Israelites are scattered to the corners of the earth, finding no rest for the sole of their foot. Life hangs in doubt; there is fear by night and by day. The chapter ends with the tragic image of the people being offered for sale as slaves, but being so broken and devalued that “no man shall buy you”.
Verse 69: These are the words of the covenant which יְהוָה
- the LORD commanded Moses to make with the
children of
Explanation: These verses serves
as the formal seal of the entire discourse. It distinguishes these specific
terms the “words of the covenant” which were commanded in the
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My Closing Message:
While the weight of these verses is heavy, their purpose is not to despair but to
awaken. They serve as a permanent boundary marker for the soul, urging us to
return to the path of the commandments so that the “trembling heart” may
finally find its rest in the land of our inheritance.
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