1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20 The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
21 The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
25 The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
27 The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
28 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.
33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
35 The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36 The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
47 Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which 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.
49 The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
55 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 enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
58 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 fearful name, The Lord Thy God;
59 Then 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.
60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.
63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
[14] Deu 17:11 “According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.”
h.שגר אלפיך means the young of thy cattle which the animal casts out (שגר) of its womb.
h.ועשתרות צאנך — Understand this as the Targum does: the flocks of thy herd. Our Rabbis asked, “Why are they (the flocks of sheep) called עשתרות? Because, replied they, they enrich (מעשירות) their owners (through the sale of their wool, etc.) and make them strong as עשתרות — which are strong rocks (Chullin 84b; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 7:13).
h.ברוך טנאך BLESSED SHALL BE THY BASKET — i.e. thy fruits (which are kept in baskets). — Another explanation of טנאך is that it means liquids which you filter through baskets (wicker work).
h.ומשארתך accordingly means dry produce that remains (נשאר) in the vessel and does not flow out.
h.ברוך אתה בבאך וברוך אתה בצאתך BLESSED SHALT THOU BE WHEN THOU COMEST IN, AND BLESSED SHALT THOU BE WHEN THOU GOEST OUT — This means: may thy departure from this world be as sinless as was thy coming into the world (Bava Metzia 107a).
h.המארה means PAUCITY, similar to (Leviticus 13:51) “a fretting leprosy (ממארה)” (a leprosy that frets the flesh, thus attenuating it).
h.המהומה — Onkelos renders this by שגוש which means: A TERRIFYING SOUND.
h.בשחפת — This is a disease whereby one’s flesh becomes worn away and swollen.
h.ובקדחת AND WITH FEVER — The word is similar in meaning to the verb in (Deuteronomy 32:22) “For a fire burns (קדחה) in My nostrils”. It is the heat felt by sick people, mal du feu in old French, which is a very high temperature.
h.ובדלקת — This is a fever even hotter than קדחת. — All these terms denote different kinds of diseases, but of a similar character.
h.ובחרחר — a disease that makes one burning hot inside the body, so that one is continually thirsting for water; in old French astrandement. The word is of the same meaning as the verbs in (Job 30:30) “My bones are burnt (חרה) because of heat”, and in (Jeremiah 6:29) “The bellows are burnt (נחר) by the fire”.
h.ובחרב AND WITH THE SWORD — i.e. He will bring hostile troops against you.
h.ובשדפון ובירקון AND WITH BLASTING AND WITH MILDEW — these are diseases that afflict grain which is yet in the field (yet growing).
h.שדפון is the hot east-wind, hale in old French
h.ירקון is drought. The symptoms are that the surface of the grain becomes pale and ultimately turns yellow; chaume in old French
h.עד אבדך — The Targum renders this by עד דתיבד, meaning “until you perish”, i.e. until you will perish on your own.
h.והיו שמיך אשר על ראשך נחשת AND THY HEAVEN WHICH IS OVER THY HEAD SHALL BE COPPER — These curses (i.e. all the curses contained in this chapter) Moses expressed them as though they came from his own mouth (Megillah 31b) whilst those he spoke on Mount Sinai (Leviticus 26), he expressed them as though from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, as indeed is implied by them (by the expressions used), for so it states there: “And if ye will not hearken unto Me”; “And if ye walk contrary to Me”, whilst here it says: “[And if thou wilt not obey] the voice of the Lord thy God”; “The Lord shall make cleave unto thee”; “The Lord shall smite thee”. Moses was milder in his curses, expressing them in the singular (“The Lord shall smite thee”, not “you”, the entire people), and similarly in this curse, too, he was milder, for in the former curses (those in Leviticus) it states, (Leviticus 26:19) “[I will make] your heaven as iron and your earth as copper”, i.e., that the heaven would not exude moisture, just as iron does not exude, and there would therefore be drought in the world, whilst the earth would exude moisture (be humid) just as copper sweats, and it would consequently rot the fruits. Here, however, it states, “Thy heaven shall be copper and thy earth shall be iron”, i.e. that the heavens would exude moisture: even though they might not pour with rain, at any rate there would be no ruinous drought in the world; whilst the earth would not exude moisture just as iron does not sweat, and consequently the fruits would not perish. Nevertheless this is a curse: for whether it (the earth) be as copper or whether it be as iron it will produce no fruit, and the heaven, too, will not pour with rain (give rain in abundance) (cf. Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 3 on Leviticus 26:19).
h.מטר ארצך אבק ועפר [GOD SHALL MAKE] THE RAIN OF THY LAND POWDER AND DUST, through “a wind that comes after the rain” as the Talmud says (Taanit 3b); rain will fall but not as much as is needed, so that there will not be sufficient of it to lay the dust; the wind will come and blow the dust about and cover the leaves of the vegetation which are still wet from the water and it will adhere to them and so become mud which will afterwards become dry, and they will rot (Taanit 3b).
h.לזעוה [AND THOU SHALT] BECOME A זעוה, i.e. a cause of fright and trembling: it means that all who will hear of thy afflictions will tremblingly move away from you and will say, “Woe upon us, would that there should not befall us as has befallen them!”
h.בשחין מצרים [THE LORD WILL SMITH THEE] WITH THE BOILS OF EGYPT — This was very bad, being wet inside and dry on the surface, as is stated in Treatise Bechorot 41a.
h.גרב is a wet boil,
h.חרס is a boil dry as a potsherd (חרס identical with חרש, a potsherd cf. Rashi on Leviticus 21:20).
h.ובתמהון לבב means “clogging of the heart”; etourdison in old French
h.עשוק [THOU SHALT BE] WRONGED — i.e. against every action of yours there will be dispute.
h.ישגלנה is connected in meaning with the noun שגל, a concubine; Scripture, however, paraphrases it by using a more decent, expression, viz., ישכבנה (i.e. the קרי is ישכבנה). This is a variation such as writers make to avoid an indecent expression (Megillah 25b; cf. Rashi on Genesis 18:22 and Note p. 266).
h.תחללנו THOU SHALT NOT MAKE IT חולין in the fourth year so as to be able to eat its fruits (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 20:6).
h.וכלות אליהם [AND THINE EYES SHALL SEE] AND LONG FOR THEM — i.e. they will look expectantly for them (the children) that they should return home, but they will not return. — Any desire that does not come to fulfillment is termed a “failing of the eyes” (cf. Deuteronomy 28:65).
h.לשמה [THOU SHALT] BECOME AN OBJECT OF ASTONISHMENT — This word means the same as תמהון, etourdison in old French, English astonishment. — Whoever will see you will be astonished about you.
h.למשל [THOU SHALT] BECOME A PROVERB — i.e., when an extraordinary misfortune comes upon a man people will say: “This is like the misfortune that befell Mr. So-and-so!”
h.ולשנינה AND A BYWORD — This is an expression of the same meaning as (Deuteronomy 6:7) ושננתם, “And thou shalt speak often”. — “And thou shalt become a ״שנינה therefore means: they (people) will talk about you (make you the topic of their conversation). Onkelos, too, renders it thus: ולשועי, which has the meaning of “relating about a matter”, just as ואשתעי is the Targum rendering of ויספר, “and he related”.
h.יחסלנו [THE LOCUST] WILL CROP IT OFF — The word means: it will make an end of it. It is for this reason that it (the locust) is also called חסיל (cf. e.g. Joel 1:4) because it consumes all the vegetation, etc. (חסל in Aramaic means “to end”; cf. Talmud Yerushalmi Taanit 3:6).
h.ישל means, it (the olivetree) shall drop its fruits. It is similar in meaning to the verb in (Deuteronomy 19:5), “And the iron falleth off (ונשל).
h.יירש הצלצל means, the locust will make it (the tree) bare (lit., will impoverish it) of its fruits.
h.יירש means, it will impoverish.
h.צלצל is a species of locust. — One cannot explain יְָירֵשׁ as meaning “inheriting” (“taking possesion of”, as the Targum does), for if so it ought to have written יִירַשׁ (cf. Genesis 21:10). Nor can it have the meaning of “driving out” and “expelling”, for then it ought to have written יוריש.
h.מרב כל means: while you possessed all good things.
h.כאשר ידאה הנשר [THE LORD WILL BRING A NATION AGAINST YOU FROM AFAR], AS THE EAGLE SWOOPS DOWN — i.e. suddenly, and by a successful march, and its horses will be swift.
h.לא תשמע לשנו means, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand. Similar is, (Genesis 41:15) “You understand (תשמע) a dream to interpret it”, and so, too, (Genesis 42:23) “that Joseph understood (שמע)”; entendre in old French
h.עד רדת חמתיך — The word רדת means subjugation (רדוי) and conquest (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 20:20).
h.ואכלת … בשר בניך … במצור AND THOU SHALT EAT … THE FLESH OF THY SONS … IN THE SIEGE, [AND IN THE DISTRESS] — Because they (the enemies) will besiege the city and there will consequently be distress— i.e. the stress of famine.
h.הרך בך והענג THE MOST TENDER AMONG YOU AND THE DELICATE — רך and ענג are one and the same person; the words denote delicate living. The expressions in v. 56 ומהתענג ומרך prove regarding them that both of them (the two descriptive terms) refer to one person. The meaning of the verse is: Although he may be fastidious and his nature sickens at anything nauseous, yet the flesh of his sons and daughters will be so pleasant to him on account of his hunger, that תרע עינו HIS EYE WILL BE EVIL towards his remaining children, מתת לאחד מהם מבשר בניו THAT HE WILL NOT GIVE TO ANY OF THEM THE FLESH OF HIS CHILDREN — their brothers, אשר יאכל WHOM HE WILL EAT. — Another explanation of הרך בך is: the merciful and tender-hearted will become cruel because of the great hunger and will not give of the flesh of their children who have been killed to their remaining children.
h.תרע עינה באיש חיקה ובבנה ובבתה HER EYE SHALL BE EVIL TOWARDS THE HUSBAND OF HER BOSOM, AND TOWARDS HER SON, AND TOWARDS HER DAUGHTER — i.e. the adult sons and daughters,
h.ובשליתה AND TOWARDS HER שליה — i.e. towards her little children; towards all these will her eye be evil when she eats one of them so that she will not give of the flesh to those that are still with her (to those that are still living).
h.והפלא ה' את מכתך THEN THE LORD WILL DISTINGUISH THY PLAGUES — He will afflict you with plagues exceptional and quite different from other plagues.
h.ונאמנות (lit., trustworthy, reliable), i.e. certain to chastise you — certain to perform the task entrusted to them.
h.אשר יגרת מפניהם [HE WILL BRING UPON THEE ALL THE DISEASES OF EGYPT] OF WHICH THOU ART AFRAID — i.e. afraid of the plagues (not of Egypt). When the Israelites saw the strange plagues that came upon the Egyptians they were afraid of them — that they might not befall them also. You may know this, for so it states, (Exodus 15:26) “If thou wilt indeed hearken [to the voice of the Lord …], none of the diseases which I have put upon Egypt, will I put on you”, since one threatens a person only with things of which he is afraid.
h.יעלם is a form from the root עלה (not from עלם).
h.ונשארתם במתי מעט תחת וגו׳ AND YOU SHALL REMAIN FEW IN NUMBER WHEREAS [YOU WERE ONCE AS NUMEROUS AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN] — i.e. a few instead of many.
h.'כן ישיש ה SO WILL THE LORD MAKE your enemies REJOICE עליכם OVER YOU, להאביד וגו׳ TO DESTROY [YOU] (Megillah 10b).
h.ונסחתם is an expression denoting “uprooting”. Similar is, (Proverbs 15:25) “The Lord will uproot (יסח) the house of the haughty”.
h.ועבדתם שם אלהים אחרים AND YE WILL SERVE THERE OTHER GODS — Understand this as the Targum does: (ye will serve the peoples that worship idols); not actually that they shall serve idols, but they will have to pay tribute and poll-taxes to the priests of the idols.
h.לא תרגיע means, THOU SHALT FIND NO REST, as (Isaiah 28:12) “This is the rest (המרגעה)
h.לב רגז means, A TREMBLING HEART, as the Targum has it: דחל, fearing. It is similar in meaning to (Isaiah 14:9) “The nether-world from beneath trembleth (רגזה) for thee”; (Exodus 15:14) “The peoples have heard, they trembled”; (II Samuel 22:8) “The foundations of heaven trembled”.
h.וכליון עינים AND A FAILING OF THE EYES — The phrase is used of one who expectantly looks for help and it does not come (cf. v. 32).
h.חייך תלאים לך THY LIFE SHALL HANG BEFORE THEE — because of uncertainty. — Anything that is uncertain may be termed תלוי (“hanging”); You will always be saying: “Perhaps I shall die to-day through the sword that is coming upon us”. — Our Rabbis interpreted this to refer to one who is obliged to buy produce in the market (who does not possess any of his own),
h.ולא תאמין בחייך AND THOU SHALT HAVE NONE ASSURANCE OF THY LIFE — this they refer to one who must rely on the baker (cf. Menachot 103b).
h.בבקר תאמר מי יתן ערב IN THE MORNING THOU SHALT SAY, WOULD IT WERE EVEN! — i.e. would that it were again yesterday evening,
h.ובערב תאמר מי יתן בקר AND AT EVEN THOU SHALT SAY, WOULD IT WERE MORNING! — i.e. the morning of today, because the misery will constantly grow more severe, and the curse of each hour will be greater than that of the preceding (cf. Sotah 49a).
h.באניות [AND THE LORD WILL BRING THEE INTO EGYPT AGAIN] באניות — the latter word means, in ships, i.e. He will bring you again into captivity to Egypt.
h.והתמכרתם שם לאיביך means, you will seek to be sold to them for slaves and handmaids (i.e. YOU WILL OFFER YOURSELVES FOR SALE),
h.ואין קנה AND NO MAN WILL BUY YOU — because they will pass upon you the doom of death and extermination.
h.והתמכרתם — “et pour vendrez yous” in old French It would not, however, be correct to explain והתמכרתם in the sense of ונמכרתם “and you will be sold” — i.e. by sellers other than yourselves, for it adds afterwards: “but no one will buy you”.
h.לכרת את בני ישראל [THE COVENANT WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED …] TO MAKE WITH THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — that they will take upon themselves the observance of the Torah under an imprecation and oath (cf. Deuteronomy 29:11).
h.מלבד הברית BESIDES THE COVENANT — i.e. the curses in Torath Cohanim (Leviticus 26:14 ff.) which were spoken at Sinai (Horeb).