Deuteronomy 28:49-68
28:49 a like a vulture (or eagle): This simile indicates how rapidly the enemy would come.• whose language you do not understand: Both Assyrian and Babylonian were dialects of Akkadian, a language that was related to Hebrew but vastly different in grammar, syntax, and vocabulary (see Isa 36:11-13 b).
28:50 c The Assyrians were fierce and heartless toward their defeated enemies. A favorite instrument of torture was a stake on which they impaled their victims alive (see Isa 33:19 d; Nah 2:1-7 e).
28:54 f A tenderhearted man was sheltered from the dark and disgusting side of life. He had never experienced the horrors that would befall him.
28:56 g not ... touch the ground: This woman was so fastidious that she avoided walking barefoot on the soil.
28:57 h afterbirth: This horrific scenario depicts a mother so hungry as to eat a human placenta and the new baby she has borne.
28:58 i The context suggests that all the words of instruction (literally all the words of this torah) refers to the entire book of Deuteronomy, in which lists of blessings and curses were a major part (see 27:3 j).
• If you do not fear the ... name—i.e., do not fear God himself (see study note on 7:21).
28:60 k The diseases of Egypt were not just general plagues but those associated with physical illness (see Exod 9:8-12 l).
28:64 m foreign gods: This phrase does not suggest the actual existence of other deities. The Old Testament is clear that there is only one God, the Lord. However, the pagans among whom Israel would live did worship other gods; the danger was that Israel would adopt the same practices.
28:68 n The threat of being sent back to Egypt referred to any future exile of God’s people, a reversal of the exodus from freedom to bondage.
• no one will buy you: The disobedient and cursed Israelites would be so little esteemed that they would be unable to command any price as slaves. By contrast, the Lord had redeemed Israel from enslavement at great cost (see 9:26 o).
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