Deuteronomy 28:14

Deu 28:14 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.

Ver. 14. And thou shalt not go aside.] But keep my commandments curiously, even "as the apple of thine eye," {Pro 7:2} with all chariness and circumspection, since the least deviation is dangerous, yea, destructive.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 14. Thou shalt not go aside - to the right hand or to the left] The way of obedience is a straight way; it goes right forward; he who declines either to right or left from this path goes astray and misses heaven.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) And thou shalt not go aside.—It is possible, of course, to connect this sentence with the “if” in Deu_28:13, “If that thou hearken and do not go aside.” But the LXX., and apparently the Targums also, begin a fresh sentence with this verse. The idea that obedience begets obedience is by no means foreign to the Jewish mind. There are many passages in their literature which contain the thought expressed so forcibly in Rev_22:11, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still . . . and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. turn aside, etc.] Deu_5:32. For you read thee. Sam., Gk., Syr. go after other gods] Deu_6:14, Deu_8:19, Deu_13:2 (3).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,.... As directed, exhorted, and encouraged to, Deu 28:1, &c.

to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day; both moral and ceremonial:

that all these curses shall come upon thee; from the hand of God, certainly, suddenly, and unawares:

and overtake thee; pursuing after thee, will come up to thee, and seize upon thee, though they may seem to move slowly; see Zac 5:3; namely, the curses which follow. Manasseh Ben Israel (f) divides them into two parts, the first from hence to Deu 28:45; which respects the destruction of the first temple, and the things that went before or related to that; and the second from thence to the end of the chapter, which he thinks refers to the destruction of the second temple, and their present case and circumstances; and it must be owned that for the most part the distinction may seem to hold good; what is prophesied of that should befall the Jews for their disobedience being more remarkably and distinctly fulfilled in the one than in the other; yet there are things in the whole which respect both, or that were fulfilled, some under one dispensation, and some under another, and some that were fulfilled in both; but chiefly and more manifestly at and since their dispersion by the Romans.

(f) De Termino Vitae, l. 3. sect. 3. p. 126.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

cf. Deu_5:29 Deu_11:28. Moses ends as he began, by reminding them that the condition of enjoying the blessing was obedience to the Divine Law, and steadfast adherence to the course in which they were called to walk.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

AND THOU SHALT NOT TURN ASIDE FROM ANY OF THE WORDS WHICH I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY. This is connected with the expression [in the preceding Verse 13] if thou shalt hearken, meaning that all these blessings will come upon you when you will hearken to His commandments, and when you will not turn aside to the right, or to the left from any of the words which I command you concerning idolatry. For, if you will go after other gods to serve them you will already have turned aside from all His commandments, is thus not an independent negative commandment, as the author of the “Hilchoth Gedoloth” would have it, but is rather to be understood in connection with the concluding part of that verse, to go after other gods to serve them, meaning to say: if you will go after other gods to serve them, you will already have turned aside from any of the words which, command you this day. and He shall have no desire whatever for any of the commandments you may observe. The sense of the verse is thus unlike the words of the “Hilchoth Gedoloth” contained in the Torah. The listing is in the preface to his work “Hilchoth Gedoloth”. His concept was utilized by the Paitanim, the writers of liturgical poetry who wrote various Azharoth (Exhortations), liturgical poems containing the Divine Commandments. — It should be noted that while the “Hilchoth Gedoloth” contains the first historical record in our possession of an attempt at enumerating the individual commandments, there is no doubt that the author drew upon older sources of such lists, and as Rabbeinu Saadia Gaon writes here, such “a list of the commandments” was written upon the stones by Moses. who counted this verse as a negative commandment.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.