Deuteronomy 28:2

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וְהִשִּׂיגֻ֑ךָ

nâsag

H5381

“and · to overtake · you”

Conjunction + Verb, Hiphil, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 50× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 31:25

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1422

to reach, overtake, take hold upon - (Hiphil) - to overtake - to reach, attain to, cause to reach - to be able to secure, reach, have enough

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

11: words
11: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וְהִשִּׂיגֻ֑ךָ to overtake H5381 occurs in 47 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
5 nouns
1 pronoun
1 preposition
1 conjunction

Verb forms

וּבָ֧אוּ Qal · Sequential Perfect
וְהִשִּׂיגֻ֑ךָ Hiphil · Sequential Perfect
תִשְׁמַ֔ע Qal · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 22 words from the Hebrew and 24 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 11 Hebrew tokens and 20 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Deuteronomy 28:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Zechariah 1:6 But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn't they overtake your fathers? "Then they repented and said, 'Just as Yahweh of Hosts determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.'"
Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.
1 Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value for all things, having the promise of the life which is now, and of that which is to come.
Deuteronomy 28:45 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Deuteronomy 28:2 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וּבָ֧אוּ עָלֶ֛יךָ כָּל הַבְּרָכ֥וֹת הָאֵ֖לֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגֻ֑ךָ כִּ֣י תִשְׁמַ֔ע בְּק֖וֹל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ

and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Deuteronomy 28:2 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἥκω ἐπί σύ πᾶς ὁ εὐλογία οὗτος καί εὑρίσκω σύ ἐάν ἀκοή ἀκούω ὁ φωνή κύριος ὁ θεός σύ

and all these blessings shall come upon you, and shall find you. If you will indeed hear the voice of the Lord your God,

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְיֵיתוּן עֲלָךְ כָּל בִּרְכְּתָא הָאִלֵין וְיִדְבְּקֻנָךְ אֲרֵי תְקַבַּל לְמֵימְרָא דַיְיָ אֱלָהָךְ

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְיֵיתוּן עֲלֵיכוֹן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא הָאִלֵין וְיִדְבּוּקַנְכוֹן אֲרוּם תְּקַבְּלוּן לְמֵימְרָא דַיְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן

and all these blessings shall come upon you, and abide with you, for that you will have hearkened to the Lord your God.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Deuteronomy 28:2 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Ver. 2. And overtake thee.] Unexpectedly befall thee. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow thee," {Psa 23:6} as the evening sunbeams follow the passenger, as the rock water followed the Israelites in the wilderness, and overtook them at their stations. {1Co 10:4} "O continue," or draw out to the length, "thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee." {Psa 36:10} There will be a continued series, a connection between them, to all such.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Deu 28:2-6. All these blessings shall overtake thee — The blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness. In the city, and in the field — Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life. We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe if he withdraw his protection, nor easy if he suspend his favour: but if he bless us, go where we will, it is well with us. Store — Store-house, it shall always be well replenished, and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service. Comest in — That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

When thou thinkest thyself forsaken.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

all these blessings shall come on thee--Their national obedience was to be rewarded by extraordinary and universal prosperity.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2. All these blessings shall come on thee] God shall pour out his blessing from heaven upon thee. And overtake thee. Upright men are represented as going to the kingdom of God, and God's blessings as following and overtaking them in their heavenly journey. There are several things in this verse worthy of the most careful observation: -

1. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. The voice of God must be heard; without a Divine revelation how can the Divine will be known? And if not known, it cannot be fulfilled.

2. When God speaks, men must hearken to the words of his mouth. He who does not hearken will not obey.

3. He who hearkens to the words of God must set out for the kingdom of heaven. The curse must fall on him who stands in the way of sinners, and will overtake them who loiter in the way of righteousness.

4. Those who run in the way of God's testimonies shall have an abundance of blessing. Blessings shall come upon them, and blessings shall overtake them - in every part of their march through life they shall continue to receive the fulfilment of the various promises of God which relate to all circumstances, vicissitudes, trials, stages of life, &c., &c., each overtaking them in the time and place where most needed.

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) And overtake thee.—A beautiful expression, i.e., shall come home to thee, and impress the heart with the thought of God’s love and of His promises, even when it is least expected. Comp. Zec_1:6. “My words and my statutes, did they not take hold of (i.e., overtake) your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us . . . so hath he dealt with us.” The opposite is true also of the curses (Deu_28:15).

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

2. overtake] This vb. is used of the avenger, Deu_19:6. A man’s goodness as well as his sin is sure to find him out, even when he does not expect this: see Mat_25:37.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee,.... After mentioned, which should come upon them from God from heaven, by the direction of his providence, and that freely and plentifully, and beyond their expectations and deserts, and continue with them:

if thou shall hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God; obedience to the law being the condition of their coming and continuance; for only temporal blessings in the land of Canaan are here intended, as follow.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

All these blessings, &c. In the Old Testament God promised temporal blessings to the keepers of his law, heaven being not opened as yet; and that gross and sensual people being more moved with present and sensible things. But in the New Testament, the goods that are promised us are spiritual and eternal: and temporal evils are turned into blessings.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Those blessings which others greedily follow after, and ofttimes never overtake, they shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by my special kindness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

The blessings about to be specified are represented as personified, as actual agencies coming upon their objects and following them along their path.

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Overtake thee - Those blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Deuteronomy, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 11 words (11 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nâsag (“to overtake”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to overtake” (nâsag) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Genesis 31:25, which shares the word «to overtake», read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וּבָ֧אוּ» is a Qal Sequential Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 11 Hebrew ↔ 20 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
11 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 11 words in this verse.