Deuteronomy 28:47

Deu 28:47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things];

Ver. 47. For the abundance all things.] Aristotle was wont to tax his Athenians, Quod cum duas res invenissent, frumenta ac leges, frumentis ut erentur, legibus nequaquam; imo moribus suis quam legibus uti mallent, as Valerius Maximus addeth, {a} Sure it is, that as these Jews of old, so we to this day are much to be blamed, for that we live in God’s good land, but not by God’s good laws.

{a} Laert., lib. v. cap. 1.

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.

Deu_28:47

Because thou servedst not the lord.

Right service

The text brings before us a subject essentially important--that as the service of the Lord Jesus Christ must be such as answered the great end that was to be brought about, and did answer it, so the object of the service of the people of God is to bring them into possession of what the Lord has for them. Let us take a two-fold view of this service.

1. First, then, the true service of the Lord; it must be by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us hear what the Scriptures say upon this, for it is a most essential matter: either we are serving God as Abel did, acceptably; or as Cain did, not acceptably. We cannot serve God by the works of the law; for the apostle saith, Whatsoever the law saith--and I may mention two things which it saith: first, that he that offendeth in one point is guilty of the whole. Now, that one thing said by the law is enough to stop the mouth of anyone. Then again, it saith, Cursed is he that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. There are three things especially essential to serve God acceptably; these must be knowledge, faith, and love. You cannot do without these three. It is true, there are many other excellencies arising from them.

2. Now, a word or two upon this--to serve Him with joyfulness and with gladness of heart. I think we need the spirit of prayer upon this subject. So then may the Lord give us the spirit of prayer, that we may pray to be quickened, and to be made more and more lively in the service and ways of the Lord; for it is sure well to repay us; as saith David, In keeping His ways there is indeed great reward; a reward that far surpasseth gold, even much fine gold; and there is a sweetness therein sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. So, I say, we need the spirit of prayer for the Lord to keep us more and more in His blessed ways. (J. Wells.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deuteronomy

A CHOICE OF MASTERS

Deu 28:47 - Deu 28:48.

The history of Israel is a picture on the large scale of what befalls every man.

A service-we are all born to obedience, to depend on and follow some person or thing. There is only a choice of services; and he who boasts himself free is but a more abject slave, as the choice for a nation is either the rule of settled order and the sanctities of an established law, or the usurpation of a mob and the intolerable tyranny of unbridled and irresponsible force.

I. The service of God or the service of our enemies.

Israel was the servant in turn of Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, Syria, and Rome. It was every invader’s prey. God’s invisible arm was its only guard from these, and an all-sufficient guard as long as it leaned on Him. When it turned from Him it fell under their yoke. Its lawful Lord loved it; its tyrants hated it.

So with us. We have to serve God or enemies. Our lusts, our passions, the world, evil habits-in a word, our sins ring us round. God is the only defence against them.

The contrast between the one and the many-a king or an ochlocracy. The contrast of the loving Lord and the hostile sins.

II. A service which is honour or a service which is degradation.

God alone is worthy of our absolute submission and service. How low a man sinks when he is ruled by any lesser authority! Such obedience is a crime against the dignity of human nature, and the soul is not without a galling sense of this now and then, when its chains rattle.

III. A service which is freedom because it is rendered by love, or a service which is hard slavery.

‘With joy for the abundance of all things.’ How sin palls upon us, and yet we commit it. The will is overborne, conscience is stifled.

IV. A service which feeds the spirit or a service which starves it.

The soul can only in God get what it wants. Prison fare is what it receives in the other service. The unsatisfying character of all sin; it cloys, and yet leaves one hungry. It is ‘that which satisfieth not.’ ‘Broken cisterns which hold no water.’

V. A service which is life or a service which is death.

The dark forebodings of the text grow darker as it goes on. The grim slavery which it threatens as the only alternative to joyful service of God is declared to be lifelong ‘penal servitude,’ and not only is there no deliverance from it, but it directly tends to wear away the life of the hopeless slaves. For the words that follow our text are ‘and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.’ That is dismally true in regard to any and every life that has shaken off the service of God which is perfect freedom, and has persisted in the service of sin. Such service is suicidal; it rivets an iron yoke on our necks, and there is no locksmith who can undo the shackles and lift it off, so long as we refuse to take service with God. Stubbornly rebellious wills forge their own fetters. Like many a slave-owner, our tyrants have a cruel delight in killing their slaves, and our sins not only lead to death, but are themselves death.

But there is a bright possibility before the most down-trodden vassal of sin. ‘The bond-servant abideth not in the house for ever.’ He is not a son of the house, but has been brought into it, stolen from his home. He may be carried back to his Father’s house, and there ‘have bread enough and to spare,’ if a deliverer can be found. And He has been found. Christ the Son makes us free, and if we trust Him for our emancipation we ‘shall be free indeed,’ ‘that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

47. This should be a new sentence opening a new paragraph.

Because thou hast not served the Lord thy God] or worshipped.

with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart] Characteristic of the temper of D; 12. 7, 12, 18, Deu_16:11; Deu_16:14 f. (be altogether joyful), Deu_26:11; cp. Isa_65:13 f.

by reason of the abundance, etc.] Cp. Deu_6:10-12, Deu_8:11-18.

47–57. A Further Development of the Curses

Invasion by a far-off, unknown nation, who shall ruthlessly devastate the land and besiege Israel’s cities; with the horrors of his siege. All this is not threatened conditionally on the possible disobedience of the people, but predicted absolutely because of their actual failure to serve God.

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.

And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle,.... Larger and lesser, oxen and sheep, as their calves and lambs, and kids of the goat:

and the fruit of thy land; their wheat, barley, figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives, and dates:

until thou be destroyed; the land of Judea, and all the increase of it: this being before said, Deu 28:31; and here repeated, shows that the same should be fulfilled at different times, as by the Chaldeans, so by the Romans; whose nation, or army, with their general at the head of them, may be more especially here intended by "he", that should eat up their fruit until utter destruction was brought upon them:

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; all being consumed by the Roman army. There is a promise and prophecy, that though this would be the case, as it has been, there shall be a time when it shall be so no more; see Isa 62:8.

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

Things: as in gratitude thou oughtest to have done. On the contrary, the more the Jews were cherished by God, the more insolent they became, chap. xxxii. 15.

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).

Or,

in the abundance of all things; for this is opposed to in hunger, in thirst, &c., Deu 28:48. And the Hebrew men oft signifies in, as Exo 25:18; Job 19:26; Psa 72:16.

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

Vers. 47-57. Fourth group. In order still more to impress on the minds of the people the evil and danger of rebellion and apostasy, Moses enlarges on the calamities that would ensue on their being given up to the power of the heathen. Because they would not serve Jehovah their God, they should be delivered to be servants to their enemies.

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

General Information:

Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the words "you" and "your" here are singular. (See: Forms of You)

joyfulness and gladness of heart

Here "joyfulness" and "gladness of heart" mean the same thing. They emphasize that the people should have been very glad to worship Yahweh. (See: Doublet)

He will put a yoke of iron on your neck

This is a metaphor for Yahweh allowing the enemy to treat the Israelites cruelly and make them slaves. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

worship

God

joy

heart

prosper

servant

adversary

send

yoke

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

מרב כל means: while you possessed all good things.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.