Deuteronomy 7:15

Deu 7:15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all [them] that hate thee.

Ver. 15. And the Lord.] Health is a sweet mercy; Non est vivere, sed valere vita, {a} A sickly life is a lifeless life. A healthy body is the reward of piety. {Pro 3:8}

{a} Martial.

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 7:15. The diseases of Egypt — Such as the Egyptians were infected with, either commonly, or miraculously. It seems to refer not only to the plagues of Egypt, but to some other epidemic diseases, which they remembered to have prevailed among the Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins. The leprosy, and other cutaneous distempers, were frequent in Egypt. The Scriptures also mention the botch of Egypt, as a disease common in that country, Deu 28:27. Diseases are God’s servants, which go where he sends them, and do what he bids them.

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

7:15 The terrible diseases . . . in Egypt were perhaps illnesses related to the plagues (e.g., Exod 9:9) or other serious diseases that regularly afflicted the Egyptians.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

the evil diseases of Egypt--(See Exo 15:26). Besides those with which Pharaoh and his subjects were visited, Egypt has always been dreadfully scourged with diseases. The testimony of Moses is confirmed by the reports of many modern writers, who tell us that, notwithstanding its equal temperature and sereneness, that country has some indigenous maladies which are very malignant, such as ophthalmia, dysentery, smallpox, and the plague.

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

(15) Evil diseases.—The word for diseases here used is found only in Deuteronomy (see Deu_28:60). It must not be forgotten that the law of Moses was in many of its details a sanitary quite as much as a moral code. Some of the associations of this word and the root from which it is derived would seem to point to those “languors” and “infirmities” which arise from neglect and violation of the laws of God, both moral and physical.

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

15. take away … all sickness] Exo_23:25 (edit.).

evil diseases of Egypt] In Exo_15:26 (edit.) the sicknesses (another word) refers to the special plagues brought on the Egyptians by Jehovah for Israel’s sake. Here the reference is rather to the natural ailments of men of which in antiquity Egypt was notoriously the source: elephantiasis, ‘Aegypti peculiare malum’ (Pliny, H.N. xxvi. 1, 5), ophthalmia, dysentery, but especially the bubonic plague (Hecataeus of Abdera in Diod. Sic. xl. 3). See the present writer’s Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land, 157 f., 670; and cp. below note on Deu_28:27.

which thou knowest] hast had experience of, see on Deu_7:9.

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 will take away from thee all sickness,.... Bodily sickness and diseases, prevent the coming of them, or remove them when come:

and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt which thou knowest upon thee; meaning either the plagues that were inflicted upon them to oblige them to let the Israelites go, of which they had perfect knowledge; or else some noxious and nauseous diseases, which were common among, and peculiar to, the Egyptians, particularly what is called the botch of Egypt; see Exo 15:26, likewise the leprosy; See Gill on Lev 13:2; see Gill on Deu 28:27.

but will lay them upon all them that hate thee; with which God sometimes punishes his and his people's enemies; see Jdg 5:9.

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

There seems to be here not so much as a reference to the plagues inflicted miraculously by God on Egypt (compare Exo 15:26), as to the terrible diseases with which, above other countries, Egypt was infested. Compare Deu 28:27, Deu 28:35. It is not without significance that Egypt, which represents in Scripture the world as contrasted with the Church, should thus above other lands lie under the power of disease and death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sickness, sent in punishment of sin, (Haydock) like the plagues of Egypt, Exodus ix. (Menochius) --- Egypt was afflicted with some peculiar disorders, such as the leprosy, called Elephantiasis. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxvi. 1.) The people were also much troubled with sore eyes, or blindness, and with ulcers upon their legs. (Juvenal, Sat. xiii. 91.) One-fourth of the inhabitants of Grand Cairo have sore eyes, or are blind. (Brun.) --- Joinville speaks of the diseases which attacked the army of St. Louis in Egypt, preying chiefly upon the legs and gums, and causing them to putrify. (Calmet)

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).

The evil diseases of Egypt; such as the Egyptians were infested with, either commonly, as that botch, Deu 28:27; or miraculously and extraordinarily, from the hand of the Lord, as Exo 9:10,15. Compare Exo 23:25; Psa 105:37.

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

The mercy of God should be showed to them also in preserving them from sickness, especially of a virulent and dangerous kind, such as they had seen in Egypt, where disease has in all ages readily assumed a malignant character ("Encyc. Brit.," art. "Egypt"), and where especially cutaneous diseases of the worst kind prevail. (comp. Deu_33:27) Such diseases the Lord would rather cause to fall on 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.

The diseases of Egypt - Such as the Egyptians were infected with, either commonly, or miraculously. It seems to refer not only to the plagues of Egypt, but to some other epidemic disease, which they remembered to have prevailed among the Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins. Diseases are God's servants, which go where he sends them, and do what he bids them.

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

AND THE ETERNAL WILL TAKE AWAY FROM THEE ALL SICKNESS — ordinary ailments which occur in the world. He further mentioned all the evil diseases of Egypt to assure the people that He will inflict them on all who hate thee. Or it may be that he is intimating that by observing the ordinances, they will be saved from them [these evil diseases], but if they do not observe them, they [the diseases] will come upon them just as they did come upon the Egyptians, as is stated in the chastisement: And He will bring back upon thee all the diseases of Egypt etc., 28:60. I have already explained this in the section And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go. Now he mentioned as the first among the ordinances, the duty to demolish and destroy the idol-worshippers. Therefore he said, ‘v’achalta’ [literally: “and thou shalt eat”] all the peoples, meaning that you should destroy them, similar to what is said, for they are bread for us; for ‘achal’ (he hath devoured) Jacob; ‘va’achaluhu’ (yea, they have devoured him) and consumed him, and so also many similar expressions. He states thine eye shall not pity them as I have mentioned, for, through [undue] pity of the judges all law will be destroyed.

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.