Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
28:1 VE HAYAH IM SHAMO'A TISHMA BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHA LISHMOR LA'ASOT ET KOL MITSVOTAV ASHER ANOCHI METSAVECHA HAYOM U NETAN'CHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA ELYON AL KOL GOYEY HA ARETS
וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם וּנְתָנְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ עֶלְיוֹן עַל כָּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ
BN: And it shall come to pass that, if you do indeed listen carefully to the voice of YHVH your god, and agree to follow all of his instructions which I am giving you today, that YHVH your god will set you on high above all the nations of the Earth.
IM SHAMO'A: The "if" is assumptive rather than conditional here. The ceremony will only take place at some point in the future.
U NETAN'CHA... ELYON: But Genesis 1 told us that YHVH created all human beings equally - so how can one nation, or one gender, or one ethnicity, be raised above the others, and be allowed to consider itself superior?
28:2 U VA'U ALEYCHA KOL HE BERACHOT HA ELEH VE HISIGUCHA KI TISHMA BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHA
וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַבְּרָכוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ כִּי תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
KJ: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
BN: And all these blessings shall come to you, and you will obtain them, if you will listen to the voice of YHVH your god.
HISIGUCHA: I am unclear what King James intends by "overtake you". The root is NASAG = "to obtain", but used here in the Hiphil form, suggesting that the blessings will come to you without your having to make any effort beyond faith and compliance.
You will/shall notice that King James always uses "shall", where I alternate between "will" and "shall"; my sense in the text is that some of these futures are instructions or prohibitions, and therefore "shall", but others are predictions, and therefore "will" - click here.
28:3 BARUCH ATAH BA IR U VARUCH ATAH BA SADEH
KJ: Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
BN: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
The blessing is prosperity, but it comes through fertility, metaphored in the milk and honey. The same even more the case in the next verse.
Why do these, and the curses that follow, not end with the Amen that we saw in the last chapter? Is it not also part of the ceremony of covenant-acceptance which Mosheh is scripting?
28:4 BARUCH PERI VITNECHA U PERI ADMATECHA U PHERI VEHEMT'CHA SHEGAR ALAPHEYCHA VA ASHTEROT TSONECHA
28:2 U VA'U ALEYCHA KOL HE BERACHOT HA ELEH VE HISIGUCHA KI TISHMA BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHA
וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַבְּרָכוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ כִּי תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
KJ: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
BN: And all these blessings shall come to you, and you will obtain them, if you will listen to the voice of YHVH your god.
HISIGUCHA: I am unclear what King James intends by "overtake you". The root is NASAG = "to obtain", but used here in the Hiphil form, suggesting that the blessings will come to you without your having to make any effort beyond faith and compliance.
You will/shall notice that King James always uses "shall", where I alternate between "will" and "shall"; my sense in the text is that some of these futures are instructions or prohibitions, and therefore "shall", but others are predictions, and therefore "will" - click here.
28:3 BARUCH ATAH BA IR U VARUCH ATAH BA SADEH
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה בָּעִיר וּבָרוּךְ אַתָּה בַּשָּׂדֶה
BN: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
The blessing is prosperity, but it comes through fertility, metaphored in the milk and honey. The same even more the case in the next verse.
Why do these, and the curses that follow, not end with the Amen that we saw in the last chapter? Is it not also part of the ceremony of covenant-acceptance which Mosheh is scripting?
28:4 BARUCH PERI VITNECHA U PERI ADMATECHA U PHERI VEHEMT'CHA SHEGAR ALAPHEYCHA VA ASHTEROT TSONECHA
בָּרוּךְ פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתְךָ וּפְרִי בְהֶמְתֶּךָ שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרוֹת צֹאנֶךָ
BN: Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, and the fruit of your animals, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.
Fertility. Nothing but fertility. Whenever this was written, it belongs to a world of farmers, not shopkeepers, of rural peasants, not city-based bourgeoises.
28:5 BARUCH TAN'ACHA U MISHARTECHA
בָּרוּךְ טַנְאֲךָ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּךָ
BN: Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough.
28:6 BARUCH ATAH BE VO'ECHA U VARUCH ATAH BE TSET'CHA
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה בְּבֹאֶךָ וּבָרוּךְ אַתָּה בְּצֵאתֶךָ
KJ: Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
BN: Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
BN: Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
Alluding, I assume, to the Shema - cf Deuteronomy 6:7, though the phrase in full can be found at Psalm 121:8.
28:7 YITEN YHVH ET OYEVEYCHA HA KAMIM ALEYCHA NIGAPHIM LEPHANEYCHA BE DERECH ECHAD YETSU ELEYCHA U VE SHIVAH DERACHIM YANUSU LEPHANEYCHA
יִתֵּן יְהוָה אֶת אֹיְבֶיךָ הַקָּמִים עָלֶיךָ נִגָּפִים לְפָנֶיךָ בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד יֵצְאוּ אֵלֶיךָ וּבְשִׁבְעָה דְרָכִים יָנוּסוּ לְפָנֶיךָ
KJ: The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
BN: YHVH will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck down before you; they shall come out against you one way, and shall flee before you seven ways.
NIGAPHIM: "Smitten" fails to convey the poetic symmetry of the Yehudit: "rise up", counterpointed by "struck down", seems to me to achieve that rather better.
28:8 YETSAV YHVH IT'CHA ET HA BERACHAH BA ASAMEYCHA U VE CHOL MISHLACH YADECHA U VERACHECHA BA ARETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA NOTEN LACH
KJ: The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
BN: YHVH will give orders for the blessing to come to you in your store-houses, and in everything that you set your hand to, and he will bless you in the land which YHVH your god is giving you.
28:9 YEKIMCHA YHVH LO LE AM KADOSH KA ASHER NISHBA LACH KI TISHMOR ET MITSVOT YHVH ELOHEYCHA VE HALACHTA BI DERACHAV
KJ: The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
BN: YHVH will establish you as a people set apart for himself, as he has promised you; if you will keep the commandments of YHVH your god, and walk in his ways.
28:10 VE RA'U KOL AMEY HA ARETS KI SHEM YHVH NIKRA ALEYCHA VE YAREYU MIMECHA
KJ: And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
BN: And all the people of the Earth shall see that the name of YHVH is there for you to call upon; and they shall be afraid of you.
And once again, despite the opening statements of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5 and 6:6), it is fear, not love, that drives the cult.
יְצַו יְהוָה אִתְּךָ אֶת הַבְּרָכָה בַּאֲסָמֶיךָ וּבְכֹל מִשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ וּבֵרַכְךָ בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ
KJ: The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
BN: YHVH will give orders for the blessing to come to you in your store-houses, and in everything that you set your hand to, and he will bless you in the land which YHVH your god is giving you.
28:9 YEKIMCHA YHVH LO LE AM KADOSH KA ASHER NISHBA LACH KI TISHMOR ET MITSVOT YHVH ELOHEYCHA VE HALACHTA BI DERACHAV
יְקִימְךָ יְהוָה לוֹ לְעַם קָדוֹשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לָךְ כִּי תִשְׁמֹר אֶת מִצְוֹת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְהָלַכְתָּ בִּדְרָכָיו
BN: YHVH will establish you as a people set apart for himself, as he has promised you; if you will keep the commandments of YHVH your god, and walk in his ways.
28:10 VE RA'U KOL AMEY HA ARETS KI SHEM YHVH NIKRA ALEYCHA VE YAREYU MIMECHA
וְרָאוּ כָּל עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ כִּי שֵׁם יְהוָה נִקְרָא עָלֶיךָ וְיָרְאוּ מִמֶּךָּ
KJ: And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
BN: And all the people of the Earth shall see that the name of YHVH is there for you to call upon; and they shall be afraid of you.
And once again, despite the opening statements of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5 and 6:6), it is fear, not love, that drives the cult.
28:11 VE HOTIRCHA YHVH LE TOVAH BI PHERI VITNECHA U VI PHERI VEHEMTECHA U VI PHERI ADMATECHA AL HA ADAMAH ASHER NISHBA YHVH LA AVOTEYCHA LATET LACH
KJ: And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
BN: And YHVH will shower you with blessings, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, in the land which YHVH swore to your ancestors to give you.
HOTIRCHA: Again it is not obvious how King James arrives at its translation, though HOTIR is a most uncommon form. The intention is "your further care and provision", for which the root might be the same as MATIR = "rain", in which case YHVH would be "raining" blessings on you, and that would make for a splendid poetic image; unfortunately MATIR is spelled with a Tet (ט) rather than a Tav (ת) - but see verse 12, below.
Then there is MATIR ASURIM, in Psalm 146:7, and repeated in the daily Amidah, paragraph 2; "he frees those who are imprisoned"; this does not obviously yield HOTIR in any of its binyanim (click here), but the meaning definitely coincides: the shackles being, metaphorically, "shaken off".
The root is in fact NATAR (נתר), meaning "to tremble" or "to palpitate"; not immediately obvious how that fits here either, but it is also used for the olive harvest: where most fruit are individually picked by hand, the olives are harvested by beating and shaking the tree, to make the ripe olives fall of their own accord, leaving the unripe still on the tree; as in Daniel 4:11. So just like the shackles, YHVH will "shake blessings upon you" - it doesn't really work in English, does it? I have tried to amalgamate both the "rain" and the "olives" in my translation.
28:12 YIPHTACH YHVH LECHA ET OTSARO HA TOV ET HA SHAMAYIM LATET METAR ARTSECHA BE ITO U LEVARECH ET KOL MA'ASEH YADECHA VE HILVITA GOYIM RABIM VE ATAH LO TILVEH
KJ: The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
BN: YHVH will open for you his good treasure the heavens, to send the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
28:13 U NETANCHA YHVH LE ROSH VE LO LE ZANAV VE HAYITA RAK LE MALAH VE LO TIHEYEH LE MATAH KI TISHMA EL MITSVOT YHVH ELOHEYCHA ASHER ANOCHI METSAVCHA HAYOM LISHMOR VE LA'ASOT
וּנְתָנְךָ יְהוָה לְרֹאשׁ וְלֹא לְזָנָב וְהָיִיתָ רַק לְמַעְלָה וְלֹא תִהְיֶה לְמָטָּה כִּי תִשְׁמַע אֶל מִצְוֹת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת
KJ: And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
BN: And YHVH will make you the head, rather than the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you will hearken to the commandments of YHVH your god, which I am commanding you today, to keep them and to do them...
Where there were clearly twelve curses in the previous chapter, each one begun with the word ARUR, it is not so obvious here. BARUCH is the word we are looking fot, and verses 3-6 certainly begin with it. Verses 8 and 12 include the word, though the overall phrasing iis different. But none of the others use it, even though the inference is of something that we would consider a blessing. And what about verse 1? I am including it, for the same reason, but also because it makes the total number of blessings listed here as twelve, matching the curses, as we would expect.
28:12 YIPHTACH YHVH LECHA ET OTSARO HA TOV ET HA SHAMAYIM LATET METAR ARTSECHA BE ITO U LEVARECH ET KOL MA'ASEH YADECHA VE HILVITA GOYIM RABIM VE ATAH LO TILVEH
יִפְתַּח יְהוָה לְךָ אֶת אוֹצָרוֹ הַטּוֹב אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם לָתֵת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ בְּעִתּוֹ וּלְבָרֵךְ אֵת כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶךָ וְהִלְוִיתָ גּוֹיִם רַבִּים וְאַתָּה לֹא תִלְוֶה
BN: YHVH will open for you his good treasure the heavens, to send the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
28:13 U NETANCHA YHVH LE ROSH VE LO LE ZANAV VE HAYITA RAK LE MALAH VE LO TIHEYEH LE MATAH KI TISHMA EL MITSVOT YHVH ELOHEYCHA ASHER ANOCHI METSAVCHA HAYOM LISHMOR VE LA'ASOT
וּנְתָנְךָ יְהוָה לְרֹאשׁ וְלֹא לְזָנָב וְהָיִיתָ רַק לְמַעְלָה וְלֹא תִהְיֶה לְמָטָּה כִּי תִשְׁמַע אֶל מִצְוֹת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת
BN: And YHVH will make you the head, rather than the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you will hearken to the commandments of YHVH your god, which I am commanding you today, to keep them and to do them...
Where there were clearly twelve curses in the previous chapter, each one begun with the word ARUR, it is not so obvious here. BARUCH is the word we are looking fot, and verses 3-6 certainly begin with it. Verses 8 and 12 include the word, though the overall phrasing iis different. But none of the others use it, even though the inference is of something that we would consider a blessing. And what about verse 1? I am including it, for the same reason, but also because it makes the total number of blessings listed here as twelve, matching the curses, as we would expect.
28:14 VE LO TASUR MI KOL HA DEVARIM ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM HAYOM YAMIN U SMOK LALECHET ACHAREY ELOHIM ACHERIM LEAVDAM
וְלֹא תָסוּר מִכָּל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לְעָבְדָם
KJ: 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.
BN: And shall not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods, to serve them.
pey break
28:15 VE HAYAH IM LO TISHMA BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHA LISHMOR LA'ASOT ET KOL MITSVOTAV VE CHUKOTAV ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEHCA HAYOM U VA'U ALEYCHA KOL HA KELALOT HA ELEH VE HISIGUCHA
וְהָיָה אִם לֹא תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַקְּלָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגוּךָ
BN: But it shall come to pass, if you will not hearken to the voice of YHVH your god, to accept to undertake all his instructions and his statutes which I am giving you today, that all these curses shall come upon you, and they will be what you obtain.
HISIGUCHA: At verse 2 I wondered how King James came to its translation; the answer lies here (and again in verse 45). A play on words in the English rather than the Yehudit, but it serves to convey the idea effectively, and the idea is implicit.
28:16 ARUR ATAH BA IR VE ARUR ATAH BA SADEH
KJ: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
BN: Cursed shalt you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
Are these not the curses of Bil'am, which he was supposedly prevented from making (Numbers 22-25) at exactly this same geogrphical location? Are these not the curses which one half of the people shouted from Mount Gerizim, while the other half - or Bil'am himself in that tale - shouted the blessings in verses 3-14 of this chapter, from Mount Eyval? We have to rethink the entire Bil'am story in the light of this.
This is the obverse of the first blessing (verse 3); check if all the curse-verses that follow are in the same order, and of the same order, as the blessings above.
28:17 ARUR TAN'ACHA U MISHARTECHA
KJ: Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
BN: Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough.
See verse 5.
28:18 ARUR PERI VITNECHA U PHERI ADMATECHA SHEGAR ALAPHEYCHA VE ASHTEROT TSONECHA
KJ: Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
BN: Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.
See verse 4 - and then wonder why the curses are not in the same order as the blessings.
28:19 ARUR ATAH BE VO'ECHA VE ARUR ATAH BE TSETECHA
KJ: Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
BN: Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
See verse 6.
28:16 ARUR ATAH BA IR VE ARUR ATAH BA SADEH
אָרוּר אַתָּה בָּעִיר וְאָרוּר אַתָּה בַּשָּׂדֶה
KJ: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
BN: Cursed shalt you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.
Are these not the curses of Bil'am, which he was supposedly prevented from making (Numbers 22-25) at exactly this same geogrphical location? Are these not the curses which one half of the people shouted from Mount Gerizim, while the other half - or Bil'am himself in that tale - shouted the blessings in verses 3-14 of this chapter, from Mount Eyval? We have to rethink the entire Bil'am story in the light of this.
This is the obverse of the first blessing (verse 3); check if all the curse-verses that follow are in the same order, and of the same order, as the blessings above.
28:17 ARUR TAN'ACHA U MISHARTECHA
אָרוּר טַנְאֲךָ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּךָ
KJ: Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
BN: Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough.
See verse 5.
28:18 ARUR PERI VITNECHA U PHERI ADMATECHA SHEGAR ALAPHEYCHA VE ASHTEROT TSONECHA
אָרוּר פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ
BN: Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.
See verse 4 - and then wonder why the curses are not in the same order as the blessings.
28:19 ARUR ATAH BE VO'ECHA VE ARUR ATAH BE TSETECHA
אָרוּר אַתָּה בְּבֹאֶךָ וְאָרוּר אַתָּה בְּצֵאתֶךָ
BN: Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.
See verse 6.
28:20 YESHALACH YHVH BECHA ET HA ME'ERAH ET HA MEHUMAH VE ET HA MIGERET BE CHOL MISHLACH YADECHA ASHER TA'ASEH AD HISHAMED'CHA VE AD AVADECHA MAHER MI PENEY RO'A MA'ALALEYCHA ASHER AZAVTANI
יְשַׁלַּח יְהוָה בְּךָ אֶת הַמְּאֵרָה אֶת הַמְּהוּמָה וְאֶת הַמִּגְעֶרֶת בְּכָל מִשְׁלַח יָדְךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה עַד הִשָּׁמֶדְךָ וְעַד אֲבָדְךָ מַהֵר מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ מַעֲלָלֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר עֲזַבְתָּנִי
KJ: The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
BN: YHVH will send upon you cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you have been destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, whereby you have forsaken me.
AZAVTANI: Note the sudden switch from 3rd person YHVH to first person "me".
Just as the format of the blessings changed, moving or dropping the word BARUCH, so too here.
This feels like it ought to be the obverse of verse 7, but that is rather more obvious in verse 25.
28:21 YEDABEK YHVH BECHA ET HA DAVER AD KALOTO OT'CHA MEY AL HA ADAMAH ASHER ATAH VA SHAMAH LE RISHTAH
יַדְבֵּק יְהוָה בְּךָ אֶת הַדָּבֶר עַד כַּלֹּתוֹ אֹתְךָ מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
KJ: The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
BN: YHVH will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, to which you are going to possess it.
Essentially this is the obverse of verse 8; but for the next several verses, the same essence will continue to be distilled.
BN: YHVH will make the pestilence cleave to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, to which you are going to possess it.
Essentially this is the obverse of verse 8; but for the next several verses, the same essence will continue to be distilled.
28:22 YAKECHA YHVH BA SHACHEPHET U VA KADACHAT U VA DALEKET U VA CHARCHUR U VA CHEREV U VA SHIDAPHON U VA YERAKON U REDAPHUCHA AD AVDECHA
יַכְּכָה יְהוָה בַּשַּׁחֶפֶת וּבַקַּדַּחַת וּבַדַּלֶּקֶת וּבַחַרְחֻר וּבַחֶרֶב וּבַשִּׁדָּפוֹן וּבַיֵּרָקוֹן וּרְדָפוּךָ עַד אָבְדֶךָ
KJ: The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
BN: YHVH will smite you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.
Even at his most sulky and tantrumish, this is not Mosheh's way of berating his people. This is Hyde Park Corner in evangelism season - one of the later prophets. It needs to be read in contrast with the other extreme, the extreme of promises, when Mosheh Madoff delivered his Ponzi scheme (see for example Exodus 23:25 ff, and even more so Leviticus 26:3 ff).
28:23 VE HAYU SHAMEYCHA ASHER AL ROSHECHA NECHOSHET VE HA ARETS ASHER TACHTEYHA BARZEL
וְהָיוּ שָׁמֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר עַל רֹאשְׁךָ נְחֹשֶׁת וְהָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תַּחְתֶּיךָ בַּרְזֶל
BN: And the skies that are above your head shall turn to brass, and the Earth that is beneath you shall turn to iron.
NECHOSHET: The English misses out on a vital play-on-words here, one which endorses my screenplay at the start of the previous chapter. "Brass" is the correct translation, and brass is forged in the same fiery furnace that will later transmute the worm of fertility into the beast of Armageddon: ha-Satan becoming Satan, Lucifer, the Devil. And how else was Mosheh's bronze banner forged, if not in the same fiery forge, man-made small-scale model of YHVH's fiery volcano? Nechushtan, from the same root. Looming above him as he speaks, his audience would not have missed that word-play.
28:24 YITEN YHVH ET METAR ARTSECHA AVAK VE APHAR MIN HA SHAMAYIM YERED ALEYCHA AD HISHAMDECHA
יִתֵּן יְהוָה אֶת מְטַר אַרְצְךָ אָבָק וְעָפָר מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם יֵרֵד עָלֶיךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ
BN: And YHVH will turn the rain of your land into powder and dust; from the skies it will come down on you, until you have been destroyed.
METAR: Yet another volcanic eruption - or is he predicting the mushroom-cloud?
28:25 YITENCHA YHVH NIGAPH LIPHNEY OYEVEYCHA BE DERECH ECHAD TETS'E ELAV U VE SHIVA DERACHIM TANUS LEPHANAV VE HAYITA LE ZA'AVAH LE CHOL MAMLECHOT HA ARETS
יִתֶּנְךָ יְהוָה נִגָּף לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֶיךָ בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד תֵּצֵא אֵלָיו וּבְשִׁבְעָה דְרָכִים תָּנוּס לְפָנָיו וְהָיִיתָ לְזַעֲוָה לְכֹל מַמְלְכוֹת הָאָרֶץ
BN: YHVH will cause you to be smitten before your enemies; you will go out one way to fight against them, but you will flee in seven directions to get away from them; and you will become be a byword for maltreatment among all the kingdoms of the Earth.
LE ZA'AVAH: Yes, I think my translation merits congratulation; accurate as etymology, accurate as history. The other uses of the term are in Ezekiel 23:46 - a definite candidate for the writing of the whole of this - but even more so Jeremiah 15:4, 24:9, while both 29:18 and 34:17 bear remarkable resemblances to this passage.
This is the obverse of verse 7.
28:26 VE HAYETAH NIVLAT'ECHA LE MA'ACHAL LE CHOL OPH HA SHAMAYIM U LE VEHEMAT HA ARETS VE EYN MACHARID
KJ: And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
BN: And your carcasses shall be food for all the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the Earth, and there shall be no one to scare them away.
MACHARID: One of the responsibilities for any translator, beyond rendering meaning, is to choose words that are appropriate in the arrival as well as the departure language. So, here, there is no such thing in English as a "fraycrow", nor, given some of the other translations, a "frightcrow"; but there is a "scarecrow".
וְהָיְתָה נִבְלָתְךָ לְמַאֲכָל לְכָל עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְבֶהֱמַת הָאָרֶץ וְאֵין מַחֲרִיד
BN: And your carcasses shall be food for all the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the Earth, and there shall be no one to scare them away.
MACHARID: One of the responsibilities for any translator, beyond rendering meaning, is to choose words that are appropriate in the arrival as well as the departure language. So, here, there is no such thing in English as a "fraycrow", nor, given some of the other translations, a "frightcrow"; but there is a "scarecrow".
28:27 YAK'CHA YHVH BI SHECHIN MITSRAYIM U VA APHELIM U VA TECHORIM U VA GARAV U VE CHARES ASHER LO TUCHAL LEHERAPH'E
יַכְּכָה יְהוָה בִּשְׁחִין מִצְרַיִם ובעפלים (וּבַטְּחֹרִים) וּבַגָּרָב וּבֶחָרֶס אֲשֶׁר לֹא תוּכַל לְהֵרָפֵא
BN: YHVH will smite you with the boil of Mitsrayim, and with emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, all of which are incurable.
SHECHIN MITSRAYIM: See Exodus 9:9, though, based on the description of Mir-Yam (Miriam)'s leprosy in Numbers 12, the Exodus description does sound as though an early volcanic eruption had left lava-dust behind in Avaris.
APHELIM: Are emerods an archaic way of saying haemmoroids? Somewhere I seem to recall seeing them described as, or maybe even artificed as, mice.
TECHORIM: In some versions on this word is bracketed, in others (here for example) both this word and APHELIM. See my note to verse 30.
And once again, this is not Mosheh, but some later Prophet, fire-and-brimstoning from his pulpit in the city gate. The language, the tone, the nature of the affliction, none of it accords with anything we have heard from him previously, even in his most Trumpian moments.
28:28 YAK'CHA YHVH VE SHIGA'ON U VE IVARON U VE TIMCHON LEVAV
יַכְּכָה יְהוָה בְּשִׁגָּעוֹן וּבְעִוָּרוֹן וּבְתִמְהוֹן לֵבָב
KJ: The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
BN: YHVH will smite you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart.
SHIGA'ON: Psalm 7:1 is called a Shiga'on, and the word also occurs in Chavakuk (Habbakuk) 3:1 - in the plural on that occasion, as Shigyonot (שִׁגְיֹנֽוֹת), alluding to the form and structure of Psalm 7 - and in 2 Kings 9:20. The word appears to be non-Yehudit, and contains in each case a sense of hysteria bordering on madness. This is reflected in modern Ivrit, where it is used idiomatically, in much the way that a 1960's hippie might have used "crazy".
28:29 VE HAYITA MEMASHESH VA TSAHARAYIM KA ASHER YEMASHESH HA IVER BA APHELAH VE LO TATSLI'ACH ET DERACHEYCHA VE HAYITA ACH ASHUK VE GAZUL KOL HA YAMIM VE EYN MOSHI'A
וְהָיִיתָ מְמַשֵּׁשׁ בַּצָּהֳרַיִם כַּאֲשֶׁר יְמַשֵּׁשׁ הַעִוֵּר בָּאֲפֵלָה וְלֹא תַצְלִיחַ אֶת דְּרָכֶיךָ וְהָיִיתָ אַךְ עָשׁוּק וְגָזוּל כָּל הַיָּמִים וְאֵין מוֹשִׁיעַ
KJ: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
BN: And you will grope at noonday, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will be unable to make your ways prosperous; you will be nothing but oppressed and robbed for all time, and there will be no one to save you.
28:30 ISHAH TE'ARES VE ISH ACHER YISHGALEYNA (YISHKAVEYNA) BAYIT TIVNEH VE LO TESHEV BO KEREM TITA VE LO TECHALELENU
אִשָּׁה תְאָרֵשׂ וְאִישׁ אַחֵר ישגלנה (יִשְׁכָּבֶנָּה) בַּיִת תִּבְנֶה וְלֹא תֵשֵׁב בּוֹ כֶּרֶם תִּטַּע וְלֹא תְחַלְּלֶנּוּ
KJ: Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
BN: You will betroth a wife, and another man will lie with her; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not be able to take advantage of its fruit.
TE'ARES: Some translations go for "marry", others prefer "betroth", an issue as to whether both Kiddushin and Nisu'in have taken place; the answer is usually best sought in other usages, and on this ocasion there are several: Exodus 22:15, Deuteronomy 20:7, and 22:25 ff, 2 Samuel 3:14, all of which make clear that it is betrothal.
YISHGALEYNA (YISHKAVEYNA): See also verse 27. This is not simply a question over the letters, as in most of the bracketed words in the Biblical texts, but over the very choice of word and its meaning. The brackets, like the system of pointing, belong to the Masoretic version of the text, for which click here.
As to why, Gesenius states it very clearly: "The Masoretes have in every instance substituted for this verb, which they regarded as obscene". Yesha-Yah and Yirme-Yah would clearly agree; cf Isaiah 13:16 and Jeremiah 3:2. And yes, words change meaning with time, but Zechar-Yah was one of the three Prophets of the epoch in which the Tanach was written down, and Zechariah 14:2 uses it precisely as Yesha-Yah and Yirme-Yah did two centuries previousl. But still, and this is why I am spending so long trying to unravel this: the royal consort, the First Lady, was herself known as the SHEGAL, and it is hard to imagine that David regarded himself as ravishing or raping Michal, his first consort, or Bat Sheva, the mother of Shelomoh. See Psalm 45:10, and even more see Nehemiah 2:6 - this latter because it too belongs to the epoch of the writing of the Tanach. My only speculation is that the word was the formal name of the queen-consort, but at some point, because of the behaviour of some holder of the title, perhaps the perceived means of acquiring it, the term acquired a vulgar usage, and the slang stuck.
28:31 SHORCHA TAVU'ACH LE EYNEYCHA VE LO TOCHAL MIMENU CHAMORCHA GAZUL MI LEPHANEYCHA VE LO YASHUV LACH TSONCHA NETUNOT LE OYEVEYCHA VE EYN LECHA MOSHI'A
KJ: Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
BN: Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat of it; your ass will be violently seized while you are standing there, and it will not be restored to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no means of recovering it.
MOSHI'A: The word from which we should take the concept of Messiah, though in fact Christians take it erroneously from MASHIYACH, which was the act of anointment of a king or Kohen (see for example 1 Samuel 16:3). The names Yehoshu'a (Joshua), Hoshe'a (Hosea) and Yesha-Yah (Isaiah) all derive from the same root, as does Yeshu (Jesus), which is a diminutive, and of course Jesse, at that link, which is Yishai.
28:32 BANEYCHA U VENOTEYCHA NETUNIM LE AM ACHER VE EYNEYCHA RO'OT VE CHALOT ALEYHEM KOL HAYOM VE EYN LE EL YADECHA
KJ: Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.
BN: Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, and your eyes will look, but they will fail with yearning for them all day long; and there will be no strength in your hand.
Just as an interesting sociological sideline, this verse depends on there being some people who practice patrilocal, and others who practice matrilocal marriage, as we witnessed throughout the Book of Genesis.
28:31 SHORCHA TAVU'ACH LE EYNEYCHA VE LO TOCHAL MIMENU CHAMORCHA GAZUL MI LEPHANEYCHA VE LO YASHUV LACH TSONCHA NETUNOT LE OYEVEYCHA VE EYN LECHA MOSHI'A
שׁוֹרְךָ טָבוּחַ לְעֵינֶיךָ וְלֹא תֹאכַל מִמֶּנּוּ חֲמֹרְךָ גָּזוּל מִלְּפָנֶיךָ וְלֹא יָשׁוּב לָךְ צֹאנְךָ נְתֻנוֹת לְאֹיְבֶיךָ וְאֵין לְךָ מוֹשִׁיעַ
BN: Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat of it; your ass will be violently seized while you are standing there, and it will not be restored to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no means of recovering it.
MOSHI'A: The word from which we should take the concept of Messiah, though in fact Christians take it erroneously from MASHIYACH, which was the act of anointment of a king or Kohen (see for example 1 Samuel 16:3). The names Yehoshu'a (Joshua), Hoshe'a (Hosea) and Yesha-Yah (Isaiah) all derive from the same root, as does Yeshu (Jesus), which is a diminutive, and of course Jesse, at that link, which is Yishai.
28:32 BANEYCHA U VENOTEYCHA NETUNIM LE AM ACHER VE EYNEYCHA RO'OT VE CHALOT ALEYHEM KOL HAYOM VE EYN LE EL YADECHA
בָּנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ נְתֻנִים לְעַם אַחֵר וְעֵינֶיךָ רֹאוֹת וְכָלוֹת אֲלֵיהֶם כָּל הַיּוֹם וְאֵין לְאֵל יָדֶךָ
BN: Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people, and your eyes will look, but they will fail with yearning for them all day long; and there will be no strength in your hand.
Just as an interesting sociological sideline, this verse depends on there being some people who practice patrilocal, and others who practice matrilocal marriage, as we witnessed throughout the Book of Genesis.
VE EYN LE EL YADECHA: Alluding to Psalm 137:5, which of course was written in Babylon, circa 550 BCE (see my note to the next verse).
28:33 PERI ADMAT'CHA VE CHOL YEGIYACHAH YOCHAL AM ASHER LO YADATA VE HAYITA RAK ASHUK VE RATSUTS KOL HA YAMIM
פְּרִי אַדְמָתְךָ וְכָל יְגִיעֲךָ יֹאכַל עַם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדָעְתָּ וְהָיִיתָ רַק עָשׁוּק וְרָצוּץ כָּל הַיָּמִים
BN: The fruit of your land, and all your labours - a nation which you do not know will eat up; and you will simply be oppressed and broken down forever.
As commented above, this is not Mosheh, but from the tone, the language, the tub-thumping scare-mongering, it could be any one of the later Prophets, predicting Sennacherib or Nebuchadnezzar, or even one of the Ezraic period, worrying about the status of the cold peace between the Greeks and Persians.
28:34 VE HAYITA MESHUGA MI MAREH AYNEYCHA ASHER TIREH
וְהָיִיתָ מְשֻׁגָּע מִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה
BN: So that you will be driven mad by the sights that you will see before your eyes.
28:35 YAK'CHA YHVH BI SHECHIN RA AL HA BIRCHAYIM VE AL HA SHOKAYIM ASHER LO TUCHAL LEHERAPH'E MI KAPH RAGLECHA VE AD KADKADECHA
יַכְּכָה יְהוָה בִּשְׁחִין רָע עַל הַבִּרְכַּיִם וְעַל הַשֹּׁקַיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא תוּכַל לְהֵרָפֵא מִכַּף רַגְלְךָ וְעַד קָדְקֳדֶךָ
KJ: The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
BN: YHVH will smite you on the knees, and on the legs, with a sore boil, from which there will be no cure, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
The starting-point of medicine throughout much of the world, right up until the present day: the concept that sickness, illness, deformity, disease, are all a consequence of sin, a punishment for disobedience to divine law, and therefore the only viable cure is not anti-biotics or a vaccine, but two "Ave Marias" and a Selichah, preferably accompanied by a sizeable donation in the handle of the pan.
28:36 YOLECH YHVH OT'CHA VE ET MALKECHA ASHER TAKIM ALEYCHA EL GOY ASHER LO YADATA ATAH VA AVOTEYCHA VE AVADETA SHAM ELOHIM ACHERIM ETS VA AVEN
יוֹלֵךְ יְהוָה אֹתְךָ וְאֶת מַלְכְּךָ אֲשֶׁר תָּקִים עָלֶיךָ אֶל גּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתָּ אַתָּה וַאֲבֹתֶיךָ וְעָבַדְתָּ שָּׁם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עֵץ וָאָבֶן
KJ: The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
BN: YHVH will bring you, and your king who you will set over you, to a nation that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone.
We have recognised that this is in the style and manner of the later Prophets; is this verse also a hint of the date of writing? Here we are in Babylon, in captivity, and this is why..? If so, this would have to be Yechezke-El (Ezekiel). But any prophet could have used the same technique, of nostradaming history, if I may phrase it that way; taking a piece of known history, and putting it in the mouth of one of the ancients as a prediction, and then using that prediction to prophesy the repetition of history.
28:37 VE HAYITAH LE SHAMAH LE MASHAL U LI SHENINAH BE CHOL HA AMIM ASHER YENAHEGECHA YHVH SHAMAH
וְהָיִיתָ לְשַׁמָּה לְמָשָׁל וְלִשְׁנִינָה בְּכֹל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר יְנַהֶגְךָ יְהוָה שָׁמָּה
KJ: And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
BN: And you will become a source of amazement, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples to whom YHVH will lead you away.
28:38 ZERA RAV TOTSI HA SADEH U ME'AT TE'ESOPH KI YACHSELENU HA ARBEH
BN: And you will become a source of amazement, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples to whom YHVH will lead you away.
28:38 ZERA RAV TOTSI HA SADEH U ME'AT TE'ESOPH KI YACHSELENU HA ARBEH
זֶרַע רַב תּוֹצִיא הַשָּׂדֶה וּמְעַט תֶּאֱסֹף כִּי יַחְסְלֶנּוּ הָאַרְבֶּה
KJ: Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
BN: You will carry much seed out into the field, but you will gather little in; for the locust will consume it.
Alluding to the eighth of the ten plagues of Egypt, in Exodus 10:4.
28:39 KERAMIM TITA VE AVADETA VE YAYIN LO TISHTEH VE LO TE'EGOR KI TOCHELENU HA TOLA'AT
כְּרָמִים תִּטַּע וְעָבָדְתָּ וְיַיִן לֹא תִשְׁתֶּה וְלֹא תֶאֱגֹר כִּי תֹאכְלֶנּוּ הַתֹּלָעַת
BN: You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms will eat them.
Always a sign that the creative juices are drying up, and that the time has come to end the poem or the tirade and move on, when you start repeating yourself - see verse 30 (commentary-writers are exempt from this).
28:40 ZEYTIM YIHEYU LECHA BE CHOL GEVULECHA VE SHEMEN LO TASUCH KI YISHAL ZEYTECHA
זֵיתִים יִהְיוּ לְךָ בְּכָל גְּבוּלֶךָ וְשֶׁמֶן לֹא תָסוּךְ כִּי יִשַּׁל זֵיתֶךָ
BN: You will have olive-trees throughout all your borders, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives will drop off.
28:41 BANIM U VANOT TOLID VE LO YIHEYU LACH KI YELCHU BA SHEVI
בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת תּוֹלִיד וְלֹא יִהְיוּ לָךְ כִּי יֵלְכוּ בַּשֶּׁבִי
BN: You will beget sons and daughters, but they will not be yours; for they will be taken into captivity.
Always a sign that the creative juices are drying up, and that the time has come to end the poem or the tirade and move on, when you start repeating yourself - see verse 32 (commentary-writers are exempt from this - see verse 39).
28:42 KOL EYTSECHA U PHERI ADMATECHA YEYARESH HA TSELATSAL
כָּל עֵצְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ יְיָרֵשׁ הַצְּלָצַל
KJ: All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
BN: All your trees and the fruit of your land will be filled with crickets.
Always a sign that... no, I shan't... just: see verse 38, and then note that this is TSELATSAL, but that was ARBEH, so translating both as "locust" doesn't make logical sense.
TSELATSAL is problematic because it appears to have three very different meanings.
a) A TSEL is a shadow, and there is a poetic tradition that doubles words to create an "ishified" meaning - see my note at Leviticus 11:9 which talks about ADAMDAM for "reddish" and YARAKRAK for "greenish", et al; would this then be TSELTSEL (it works without the pointing), meaning "shadowy" or even "deep shadows". Given that YEYARESH means "to occupy", this could then be translated as "all your trees and the fruit of your land will simply disappear into the shadows."
b) TSILTSAL (again this works without the pointing) is a splendidly onomatopoeiac word, giving the sound of the bells put on the ankles of ceremonial horses, or the louder clashing of metal on metal when armies engage (Isaiah 18:1, which also makes our connection with TSEL as "shadow"), or the sound of cymbals, or they might be castanets, in Psalm 150:5 and 2 Samuel 6:5. But this offers nothing of any meaningfulness to our current verse.
c) No, wait, perhaps it does, because there is a creature in Nature which does with its wings exactly what castanets and cymbals do, which is to make a very particular noise; and that creature is not the locust, but the cricket (probably the reason why that game has the name it does too, because the sound made when the bat hits the ball...)
28:43 HA GER ASHER BE KIRBECHA YA'ALEH ALEYCHA MALAH MALAH VE ATAH TERED MATAH MATAH
הַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבְּךָ יַעֲלֶה עָלֶיךָ מַעְלָה מָּעְלָה וְאַתָּה תֵרֵד מַטָּה מָּטָּה
BN: The stranger who is in your midst will rise up above you higher and higher; and you will come down lower and lower.
28:44 HU YALVECHA VE ATAH LO TALVENU HU YIHEYEH LE ROSH VE ATAH TIHEYEH LE ZANAV
הוּא יַלְוְך וְאַתָּה לֹא תַלְוֶנּוּ הוּא יִהְיֶה לְרֹאשׁ וְאַתָּה תִּהְיֶה לְזָנָב
KJ: He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.BN: He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head, and you will be the tail.
See my note to verse 39, and then to verse 13, above.
28:45 U VA'U ALEYCHA KOL HA KELALOT HA ELEH U REDAPHUCHA VE HISIGUCHA AD HISHAMDAM KI LO SHAMATA BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHA LISHMOR MITSVOTAV VE CHUKOTAV ASHER TSIVCHA
וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל הַקְּלָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וּרְדָפוּךָ וְהִשִּׂיגוּךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ כִּי לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו אֲשֶׁר צִוָּךְ
KJ: Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
BN: And all these curses will come upon you, and will pursue you, and overtake you, until you have been destroyed; because you did not hearken to the voice of YHVH your god, to keep his commandments and his statutes as he commanded you.
28:46 VE HAYU VECHA LE OT U LE MOPHET U VE ZARACHA AD OLAM
וְהָיוּ בְךָ לְאוֹת וּלְמוֹפֵת וּבְזַרְעֲךָ עַד עוֹלָם
BN: And they will be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and upon your seed for ever.
OT U LE MOPHET: The OTIYOT first appeared at Genesis 1:14, and are the original of what would become MEL'ACHIM or "angels" later on - the light from the stars providing date-markers for cosmic events, and for feasts fasts and festivals on Earth, as well as horoscopal predictions and excuses to wish people "mazal tov" ("may the constellations allign in your favour"). For MOPHET see my notes at Exodus 7:9.
28:47 TACHAT ASHER LO AVADETA ET YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE SIMCHAH U VE TUV LEVAV MEY ROV KOL
תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָבַדְתָּ אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּשִׂמְחָה וּבְטוּב לֵבָב מֵרֹב כֹּל
BN: Because you did not serve YHVH your god with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things.
TACHAT: As with the medical issues of verse 35, if there is an eclipse, or a comet is seen flying by, or a supernova tapers out, or meteoric storms take place in constellation Lyra just before Pesach - it is your fault, some sin of yours, or your fellow humans.
AVADETA: Serve? Or worship?
28:48 VE AVADETA ET OYEVEYCHA ASHER YESHALCHENU YHVH BACH BE RA'AV U VE TSAMAH U VE EYROM U VE CHOSER KOL VE NATAN OL BARZEL AL TSAVARECHA AD HISHMIDO OTACH
וְעָבַדְתָּ אֶת אֹיְבֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר יְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ יְהוָה בָּךְ בְּרָעָב וּבְצָמָא וּבְעֵירֹם וּבְחֹסֶר כֹּל וְנָתַן עֹל בַּרְזֶל עַל צַוָּארֶךָ עַד הִשְׁמִידוֹ אֹתָךְ
KJ: Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
BN: Therefore you will serve your enemy whom YHVH will send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he will put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you.
28:49 YISA YHVH ALEYCHA GOY MEY RACHOK MI KETS'E HA ARETS KA ASHER YIDEH HA NASHER GOY ASHER LO TISHMA LESHONO
BN: Therefore you will serve your enemy whom YHVH will send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he will put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you.
28:49 YISA YHVH ALEYCHA GOY MEY RACHOK MI KETS'E HA ARETS KA ASHER YIDEH HA NASHER GOY ASHER LO TISHMA LESHONO
יִשָּׂא יְהוָה עָלֶיךָ גּוֹי מֵרָחֹק מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִדְאֶה הַנָּשֶׁר גּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לֹא תִשְׁמַע לְשֹׁנוֹ
KJ: The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
BN: YHVH will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the Earth, as the eagle swoops down; a nation whose tongue you will not understand...
NASHER: Eagle or vulture? The root simply suggests "tearing apart", so any bird of prey could be intended, but many translations go for vulture, and most scholars (as per the link) favour vulture because of Micah 1:16 - but there are bald eagles, just as much as there are bald vultures, aren't there (click here)? Modern Ivrit definitely regards NESHER as an eagle, preferring IYT (עיט) for vulture.
28:50 GOY AZ PANIM ASHER LO YISA PHANIM LE ZAKEN VE NA'AR LO YACHON
BN: A nation of fierce countenance, which will not respect the person of the elderly, nor show favour to the young.
28:51 VE ACHAL PERI VEHEMTECHA U PHERI ADMATECHA AD HISHAMDACH ASHER LO YASHIR LECHA DAGAN TIROS VE YITS'HAR SHEGAR ALAPHEYCHA VE ASHTEROT TSONECHA AD HA'AVIDO OTACH
וְאָכַל פְּרִי בְהֶמְתְּךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתְךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַשְׁאִיר לְךָ דָּגָן תִּירוֹשׁ וְיִצְהָר שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ עַד הַאֲבִידוֹ אֹתָךְ
BN: And he will eat the fruit of your cattle, and the fruit of your ground, until you have been destroyed; nor will he leave you any corn, wine or oil, nor will there be any increase of your cattle, or of the young of your flock, until he has caused you to perish.
Ibid, ditto, op cit and verbatim. See verse 39! Several previous verses getting the repeat treatment here.
28:52 VE HETSAR LECHA BE CHOL SHE'AREYCHA AD REDET CHOMOTEYCHA HA GEVOHOT VE HA BETSUROT ASHER ATAH BOTEYACH BA HEN BE CHOL ARTSECHA VE HETSAR LECHA BE CHOL SHE'AREYCHA BE CHOL ARTSECHA ASHER NATAN YHVH ELOHEYCHA LACH
וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ עַד רֶדֶת חֹמֹתֶיךָ הַגְּבֹהֹת וְהַבְּצֻרוֹת אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹּטֵחַ בָּהֵן בְּכָל אַרְצֶךָ וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּכָל אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָךְ
KJ: And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
BN: And he will besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you place your trust, throughout all your land; and he will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which YHVH your god has given you.
And now, so far have the grapevines been purloined and the fruit trees cricketed, he is even repeating himself within the same verse. Clearly a Prophet who has been cursed!
28:53 VE ACHALTA PHERI VITNECHA BESAR BANEYCHA U VENOTEYCHA ASHER NATAN LECHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE MATSUR U VE MATSOK ASHER YATSIK LECHA OYEVECHA
KJ: And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
BN: And you will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom YHVH your god has given you; in the siege and in the distress that it causes, with which your enemies will distress you.
And now, for the first time, an allusion to a Prophet that we can trace with certainty, though whether this is a still later Prophet being "influenced" by him, or Yesha-Yah himself speaking... see Isaiah 9:19 and/or 49:26.
וְאָכַלְתָּ פְרִי בִטְנְךָ בְּשַׂר בָּנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּמָצוֹר וּבְמָצוֹק אֲשֶׁר יָצִיק לְךָ אֹיְבֶךָ
KJ: And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
BN: And you will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom YHVH your god has given you; in the siege and in the distress that it causes, with which your enemies will distress you.
And now, for the first time, an allusion to a Prophet that we can trace with certainty, though whether this is a still later Prophet being "influenced" by him, or Yesha-Yah himself speaking... see Isaiah 9:19 and/or 49:26.
28:54 HA ISH HA RACH VE HE ANOG ME'OD TERA EYNO VE ACHIV U VE ESHET CHEYKO U VE YETER BANAV ASHER YOTIR
הָאִישׁ הָרַךְ בְּךָ וְהֶעָנֹג מְאֹד תֵּרַע עֵינוֹ בְאָחִיו וּבְאֵשֶׁת חֵיקוֹ וּבְיֶתֶר בָּנָיו אֲשֶׁר יוֹתִיר
BN: The man who is gentle among you, and very delicate, he shall turn an evil eye against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the last of his children that remain to him...
RACH: (lingua in maxillam): I have to reject the KJ's translation of this as "tender". Meat that is tender has not been cooked sufficiently, but the last verse made clear that this was cannibalism, and in cannibalism the meat is eaten entirely raw.
EYNO: As in the very Egyptian concept of the "evil eye" - the link explains both the blessing and the curse attached to it, and we need both to understand the concept, not just fully, but specifically in the context of this chapter.
28:55 MI TET LE ACHAD MEY HEM MI BESAR BANAV ASHER YOCHEL MI BLI HISHIR LO KOL BE MATSOR U VE MATSOK ASHER YATSIK LECHA OYIVCHA BE CHOL SHE'AREYCHA
מִתֵּת לְאַחַד מֵהֶם מִבְּשַׂר בָּנָיו אֲשֶׁר יֹאכֵל מִבְּלִי הִשְׁאִיר לוֹ כֹּל בְּמָצוֹר וּבְמָצוֹק אֲשֶׁר יָצִיק לְךָ אֹיִבְךָ בְּכָל שְׁעָרֶיךָ
BN: And will not give any part of them, any of the flesh of his children whom he intends to eat, because he has nothing left; neither in the siege nor in the distress of the siege, with which your enemy will straiten you in all your gates.
ME MATSOR U BE MATSOK: Sounds like an idiom, rather than something we should translate literally, though it is not an idiom thatwe have encountered before, or will afterwards. Both of the roots have double-meanings. MATSOR in 2 Chronicles 11:11 and 14:5 being a bulwark, the keystones in the fortification of a building or a city-wall, which is why the word gets the secondary maning "siege"; and in Isaiah 29:3 the METSORAH is the mound built up outside the city-wall to enable the besiegers to assail the city, as it is in Deuteronomy 20:20 (though masculine there). MATSOK does something similar, being a column built up out of the earth, as in 1 Samuel 2:8, or a more natural column in 1 Samuel 14:5. But Ezekiel 4:8 uses MATSOR to mean "distress" (some translations still go for "siege" though the context definitely infers "distress"), presumably another of those words, like SHEGAL above, that get a colloquial usage because of the circumstances, as we might talk about feeling "blitzed" after days of inbcessant rain, or describe quarantine during Covid in prison terms, as "lockdown". So also with MATSOK, which appears in Psalm 119:143 and, most usefully to us of all of these, because it seems that we may have tracked down the author, or at least the source of all of this, at last - Jeremiah 19:9 as "distress".
וְהַֽאֲכַלְתִּ֞ים אֶת בְּשַׂ֣ר בְּנֵיהֶ֗ם וְאֵת֙ בְּשַׂ֣ר בְּנֹתֵיהֶ֔ם וְאִ֥ישׁ בְּשַׂר רֵעֵ֖הוּ יֹאכֵ֑לוּ בְּמָצוֹר֙ וּבְמָצ֔וֹק אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָצִ֧יקוּ לָהֶ֛ם אֹיְבֵיהֶ֖ם וּמְבַקְשֵׁ֥י נַפְשָֽׁם
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall devour one another’s flesh—because of the desperate straits to which they will be reduced by their enemies, who seek their life.”
Thus both words do not only spell almost identically, and sound almost identically, but they have the absolutely identical double-meanings - and are thus ripe for the sort of word-games beloved of the Prophets.
And then add a third curiosity - that MATSOR is also the correct name for Lower Egypt, the very region of the Nile Delta from which Mosheh and the Habiru started on this journey - cf Isaiah 19:6 and 37:25 (the same as 2 Kings 19:24). Total coincidence I am sure.
28:56 HA RACHAH VECHA VE HA ANUGAH ASHER LO NISTAH CHAPH RAGLAH HATSEG AL HA ARETS MEY HIT'ANEG U ME ROCH TERA EYNAH BE ISH CHEYKAH U VI VENAH U VE VITAH
הָרַכָּה בְךָ וְהָעֲנֻגָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא נִסְּתָה כַף רַגְלָהּ הַצֵּג עַל הָאָרֶץ מֵהִתְעַנֵּג וּמֵרֹךְ תֵּרַע עֵינָהּ בְּאִישׁ חֵיקָהּ וּבִבְנָהּ וּבְבִתָּהּ
KJ: The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
BN: The most gentle and delicate woman among you, who would not set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicacy and gentility, her eye shall be evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter...
Does the first part of this verse describe a Yisra-Eli equivalent of the geisha girl? Women whose feet were bound, so that they could only walk on tip-toe, as ballet dancers do, as kings and emperors and their wives do, to show that they are superior beings, representatives of the gods and goddesses on Earth. Something of the same sort is going on in the births of both Ya'akov (Genesis 25:21-26) and Achilles, and quite probably Oedipus as well - the reason for his name, which means "swollen-foot".
28:57 U VE SHILYATAH HA YOTSET MI BEYN RAGLEYHA U VE VANEYHA ASHER TELED KI TOCHLEM BE CHOSER KOL BA SATER BE MATSOR U VE MATSOK ASHER YATSIK LECHA OYIVCHA BI SHE'AREYCHA
וּבְשִׁלְיָתָהּ הַיּוֹצֵת מִבֵּין רַגְלֶיהָ וּבְבָנֶיהָ אֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵד כִּי תֹאכְלֵם בְּחֹסֶר כֹּל בַּסָּתֶר בְּמָצוֹר וּבְמָצוֹק אֲשֶׁר יָצִיק לְךָ אֹיִבְךָ בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ
KJ: And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
BN: And against her afterbirth that comes out from between her legs, and against her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of anything else in secret; in the siege and in her distress, with which your enemy will distress you in your gates.
RAGLEYCHA: How genteel indeed! Like ankles in Queen Anne's time, there are certain things that just can't be said, because humans are far too delicate to know of their existence; so the afterbirth comes out between her feet, not her legs - I think I shall put Frida Kahlo's painting "My Birth" in here as an illustration! But the euphemism is in the King James translation, not the Yehudit, so a mere link will have to do (for those who have the guts - pun intended - to look at it). And I presume it was from this chapter that Dante drew his inspiration, as well as some of his language, for the tale of Ugolino in Canto 33 of the Inferno.
28:58 IM LO TISHMOR LA'ASOT ET KOL DIVREY HA TORAH HA ZOT HA KETUVIM BA SEPHER HA ZEH LE YIRAH ET HA SHEM HA NICHBAD VE HA NORA HA ZEH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHA
אִם לֹא תִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת הַכְּתֻבִים בַּסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה לְיִרְאָה אֶת הַשֵּׁם הַנִּכְבָּד וְהַנּוֹרָא הַזֶּה אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
BN: If you will not undertake to carry out all the words of this law that are written on this scroll, that you may fear this glorious and awful name, YHVH, your god.
BA SEPHER HA ZEH: How can the translators render this as "this book" when they surely know that books hadn't been invented yet, that all documents of this epoch, if written down at all, were written on strips of papyrus and rolled into scrolls?
28:59 VE HIPHLA YHVH ET MAKOT'CHA VE ET MAKOT ZARECHA MAKOT GEDOLOT VE NE'EMANOT VE CHALAYIM RA'IM VE NE'EMANIM
וְהִפְלָא יְהוָה אֶת מַכֹּתְךָ וְאֵת מַכּוֹת זַרְעֶךָ מַכּוֹת גְּדֹלֹת וְנֶאֱמָנוֹת וָחֳלָיִם רָעִים וְנֶאֱמָנִים
BN (initial translation): Then YHVH will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
This doesn't appear to make sense: "wonderful" is a positive, but "plague" most definitely a negative. Is Mosheh (or more likely a later Prophet) being ironic? The key is HIPHLA, for which the root must be PALAH, and indeed in Exodus 15:11, Psalm 77:12 and 15, 78:12, 88:11 and elsewhere it does indeed mean "wonderful", "marvellous", just as Haydn sets in the Oratorio to the Creation. But on every occasion the intention behind it is the "miraculous", unique events of Nature, or at least uncommon ones. And interestingly, if you type הִפְלָא into Google-translate, and ask it for English, its answer is truly Conradian: "the horror" (for which see the links at my note to verse 25, above; most of them translate ZA'AVAH as "horror").
And then we need to translate MAKOT accurately. MAKOT are "blows".
BN (revised translation): Then YHVH will strike you down in truly extraordinary ways, and strike down your descendants in the same manner, with unimaginable disasters, and with appalling, chronic sicknesses.
I particularly like the use of the word "chronic", which conveys both the intensity of the sickness, and its longevity in time.
28:60 VE HESHIV BECHA ET KOL MADVEH MITSRAYIM ASHER YAGORTA MI PENEYHEM VE DAVKU BACH
BN: And he will bring back upon you all the diseases of Mitsrayim, of which you were in dread; and they shall cleave to you.
MADVEH MITSRAYIM: And for final confirmation that this must have been written long, long after Mosheh, the "plagues", of which only one, "boils" (Exodus 9:10), was a "disease" (and perhaps DEVER, "pestilence", as well, but it is far from clear what that was) and all of which in the original were cosmological events described anthropomorphically, are now, as they will be in Judaism to the present time, turned into variants upon COVID-19 and cholera. (Though I now realise that I should have placed this note at Deuteronomy 7:15, where the word was first used, and with exactly the same meaning).
28:61 GAM KOL CHALI VE CHOL MAKAH ASHER LO CHATUV BE SEPHER HA TORAH HA ZOT YA'LEM YHVH ALEYCHA AD HISHAMDACH
גַּם כָּל חֳלִי וְכָל מַכָּה אֲשֶׁר לֹא כָתוּב בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת יַעְלֵם יְהוָה עָלֶיךָ עַד הִשָּׁמְדָךְ
KJ: Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
BN: And every sickness too, and every plague, that is not written in this book of the law, them too YHVH will bring upon you, until you have been destroyed.
28:62 VE NISHARTEM BIM'TEY ME'AT TACHAT ASHER HEYIYTEM KE CHOCHVEY HA SHAMAYIM LA RAV KI LO SHAMATA BE KOL YHVH ELOHEYCHA
וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר הֱיִיתֶם כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם לָרֹב כִּי לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
KJ: And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
BN: And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the heavens for multitude; because you did not hearken to the voice of YHVH your god.
BIM'TEY: Or BI METEY?
28:63 VE HAYAH KA ASHER SAS YHVH ALEYCHEM LEHEYTIV ET'CHEM U LEHARBOT ET'CHEM KEN YASIS YHVH ALEYCHEM LEHA'AVID ET'CHEM U LEHASHMID ET'CHEM VE NISACHTEM MEY AL HA ADAMAH ASHER ATAH VAH SHAMAH LE RISHTAH
וְהָיָה כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׂשׂ יְהוָה עֲלֵיכֶם לְהֵיטִיב אֶתְכֶם וּלְהַרְבּוֹת אֶתְכֶם כֵּן יָשִׂישׂ יְהוָה עֲלֵיכֶם לְהַאֲבִיד אֶתְכֶם וּלְהַשְׁמִיד אֶתְכֶם וְנִסַּחְתֶּם מֵעַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
KJ: And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
BN: And it shall come to pass that, just as YHVH found delight in doing you good, and multiplying you, so YHVH will find delight when he causes you to perish, and destroys you; and you shall be plucked from off the land to which you are going in to possess it.
28:64 VE HEPHIYTS'CHA YHVH BE CHOL HA AMIM MI KETSEH HA ARETS VE AD KETSEH HA ARETS VE AVADETA SHAM ELOHIM ACHERIM ASHER LO YADATA ATAH VA AVOTEYCHA EYTS VA AVEN
וֶהֱפִיצְךָ יְהוָה בְּכָל הָעַמִּים מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ וְעַד קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ וְעָבַדְתָּ שָּׁם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתָּ אַתָּה וַאֲבֹתֶיךָ עֵץ וָאָבֶן
BN: And YHVH will scatter you among all the nations, from the one end of the Earth all the way to the other end of the Earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.
HEPHIYTS'CHA: The same root that yields HA TEPHUTSAH, translated into English as "the Diaspora" - click here.
MI KETSEH...AD KETSEH: Which, in today's understanding, goes absolutely nowhere, because the end-point of a circle is wherever you start to delineate it. So we can understand that "flat-earth" theory applied at that time.
28:65 U VA GOYIM HA HEM LO TARGIYA VE LO YIHEYEH MANO'ACH LE CHAPH RAGLECHA VE NATAN YHVH LECHA SHAM LEV RAGAZ VE CHILYON EYNAYIM VE DA'AVON NAPHESH
וּבַגּוֹיִם הָהֵם לֹא תַרְגִּיעַ וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף רַגְלֶךָ וְנָתַן יְהוָה לְךָ שָׁם לֵב רַגָּז וְכִלְיוֹן עֵינַיִם וְדַאֲבוֹן נָפֶשׁ
KJ: And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
BN: And you will find no place of rest among these nations, not even for the sole of your foot; but YHVH will cause your heart to tremble there, and your eyes to fail, and your soul to languish.
CHAPH RAGLECHA: Is that the same "sole of the foot" as in verse 34, or the same as the one in verse 56?
28:65 U VA GOYIM HA HEM LO TARGIYA VE LO YIHEYEH MANO'ACH LE CHAPH RAGLECHA VE NATAN YHVH LECHA SHAM LEV RAGAZ VE CHILYON EYNAYIM VE DA'AVON NAPHESH
BN: And you will find no place of rest among these nations, not even for the sole of your foot; but YHVH will cause your heart to tremble there, and your eyes to fail, and your soul to languish.
CHAPH RAGLECHA: Is that the same "sole of the foot" as in verse 34, or the same as the one in verse 56?
28:66 VE HAYU CHAYEYCHA TELU'IM LECHA MI NEGED U PHACHADETA LAILAH VE YOMAM VE LO TA'AMIN BE CHAYEYCHA
וְהָיוּ חַיֶּיךָ תְּלֻאִים לְךָ מִנֶּגֶד וּפָחַדְתָּ לַיְלָה וְיוֹמָם וְלֹא תַאֲמִין בְּחַיֶּיךָ
KJ: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
BN: And your life will hang in the balance before you; and you will fear night and day, and you will have no assurance of your life.
After quite this many verses of quite this much pre-Tourette's is it syndrome, it is not difficult to understasnd why some of these Prophets found themselves chased out of town with stones being hurled at their back. And if it really was Mosheh, why did Yehoshu'a or the Kohen Gadol not step in, and suggest the old man needed to rest, and why not let them complete the covenant renewal ceremony.
Though, having said that, this description of life in the Diaspora over the two thousand years that followed Ezra's Redaction, is alas entirely accurate, all the way from pogroms at one end of the Earth, to autos-da-fé at the other, and with ghettoes, yellow stars, expulsions and eventually Holocausts at various points of not-much-latitude along the way.
28:67 BA BOKER TOMAR MI YITEN EREV U VA EREV TOMAR MI YITEN BOKER MI PACHAD LEVAVECHA ASHER TIPHCHAD U MI MAREH EYNEYCHA ASHER TIREH
בַּבֹּקֶר תֹּאמַר מִי יִתֵּן עֶרֶב וּבָעֶרֶב תֹּאמַר מִי יִתֵּן בֹּקֶר מִפַּחַד לְבָבְךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּפְחָד וּמִמַּרְאֵה עֵינֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה
BN: In the morning you will say: 'If only it were the evening!' and in the evening you will say: 'If only it were morning!' for the fears of your heart, which you will fear, and for the sights that your eyes will see.
28:68 VE HESHIVCHAH YHVH MITSRAYIM BA ANIYOT BA DERECH ASHER AMARTI LECHA LO TOSIPH OD LIROTAH VE HITMAKARTEM SHAM LE OYEVEYCHA LA AVADIM VE LI SHEPHACHOT VE EYN KONEH
וֶהֱשִׁיבְךָ יְהוָה מִצְרַיִם בָּאֳנִיּוֹת בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתִּי לְךָ לֹא תֹסִיף עוֹד לִרְאֹתָהּ וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם שָׁם לְאֹיְבֶיךָ לַעֲבָדִים וְלִשְׁפָחוֹת וְאֵין קֹנֶה
BN: Then YHVH will bring you back to Mitsrayim in ships, by the route from which I said to you: "You will never see this place again"; and there you will sell yourselves to your enemies as bondsmen and as bondswomen, and no one will buy you.
AVADIM: When it is convenient, the translators render AVADIM as "slaves", and when it is inconvenient, "bondmen".
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28:69 ELEH DIVREY HA BRIT ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH LICHROT ET BENEY YISRA-EL BE ERETS MO-AV MILVAD HA BRIT ASHER KARAT ITAM BE CHOREV
KJ (29:1): These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
אֵלֶּה דִבְרֵי הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה לִכְרֹת אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב מִלְּבַד הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת אִתָּם בְּחֹרֵב
BN: These are the words of the covenant which YHVH instructed Mosheh to make with the Beney Yisra-El in the land of Mo-Av, beside the covenant which he made with them at Chorev.
This verse appears in the King James version as chapter 29:1. I have repeated it there, but without the comment that follows here, as that properly belongs, with the text, at this point, and not at that one.
I have deliberately waited until the end of the chapter to pass comment, in order to allow the unfamiliar reader the opportunity to read without influence. The text is presented as prophesy: this is how wonderful it will be if you keep the laws, and these unimaginably awful things will happen if you do not. But this is being written down by the Ezraic Redactor, in the immediate aftermath of the captivity in Babylon, just a century and a half after the six-and-a-half tribes had been conquered and taken away into slavery, and then disappeared from history altogether. To the Beney Yehudah of the time of writing, none of this is unimaginable. If someone were to write a "science fiction" tale today, in which a monstrous regime took over the whole of Europe, and burned thirteen million people to death in gas ovens, we would not describe it as "unimaginable", because we have our own recent history as evidence. So for these Beney Yehudah. The prophesy is being ascribed to Mosheh, but it is being written by the Prophets of the day; it is not a question of "this will happen if you do not", but "this happened because you did not", and so it becomes allegorical propaganda to drive the nation to the new faith.
See 28:41 especially; and 28:52 - these verses may be one of the "give-aways" of Prophetic authorship; elsewhere, when it appears to be Mosheh speaking, it is always "your land, which YHVH your god is giving you", in the present tense, which is logical for Mosheh, on the eve of the crossing of the Yarden, while the past tense, used here, is logical for a Prophetic fire-and-brimstone sermon a thousand years later.
Do we also have the sense, from the repetitions and still more repetitions, and the variations and still more variations, that this may not originally have been a single sermon by a single Prophet, but perhaps the text is an anthology by the disciples, gathering everything they can remember in one place?
And do you have the same sense that I do, that whoever delivered this fire-and-brimstone sermon was enjoying every minute of it, the chance to hate poetically, to say what he really thought about pathetic, mediocre humanity, who get what they always get, which is "what they deserve"... and then, total change of mood in verse 69, as though the TV anchor had stepped in to say "that was a party poltiical broadcast on behalf of the Misanthropic Party", and then to announce the next programme?
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I have deliberately waited until the end of the chapter to pass comment, in order to allow the unfamiliar reader the opportunity to read without influence. The text is presented as prophesy: this is how wonderful it will be if you keep the laws, and these unimaginably awful things will happen if you do not. But this is being written down by the Ezraic Redactor, in the immediate aftermath of the captivity in Babylon, just a century and a half after the six-and-a-half tribes had been conquered and taken away into slavery, and then disappeared from history altogether. To the Beney Yehudah of the time of writing, none of this is unimaginable. If someone were to write a "science fiction" tale today, in which a monstrous regime took over the whole of Europe, and burned thirteen million people to death in gas ovens, we would not describe it as "unimaginable", because we have our own recent history as evidence. So for these Beney Yehudah. The prophesy is being ascribed to Mosheh, but it is being written by the Prophets of the day; it is not a question of "this will happen if you do not", but "this happened because you did not", and so it becomes allegorical propaganda to drive the nation to the new faith.
See 28:41 especially; and 28:52 - these verses may be one of the "give-aways" of Prophetic authorship; elsewhere, when it appears to be Mosheh speaking, it is always "your land, which YHVH your god is giving you", in the present tense, which is logical for Mosheh, on the eve of the crossing of the Yarden, while the past tense, used here, is logical for a Prophetic fire-and-brimstone sermon a thousand years later.
Do we also have the sense, from the repetitions and still more repetitions, and the variations and still more variations, that this may not originally have been a single sermon by a single Prophet, but perhaps the text is an anthology by the disciples, gathering everything they can remember in one place?
And do you have the same sense that I do, that whoever delivered this fire-and-brimstone sermon was enjoying every minute of it, the chance to hate poetically, to say what he really thought about pathetic, mediocre humanity, who get what they always get, which is "what they deserve"... and then, total change of mood in verse 69, as though the TV anchor had stepped in to say "that was a party poltiical broadcast on behalf of the Misanthropic Party", and then to announce the next programme?
pey break
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