Deuteronomy 11:17
in Deuteronomy 11or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah giveth you.
KJV
And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseShut up the heaven - Which is compared sometimes to a great store-house wherein God lays up his treasures of rain, Job xxxviii, 22, the doors whereof God is said to open when he gives rain, and to shut when he witholds it.
This site's exposition
Take heed to yourselves, that your heart
on Deuteronomy 11:16-17
The sanction is cut to fit the promise, since the God who gives the rain can shut up the heaven that there be no rain. Solomon prays this clause back at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8:35, and Elijah enacts it at 1 Kings 17:1 when he swears there shall not be dew nor rain these years but according to his word. James 5:17 reads that drought as an answer to a man's prayer and measures it at three years and six months, and Revelation 11:6 gives the two witnesses power to shut heaven that it rain not.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you,....
All that forsake God to set their affection upon, or pay their devotion to, any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived to their own destruction; and this will aggravate it that it was purely for want of taking heed.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
That blessing was promised to the Israelites as a temporal reward for their fidelity to the national covenant [De 11:13]. It was threatened to be withdrawn on their disobedience or apostasy; and most signally is the execution of that threatening seen in the present sterility of Palestine.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְחָרָ֨ה | vecharah | and it will burn | H2734 → | 91 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | [the] anger of | H639 → | 276 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בָּכֶ֗ם | bakhem | on <the> you | ||
| וְעָצַ֤ר | veatzar | and he will shut up | H6113 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will come | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מָטָ֔ר | matar | rain | H4306 → | 38 times |
| וְהָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה | vehaadamah | and the ground | H127 → | 225 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִתֵּ֖ן | titen | it will yield | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְבוּלָ֑הּ | yevulah | produce its | H2981 → | |
| וַאֲבַדְתֶּ֣ם | vaavadtem | and you will perish | H6 → | 184 times |
| מְהֵרָ֗ה | meherah | quickly | H4120 → | |
| מֵעַל֙ | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֣רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַטֹּבָ֔ה | hatovah | <the> good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| נֹתֵ֥ן | noten | [is] about to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | to <the> you |
וְחָרָ֨הand it will burn
vecharahH2734 →91 times
אַף־[the] anger of
ʾaf-H639 →276 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בָּכֶ֗םon <the> you
bakhem
וְעָצַ֤רand he will shut up
veatzarH6113 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will come
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
מָטָ֔רrain
matarH4306 →38 times
וְהָ֣אֲדָמָ֔הand the ground
vehaadamahH127 →225 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִתֵּ֖ןit will yield
titenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְבוּלָ֑הּproduce its
yevulahH2981 →
וַאֲבַדְתֶּ֣םand you will perish
vaavadtemH6 →184 times
מְהֵרָ֗הquickly
meherahH4120 →
מֵעַל֙from on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֣רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הַטֹּבָ֔ה<the> good
hatovahH2896 →538 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
נֹתֵ֥ן[is] about to give
notenH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶֽם׃to <the> you
lakhem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD lives—the God of Israel before whom I stand—there will be neither dew nor rain in…
it leads to
- Luke 4:25–26
But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all…
- James 5:17
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
- Luke 1:17
And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to…
- 1 Kings 22:14
But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”
- 2 Kings 3:14
Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at…
- Luke 4:25–26
Through
Deuteronomy 6:15For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth…
- Deuteronomy 4:24
Through
1 Kings 8:35When the skies are shut and there is no rain because Your people have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and they turn from their sins because…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:19
I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:19
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.