Deuteronomy 28:16
in Deuteronomy 28You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
KJV
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 28
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But . . . if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord--Curses that were to follow them in the event of disobedience are now enumerated, and they are almost exact counterparts of the blessings which were described in the preceding context as the reward of a faithful adherence to the covenant.
This site's exposition
Cursed shalt thou be in the city
on Deuteronomy 28:16-19
These four verses are verses 3 to 6 with cursed set where blessed stood. Two things move in the copying, the basket and store coming before the fruit rather than after, and the fruit of thy cattle dropping out of verse 18. Held in two columns, the curse reads as the blessing withdrawn item by item.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. In Deu 28:16 the curses are delivered out in form, as the reverse of the blessings in Deu 28:3; and by observing what the blessings mean, the sense of the curses may easily be understood, the one being directly opposite to the other. See Gill on Deu 28:3.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָר֥וּר | ʾarur | [will be] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בָּעִ֑יר | bair | in the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְאָר֥וּר | vearur | and [will be] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בַּשָּׂדֶֽה׃ | basadeh | in the open country | H7704 → | 334 times |
אָר֥וּר[will be] cursed
ʾarurH779 →63 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בָּעִ֑ירin the city
bairH5892 →1090 times
וְאָר֥וּרand [will be] cursed
vearurH779 →63 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בַּשָּׂדֶֽה׃in the open country
basadehH7704 →334 times
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
Joel 1:4What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
it leads to
- Joel 2:25
I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
- Amos 4:9
“I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
- Isaiah 33:4
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
- Joel 2:25
Through
Proverbs 3:33The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:22
Surely those He blesses will inherit the land, but the cursed will be destroyed.
- Leviticus 26:14–46
If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Job 8:6–7
if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse Himself on your behalf and restore your righteous estate.
- Psalms 91:10
no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent.
- Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
- Psalms 37:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
