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Deuteronomy 28:38

in Deuteronomy 28

You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

KJV

Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.

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This verse in Deuteronomy 28

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little

on Deuteronomy 28:38-42

Five verses of labor come to nothing: seed and locust, vineyard and worm, olive and dropped fruit, children and captivity, and the locust again. This curse leaves the work standing and takes away the yield, a different stroke from plague and sword.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Thou shall carry much seed into the field,.... And sow it plentifully; this and what is said in some following verses plainly refer to them while in their own land, before carried captive, and not to their present case and circumstances: and shall gather but little in at harvest; little springing up, or not coming to perfection, being blighted and blasted, and so yielded but a small crop; see Hag 1:9; and chiefly for the following reason: for the locust shall consume it; which is a great destroyer of the fruits of the earth; see Joe 1:4.

The words behind it

9 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • זֶ֥רַעseed

    zera'H2233 →229 times

  • רַ֖בmuch

    ravH7227 →454 times

  • תּוֹצִ֣יאyou will take out

    totzi'H3318 →1067 times

  • הַשָּׂדֶ֑הthe field

    hasadehH7704 →334 times

  • וּמְעַ֣טand little

    umeatH4592 →101 times

  • תֶּאֱסֹ֔ףyou will gather

    teesofH622 →200 times

  • כִּ֥יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • יַחְסְלֶ֖נּוּit will consume it

    yachselenuH2628 →

  • הָאַרְבֶּֽה׃the locust[s]

    haarbehH697 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Haggai 1:6You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”6 worksJeremiah 12:13They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”6 worksJoel 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.6 worksMicah 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.5 worksRuth 1:1In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.4 worksJoel 2:25I 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.3 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
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.3 worksJob 31:8then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.3 worksAmos 7:1–2This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.2 worksIsaiah 5:10For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”2 worksJoel 2:3Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.2 worksExodus 10:14–15The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be.2 worksAmos 4:6“I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 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.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 10:6

      I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them.…

    • Joel 1:4–7

      What 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.

  • Through

    Haggai 1:6

    You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 28:38–40

      You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Haggai 1:9

      You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you…

    • Hosea 4:10

      They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have stopped obeying the LORD.

    • Malachi 3:9–11

      You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.

    • Hosea 8:7

      For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.

  • Through

    Joel 1:4

    What 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.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 28 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.

Read on in Deuteronomy 28 →