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Deuteronomy 28:62

in Deuteronomy 28

You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.

KJV

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.

This verse in Deuteronomy 28

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

And ye shall be left few in number

on Deuteronomy 28:62-63

Few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude, reverses the promise sworn to Abraham at Genesis 15:5 and 22:17 and repeated to this generation at Deuteronomy 10:22. Verse 63 is the hardest sentence in the chapter, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, so he will rejoice over you to destroy you. Calvin and Gill both read the rejoicing as speech after the manner of men, describing the certainty and readiness of the act rather than pleasure taken in it, while other readers let the plain force of the word stand. Ezekiel 33:11 says God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and the two verses are commonly read together.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It is computed that in the destruction of the Jewish nation by the Romans, as appears by the account Josephus gives of it, above two millions fell by the sword at several places, besides what perished by famine and pestilence; so that the whole country was laid waste and turned into a wilderness. That is a terrible word (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And ye shall be left few in number,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The blessings are here put before the curses, to intimate, 1. That God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy: he has said it, and sworn, that he would much rather we would obey and live than sin and die. It is his delight to bless.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

ye shall be left few in number--There has been, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem, only an inconsiderable remnant of Jews existing in that land--aliens in the land of their fathers; and of all classes of the inhabitants they are the most degraded and miserable beings, dependent for their support on contributions from other lands.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

15 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.

  • וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם֙and you will be left

    venishartemH7604133 times

  • בִּמְתֵ֣י<in> men of

    bimteiH496222 times

  • מְעָ֔טfewness

    meatH4592101 times

  • תַּ֚חַתin place of

    tachatH8478505 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רthat

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • הֱיִיתֶ֔םyou were

    heyitemH19613559 times

  • כְּכוֹכְבֵ֥יlike [the] stars of

    kechokhveiH355637 times

  • הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064421 times

  • לָרֹ֑בfor multitude

    laroH7230149 times

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H35884482 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H38085168 times

  • שָׁמַ֔עְתָּyou have listened

    shama'taH80851159 times

  • בְּק֖וֹלto [the] voice of

    bekolH6963506 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃God your

    ʾeloheikhaH4302601 times

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

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

    Deuteronomy 4:27

    Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 28:62–64

      You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

    • Leviticus 26:33

      But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 10:22

    Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 15:5

      And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 46:27

      And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.

    • Exodus 1:5

      The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

    • Deuteronomy 1:10

      The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

  • Through

    Isaiah 24:6

    Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

    it leads to

    • Malachi 4:1

      “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…

  • Through

    Nehemiah 9:23

    You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 22:17

      I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.