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Deuteronomy 28:66

in Deuteronomy 28

So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have no assurance of thy life.

KJV

And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:

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This verse in Deuteronomy 28

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Athanasius of Alexandria

296–373

On the Incarnation of the Word 35 · Written before 373.

Perhaps you have heard of the prophecy of Christ's death. You ask to learn [from Moses] what is set forth concerning the cross. Not even this is passed over. It is displayed by the holy men with great plainness. For first Moses predicts it, and that even with a loud voice, when he says, "You shall see your Life hanging before your eyes and shall not believe."

This site's exposition

And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people

on Deuteronomy 28:64-66

Verse 64 is the line later readers have most often set beside subsequent history, scattered among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other. What the text itself puts there is the scattering and the service of other gods, wood and stone, repeating the wording of verse 36. The rest of the sentence describes the inside of a man, a trembling heart, failing of eyes, sorrow of mind, and a life hanging in doubt before him. No rest for the sole of the foot answers Genesis 8:9, where the dove found none and came back to the ark.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Tertullian

An Answer to the Jews · Written before 220.

proposed

Now the mystery of this "sign" was in various ways predicted; (a "sign") in which the foundation of life was forelaid for mankind; (a "sign") in which the Jews were not to believe: just as Moses beforetime kept on announcing in Exodus, saying, "Ye shall be ejected from the land into which ye shall enter; and in those nations ye shall not be able to rest: and there shall be instabilityof the print of thy foot: and God shall give thee a wearying heart, and a pining soul, and failing eyes, that they see not: and thy life shall hang on the tree before thine eyes; and thou shalt not trust thy life.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Thy life shall hang in doubt - Either because thou art in the hands of thy enemies that have power, and want no will, to destroy thee: or because of the terrors of thy own mind, and the guilt of thy conscience making thee to fear, even where no fear is.
And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee,.... Whether it shall be spared or not by the enemy: and thou shalt fear day and night; being in continual dread of being killed: and shalt have none assurance of thy life; of its being continued a moment scarcely, but live in constant fear and expectation of its being taken away.

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 words behind it

11 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.

  • וְהָי֣וּand they will be

    vehayuH1961 →3559 times

  • חַיֶּ֔יךָlife your

    chaiyeikhaH2416 →498 times

  • תְּלֻאִ֥יםhung up

    teluimH8511 →

  • לְךָ֖for <the> you

    lekha

  • מִנֶּ֑גֶדfrom in front

    minegedH5048 →151 times

  • וּפָֽחַדְתָּ֙and you will be in dread

    ufachadtaH6342 →

  • לַ֣יְלָהnight

    laylahH3915 →233 times

  • וְיוֹמָ֔םand by day

    veyomamH3119 →

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַאֲמִ֖יןyou will trust

    taaminH539 →106 times

  • בְּחַיֶּֽיךָ׃in life your

    bechaiyeikhaH2416 →498 times

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

Related verses

5 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.

Hebrews 10:27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.2 worksLamentations 1:13He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.2 worksRevelation 6:15–17Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.2 worksDeuteronomy 28:67In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see.2 works1 Samuel 20:3But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”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

    Hebrews 10:27

    but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 26:11

      O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!

    • Hebrews 2:3

      how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

    • Zephaniah 1:18

      Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He…

    • Hebrews 9:27

      Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

    • Hebrews 12:25

      See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if…

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 28:67

    In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you…

    it leads to

  • Through

    Lamentations 1:13

    He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.

    it leads to

    • Habakkuk 3:16

      I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the…

    • Job 30:30

      My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.

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.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 28 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word 35; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews.

Read on in Deuteronomy 28 →