Deuteronomy 29:24
in Deuteronomy 29So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
even all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
KJV
Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
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This verse in Deuteronomy 29
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Then the generation to come
on Deuteronomy 29:22-24
The scene jumps to a ruined land and two sets of onlookers, the children to come and a foreigner from far away. The question of verse 24 is asked again at 1 Kings 9:8 and Jeremiah 22:8, over the temple and the city.
This site's exposition
Why has the LORD done
Henry puts the weight of the question on this land, the good land flowing with milk and honey where God was known and worshipped. He sets beside it Amos 3:2, where the LORD punishes Israel as the one family He had known. Nearness brought the heavier judgment.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Even all nations shall say,....
A thousand pities that such a good land as this should be made desolate, but this is not all; it is this holy land, the land of Israel, a people in covenant with God; it is Immanuel's land, a land where God was known and worshipped, and yet thus wasted. It is no new thing for God to bring desolating judgments upon a people that in profession are near to him, Amos iii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
It was of the greatest consequence to impress all with the strong and abiding conviction, that while the covenant of grace had special blessings belonging to it, it at the same time had curses in reserve for transgressors, the infliction of which would be as certain, as lasting and severe. This was the advantage contemplated in the law being rehearsed a second time.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָֽמְרוּ֙ | veameru | and they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֔ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | concerning | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֶ֨ה | meh | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| עָשָׂ֧ה | ʾasah | has he done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כָּ֖כָה | kakhah | thus | H3602 → | |
| לָאָ֣רֶץ | laaretz | to the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַזֹּ֑את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| מֶ֥ה | meh | why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| חֳרִ֛י | chori | [is] [the] heat of | H2750 → | |
| הָאַ֥ף | haaf | the anger | H639 → | 276 times |
| הַגָּד֖וֹל | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וְאָֽמְרוּ֙and they will say
veameruH559 →5305 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַגּוֹיִ֔םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
עַל־concerning
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מֶ֨הwhat?
mehH4100 →752 times
עָשָׂ֧הhas he done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כָּ֖כָהthus
kakhahH3602 →
לָאָ֣רֶץto the land
laaretzH776 →2504 times
הַזֹּ֑את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
מֶ֥הwhy?
mehH4100 →752 times
חֳרִ֛י[is] [the] heat of
choriH2750 →
הָאַ֥ףthe anger
haafH639 →276 times
הַגָּד֖וֹל<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 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
Lamentations 4:12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Psalms 48:4–6
For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together.
- Deuteronomy 29:24–28
So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- 1 Kings 9:8–9
And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land…
- Psalms 48:4–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies8
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
