Deuteronomy 27:18
in Deuteronomy 27‘Cursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the road.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.
KJV
Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 27
Commentary
7 notes on this verseSuch [a line of conduct] belongs not to those who heal, or who give life: it is rather that of those bringing on diseases, and increasing ignorance; and much more true than these men shall the law be found, which pronounces every one accursed who sends the blind man astray in the way. For the apostles, who were commissioned to find out the wanderers, and to be for sight to those who saw not, and medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in accordance with their opinion at the time, but according to revealed truth.
This site's exposition
Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother
on Deuteronomy 27:16-19
These four curses protect people who cannot see what is done to them or cannot answer it. The blind are guarded already at Leviticus 19:14, and the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow at 10:18, 14:29 and 24:17.
This site's exposition
lets a blind man wander
Gill cites a Targum that reads the blind man as any traveller who knows the road no better than the blind. Henry and Wesley extend the curse to counsel that lets a man wander. Jesus speaks of the blind leading the blind at Matthew 15:14.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way,.... By directing him wrong knowingly, or laying a stumbling block in his way, Lev 19:14. The Targum of Jonathan is,"that maketh a traveller wander out of the way, who like a blind man;''who knows his way no more than a blind man does.
Those that seduce others from the way of God's commandments, and entice them to sin, bring this curse upon themselves, which our Saviour has explained, Matt. xv. 14 , The blind lead the blind, and both shall fall into the ditch. (3.) Upon an unjust judge, that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow, whom he should protect and vindicate,
10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the L ORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. A general charge to the people to keep God's commandments; for in vain did they know them, unless they would do them. This is pressed upon them, 1.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The blind to wander out of the way - A sin against the sixth commandment. See on Exo 20:13 (note).
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָר֕וּר | ʾarur | [is] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| מַשְׁגֶּ֥ה | mashgeh | [one who] leads astray | H7686 → | |
| עִוֵּ֖ר | ʾiver | a blind [person] | H5787 → | 26 times |
| בַּדָּ֑רֶךְ | badarekh | on the way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְאָמַ֥ר | veamar | and it will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אָמֵֽן׃ ס | ʾamen | amen | H543 → | 30 times |
אָר֕וּר[is] cursed
ʾarurH779 →63 times
מַשְׁגֶּ֥ה[one who] leads astray
mashgehH7686 →
עִוֵּ֖רa blind [person]
ʾiverH5787 →26 times
בַּדָּ֑רֶךְon the way
badarekhH1870 →707 times
וְאָמַ֥רand it will say
veamarH559 →5305 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אָמֵֽן׃ סamen
ʾamenH543 →30 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
Matthew 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
it leads to
- Luke 6:39
Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
- Isaiah 56:10
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
- Luke 6:39
Through
Isaiah 56:10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:10
For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Ezekiel 33:6
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away…
- Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Philippians 3:2
Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Matthew 15:14
Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Isaiah 29:10
Through
Proverbs 28:10He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.
it leads to
- Proverbs 26:27
He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- Proverbs 26:27
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Irenaeus, AGAINST HERESIES 3.5.2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.