Deuteronomy 28:21
in Deuteronomy 28The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it.
KJV
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 28
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe pestilence cleave unto thee - ידבק יהוה בך אה הדבר yadbek Yehovah becha eth haddaber, the Lord shall cement the pestilence or plague to thee. Sept., Προσκολλησει Κυριος εις σε τον θανατον, The Lord will glue - inseparably attach, the death unto thee. How dreadful a plague it must be that ravages without intermission, any person may conceive who has ever heard the name.
This site's exposition
The LORD will send curses upon you
on Deuteronomy 28:20-22
Verse 20 gives the reason before the list runs, “the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him”. There the Hebrew has God speak in the first person inside a speech of Moses. The person shifts back at verse 21 without any mark.
This site's exposition
make the plague cling
The Hebrew verb yadbek means to make stick, and Adam Clarke renders it as the LORD cementing the pestilence to the man. The Septuagint says He will glue death to him. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the plague as some fatal epidemic that clings until the land is emptied.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
pestilence--some fatal epidemic. There is no reason, however, to think that the plague, which is the great modern scourge of the East, is referred to.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַדְבֵּ֧ק | yadbek | he will make cling | H1692 → | 54 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּךָ֖ | bekha | to you | ||
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדָּ֑בֶר | hadaver | <the> pestilence | H1698 → | |
| עַ֚ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| כַּלֹּת֣וֹ | kaloto | has destroyed he | H3615 → | 208 times |
| אֹֽתְךָ֔ | ʾotekha | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵעַל֙ | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה | haadamah | the land | H127 → | 225 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתָּ֥ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בָא־ | va'- | [are] about to go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שָׁ֖מָּה | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃ | lerishtah | to take possession of it | H3423 → | 231 times |
יַדְבֵּ֧קhe will make cling
yadbekH1692 →54 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּךָ֖to you
bekha
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדָּ֑בֶר<the> pestilence
hadaverH1698 →
עַ֚דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
כַּלֹּת֣וֹhas destroyed he
kalotoH3615 →208 times
אֹֽתְךָ֔<obj.> you
ʾotekhaH853 →10935 times
מֵעַל֙from on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הָֽאֲדָמָ֔הthe land
haadamahH127 →225 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אַתָּ֥הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בָא־[are] about to go
va'-H935 →2568 times
שָׁ֖מָּהthere towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃to take possession of it
lerishtahH3423 →231 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
Numbers 14:12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
it leads to
- Exodus 32:10
Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Exodus 32:10
Through
Jeremiah 15:2If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword;…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 43:11
He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
- Zechariah 11:9
Then I said, “I will no longer shepherd you. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish; and let those who remain devour one another’s flesh.”
- Revelation 13:10
“If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he will go; if anyone is to die by the sword, by the sword he must be killed.” Here is a call for the perseverance and…
- Ezekiel 5:2
When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword…
- Revelation 6:3–8
And when the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
- Jeremiah 43:11
Through
Jeremiah 16:4“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 25:33
Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung lying…
- Psalms 83:10
who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.
- Jeremiah 25:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.