Deuteronomy 28:29
in Deuteronomy 28and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee.
KJV
And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 28
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt
on Deuteronomy 28:27-29
The botch of Egypt is the boil of Exodus 9:9. Deuteronomy 7:15 had promised that God would put none of the evil diseases of Egypt upon them. The curse is that promise run backwards, and verse 60 says so outright.
This site's exposition
grope about like a blind
Wesley reads groping at noon like a blind man as gross error in matters as plain as daylight. He takes the ways that will not prosper as a man's own plans turning to his ruin. Noon gives no help.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
At times when we were in error, mired in the pride of our mind as if with our feet in the mud, we did not perceive our error because our soul was unable to see itself. Although we would look [into the mirror] each day, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And thou shalt grope at noon day as the blind gropeth in darkness,.... That is, being in darkness through the loss of their sight; otherwise the darkness and the light are alike to them, and they grope in the one as well as in the other.
Note, God's judgments can reach the minds of men to fill them with darkness and horror, as well as their bodies and estates; and those are the sorest of all judgments which make men a terror to themselves, and their own destroyers.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thou shalt be only oppressed, etc. - Perhaps no people under the sun have been more oppressed and spoiled than the rebellious Jews. Indeed, this has been their portion, with but little intermission, for nearly 1,800 years. And still they grope at noon day, as the blind gropeth in darkness - they do not yet discover, notwithstanding the effulgence of the light by which they are encompassed, that the rejection of their own Messiah is the cause of all their calamities.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָיִ֜יתָ | vehayita | and you will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מְמַשֵּׁ֣שׁ | memashesh | groping | H4959 → | |
| בַּֽצָּהֳרַ֗יִם | batzohorayim | in the noontide<s> | H6672 → | |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְמַשֵּׁ֤שׁ | yemashesh | he gropes | H4959 → | |
| הָעִוֵּר֙ | haiver | <the> blind [person] | H5787 → | 26 times |
| בָּאֲפֵלָ֔ה | baafelah | in the darkness | H653 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַצְלִ֖יחַ | tatzliach | you will make successful | H6743 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּרָכֶ֑יךָ | derakheikha | ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְהָיִ֜יתָ | vehayita | and you will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַ֣ךְ | ʾakh | only | H389 → | 161 times |
| עָשׁ֧וּק | ʾashuk | oppressed | H6231 → | 36 times |
| וְגָז֛וּל | vegazul | and robbed | H1497 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַיָּמִ֖ים | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃ | moshia' | [will be] a deliverer | H3467 → | 206 times |
וְהָיִ֜יתָand you will be
vehayitaH1961 →3559 times
מְמַשֵּׁ֣שׁgroping
memasheshH4959 →
בַּֽצָּהֳרַ֗יִםin the noontide<s>
batzohorayimH6672 →
כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
יְמַשֵּׁ֤שׁhe gropes
yemasheshH4959 →
הָעִוֵּר֙<the> blind [person]
haiverH5787 →26 times
בָּאֲפֵלָ֔הin the darkness
baafelahH653 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תַצְלִ֖יחַyou will make successful
tatzliachH6743 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּרָכֶ֑יךָways your
derakheikhaH1870 →707 times
וְהָיִ֜יתָand you will be
vehayitaH1961 →3559 times
אַ֣ךְonly
ʾakhH389 →161 times
עָשׁ֧וּקoppressed
ʾashukH6231 →36 times
וְגָז֛וּלand robbed
vegazulH1497 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַיָּמִ֖יםthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מוֹשִֽׁיעַ׃[will be] a deliverer
moshia'H3467 →206 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
Job 5:14They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
it leads to
- Proverbs 4:19
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 12:25
They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.
- Isaiah 59:10
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
- Proverbs 4:19
Through
Judges 13:1Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD, so He delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 12:9
But they forgot the LORD their God, and He sold them into the hand of Sisera the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of…
- Romans 2:6
God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
- Judges 6:1
Again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD; so He delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,
- Judges 2:11
And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals.
- 1 Samuel 12:9
Through
Isaiah 59:10Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
it leads to
- Job 5:14
They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
- Job 5:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ephrem the Syrian, LETTER TO PUBLIUS 11; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.