Deuteronomy 28:35
in Deuteronomy 28The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah will smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, whereof thou canst not be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the crown of thy head.
KJV
The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 28
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs
on Deuteronomy 28:35-37
Verse 36 brings the king into the curse, his one appearance here, with the king law of 17:14-20 behind it. 2 Kings 24:15 and 25:7 record two kings of Judah carried off.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch, that cannot be healed,.... Which in those parts as it is very painful, so is not easily cured; and this which is threatened was incurable by the art of man, as others in Deu 28:27; and which should not stop there in the lower parts of the body, but proceed and spread: from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head; and so be filled with them, as Job was with his boils and ulcers.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs--This is an exact description of elephantiasis, a horrible disease, something like leprosy, which attacks particularly the lower extremities.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
With a sore botch - שחין shechin, an inflammatory swelling, a burning boil. See Deu 28:27.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַכְּכָ֨ה | yakekhah | he will strike you | H5221 → | 499 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בִּשְׁחִ֣ין | bishchin | with boil[s] | H7822 → | |
| רָ֗ע | ra' | bad | H7451 → | 662 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַבִּרְכַּ֙יִם֙ | habirkayim | the knees | H1290 → | |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַשֹּׁקַ֔יִם | hashokayim | the legs | H7785 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תוּכַ֖ל | tukhal | you will be able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| לְהֵרָפֵ֑א | leherafe' | to be healed | H7495 → | 67 times |
| מִכַּ֥ף | mikaf | from [the] sole of | H3709 → | 192 times |
| רַגְלְךָ֖ | raglekha | foot your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וְעַ֥ד | vead | and to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| קָדְקֳדֶֽךָ׃ | kadekodecha | scalp your | H6936 → | 11 times |
יַכְּכָ֨הhe will strike you
yakekhahH5221 →499 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בִּשְׁחִ֣יןwith boil[s]
bishchinH7822 →
רָ֗עbad
ra'H7451 →662 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַבִּרְכַּ֙יִם֙the knees
habirkayimH1290 →
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
הַשֹּׁקַ֔יִםthe legs
hashokayimH7785 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תוּכַ֖לyou will be able
tukhalH3201 →194 times
לְהֵרָפֵ֑אto be healed
leherafe'H7495 →67 times
מִכַּ֥ףfrom [the] sole of
mikafH3709 →192 times
רַגְלְךָ֖foot your
raglekhaH7272 →247 times
וְעַ֥דand to
veadH5704 →1261 times
קָדְקֳדֶֽךָ׃scalp your
kadekodechaH6936 →11 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
Isaiah 3:24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 27:31
They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
- Lamentations 2:10
The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to…
- 1 Peter 3:3
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes,
- Isaiah 15:3
In its streets they wear sackcloth; on the rooftops and in the public squares they all wail, falling down weeping.
- Isaiah 22:12
On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Ezekiel 27:31
Through
Isaiah 1:6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:14
They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
- Matthew 9:12
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Jeremiah 6:14
Through
Deuteronomy 28:27The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 5:6
Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity, ravaging them and afflicting them with tumors.
- 1 Samuel 5:6
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.