Deuteronomy 28:40
in Deuteronomy 28You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit.
KJV
Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 28
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThou shalt have olive trees throughout thy coasts,.... In the several parts of the land of Canaan, which is therefore called a land of olive oil, Deu 8:8, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; nor any other relations, friends, guests, as was usual at entertainments; see Psa 23:5; for the phrase "thyself" is not in the text.
This site's exposition
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little
on Deuteronomy 28:38-42
Five verses of labor come to nothing: seed and locust, vineyard and worm, olive and dropped fruit, children and captivity, and the locust again. This curse leaves the work standing and takes away the yield, a different stroke from plague and sword.
This site's exposition
will never anoint yourself
Deuteronomy 8:8 had called Canaan a land of olive oil, and this verse leaves the trees standing with no oil to use. Gill observes that the word yourself stands outside the Hebrew, so the loss includes the anointing of guests at a feast, as at Psalm 23:5.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
This threatening we find fulfilled in Israel, 1 Kings xvii. (3.) That they should be smitten before their enemies in war, who, it is likely, would be the more cruel to them, when they had them at their mercy, for the severity they had used against the nations of Canaan, which their neighbours in after-ages would be apt to remember against them,
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֵיתִ֛ים | zeitim | olive trees | H2132 → | 38 times |
| יִהְי֥וּ | yihyu | they will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְךָ֖ | lekha | to <the> you | ||
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גְּבוּלֶ֑ךָ | gevulekha | territory your | H1366 → | 240 times |
| וְשֶׁ֙מֶן֙ | veshemen | and oil | H8081 → | 193 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָס֔וּךְ | tasukh | you will anoint yourself | H5480 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִשַּׁ֖ל | yishal | it will drop off | H5394 → | 7 times |
| זֵיתֶֽךָ׃ | zeitekha | olive[s] your | H2132 → | 38 times |
זֵיתִ֛יםolive trees
zeitimH2132 →38 times
יִהְי֥וּthey will belong
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
לְךָ֖to <the> you
lekha
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
גְּבוּלֶ֑ךָterritory your
gevulekhaH1366 →240 times
וְשֶׁ֙מֶן֙and oil
veshemenH8081 →193 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תָס֔וּךְyou will anoint yourself
tasukhH5480 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יִשַּׁ֖לit will drop off
yishalH5394 →7 times
זֵיתֶֽךָ׃olive[s] your
zeitekhaH2132 →38 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
Psalms 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
it leads to
- Psalms 92:10
But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Psalms 45:7
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.
- Psalms 16:5
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- 1 John 2:20
You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- Psalms 92:10
Through
Psalms 104:15wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
it leads to
- Psalms 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
- Ecclesiastes 10:19
A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything.
- Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
- Psalms 23:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.