Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 28:16
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field.
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. In De 28:16 the curses are delivered out in form, as the reverse of the blessings in De 28:3; and by observing what the blessings mean, the sense of the curses may easily be understood, the one being directly opposite to the other.
[See comments on De 28:3].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16-19) Cursed. . . .Here we have the counterpart of Deu. 28:3-6, inclusive. The only difference is in the position of the basket and the store which come one place earlier in the curses than in the blessings.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16-19. Cursed in the city field basket store fruit of body land kine sheep comest in goest out The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The First Sixfold Curse ( Deu 28:16-20 ).
These curses parallel the blessings in Deu 28:3-6 and must therefore all be seen together.
Deu 28:16-19
‘Cursed shall you be in the city,
And cursed shall you be in the field.
Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading-trough.
Cursed shall be the fruit of your body,
And the fruit of your ground,
The increase of your cattle, and the young of your flock.
Cursed shall you be when you come in,
And cursed shall you be when you go out.’
They will be cursed in the city, in all their comings in, and in their production of offspring; they will be cursed in the countryside, and in all their goings out, and in the increase of their cattle, and the young of their flock; they will be cursed in their basket and their kneading-trough, because the fruit of their ground has been cursed and there is nothing to fill them. This is the tragedy of the Garden of Eden multiplied. Not only is the ground cursed but everything is cursed. They had been on the edge of Paradise and by their folly they have lost everything.
Deu 28:20
‘ Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion (discomfiture), and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to, to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly, “because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me”.’
In everything that they now do they will be cursed, they will suffer discomfiture and confusion (compare Deu 7:23; 1Sa 5:9 ; 1Sa 5:11; 1Sa 14:20; Isa 22:5), and they will experience constant rebuke in all that they seek to do (compare Isa 30:17; Mal 3:11), and this will go on until they are destroyed, until they perish quickly, and all because of the evil of their doings as a result of which they have forsaken Yahweh.
“Send on you” is emphasised by coming first in the sentence. Like the blessings these cursings will be the result of Yahweh’s personal response, as is now made evident. But this time it is not the natural result of the application of the covenant but specifically as a response to their sin.
“Because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.” The sudden introduction of a direct word from Yahweh heightens the impact. This is what they are suffering, because of the evil of their doings resulting from the fact that they have forsaken Him.
This summary compounds the individual curses and warns of the final consequences. They will be destroyed because of the evil of their ways. It is comparable to the summary in Deu 28:2 which introduces the blessings. Note again how this first six-fold curse with the summary resembles very closely the blessings lost as described in Deu 28:2-6.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Deu 28:16 Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field.
Ver. 16. See Trapp on “ Deu 28:15 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 28:16
16Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
Deu 28:16-19 These verses parallel completely. Deu 28:3-6 are the blessings; Deu 28:16-19 are the cursings.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
in the city: Deu 28:3-14, Pro 3:33, Isa 24:6-12, Isa 43:28, Jer 9:11, Jer 26:6, Jer 44:22, Lam 1:1, Lam 2:11-22, Lam 4:1-13, Mal 2:2, Mal 4:6
in the field: Deu 28:55, Gen 3:17, Gen 3:18, Gen 4:11, Gen 4:12, Gen 5:29, Gen 8:21, Gen 8:22, 1Ki 17:1, 1Ki 17:5, 1Ki 17:12, Jer 14:2-5, Jer 14:18, Lam 5:10, Joe 1:4, Joe 1:8-18, Joe 2:3, Amo 4:6-9, Hag 1:9-11, Hag 2:16, Hag 2:17, Mal 3:9-12
Reciprocal: Deu 27:15 – Cursed be Deu 28:18 – thy land Job 24:18 – their portion Mat 25:41 – ye cursed