Deuteronomy 28:59

 Deuteronomy 28:59

Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

a. ASV: Then Jehovah will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.  [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: Then hath Jehovah made wonderful thy strokes, and the strokes of thy seed -- great strokes, and stedfast, and evil sicknesses, and stedfast.  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary strokes and blows, great plagues of long continuance, and grievous sicknesses of long duration.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Then HASHEM will make extraordinary your blows and the blows of your offspring, great and faithful blows, and evil and faithful illnesses.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. NLT: Then the LORD will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick.  [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

1. “Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed…”

a. [Then the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

b. [will make thy] plagues [Strong: 4347 makkâh, mak-kaw'; or (masculine) מַכֶּה makkeh; (plural only) from H5221; a blow (in 2 Chronicles 2:10, of the flail); by implication, a wound; figuratively, carnage, also pestilence:—beaten, blow, plague, slaughter, smote, × sore, stripe, stroke, wound(-ed).]

c. wonderful [Strong: 6381 pâlâʼ, paw-law'; a primitive root; properly, perhaps to separate, i.e. distinguish (literally or figuratively); by implication, to be (causatively, make) great, difficult, wonderful:—accomplish, (arise...too, be too) hard, hidden, things too high, (be, do, do a, shew) marvelous(-ly, -els, things, work), miracles, perform, separate, make singular, (be, great, make) wonderful(-ers, -ly, things, works), wondrous (things, works, -ly).]

d. and [Strong: 853 ʼêth, ayth; apparent contracted from H226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):—[as such unrepresented in English].]

e. [the] plagues [Strong: 4347 makkâh, mak-kaw'; or (masculine) מַכֶּה makkeh; (plural only) from H5221; a blow (in 2 Chronicles 2:10, of the flail); by implication, a wound; figuratively, carnage, also pestilence:—beaten, blow, plague, slaughter, smote, × sore, stripe, stroke, wound(-ed).]

f. [of thy] seed [Strong: 2233 zeraʻ, zeh'-rah; from H2232; seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity:—× carnally, child, fruitful, seed(-time), sowing-time.]

2. “...even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.”

a. [even] great [Strong: 1419 gâdôwl, gaw-dole'; or גָּדֹל gâdôl; (shortened) from H1431; great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:— aloud, elder(-est), exceeding(-ly), far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, × sore, (×) very.]

b. plagues [Strong: 4347 makkâh, mak-kaw'; or (masculine) מַכֶּה makkeh; (plural only) from H5221; a blow (in 2 Chronicles 2:10, of the flail); by implication, a wound; figuratively, carnage, also pestilence:—beaten, blow, plague, slaughter, smote, × sore, stripe, stroke, wound(-ed).]

c. [and of] long continuance [Strong: 539 ʼâman, aw-man'; a primitive root; (Isaiah 30:21; interchangeable with H541, to go to the right hand) properly, to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain;:—hence, assurance, believe, bring up, establish, fail, be faithful (of long continuance, stedfast, sure, surely, trusty, verified), nurse, (-ing father), (put), trust, turn to the right.]

d. [and] sore [Strong: 7451 raʻ, rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Including feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.).]

e.  sicknesses [Strong: 2483 chŏlîy, khol-ee'; from H2470; malady, anxiety, calamity:—disease, grief, (is) sick(-ness).]

f. [of] long continuance [Strong: 539 ʼâman, aw-man'; a primitive root; (Isaiah 30:21; interchangeable with H541, to go to the right hand) properly, to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain;:—hence, assurance, believe, bring up, establish, fail, be faithful (of long continuance, stedfast, sure, surely, trusty, verified), nurse, (-ing father), (put), trust, turn to the right.]

1). Troy Edwards, The Permissive Sense: Most people have read this list (Deuteronomy 28:16-68) with the erroneous idea that God will use His divine creative power to bring about these curses. Nevertheless, when we use the principle of interpreting the Bible with the Bible, we learn that these curses will come because God is  forsaking His people and withdrawing His protection. 

a). Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

31:18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

2). Edward Williams, Predestination and Election Considered: explaining to his listeners how the Hebrew idiom of permission will keep us away from an erroneous interpretation of Scripture that would otherwise cast aspersions on God’s character. After all, it may be objected, that the Scriptures ascribe to God the causation of moral evil; as hardening the heart of Pharaoh, hardening whom he will, making the wicked for the day of evil, appointing to destruction, determining the death of Christ, delivering him by determinate counsel, doing all evil in a city, making, making vessels to dishonor, fitting them for destruction, &c. In reply to this objection it must be considered, that whatever the import of such representations may be, no interpretation which is unworthy of God can be the true meaning, at the idioms of the sacred languages ascribing cause or operation to God must be understood according to the nature of the subject, and, what is particularly to our purpose, that active verbs which denote making, bring, causing, and the like, often denote a declaration of the thing done, or that shall take place; or a permission of it. (Taken from Troy J. Edwards, The Hebrew Idiom of Permission.)

3). Thomas Jackson: “It is then so common in Holy Scripture to speak of God as actually doing that which He simply permits, and does not absolutely hinder man from doing, that this may be justly regarded as an idiom of eastern speech.” (The Hebrew Idiom of Permission.]

4). Robert Balmer, Academical Lectures: But does not the Scripture, it may be said, go much farther than this, when it declares that God hardens the hearts of men? Thus ascribing to him a direct and positive agency in the production of sinful actions. To this it may be replied, that to interpret such expressions in the literal and unqualified sense, as importing that God infuses moral depravity into the human heart, is not only to contradict other declarations of scripture, but to subvert entirely the foundations of religion, by divesting the Almighty of moral perfections without which it would be impossible for his intelligent creatures to regard him with sentiments of veneration, confidence and love. It would be to ascribe to him attributes which would transform him into a legitimate object of suspicion and terror, and hatred. It may be remarked next, that according to the idiom of scripture language, God is often said to do those things which he permits, and which he is determined to render conductive to his own holy and benevolent purposes. Lastly, it is evidently fair and reasonable to interpret those expressions of scripture, as of other writings, which are dubious or dark, by those which are clear and unequivocal. Now, “times almost without number,” and in terms the most explicit and unambiguous, the scripture guards us against the ascription of any thing evil to God, and teaches us to ascribe to him whatever is good, or excellent, or holy. “I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. Far be it from Go, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.  Troy Edwards