Temple Beth-El Torah Study March 26, 2016 Deuteronomy 28:1-3

Verse 1

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set you high above all the nations of the earth. The parallel statements of divine favor to the Israelite people in Exodus stress the act of election itself and the grant of the promised land but not this idea of supremacy --verses 7 and 12 make clear that this means military and economic supremacy--over all other nations. The immediate political background for this conditional pronouncement is a period in which powerful nations to the east periodically threatened Israel's national existence. (Alter)

Verses 1 and 2. The proem emphasizes the conditionality of the elected status of Israel. The repetition of the conditional nature of the fulfillment, If you obey the Lord your God (vv. 1 and 2), places a frame around the central idea of divine election of Israel. Set you high above all the nations of the earth (see also v. 13): The metaphor, which is also used to denote the elected status of the Davidic dynasty (Ps. 89:28), here denotes the divine election of the nation. The same affirmation of Israel's election appears at 26:19, where it is not conditional; instead, it fulfills God's past promises. Here, in contrast, the nation's elected status is presented as a future promise that is conditional upon obedience. The marked change may well reflect the revision of earlier expectations in light of the catastrophe of exile. (Jewish Study Bible)

this day Following the digression in chapter 27, which looked ahead to the arrival in the promised land, Moses here turns his attention back to the present moment in the land of Moab. Briefly, he recapitulates the conditions and promises of 26:16-19 regarding the covenant now being made in Moab, and then spells out the consequences that will ensue if Israel is loyal or disloyal to it. (JPS)

the LORD your Gad will set you high above all the nations The promise of 26:19 is conditional; Israel is not promised automatic special treatment but must earn it. To make this clear, the condition is repeated in verse 2. (JPS)

Verse 2

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overtake you. The verb is a little surprising because it is the word used for catching up with someone who is fleeing. The idea is that an unimaginable profusion of bounties will come down on the Israelite in ways he could scarcely expect, but the usage is also obviously dictated by the need to create a precise verbal parallelism with verse 15, "all these curses will come upon you and overtake you." (Alter)

Sforno on Deuteronomy 28:2:1-2

ובאו עליך כל הברכות האלה והשיגוך. They will catch up with you although you did not even make an effort to “catch up” with them.

כי תשמע בקול ה' אלוקיך, all of this will occur when you make the pursuit of Torah your principal endeavour, relegating secular activities to something subordinate. In recognition of this approved lifestyle of yours, the blessings G’d bestows on you can obviously not be described as something that you were actively pursuing. The blessings mentioned by Moses here were the ones that were in evidence during the period of the first Temple during the part of that period when the Jewish people did observe the commandments of the Torah.

All these blessing: In this chapter the words “blessing” and “curse” do not refer to promises and threats but to the benign and destructive forces that blessings and curses call for. (JPS)

shall come upon you and take effect The second verb is literally “overtake.” Throughout the chapter the blessings and curses—that is, the benign and destructive forces—are almost personified by the verbs used of them: they “come,” “pursue,” and “overtake” (vv. 2,15,22,45), and God “commands” (translated “ordain”) and “lets [them] loose” (vv. 8,20; cf. 32:24). See also 29:19, where sanctions (’alah, another term for “curse”) “crouch” upon the sinner (the translation reads “come down”). This manner of speaking probably originated in personification of these forces as agents that God holds back or releases in accordance with Israel’s behavior. Such personification is also found in Exodus 12:23, where the agent of the tenth plague is called “the Destroyer,” and in the book of Psalms, where destructive and protective forces are both pictured as “messengers” (mal’akhim, usually rendered “angels”). However, actual personification is absent in Deuteronomy, which avoids any suggestion of independent supernatural powers in addition to God. Instead, the blessings and curses are merely reified and treated as impersonal forces under God’s absolute control, and the verbs express the idea that at God’s command the blessings will come to Israel with no struggle on its part and the curses will ensue despite any effort on its part.(JPS)

Verse 3

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Daat Zkenim on Deuteronomy 28:3:1-2

ברך אתה בעיר, “You will be blessed in the town;” you will be blessed for performing the commandments that are performed in an urban area, such as building a sukkah, attaching a mezzuzah to the doorposts of your houses, or a fence around the roof of your house.

וברוך אתה בשדה, “and you will be blessed in the field;” this applies to the farmers who observe the manifold laws pertaining to growing crops and leaving some of the harvest for the poor or the priests and Levites. An alternate interpretation of these statements: “the city” referred to is Jerusalem, the holy city, and the expression: “blessed are you in the field,” refers to Zion, of which the prophet Jeremiah 26,18, said: ציון שדה תחרש , Zion will be plowed as a field.” [I fail to understand this interpretation, seeing that the line quoted from Jeremiah is not only not a blessing, but a curse, followed by the prediction of the fall of Jerusalem. Ed.]

Blessed Prosperous. Comment to 2:7, which states: "blessed you in all your undertakings. That is, He made you prosperous in every way; compare 30:9: 'The Lord your God will grant you abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in the issue of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil.' 'Blessing' often refers to prosperity, as in Genesis 24:35, 'The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich: He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, make and female slaves, camels and asses.'" (JPS)

in the city. . . in the country These opposites express the totality of places, meaning that wherever you live and work, your undertakings will prosper. The elaboration of this verse in verses 12-13 focuses on the city and country, respectively, as the loci of trade and farming. (JPS)