Ulangan 11:26

Anticipation of a Blessing and Cursing Ceremony

11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: ¹ 

Ulangan 13:15

13:15 you must by all means ²  slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate ³  with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock.

Ulangan 28:15

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore ⁴  the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ⁵ 

[11:26]  ¹ sn A blessing and a curse. Every extant treaty text of the late Bronze Age attests to a section known as the “blessings and curses,” the former for covenant loyalty and the latter for covenant breach. Blessings were promised rewards for obedience; curses were threatened judgments for disobedience. In the Book of Deuteronomy these are fully developed in 27:1–28:68. Here Moses adumbrates the whole by way of anticipation.

[13:15]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “by all means.” Cf. KJV, NASB “surely”; NIV “certainly.”

[13:15]  ³ tn Or “put under divine judgment. The Hebrew word (חֵרֶם, kherem) refers to placing persons or things under God’s judgment, usually to the extent of their complete destruction.Though primarily applied against the heathen, this severe judgment could also fall upon unrepentant Israelites (cf. the story of Achan in Josh 7). See also the note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.

[28:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

[28:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”