‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by doing them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”
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Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
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Cursed be he that confirmeth not the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say: Amen.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 27:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
- Deuteronomy 28:15-68 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. Yahweh will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away. You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH your God, then Yahweh will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.
- Romans 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”
- Psalms 119:21 You have rebuked the proud who are cursed, who wander from your commandments.
- Ezekiel 18:24 “But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.
- Deuteronomy 27:15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
- Jeremiah 11:3-5 and say to them, Yahweh, the God of Israel says: ‘Cursed is the man who doesn’t hear the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace,’ saying, ‘Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you; so you shall be my people, and I will be your God; that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is today.” Then I answered, and said, “Amen, Yahweh.”
- Matthew 25:41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
- Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
- 1 Corinthians 16:22 If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Come, Lord!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 27:26 Cursed [be] he that confirmeth not [all]…
Deu 27:26 Cursed [be] he that confirmeth not [all] the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Ver. 26. Cursed.] Aut faciendum, aut patiendum. Men must either have the direction of the law, or the correction.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Confirmeth not, i.e. performeth not; for he that transgresseth…
Confirmeth not, i.e. performeth not; for he that transgresseth doth in some sort destroy and make void the law of God, as to the main end for which it was given, even to the regulation of his life and actions, and as far as lies in him disannuls the authority and force of God’s law.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words…
Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them,.... That is, who does not perfectly perform all that the law requires, and continues to do so; for the law requires obedience, and that perfect and constant, and in failure thereof curses, in proof of which the apostle produces this passage; see Gill on Gal 3:10, for the reconciliation of these Scriptures, as to what seeming difference there is between them:
and all the people shall say, Amen; See Gill on Deu 27:15; See Gill on Deu 27:16.
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Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 28
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Confirmeth not - Or, performeth not. To this we…
Confirmeth not - Or, performeth not. To this we must all say, Amen! Owning ourselves to be under the curse, and that we must have perished forever, if Christ had not redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. That confirmeth not all the words of…
Verse 26. That confirmeth not all the words of this law] The word כל col, ALL, is not found in any printed copy of the Hebrew text; but the Samaritan preserves it, and so do six MSS. in the collections of Kennicott and De Rossi, besides several copies of the Chaldee Targum. The Septuagint also, and St. Paul in his quotation of this place, Ga 3:10. St. Jerome says that the Jews suppressed the word, that it might not appear that they were bound to fulfil ALL the precepts in the law of Moses.
1. Dr. KENNICOTT, who contends that it was the Decalogue that was written on the stones mentioned in this chapter, says, "If we examine these twelve curses, they will appear to contain a strong enforcement of the ten commands; and it is highly probable that the curses were here proclaimed principally to secure obedience to the commandments, as will be made more clear by the following table: -
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The first, second, third, and fourth Commandments
-Verse 15. Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination to the Lord, c.
The fifth Commandment
-Verse 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother.
The sixth Commandment
-Verse 25. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.
-Verse 24. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly.
-Verse 18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way.
The seventh Commandment
-Verse 20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife.
-Verse 21. Cursed be he that lieth with any beast.
-Verse 22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister.
-Verse 23. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law.
The eighth Commandment
-Verse 17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark.
The ninth Commandment
-Verse 19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow.
The tenth Commandment
-Verse 26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them."
Many will think this arrangement fanciful and the analogy far from being natural.
2. In pronouncing these blessings and curses, the Talmud says, six tribes went up towards the top of Mount Gerizim, and six towards the top of Mount Ebal; and the priests and the Levites, and the ark stood beneath in the midst. The priests encompassed the ark, and the Levites stood around about the priests; and all Israel on this side and on that; see Jos 8:33. Then they turned their faces towards Mount Gerizim and pronounced the blessings, Blessed be the man, c., and those on each side answered AMEN! then they turned their faces towards Mount Ebal, and pronounced the curse, Cursed be the man, c., and those on each side answered AMEN! till they had finished the blessings and the curses and afterwards they brought stones and built an altar. Some suppose that the Levites were divided into two grand bodies, part standing at or on Mount Gerizim, and part on Mount Ebal, and that with each division were some of the priests. The whole Dr. Parry supposes to have been arranged in the following manner: -
3. It is worthy of remark that Moses assigns to the children of Rachel and Leah, the two mothers of the family, the office of blessing the people, as being the most honourable and these he places on Mount Gerizim. On the contrary, he assigns the office of cursing the people to the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah, as being the least honourable office; but with these he joins Zebulun, the youngest of Leah's sons, and Reuben, the eldest. As there must be six tribes on each mountain, it was necessary that while six of the sons of Rachel and Leah, the legitimate wives, should be employed in blessing, two tribes descending from the same mothers should be joined to the other four who proceeded from the handmaids in order to make up the number six. The question is, which two of the more honourable tribes should be joined to the four least honourable, in order to complete the number six? Zebulun is chosen, because being the sixth and youngest of all Leah's sons, he was the least honourable of those who proceeded from the free woman; and Reuben is chosen, who, though the eldest of Jacob's sons, and entitled to the birthright, had lost it by his transgression. And hence he, in his posterity, was degraded, and was obliged to pronounce the curse, Cursed is he that lieth with his father's wife. See Ge 49:3-4, and Ge 35:22, and the notes on both places.
4. It is strange how long the disgrace consequent on some flagrant transaction of a parent may cleave to his posterity! See this exemplified in the posterity of Reuben. Hence, with great propriety we may pray, Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins." - Litany. For the offences of our forefathers may be so remembered against their posterity, that God, in the course of his providence, may still keep up a controversy in secular matters with the descendants (though even pious) of unholy ancestors; for as all men are seminally included in the parents, they come into the world depraved with their depravity, and in some sort liable to their curses, though not so far as to affect their eternal interests without the addition of their own personal offences. Thus God may be said to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, even unto the third and fourth generation; as he may have a controversy with the land for the evil which has been done in it, and for which no proper atonement has been made. Why is it that at this moment Spain is suffering the most afflictive and cruel desolations? What has she done to merit all this? Is she more wicked than all the European nations because she suffers such things? Here is the mystery: Nations, as such, can only be punished in this world. Look at the torrents of innocent blood shed by their ancestors in South America 300 years ago; and see now and adore the awful hand of retributive justice! (December, 1811.) We often see persons tried and afflicted, for whose distresses we can give no legitimate reason. We find others who, though they rise early, sit up late, work hard, eat the bread of carefulness, and have a full knowledge of their business, yet never get on in life. Who can account for this? Shall we say that some injustice in their ancestors has brought down the displeasure of God upon the earthly possessions that descended in that line, so that the goods ill gotten shall never be permitted to multiply? I knew an honest man, dead many years since, who by great diligence, punctuality, and integrity in his business, had acquired considerable property. Some time before his death, having by will divided his substance among his sons and his daughters, he expressed himself thus: "Children, you need not fear the curse of God on this property; every penny of it was honestly earned." Many years have since elapsed, and the blessing of God has been in the basket and in the store of all his children. Parents! leave nothing behind you that you cannot say before your God, with a clear conscience, "This has been honestly earned." If all bequests of a contrary description were to be deducted from last wills and testaments, the quantum of descending property would be, in many cases, small indeed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 27:26. Confirmeth not — Or, performeth not. To…
Deu 27:26. Confirmeth not — Or, performeth not. To this we must all say, Amen! Owning ourselves to be under the curse, and that we must have perished for ever, if Christ had not redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain In the. The Samaritan, Septuagint, and St. Paul (Galatians…
In the. The Samaritan, Septuagint, and St. Paul (Galatians iii. 10) read, in all the words, &c., which must probably be understood of the principal points of the law, specified in the preceding verses. (Calmet) See ver. 4. --- The Jews could derive no advantage from the omission of the word all, as the general proposition would be equivalent. (Capellus.) --- Some are of opinion, that the blessings which Moses ordered to be proclaimed, were the reverse of these curses, ver. 12. But, is that man truly blessed who observes one point of the law, while he perhaps is transgressing the rest? At this rate, the same man might be blessed and cursed at the same time. (Kennicott) --- They are more probably, therefore, expressed in the following chapter, where the observance of all the commandments is previously required. The curses are denounced indefinitely, to imply that those who transgress the law, must stand before an unerring Judge, to receive an adequate punishment in eternity for their crying sins against the law, which was given on Mount Horeb, chap. xxix. 1. Against such criminals the preceding curses are levelled. But those recorded in the ensuing chapter, are of a temporary nature, and to be publicly inflicted without delay upon those who refuse to adhere to the service of the Lord. "God had made such a covenant with the Israelites, says Houbigant, that he would so long uphold their republic as they should worship the true God." (Haydock) --- The foregoing curses may thus refer to the ten commandments; ver. 15, denounces vengeance against all who transgress the first table of the law, which relates to God; ver. 16, sanctions the honour due to parents; ver. 18, 24, and 25, condemn those who injure or kill; as ver. 20, 21, 22, and 23, do those who are guilty of impurity; ver. 17, curseth those who steal; and ver. 19, those who bear false witness; ver. 26, is intended as a general sanction of the law, as the two last commandments secure the observance of it most effectually, by forbidding even the thought or desire of doing evil. See Kennicott, Dis. ii. p. 86. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. confirmeth] Lit. establisheth, 2Ki_23:3; 2Ki_23:24 of Josiah and…
26. confirmeth] Lit. establisheth, 2Ki_23:3; 2Ki_23:24 of Josiah and the Book of the Law, Heb. Tôrah, as in Deu_1:5, Deu_31:9, which see.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the…
(26) Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.—“Here he sums up the whole Law, all of it, and they took it upon them with a curse and an oath” (Rashi). From this verse St. Paul also reasons that “as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse.” For no man can do all of them. And therefore it is impossible to secure the blessing of Gerizim except through Him who bare the curse of Ebal. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, as it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” In all these curses the verb is wanting. “Cursed is he,” would be a more correct translation in modern English. These curses are not imprecations so much as declarations of fact.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain cf. Deu_28:15; Jer_11:3, 4
cf. Deu_28:15; Jer_11:3, 4
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues telling the Levites and the people what they must say.
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May the man be cursed
This may be stated in active form. See how you translated this in Deuteronomy 27:16. AT: "May Yahweh curse the man" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
curse
confirm
word
law
obey
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.