God’s Word Translation
Deuteronomy 28:49
49The Lord will bring against you a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth. The nation will swoop down on you like an eagle. It will be a nation whose language you won’t understand.
Deuteronomy 28:49 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
- New International Version (NIV)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
- English Standard Version (ESV)The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand,
- New King James Version (NKJV)The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,
Context of Deuteronomy 28:49
47You didn’t serve the Lord your God with a joyful and happy heart when you had so much. 48So you will serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you. You will serve them even though you are already hungry, thirsty, naked, and in need of everything. The Lord will put a heavy burden of hard work on you until he destroys you. The Lord will bring against you a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth. The nation will swoop down on you like an eagle. It will be a nation whose language you won’t understand. 50Its people will be fierce-looking. They will show no respect for the old and no pity for the young. 51They’ll eat the offspring of your animals and the crops from your fields until you’re destroyed. They’ll leave you no grain, no new wine, no olive oil, no calves from your herds, and no lambs or kids from your flocks. They’ll continue to do this until they’ve completely ruined you.
Read all of Deuteronomy 28Deuteronomy 28:49 word by word
יִשָּׂ֣א יְהוָה֩ עָלֶ֨יךָ גּ֤וֹי מֵרָחוֹק֙ מִקְצֵ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר יִדְאֶ֖ה הַנָּ֑שֶׁר גּ֕וֹי אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־תִשְׁמַ֖ע לְשֹׁנֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- shall bringנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
- a nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- against thee from farרָחֹקrâchôq râchôq · distantH7350
- from the endקָצֶהqâtseh qêtseh · endH7097
- of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- as the eagleנֶשֶׁרnesher · eagleH5404
- fliethדָּאָהdâ'âh · to flyH1675
- whose tongueלָשׁוֹןlâshôn lâshôn leshônâh · tongue: languageH3956
- thou shalt not understandשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: understandH8085
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 28:49
- Numbers 24:24Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus. They will conquer Assyria and Eber. But they, too, will be totally destroyed.”
- Isaiah 5:26The Lord raises up a flag for the nations far away. With a whistle he signals those at the ends of the earth. Look, they are coming very quickly!
- Jeremiah 5:15Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far away to attack you, declares the Lord. It is a nation that has lasted a long time. It is an ancient nation. You don’t know the language of this nation. You can’t understand what its people say.
- Daniel 6:22My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they couldn’t hurt me. He did this because he considered me innocent. Your Majesty, I haven’t committed any crime.”
- Daniel 9:26But after the sixty-two sets of seven time periods, the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The city and the holy place will be destroyed with the prince who is to come. His end will come with a flood until the end of the destructive war that has been determined.
- Habakkuk 1:6I am going to send the Babylonians, that fierce and reckless nation. They will march throughout the earth to take possession of lands that don’t belong to them.
- Luke 19:43The time will come when enemy armies will build a wall to surround you and close you in on every side.
- Luke 19:44They will level you to the ground and kill your people. One stone will not be left on top of another, because you didn’t recognize the time when God came to help you.”
- Jeremiah 4:13The enemy comes up like clouds. His chariots are like a raging wind. His horses are faster than eagles. How horrible it will be for us! We will be destroyed!
- Jeremiah 48:40“This is what the Lord says: The enemy will swoop down like eagles and spread their wings over Moab.
- Jeremiah 49:22The enemy will swoop down like eagles and spread their wings over Bozrah. On that day Edom’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.
- Lamentations 4:19Those who were hunting us were faster than eagles in the sky. They chased us in the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 17:3Say, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: A large eagle came to Lebanon. It had large wings with long, colorful feathers. It took hold of the top of a cedar tree.
- Hosea 8:1“Sound the alarm on the ram’s horn. The enemy swoops down on the Lord’s temple like an eagle. The people of Israel have rejected my promise and rebelled against my teachings.
- Matthew 24:28Vultures will gather wherever there is a dead body.
- Ezekiel 3:6I am not sending you to nations whose language is hard to understand, difficult to speak, or whose words you cannot understand. If I send you to those nations, they will certainly listen to you.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 28:49
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 49A nation - from far - Probably the Romans. As the eagle flieth - The very animal on all the Roman standards. The Roman eagle is proverbial. Whose tongue thou shalt not understand - The Latin language, than which none was more foreign to the structure and idiom of the Hebrew.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15-68Verses 15-68 The curses correspond in form and number Deuteronomy 28:15-19 to the blessings Deuteronomy 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deuteronomy 28:20-26 First series of judgments. The curse of God should rest on all they did, and should issue in manifold forms of disease, in famine, and in defeat in war. Deuteronomy 28:20 Vexation - Rather, confusion: the word in the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 45-68Verses 45-68 If God inflicts vengeance, what miseries his curse can bring upon mankind, even in this present world! Yet these are but the beginning of sorrows to those under the curse of God. What then will be the misery of that world where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched! Observe what is here said of the wrath of God, which should come and remain upon the Israelites for their sins. It is amazing to think that a people so long the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 49like an eagle: This comparison shows how quickly the enemy would attack. Just as a bird of prey swoops down suddenly, the invading army would come without warning. whose language you will not understand: The enemy would speak a foreign language that Israel did not know. The Assyrians and Babylonians spoke dialects of Akkadian. Akkadian was related to Hebrew, but it was very different in grammar, syntax, and vocabulary (see Isaiah 36:11–13).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4949. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far--the invasion of the Romans--"they came from far." The soldiers of the invading army were taken from France, Spain, and Britain--then considered "the end of the earth." Julius Severus, the commander, afterwards Vespasian and Hadrian, left Britain for the scene of contest. Moreover, the ensign on the standards of the Roman army was "an eagle"; and the dialects spoken by the soldiers of the different…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 28:49
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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