Passage

Deuteronomy 28.13

Book: Deuteronomy · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"11. And Jehovah will make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12. Jehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow."

"13. And Jehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them,"

"14. and shalt not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee." (Deuteronomy 28:11-15, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"11. Yahweh will grant you abundant prosperity, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. 12. Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You will lend to many nations, and you will not borrow."

"13. Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath; if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do,"

"14. and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15. 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." (Deuteronomy 28:11-15, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"11. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. ^{in goods: or, for good} ^{body: Heb. belly} 12. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow."

"13. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:"

"14. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:" (Deuteronomy 28:11-15, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"11. 'And Jehovah hath made thee abundant in good, in the fruit of the womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers to give to thee. 12. 'Jehovah doth open to thee his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand, and thou hast lent to many nations, and thou, thou dost not borrow."

"13. 'And Jehovah hath given thee for head, and not for tail; and thou hast been only above, and art not beneath, for thou dost hearken unto the commands of Jehovah thy God, which I am commanding thee to-day, to keep and to do,"

"14. and thou dost not turn aside from all the words which I am commanding you to-day, right or left, to go after other gods, to serve them. 15. 'And it hath been, if thou dost not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God to observe to do all His commands, and His statutes, which I am commanding thee to-day, that all these revilings have come upon thee, and overtaken thee:" (Deuteronomy 28:11-15, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Moses (covenant-renewal sermon)
Audience: the second-generation wilderness Israel on the plains of Moab
Location: plains of Moab, east of the Jordan
Time period: events c. 1406 BC, on the eve of entry into Canaan

Theological reading

The blessing-curse structure of Deuteronomy 28 (vv. 1-14 blessings, vv. 15-68 curses) hinges on the covenant condition of obedience to YHWH. The head / tail (rosh / zanab) pairing names covenantal primacy, Israel's geopolitical and moral leadership among the nations. The figure operates federally: Israel-as-corporate-person stands either as head (covenant-keeping, blessed, leading) or as tail (covenant-breaking, cursed, dominated). NT covenant theology recovers the figure in Christ, who as the covenant-keeping true Israel becomes "the head" (Eph 1:22; Col 1:18) into which the church is incorporated. The verse also feeds Israelite eschatological hope (Isa 60:1-3, 12; Zech 8:23) of nations turning to a restored Israel.

Key words

H7218 - rosh, rosh (Strong's H7218). Here naming covenantal-political primacy under the metaphor of the head as the elevated, leading member.

Quoted in

H7218 - rosh

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.