Deuteronomy 28:17 — Word Study
WLCאָר֥וּר טַנְאֲךָ֖ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּֽךָ׃
BSAYour basketṭeneʼ [woven, osier, and thy store] and kneading bowlmishʼereth [trough, dough, basin, container] will be cursedʼârar [utterly, completely, to be execrated, under divine judgment]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| אָר֥וּר | [will be] cursed | Verb, Qal, participle (passive) masculine singular |
| טַנְאֲךָ֖ | basket your | Noun common masculine singular construct, suffix |
| וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּֽךָ׃ | and kneading trough your | Conjunction, noun common feminine singular construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. |
| KJV | Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. |
| ASV | Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. |
| YLT | 'Cursed [is] thy basket and thy kneading-trough. |
| WEB | Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. |
| BBE | A curse will be on your basket and on your bread-basin. |
Where they part company is in the amplifications of the curse — see How Translations Differ.
This sentence has a straightforward structure, with a clear subject and predicate indicating the curse.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Trapp, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
verbאָרַר
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Deuteronomy 28:17
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Consequences of Disobediencegenerated
Deuteronomy 28:17 is part of a series of curses that will befall the Israelites if they do not obey God's commandments. This section emphasizes the dire consequences that affect their daily lives, including their food supplies and basic necessities. The context highlights the seriousness of turning away from God's laws, as it leads to tangible repercussions in their lives.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deuteronomy 28:5 | Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed. |
| 2 | Psalm 69:22 | May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap. |
| 3 | Proverbs 1:32 | For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. |
| 4 | Haggai 1:6 | You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.” |
| 5 | Zechariah 5:3–4 | Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 7 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — אָר֥וּר, 'a.Rurgenerated
The word אָרַר ('arar) is a verb meaning to curse, indicating a state of being under divine judgment. It is a perfect passive participle, which shows that the curse is not just a statement but an active judgment imposed by God.
This word appears frequently in the Hebrew Bible, often in contexts of punishment or divine disfavor. The passive form indicates that the subject (the basket and kneading bowl) is receiving the action of being cursed, emphasizing the severity of the judgment.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses the term cursed.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The finite verb אָר֥וּר governs the entire verse, indicating the action of cursing. The structure includes two noun phrases: the subject טַנְאֲךָ֖ and וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּֽךָ, which are the objects being cursed.
This construction emphasizes the items affected by the curse, highlighting their importance in daily life. The sentence structure indicates a clear and direct statement of judgment.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, the Hebrew word אָר֥וּר is rendered as ἐπικατάρατοι, which also means 'cursed'. This choice reflects a consistent understanding of divine judgment across both texts.
The Greek term carries similar connotations of being under a curse, aligning closely with the Hebrew meaning and reinforcing the seriousness of the curse.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Deuteronomy 28:17 states that your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. This means that these essential items for food preparation will be under divine judgment, indicating a serious consequence for disobedience to God's laws.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It signifies that these everyday items will not be blessed but will instead face divine judgment, affecting the household's ability to provide food.
They represent essential aspects of daily life and sustenance, indicating that disobedience to God impacts even the most basic necessities.
Curses serve as a warning of the consequences of turning away from God's commandments, emphasizing the seriousness of obedience.
It illustrates the blessings and curses that result from the Israelites' faithfulness or unfaithfulness to God's covenant.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways do I see the consequences of disobedience in my own life?
- How can I ensure that I am following God's commandments to avoid such curses?
- What are some practical steps I can take to bless my household instead of bringing judgment upon it?
- How does understanding the seriousness of this curse affect my view of daily provisions?
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Deuteronomy 28:17 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleCursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store. [See comments on Deuteronomy 28:5]. [See comments on Deuteronomy 28:16].
Read John Gill on Deuteronomy 28 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryCursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on Deuteronomy 28 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsDeuteronomy 28:17 Cursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store. Ver. 17.
Read John Trapp on Deuteronomy 28 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16-19) Cursed. . . .—Here we have the counterpart of Deu 28:3-6, inclusive. The only difference is in the position of “the basket and the store” which come one place earlier in the curses than in the blessings.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Deuteronomy 28 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges15–46. The Curses The opening Deuteronomy 28:15-20, correspond to the blessings in Deuteronomy 28:1-7, except that there are no antitheses to Deuteronomy 28:1 b and Deuteronomy 28:2 b, and that the curse on basket and kneading-bowl precedes that on fruit of thy body, etc. Then the Discourse leaves the limits it had observed in the remainder of the blessings, Deuteronomy 28:8-14, and while here and there it gives the exact contrast of these blessings (cp. Deuteronomy 28:23 f. with Deuteronomy 28:12 a, Deuteronomy 28:25 with Deuteronomy 28:7 b, Deuteronomy 28:37 and Deuteronomy 28:46 with Deuteronomy 28:10, Deuteronomy 28:43 f. with Deuteronomy 28:12 b, Deuteronomy 28:13 a), the rest is a…
Read Cambridge on Deuteronomy 28 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible16-19. Cursed… in the city… field… basket… store… fruit of body… land… kine… sheep… comest in… goest out — The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Deuteronomy 28 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed.
Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed.
Tyndale line
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneadingtrough.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Cursed shall thy basket be, and thy dough.
Strictly literal
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
'Cursed [is] thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
Cursed [is] your basket and your kneading-trough.
Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough.
Cursed will be your basket and your kneading trough.
From the Latin
Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.
Simplified
You will be cursed by not having bread.
A curse will be on your basket and on your bread-basin.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text aligns with the Samaritan Pentateuch, both reading אָר֥וּר טַנְאֲךָ֖ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּֽךָ word for word. The Dead Sea Scrolls show some editorial restoration, but the core words match the Masoretic Text.
אָר֥וּר טַנְאֲךָ֖ וּמִשְׁאַרְתֶּֽךָ׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ארור טנאך ומשׁארתך
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
[ארור] [טנא׳ך] [ומשארת׳ך]
nothing on the leather here — 3 supplied entire by an editor.
[ארור] טנא׳ך [ומשארת׳ך]
1 word on the leather — 2 supplied entire by an editor.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Deuteronomy 28:17
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
אָרַר (arar) is a Hebrew verb meaning to curse. It encompasses various forms, including the act of cursing (Qal), being cursed (Niphal), and putting a curse on someone (Piel). The entries indicate that it can also imply being made a curse (Hophal). There is a consistent focus on the concept of cursing throughout the definitions.
[אָרַר] vb. curse
Qal curse
Niph. cursed
Pi. curse, lay under a curse
Hoph. be cursed
base
H779 אָרַר curse .curse
. cursed
. curse, lay under a curse
. be cursed
779 'arar aw-rar'
a primitive root; to execrate:--X bitterly curse.
אָרַר (a.rar) — to curse.
1) to curse
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to curse
1a2) cursed be he (participle used as in curses)
1b) (Niphal) to be cursed, cursed
1c)(Piel) to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on
1d) (Hophal) to be made a curse, be cursed
V-Qal-Inf-c — Verb · Qal · participle (passive) masculine singularHVqsmsa
טֶ֫נֶא (tene') means 'basket' and is derived from an unused root that likely refers to weaving. It specifically denotes a basket made of interlaced materials. The term appears in contexts related to containers, though no specific verses are cited in the entries.
טֶ֫נֶא n.m. basket
base
H2935 טֶ֫נֶא basket
2935 tene' teh'-neh
from an unused root probably meaning to weave; a basket (of
interlaced osiers):--basket.
טֶ֫נֶא (te.ne) — basket.
basket
N-ms | Suff — Noun common masculine singular construct · suffixHNcmsc/Sp2ms
מִשְׁאֶ֫רֶת (mish'ereth) refers to a kneading trough or bowl, a household vessel used for dough before it is leavened. It is derived from the root meaning to swell, indicating its function in the bread-making process. The term appears in contexts related to food preparation, particularly in Exodus.
[מִשְׁאֶ֫רֶת] n.f. a household vessel, AV (Ex), RV kneading-trough; vessel in which was dough before it was leavened
base
H4863 מִשְׁאֶ֫רֶת
4863 mish'ereth mish-eh'-reth
from 7604 in the original sense of swelling; a
kneading-trough (in which the dough rises):--kneading trough,
store.
see HEBREW for 07604
מִשְׁאֶ֫רֶת (mish.e.ret) — kneading.
kneading trough or bowl
Conj | N-fs | Suff — Conjunction · noun common feminine singular construct · suffixHC/Ncfsc/Sp2ms