Apollos Old Testament Commentary 5. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. This could either be as an Israelite covenant-breaker or, as we will see in Joshua’s case, foreign rulers considered cursed by Yahweh as enemies of Israel. [1] It also reminds us that stoning was the most common form of execution in ancient Israel, an important element for understanding the meaning of our passage which will be discussed later. [13] As Joshua leads the armies of Israel to take the Promised Land, the king of Ai and the Amorite kings rise up to oppose Israel and therefore Yahweh Himself as their divine judge. Thus, since the body itself was cursed by God, allowing it to hang for a time past sunset transmitted the effects of that curse via imputation to the land and rendered it defiled in the sight of God. It is the blessing of this victory that Christians enjoy and must proclaim throughout the earth today. However, the shedding of innocent blood can only be atoned under the Mosaic covenant through the execution of the perpetrators. In response, the Lord commands Moses to “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” [17] Although 24,000 of the offenders die by divine plague, Yahweh singles out the chiefs of the peoples as representative offenders for hanging. 31 And so, the curse of Deut 21:23 reaches ultimate fulfillment in Christ, the cosmic vicarious curse bearer. 58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law,(CB) which are written in this book, and do not revere(CC) this glorious and awesome name(CD)—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 53 Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. [9]. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Justice would be served but not redemption. Once that judgment period passed, Moses led them once again to the borders of the Promised Land. (Y) 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt(Z) and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. The translation ‘impale on a stake’ is based on Assyrian practice. The argument that follows will begin with interpreting the meaning of the law in its original context, examining events in ancient Israel that illuminate concepts mentioned in the law (particularly cursing, hanging, and land defilement), recognizing the connections between the death of Jesus and the law, and how the law relates to modern Christians through Christ. (Galatians 3:10-14).” Journal of Biblical Literature 117, no. Even though Jesus followed a divine mandate to be executed on behalf of his people, it is hard to imagine Yahweh not holding Israel faultless for the murder of His innocent Son. Their task, given by the victorious Jesus, is delivering the gospel of salvation through Christ to the corners of the earth. Operating under divine mandate, the Canaanite kings must be destroyed if Joshua is to faithfully carry out his mission of judgment and conquest. Used by permission. (CV) There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you. Von Rad, Gerhard. Thus, through faith in Christ, even Gentiles can partake of the promises made to Abraham. [24] Even though there is no undisputed Biblical witness to this historical event, [25] given the seriousness of land defilement under the old covenant and the importance of Jesus as the divine God-man, it is not hard to see the destruction of national Israel as judgment for such an act. (BT) 52 They will lay siege(BU) to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. According to GALATIANS 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. The law has power to stir up sin (cf. Kelli O’Brien clarifies the meaning of the various renderings: “A curse of God can be taken as subjective genitive, that is, God curses the one hanged, or it can be taken as objective genitive, that is, a hanged person curses God.” [8] O’Brien goes on to note that the objective genitive form is preferred by most Jewish interpreters and can mean a hanged person had cursed God and is punished by hanging or, alternatively, that the hanging of a body is an affront to God. Pelikan, Jaroslav, ed. [18] As recompense, David allows the Gibeonites to hang seven of Saul’s sons. Jesus thus becomes a victorious king, not through the purging of the Promised Land from Gentile occupiers, but through freeing his redeemed subjects, bound in slavery under the curse of the law, who are unable to free themselves. The Tyndale New Testament Commentary Series 9. Instead of being harmful, obedience to Gods holy law yields many benefits. They were not the rightful rulers of that land and because of their rebellion against Yahweh, they deserved the penalty of execution and hanging. Additionally, Yahweh states that the hanging will turn His anger away from Israel. Through the rejection of Jesus as rightful king leading to his curse-bearing work on the cross, the blessing of Abraham is able to flow to the Gentiles. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. [32] Christians today receive the blessing of salvation through faith in Christ. Christensen, Duane L. Deuteronomy 21:10-34:12. Lectures on Deuteronomy. Joshua sees these foreign kings, representatives of the wicked Canaanites occupying the Promised Land, as cursed by God. 1 (1997): 60-80. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1979. 3 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary 4. (F), 19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.(G). A. Motyer, eds. In fact, Yahweh states clearly that it is these sexual practices by which the Canaanites have already polluted the land. Our focus is on the curse of sickness. (AE) 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. 4Elect does not necessarily endorse every idea or comment in a video or article or quote created by a third party author, minister, etc.. Additionally, if we post one piece of material by an author or speaker, it certainly does not mean we endorse all content ever produced, or words spoken by, that particular individual. After failing to trust Yahweh’s promised victory over the Canaanites, Yahweh doomed Israel to wander 40 years in the wilderness until the entire generation 20 years and older who failed to trust at Kadesh-barnea have died. They will pursue you and overtake you(BE) until you are destroyed,(BF) because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. Craigie, Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. THE CURSE OF THE LAW – DEUTERONOMY 28 This chapter speaks of the blessings of obedience and the curses for disobedience. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992. 20 The Lord will send on you curses, [7]. The Bible Student’s Commentary. Merril, Eugene H. Deuteronomy. Yet identifying the nature of the curse is grammatically difficult. Looking back at the judged Canaanite kings of the Promised Land in the time of Joshua, one can make connections between that ancient situation and Jesus’ death. you have been redeemed from the curse of the law! (L) 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease,(M) with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought,(N) with blight(O) and mildew, which will plague(P) you until you perish. In Deuteronomy 27:15-26 we then have the detailed instructions for the Covenant Ceremony. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance” (ESV). B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979. [8] But once it is acknowledged that Deuteronomy and the Priestly Torah are self-contained, they can each be understood on their own terms. Kalland, Earl S. Deuteronomy – 2 Samuel. Jesus’ work on the cross follows a similar concept. Examining the near context of our passage shows some thematic connections. With its destruction of both nation and temple, it is possible that Israel is thus “vomited” out of the land they have defiled through the murder of the innocent and divine Son of God. Ridderbos, Jan. Deuteronomy. According to Genesis 2 and 3, the curse is death. An answer, including verses from Deuteronomy is found in the New Testament. While the entire list of verses will not be repeated here, the following concepts stand out as curses upon God’s people, Israel, for when they disobeyed His laws: 1. [8] O’Brien, “The Curse of the Law (Galatians 3.13): Crucifixion, Persecution, and Deuteronomy 21.22-23.” 64. 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