Deuteronomy 28:30

You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelite community as he catalogs the covenant curses that will fall upon them after they cross the Jordan.

The words — תְאָרֵ֗שׂ (te.'a.Res) literally means "you will betroth," and יִשְׁכָּבֶ֔/נָּה (yish.ka.be./nah) literally means "he will lie with."

The thread — The motif of violated domestic and economic security runs through Jeremiah 8:10, Amos 5:11, and Job 31:10, where displaced families and confiscated property signal covenant breach.

Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to see that covenant obedience secures human labor, while disobedience guarantees its systematic reversal.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אִשָּׁ֣ה'i.Shaha woman תְאָרֵ֗שׂte.'a.Resyou will betroth וְאִ֤ישׁve./'Ishand/ a man אַחֵר֙'a.Cheranother יִשְׁכָּבֶ֔נָּהyish.ka.be./nahhe will lie with/ her בַּ֥יִתBa.yita house תִּבְנֶ֖הtiv.Nehyou will build וְלֹא־ve./lo'-and/ not תֵשֵׁ֣בte.Shevyou will dwellבּ֑וֹb/oin <the>/ itכֶּ֥רֶםKe.rema vineyard תִּטַּ֖עti.Ta'you will plant וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not תְחַלְּלֶּֽנּוּ׃te.chal.le.Le./nuyou will put to use/ it

King James Version

Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.

Cross-references

Amos 5:11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
Jeremiah 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
Job 31:10 then may my own wife grind grain for another, and may other men sleep with her.
Isaiah 5:9 I heard the LORD of Hosts declare: “Surely many houses will become desolate, great mansions left unoccupied.
Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
Lamentations 5:2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
Deuteronomy 20:6 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.
Isaiah 65:21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Hosea 4:2 Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
Micah 6:15 You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.