Deuteronomy 28:32

Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, delivering covenant curses that will unfold if they abandon the law before crossing into the Promised Land.

The words — The Hebrew נְתֻנִים (ne.tu.Nim) translates literally as "[will be] given," and וְ/כָלֹות (ve./kha.Lot) conveys a state of exhaustion or longing.

The thread — This motif of familial loss to foreign powers recurs in Deuteronomy 28:41, Joel 3:6, and 2 Chronicles 29:9.

Why it lands — The text states that the people will watch their children be taken away while remaining powerless to intervene, demanding a clear assessment of the consequences of covenant failure.

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

בָּנֶ֨יךָba.Nei./khasons/ your וּבְנֹתֶ֜יךָu./ve.no.Tei./khaand/ daughters/ your נְתֻנִ֨יםne.tu.Nim[will be] given לְעַ֤םle./'Amto/ a people אַחֵר֙'a.Cheranother וְעֵינֶ֣יךָve./'ei.Nei./khaand/ eyes/ your רֹא֔וֹתro.'ot[will be] looking וְכָל֥וֹתve./kha.Lotand/ longing אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם'a.lei./Hemto/ them כָּל־kol-all הַיּ֑וֹםhai./Yomthe/ day וְאֵ֥יןve./'Einand/ not לְאֵ֖לle./'El[it is] to/ [the] power of יָדֶֽךָ׃ya.De./khahand/ your

King James Version

Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 28:41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.
Joel 3:6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.
2 Chronicles 29:9 For behold, this is why our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and daughters and wives are in captivity.
Job 17:5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail.
Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
Deuteronomy 28:18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, as well as the produce of your land, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.
Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
Nehemiah 5:2 Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.”
Job 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”
Psalms 69:3 I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.