Deuteronomy 28:34

You will be driven mad by the sights you see.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel on the plains of Moab, pronouncing the covenant curses that will follow their disobedience before they enter the Promised Land. The verse sits between descriptions of economic ruin and physical affliction in Deuteronomy 28.

The words — מְשֻׁגָּ֑ע (me.shu.Ga') means "driven mad," linked to מִ/מַּרְאֵ֥ה עֵינֶ֖י/ךָ (mi./mar.'Eh 'ei.Nei./kha), literally "from the sight of your eyes."

The thread — This judgment motif continues in Deuteronomy 28:28, which expands the affliction to blindness and confusion of mind. The pattern of forced reversal and terror appears again in Deuteronomy 28:68 and Isaiah 33:14.

Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant breach produces measurable psychological and physical collapse. It demands a sober assessment of the tangible cost of abandoning the stipulated relationship with God.

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

וְהָיִ֖יתָve./ha.Yi.taand/ you will be מְשֻׁגָּ֑עme.shu.Ga'driven mad מִמַּרְאֵ֥הmi./mar.'Ehfrom/ [the] sight[s] of עֵינֶ֖יךָ'ei.Nei./khaeyes/ your אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhich תִּרְאֶֽה׃tir.'Ehyou will see

King James Version

So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 28:28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness, and confusion of mind,
Deuteronomy 28:68 The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.