Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 28:54
The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, outlining the covenant curses that will follow their disobedience. He describes a future siege where extreme distress will warp human relationships.
The words — The text highlights עָנֹג ('a.Nog) = delicate and תֵּרַע (te.Ra') = it will be evil. These terms describe how the siege will make even the most refined man view his own family with hostility.
The thread — The refusal to share food appears in the siege context of Deuteronomy 28:55, while the phrase "wife you embrace" echoes Deuteronomy 13:6 regarding intimate bonds tested by false prophecy. The underlying attitude of grudging generosity parallels the warning against a wicked heart in Deuteronomy 15:9 and the question of envy in Matthew 20:15.
Why it lands — The passage forces a reader to confront how extreme scarcity can corrupt natural affections. It demands an examination of whether one's loyalty to kinship or covenant holds when survival is at stake.
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
King James Version
So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 15:9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
- Matthew 20:15 Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- 2 Samuel 12:3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him.
- Psalms 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
- Proverbs 23:6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
- Proverbs 28:22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.
- Micah 7:5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.
- Matthew 7:9 Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
- Luke 11:11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?