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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, detailing covenant curses that will follow their disobedience after they enter the land. The verse describes their future exile among foreign nations.

The words — תַרְגִּ֔יעַ (tar.Gi.a') translates literally as "you will rest," while מָנ֖וֹחַ (ma.No.ach) means "a resting place." The text explicitly denies both to the exiled people.

The thread — This pattern of psychological distress in exile appears in Leviticus 26:36 and Leviticus 26:16, which list terror and wasting disease as covenant penalties. Amos 9:4 similarly depicts God’s judgment extending into foreign captivity.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that covenant failure removes all security and forces reliance on God’s mercy rather than human stability. It requires readers to confront the concrete consequences of disobedience without softening the text’s severity.

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

וּבַגּוֹיִ֤םu./va./go.Yimand/ among the/ nations הָהֵם֙ha./Hem<the>/ those לֹ֣אlo'not תַרְגִּ֔יעַtar.Gi.a'you will rest וְלֹא־ve./lo'-and/ not יִהְיֶ֥הyih.Yehit will belong מָנ֖וֹחַma.No.acha resting place לְכַף־le./khaf-to/ [the] sole of רַגְלֶ֑ךָrag.Le./khafoot/ your וְנָתַן֩ve./na.Tanand/ he will give יְהוָ֨הYah.wehYahwehלְךָ֥le./Khato <the>/ youשָׁם֙shamthere לֵ֣בleva heart רַגָּ֔זra.Gaztrembling וְכִלְי֥וֹןve./khil.Yonand/ failing of עֵינַ֖יִם'ei.Na.yimeyes וְדַֽאֲב֥וֹןve./da.'a.Vonand/ despair of נָֽפֶשׁ׃Na.feshbeing

King James Version

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

Cross-references

Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
Leviticus 26:16 then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
Amos 9:4 Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”
Genesis 8:9 But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark.
Romans 11:10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”
Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Isaiah 65:14 My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.
Lamentations 3:65 Put a veil of anguish over their hearts; may Your curse be upon them!
Ezekiel 5:12 A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.