Deuteronomy 29:19

because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites assembled at Moab on the eve of entering the Promised Land, closing his covenant renewal address. He targets individuals within the community who would privately dismiss the covenant's warnings while continuing in open rebellion.

The words — ve./hit.ba.Rekh (H1288) literally means "and he will bless himself," capturing the sinner's self-justifying claim of peace. Ha./'a.Lah (H423) denotes "the oath," the binding covenant curse that the speaker willfully ignores.

The thread — This pattern of self-deceived rebellion echoes in Jeremiah 7:24, where Israel follows the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. It parallels Numbers 15:30, which defines defiant sinning as blaspheming the LORD and warrants being cut off from the people.

Why it lands — The text states that self-justification in the face of known covenant terms triggers universal judgment, affecting both fertile and barren land. It demands immediate examination of any internal rationalization that treats divine warning as optional.

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

And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

Cross-references

Jeremiah 7:24 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
Numbers 15:39 These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the commandments of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by following your own heart and your own eyes.
Numbers 15:30 But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
Jeremiah 7:3 Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.
Deuteronomy 17:2 If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
Deuteronomy 29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath,
Psalms 49:18 Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—
Jeremiah 3:17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
Jeremiah 44:16 “As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!