“The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,”
My Notes
What Does Deuteronomy 28:56 Mean?
"The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter." The curse describes the MOST EXTREME deterioration: the MOST REFINED woman — so delicate she wouldn't put her bare foot on the ground — will become SO DESPERATE during the siege that her eye will be 'evil' toward her OWN HUSBAND and CHILDREN. The refinement collapses into savagery. The delicacy disintegrates into desperation. The woman who was the most CIVILIZED becomes the most DEGRADED.
The phrase "the tender and delicate woman, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground" (harakah vakha'anugah bakh asher lo nissethah khaf raglah hatzeq al ha'aretz — the soft and pampered one among you who did not try/venture to place the sole of her foot upon the ground) describes MAXIMUM REFINEMENT: this woman is SO delicate that she doesn't even walk on the ground — she's carried, or she walks on carpets. The foot never touches SOIL. The refinement is EXTREME. The comfort is ABSOLUTE. The delicacy is the STARTING POINT that makes the degradation more devastating.
The "her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter" (tera eynah be'ish cheiqah uvivnah uvevittah — her eye will be evil against the man of her bosom and against her son and against her daughter) describes the COLLAPSE of the MOST INTIMATE relationships: the husband she LOVES (the man of her bosom). The son she BORE. The daughter she RAISED. The 'evil eye' means jealousy, resentment, grudging — she will RESENT sharing food even with her own FAMILY. The siege produces selfishness so extreme that maternal and marital love dissolve.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What extreme circumstance would collapse your most refined relationships?
- 2.What does the most delicate woman becoming the most desperate teach about the distance a curse can cover?
- 3.How does the evil eye toward FAMILY (husband, children) describe the ultimate relational collapse?
- 4.What does this curse's extremity teach about the severity of the disobedience that produces it?
Devotional
The most DELICATE woman — so refined she won't even place her foot on the GROUND — will turn against her OWN HUSBAND and CHILDREN. Her eye will be EVIL toward them. The curse describes the most extreme DETERIORATION: from maximum refinement to maximum savagery. From the woman who wouldn't walk on dirt to the woman who resents her own family.
The 'tender and delicate' is the STARTING POINT that measures the fall: the woman described is the MOST REFINED person in the community — so pampered that her bare foot never touches the earth. She's carried. She's served. She's the HIGHEST expression of civilized comfort. The starting-point is MAXIMUM civilization. The ending-point will be maximum DEGRADATION. The DISTANCE between the two measures the curse's severity.
The 'her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom' is the COLLAPSE of marital love: the 'man of her bosom' (ish cheiqah — the man she holds close, the husband she embraces) becomes the OBJECT of her evil eye. The intimacy collapses. The love disintegrates. The husband who was held to the bosom is now RESENTED — because in the siege, sharing food with him means less for her. The marital love dissolves under the pressure of survival.
The 'toward her son and toward her daughter' extends the collapse to MATERNAL love: the CHILDREN — the son she bore, the daughter she raised — become objects of RESENTMENT. The mother who would normally DIE for her children now RESENTS sharing food with them. The siege has produced a selfishness so EXTREME that it overrides the most powerful human instinct: maternal protection.
The verse describes what EXTREME deprivation does to REFINED people — and the description is the WARNING against the disobedience that produces the siege.
What extreme circumstance would it take to collapse YOUR most refined relationships into survival-competition?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt,.... All that in a way of judgment were brought upon the…
The curses correspond in form and number Deu 28:15-19 to the blessings Deu 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these…
One would have thought that enough had been said to possess them with a dread of that wrath of God which is revealed…
The most tender and most delicate woman among you Almost as in Deu 28:28.
which would not adventure Rather, who had…