Deuteronomy 28:12

The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain.—The Jews have a saying that, “There are three keys in the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He! which He hath not intrusted to the hand of a messenger, and they are these, the key of the rains, the key of birth, and the key of the resurrection of the dead.” The key of the rain, as it is written (Deuteronomy 28:12), “Jehovah shall open to thee His good treasure,” &c. (from the Talmudic treatise, Ta’anith, p. 20, b).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

28:1-14 This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. They are real things and have real effects. The blessings are here put before the curses. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. It is his delight to bless. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God's favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The oath with which God vouchsafed to confirm His promises to the patriarchs (compare Genesis 22:16; Hebrews 6:13-14) contained by implication these gifts of holiness and eminence to Israel (compare the marginal references).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure—The seasonable supply of the early and latter rain was one of the principal means by which their land was so uncommonly fruitful.

thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow—that is, thou shalt be in such affluent circumstances, as to be capable, out of thy superfluous wealth, to give aid to thy poorer neighbors.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

His good treasure, to wit, the heaven or the air, as it here follows, which is God’s storehouse, where he treasures up rain or wind or other things for man’s use. See Job 38:22 Psalm 33:7.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure,.... The Lord has his treasures of snow and of hail, and of wind, Job 38:22; but here his good treasure, as appears by what follows, is his treasure of rain. In the Targum of Jonathan it is said,

"there are four keys in the hand of the Lord of the whole world, which he does not deliver into the hands of any prince; the keys of life, and of the grave, and of food, and of rain:"

the heaven, to give the rain unto thy land in its season; that is, he will open the heaven, where his good treasure of rain is laid up, and bring it forth or, the land of Canaan for the enriching of it; or will open the windows thereof, and pour down the blessing; see Malachi 3:10; and that at the proper time, both in autumn and spring, the one is called the former, and the other the latter rain; the one was in Marchesvan, or October, and the other in Nisan, or March, as the Targum of Jonathan; the former rain for the fitting the earth for seed, or for watering it when sown, and the latter for the plumping of it before harvest:

and to bless all the work of thine hand; in agriculture, for without the blessing of rain, all the labour of the husbandman would be to little purpose:

and thou shall lend unto many nations, and thou shall not borrow; See Gill on Deuteronomy 15:16. The connection of these words with what goes before may lead to observe this sense of them, that they should furnish other countries with corn, and not need any of theirs; see Ezekiel 27:17.

Geneva Study Bible

The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the {i} heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

(i) For nothing in the earth is profitable but when God sends his blessings from heaven.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. his good treasury the heaven] As in R.V. marg. Cp. Genesis 1:7; Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; Job 38:22 (treasuries of snow and hail); Jeremiah 10:13; Book of Enoch, 60:11–22. On the rain see Deuteronomy 11:11; Deuteronomy 11:17; on the work of thine hand, i.e. in the field, see Deuteronomy 14:29.

and thou shalt lend, etc.] See on Deuteronomy 15:6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - His good treasure; equivalent to his treasure-house, i.e. heaven, whence blessing should be poured out upon them (cf. Deuteronomy 11:14; Leviticus 26:4, 5). He would so fructify their ground, and so bless their toil in cultivating it, that they should become rich, and be able to lend to other nations, and not need to borrow. Deuteronomy 28:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"The Lord will exalt thee for a holy nation to Himself,...so that all the nations of the earth shall see that the name of Jehovah is named upon thee, and shall fear before thee." The Lord had called Israel as a holy nation, when He concluded the covenant with it (Exodus 19:5-6). This promise, to which the words "as He hath sworn unto thee" point back, and which is called an oath, because it was founded upon the promises given to the patriarchs on oath (Genesis 22:16), and was given implicite in them, the Lord would fulfil to His people, and cause the holiness and glory of Israel to be so clearly manifested, that all nations should perceive or see "that the name of the Lord is named upon Israel." The name of the Lord is the revelation of His glorious nature. It is named upon Israel, when Israel is transformed into the glory of the divine nature (cf. Isaiah 63:19; Jeremiah 14:9). It was only in feeble commencements that this blessing was fulfilled upon Israel under the Old Testament; and it is not till the restoration of Israel, which is to take place in the future according to Romans 11:25., that its complete fulfilment will be attained. In Deuteronomy 28:11 and Deuteronomy 28:12, Moses returns to the earthly blessing, for the purpose of unfolding this still further. "Superabundance will the Lord give thee for good (i.e., for happiness and prosperity; vid., Deuteronomy 30:9), in fruit of thy body," etc. (cf. Deuteronomy 28:4). He would open His good treasure-house, the heaven, to give rain to the land in its season (cf. Deuteronomy 11:14; Leviticus 26:4-5), and bless the work of the hands, i.e., the cultivation of the soil, so that Israel would be able to lend to many, according to the prospect already set before it in Deuteronomy 15:6.