All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger. All its landThis phrase refers to the entirety of the land that is under discussion, emphasizing the totality of the judgment. In the Hebrew context, "land" (אֶרֶץ, eretz) often signifies not just physical territory but also the people and the covenant relationship they have with God. The land is a gift from God, and its condition reflects the spiritual state of its inhabitants. will be a burning waste
The imagery of a "burning waste" evokes a scene of utter desolation and destruction. The Hebrew word for "waste" (שְׁרֵפָה, sherephah) can imply a consuming fire, symbolizing divine judgment. This reflects the seriousness of turning away from God's covenant, as fire often represents purification and judgment in the Bible. of sulfur and salt
Sulfur and salt are elements associated with destruction and barrenness. Sulfur (גָּפְרִית, gophrith) is often linked with divine wrath, as seen in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Salt (מֶלַח, melach) signifies desolation and sterility, rendering the land uninhabitable. This combination underscores the irreversible nature of God's judgment when His covenant is broken. unseeded, unproductive
These terms highlight the futility and hopelessness of the land's condition. "Unseeded" (לֹא תִזָּרֵעַ, lo tizara) and "unproductive" (לֹא תַצְמִיחַ, lo tatsmiach) suggest a land that cannot fulfill its purpose. In the biblical narrative, fruitfulness is a sign of God's blessing, and its absence indicates a withdrawal of divine favor. and no plant will grow on it
This phrase reinforces the idea of complete barrenness. The inability for any plant to grow signifies a curse, as growth and life are often seen as blessings from God. The Hebrew word for "grow" (יַעֲלֶה, ya'aleh) implies natural flourishing, which is absent here due to divine judgment. like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim
These cities are synonymous with divine judgment due to their sinfulness. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) serves as a historical and moral lesson about the consequences of wickedness. Admah and Zeboiim, lesser-known cities, were also destroyed, emphasizing the completeness of God's judgment. This reference serves as a warning to Israel about the seriousness of covenant unfaithfulness. which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger
The phrase underscores the active role of God in executing judgment. "Overthrew" (הָפַךְ, haphak) indicates a complete reversal or destruction, while "fierce anger" (אַף, aph) conveys the intensity of God's righteous indignation. This serves as a sobering reminder of God's holiness and the seriousness of His covenant with His people. The LORD's actions are just and purposeful, aiming to bring His people back to righteousness. Persons / Places / Events 1. Sodom and GomorrahAncient cities known for their wickedness and subsequent destruction by God as a demonstration of His judgment. 2. Admah and ZeboiimLesser-known cities that were also destroyed alongside Sodom and Gomorrah, emphasizing the completeness of God's judgment. 3. The LORD's Fierce AngerRepresents God's righteous indignation against sin and disobedience, leading to the destruction of these cities. 4. Sulfur and SaltSymbols of desolation and barrenness, used to describe the aftermath of divine judgment. 5. The LandRefers to the Promised Land, which would suffer similar desolation if the Israelites turned away from God. Teaching Points The Consequences of DisobedienceJust as the land becomes barren due to sin, our lives can become spiritually barren when we turn away from God. God's Righteous JudgmentGod's judgment is just and serves as a warning to remain faithful and obedient to His commands. The Call to RepentanceThe destruction of these cities serves as a call to repentance, urging us to turn from sin and seek God's mercy. The Importance of HolinessAs believers, we are called to live holy lives, set apart from the sinful practices that lead to destruction. Hope in RestorationWhile judgment is severe, God's ultimate desire is for restoration and redemption for those who turn back to Him. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a warning for us today in our personal lives and communities? 2. In what ways can we ensure that our lives remain spiritually fruitful and not barren like the land described in Deuteronomy 29:23? 3. How can we balance the understanding of God's fierce anger with His love and mercy in our daily walk with Him? 4. What are some modern-day "Sodom and Gomorrah" situations that we should be aware of, and how can we respond to them biblically? 5. How does the theme of judgment and restoration in Deuteronomy 29:23 connect with the message of hope found in the New Testament? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 19Provides the historical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, illustrating the severity of God's judgment. Luke 17:28-30Jesus references the days of Lot, drawing a parallel between the sudden destruction of Sodom and the coming of the Son of Man. Jeremiah 49:18Compares the desolation of Edom to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, reinforcing the theme of divine judgment. Revelation 21:8Describes the final judgment and the fate of the wicked, echoing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. People Gadites, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Manasseh, Manassites, Moses, Og, Pharaoh, Reubenites, SihonPlaces Admah, Bashan, Egypt, Gomorrah, Heshbon, Horeb, Moab, Sodom, ZeboiimTopics Admah, Anger, Bear, Beareth, Brimstone, Burning, Burnt, Burnt-out, Clothed, Destruction, Fierce, Fruit, Fury, Giving, Gomorrah, Gomor'rah, Grass, Ground, Grow, Groweth, Growing, Grows, Heat, Herb, Nothing, Overthrew, Overthrow, Overturned, Planted, Salt, Shoot, Smoking, Sodom, Sown, Sprout, Sprouting, Sulfur, Therein, Thereof, Unproductive, Unsown, Vegetation, Waste, Wasted, Wrath, Zeboiim, Zeboi'im, ZeboimDictionary of Bible Themes Deuteronomy 29:23 4224 cities of the plain
4275 Sodom and Gomorrah
4306 minerals
4369 sulphur
5979 waste Deuteronomy 29:23-25 4357 salt Library Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of CovenantingGod Willing that all Men Should be Saved.
"Who will have all Men to be saved,--." In verse first, the apostle directs "prayers and thanksgivings to be made for all men;"--which he declares to "be good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved." Had salvation been provided for only a part of the human race, prayer and thanksgivings could have been, consistently made only for a part. Those for whom no provision was made, would be in like state with persons who have committed the sin unto death, for …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects The Parable of the Householder. A Sermon, by Bishop Latimer.
MATTHEW XX.--The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. This parable is written by the evangelist Matthew in the twentieth chapter, and is very dark and hard to be understood; yea, there is no harder piece of scripture written by any evangelist. Therefore it may well be called hard meat; not meat for mowers nor ignorant people, who are not exercised in the word of God. And yet there is no other diversity …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Promises and Threatenings
'And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do. 2. That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3. And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My name there for ever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Unity of the Divine Essence, and the Trinity of Persons.
Deut. vi. 4.--"Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord."--1 John v. 7. "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." "Great is the mystery of godliness," 1 Tim. iii. 16. Religion and true godliness is a bundle of excellent mysteries--of things hid from the world, yea, from the wise men of the world, (1 Cor. ii. 6.) and not only so, but secrets in their own nature, the distinct knowledge whereof is not given to saints in this estate …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning "He is the Rock, his Work is Perfect. For all his Ways are Judgment. A God of Truth, and Without Iniquity, Just and Right is He.
Deut. xxxii. 4, 5.--"He is the rock, his work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment. A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children. They are a perverse and crooked generation." "All his ways are judgment," both the ways of his commandments and the ways of his providence, both his word which he hath given as a lantern to men's paths, and his works among men. And this were the blessedness of men, to be found …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Forasmuch as Each Man is a Part of the Human Race...
1. Forasmuch as each man is a part of the human race, and human nature is something social, and hath for a great and natural good, the power also of friendship; on this account God willed to create all men out of one, in order that they might be held in their society not only by likeness of kind, but also by bond of kindred. Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage Conflict.
"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that hath endured such gainsaying of sinners against themselves, that ye …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews Manner of Covenanting.
Previous to an examination of the manner of engaging in the exercise of Covenanting, the consideration of God's procedure towards his people while performing the service seems to claim regard. Of the manner in which the great Supreme as God acts, as well as of Himself, our knowledge is limited. Yet though even of the effects on creatures of His doings we know little, we have reason to rejoice that, in His word He has informed us, and in His providence illustrated by that word, he has given us to …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting "Now the End of the Commandment," &C.
1 Tim. i. 5.--"Now the end of the commandment," &c. We come now, as was proposed, to observe, Thirdly,(474) That faith unfeigned is the only thing which gives the answer of a good conscience towards God. Conscience, in general, is nothing else but a practical knowledge of the rule a man should walk by, and of himself in reference to that rule. It is the laying down a man's state, and condition, and actions beside the rule of God's word, or the principles of nature's light. It is the chief piece …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Palestine Eighteen Centuries Ago
Eighteen and a half centuries ago, and the land which now lies desolate--its bare, grey hills looking into ill-tilled or neglected valleys, its timber cut down, its olive- and vine-clad terraces crumbled into dust, its villages stricken with poverty and squalor, its thoroughfares insecure and deserted, its native population well-nigh gone, and with them its industry, wealth, and strength--presented a scene of beauty, richness, and busy life almost unsurpassed in the then known world. The Rabbis never …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life The Holy Spirit as a Teacher.
Our Lord Jesus in His last conversation with His disciples before His crucifixion said, "But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John xiv. 26). Here we have a twofold work of the Holy Spirit, teaching and bringing to remembrance the things which Christ had already taught. We will take them in the reverse order. I. The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance …
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit "But Whereunto Shall I Liken this Generation?"
Matth. xi. 16.--"But whereunto shall I liken this generation?" When our Lord Jesus, who had the tongue of the learned, and spoke as never man spake, did now and then find a difficulty to express the matter herein contained. "What shall we do?" The matter indeed is of great importance, a soul matter, and therefore of great moment, a mystery, and therefore not easily expressed. No doubt he knows how to paint out this to the life, that we might rather behold it with our eyes, than hear it with our …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting Peace
Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. I Pet 1:1. Having spoken of the first fruit of sanctification, assurance, I proceed to the second, viz., Peace, Peace be multiplied:' What are the several species or kinds of Peace? Peace, in Scripture, is compared to a river which parts itself into two silver streams. Isa 66:12. I. There is an external peace, and that is, (1.) (Economical, or peace in a family. (2.) Political, or peace in the state. Peace is the nurse of plenty. He maketh peace in thy borders, …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Discourse on Spiritual Food and True Discipleship. Peter's Confession.
(at the Synagogue in Capernaum.) ^D John VI. 22-71. ^d 22 On the morrow [the morrow after Jesus fed the five thousand] the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea [on the east side, opposite Capernaum] saw that there was no other boat there, save one, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples went away alone 23 (howbeit there came boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate the bread after that the Lord had given thanks): 24 when the multitude …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel Covenanting Confers Obligation.
As it has been shown that all duty, and that alone, ought to be vowed to God in covenant, it is manifest that what is lawfully engaged to in swearing by the name of God is enjoined in the moral law, and, because of the authority of that law, ought to be performed as a duty. But it is now to be proved that what is promised to God by vow or oath, ought to be performed also because of the act of Covenanting. The performance of that exercise is commanded, and the same law which enjoins that the duties …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting "The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning "Thou Shall Keep Him in Perfect Peace, Whose Mind is Stayed on Thee, Because He Trusteth in Thee. "
Isaiah xxvi. 3.--"Thou shall keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." All men love to have privileges above others. Every one is upon the design and search after some well-being, since Adam lost that which was true happiness. We all agree upon the general notion of it, but presently men divide in the following of particulars. Here all men are united in seeking after some good; something to satisfy their souls, and satiate their desires. Nay, but they …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Deuteronomy 29:23 NIVDeuteronomy 29:23 NLTDeuteronomy 29:23 ESVDeuteronomy 29:23 NASBDeuteronomy 29:23 KJV
Deuteronomy 29:23 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
