Deuteronomy 29:19-21

29:19 When such a person ¹  hears the words of this oath he secretly ²  blesses himself ³  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ⁴  This will destroy ⁵  the watered ground with the parched. ⁶  29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger ⁷  will rage ⁸  against that man; all the curses ⁹  written in this scroll will fall upon him ¹⁰  and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. ¹¹  29:21 The Lord will single him out ¹²  for judgment ¹³  from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.

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¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “in his heart.”

³ tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.

⁴ tn Heb “heart.”

⁵ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

⁶ tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”

⁷ tn Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.

⁸ tn Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”

⁹ tn Heb “the entire oath.”

¹⁰ tn Or “will lie in wait against him.”

¹¹ tn Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”

¹² tn Heb “set him apart.”

¹³ tn Heb “for evil”; NAB “for doom”; NASB “for adversity”; NIV “for disaster”; NRSV “for calamity.”