The Meaning of Deuteronomy 11:28 Explained

Deuteronomy 11:28

KJV: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

YLT: and the reviling, if ye do not hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God, and have turned aside out of the way which I am commanding you to-day, to go after other gods which ye have not known.

Darby: and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not known.

ASV: and the curse, if ye shall not hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And a curse,  if ye will not obey  the commandments  of the LORD  your God,  but turn aside  out of the way  which I command  you this day,  to go  after  other  gods,  which ye have not known. 

What does Deuteronomy 11:28 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 11:18-32 - The Blessing And The Curse
Never in this world do we reach a position from which it is impossible to fall away. The dew and the rain of God's blessing are contingent on obedience; and one of the strongest incentives to obedience is devout meditation on the Word of God. It is through the letter that we arrive at the spirit; and through the written words at the Eternal Word. We must store up the sacred words of God as a farmer stores up his grain, keeping them before us, making them the familiar topics of home-talk, and exercising ourselves in them. Let us specially ponder Deuteronomy 11:22-25, appropriating them in a spiritual sense, and claiming their equivalents in the inner life.
All along our lives are Ebals and Gerizims, with their "Come, ye blessed" and "Depart, ye cursed." Always we are arriving at the crossways, on the one of which lies the smile, and on the other the frown, of God. Let us be attracted by the one and dissuaded from the other, till we climb the spiral staircase into the land where there is no cooling love or faltering faith. [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 11

1  Another exhortation to obedience
2  by their own experience of God's great works
8  by promise of God's great blessings
16  and by threatenings
18  A careful study is required in God's words
26  The blessing and curse set before them

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 11:28 mean?

and the curse if not you do listen unto the commandments of Yahweh your God but turn aside from the way which I command you today to go after gods other not you have known -
וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה אִם־ לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־ מִצְוֺת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם מִן־ הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לָלֶ֗כֶת אַחֲרֵ֛י אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִ֖ים לֹֽא־ יְדַעְתֶּֽם ס

וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה  and  the  curse 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: קְלָלָה  
Sense: curse, vilification, execration.
תִשְׁמְעוּ֙  you  do  listen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
אֶל־  unto 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
מִצְוֺת֙  the  commandments 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: מִצְוָה  
Sense: commandment.
יְהוָ֣ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם  but  turn  aside 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ  the  way 
Parse: Article, Noun, common singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
מְצַוֶּ֥ה  command 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.
הַיּ֑וֹם  today 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
לָלֶ֗כֶת  to  go 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אַחֲרֵ֛י  after 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
אֱלֹהִ֥ים  gods 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
אֲחֵרִ֖ים  other 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: אַחֵר  
Sense: another, other, following.
יְדַעְתֶּֽם  you  have  known 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation