The Meaning of Deuteronomy 28:33 Explained

Deuteronomy 28:33

KJV: The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

YLT: The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labour, eat up doth a people whom thou hast not known; and thou hast been only oppressed and bruised all the days;

Darby: The fruit of thy ground and all thy labour, shall a people that thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed continually.

ASV: The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The fruit  of thy land,  and all thy labours,  shall a nation  which thou knowest  not eat up;  and thou shalt be only oppressed  and crushed  alway: 

What does Deuteronomy 28:33 Mean?

Context Summary

Deuteronomy 28:20-46 - The Fearful Results Of Disobedience
If we compare this chapter with Exodus 23:20-23 and Leviticus 26:1-46, we shall see how Moses resumes and amplifies the promises and threatenings already set forth in the earlier editions of the Law. The blessings are declared in fourteen verses, while the curses require four times as much space. This is due to God's eagerness that men should be warned from courses that injure, and shut up to those that lead to blessedness. Note the language, which rises to the sublimest level, especially in the latter part. The forecasts of the dispersion and the degradation of the Hebrew people are especially remarkable.
It is not only that God goes out of His way to reward the obedient and to punish the ungodly, but these rewards and punishments are part of the nature of things, just as fire stings and burns, when we transgress its laws, but blesses when we obey. If we are at one with God, through Jesus Christ, we are at one with the universe. But if not, "the stars in their courses" fight against us. See Judges 5:20; 1 Corinthians 3:21. [source]

Chapter Summary: Deuteronomy 28

1  The blessings for obedience
15  The curses for disobedience

What do the individual words in Deuteronomy 28:33 mean?

The fruit of your land and the produce of your labor shall eat a nation whom not you have known and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always continually
פְּרִ֤י אַדְמָֽתְךָ֙ וְכָל־ יְגִ֣יעֲךָ֔ יֹאכַ֥ל עַ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־ יָדָ֑עְתָּ וְהָיִ֗יתָ רַ֛ק עָשׁ֥וּק וְרָצ֖וּץ כָּל־ הַיָּמִֽים

פְּרִ֤י  The  fruit 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פְּרִי  
Sense: fruit.
אַדְמָֽתְךָ֙  of  your  land 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֲדָמָה 
Sense: ground, land.
יְגִ֣יעֲךָ֔  the  produce  of  your  labor 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: יְגִיעַ  
Sense: toil, work.
יֹאכַ֥ל  shall  eat 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
עַ֖ם  a  nation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  whom 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
יָדָ֑עְתָּ  you  have  known 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
וְהָיִ֗יתָ  and  you  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
רַ֛ק  only 
Parse: Adverb
Root: רַק  
Sense: only, altogether, surely.
עָשׁ֥וּק  oppressed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular
Root: עָשַׁק  
Sense: to press upon, oppress, violate, defraud, do violence, get deceitfully, wrong, extort.
וְרָצ֖וּץ  and  crushed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, masculine singular
Root: רָצַץ  
Sense: to crush, oppress.
כָּל־  always 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
הַיָּמִֽים  continually 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.