Bible Commentaries
Deuteronomy 27

Verses 1-26

Deuteronomy 27:11-26 The Pronouncement of Blessings and Curses Over the Promised Land - The commandment to pronounce blessings and curses upon Mounts Gerizim and Ebal was first given in Deuteronomy 11:29, and is further explained in Deuteronomy 27:11-26. We read the account of Israel fulfilling this command in Joshua 8:30-35.

Deuteronomy 11:29, “And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.”

Why would God command the children of Israel to do such a thing? Because when they spoke these words over the land of Canaan, the blessings and the curses became effective and active in the lives of all the inhabitants. In Numbers 23-24, Balaam stood on a mountain above the camp of the children of Israel. As he prophesied blessings, those same blessings became active in the lives of the Israelites. If the children of Israel had not spoken these blessings and curses, they would not have been in operation over this land. This passage also gives us the reasons why curses come upon people. In other words, a curse will not come without a cause (Proverbs 26:2). Each verse reinforces the causes of a curse.

Proverbs 26:2, “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.”