“A blessing on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the fruit of your livestock — the young of your cattle and flocks.”-Deuteronomy 28:4
In verse 4 of Deuteronomy 25, we are presented with a 3-fold blessing.
What’s being communicated here is that every type of life that is good and allowed to be used by the Hebrews will be blessed.
The three kinds of life mentioned are human life, domestic animals, and plant life.
Notice the part where it says “the fruit of your livestock“.
“Livestock” is translated from the Hebrew word BEHEMAH which most English Bibles render as “cattle”.
So which is right?
The Complete Jewish Bible or most English Bibles?
The Complete Jewish Bible is correct in this case because BEHEMAH refers to ALL animals capable of being domesticated and not just cows.
Also, in most cases, BEHEMAH also refers to those animals that are kosher for food and sacrifice or both.
Onward.
Notice how the 3-fold blessing is rendered as the “the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the fruit of your livestock“
This isn’t necessarily wrong but a better way to render this might be to say…
…”the issue of your body, the issue of your land and the issue of your livestock“.
…or to say…
“A blessing on the life that comes from your body, your land and your livestock.
I know I’m slicing the onion awfully thin here but here’s the thing.
Usually we take the word “fruit” to mean something positive.
However, the Hebrew word that is being rendered into “fruit” in this verse is PERI and it does NOT carry the connotation of being something good or having value.
The word is neutral and just refers to what a parent human, an animal or a plant produces.
However, in this case, the Scripture is going out of its way to tell us that the PERI or “fruit” which results from the Hebrew people, animals and land (the “earth” or “soil”) will be blessed IF the people are obedient to the Lord.
Let’s move on to verse 5.
“A blessing on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.”
Here the Lord is telling us that as a result of the blessed issue of the land, the vessels used for gathering the produce will also be blessed.
What does that mean exactly?
It simply means that the vessels used for gathering the produce will always be made full and the kneading bowls will also contain plenty of grain that’s used to make bread dough.
In other words, the idea being communicated here is that there will always be more than enough to eat for everyone.
Leave a Reply