Deuteronomy 28:40
New International Version
You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off.

New Living Translation
You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens.

English Standard Version
You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.

Berean Standard Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.

King James Bible
Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

New King James Version
You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.

New American Standard Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will drop off prematurely.

NASB 1995
“You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.

NASB 1977
“You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.

Legacy Standard Bible
You shall have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.

Amplified Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourselves with the oil, because your olives will drop off.

Christian Standard Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not moisten your skin with oil, because your olives will drop off.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with oil, because your olives will drop off.

American Standard Version
Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast its fruit.

Contemporary English Version
Even if your olive trees grow everywhere in your country, the olives will fall off before they are ready, and there won't be enough olive oil for combing your hair.

English Revised Version
Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil: for thine olive shall cast its fruit.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You will have olive trees everywhere in your country but no olive oil to rub on your skin, because the olives will fall off the trees.

Good News Translation
Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off.

International Standard Version
You'll have olive trees throughout your territory, but you won't be able to anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off the trees.

Majority Standard Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.

NET Bible
You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe.

New Heart English Bible
You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil: for thy olive shall cast its fruit.

World English Bible
You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
olives are yours in all your border, but you do not pour out oil, for your olive falls off.

Young's Literal Translation
olives are to thee in all thy border, and oil thou dost not pour out, for thine olive doth fall off.

Smith's Literal Translation
Olive trees shall be to thee in all thy boundaries, and thou shalt not be anointed with oil, for thine olive shall slip away.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off and perish.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You will have olive trees in all your borders, but you will not be anointed with the oil. For the olives will fall off and perish.

New American Bible
Though you have olive trees throughout your country, you will have no oil for ointment, for your olives will drop off.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Olive trees shall be yours in all your borders and you will not anoint with oil, because your olives will fall off.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy borders, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olives shall drop off.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and thou shalt not anoint thee with oil, because thine olive shall utterly cast its fruit.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Curses of Disobedience
39You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off. 41You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.…

Cross References
Joel 1:10-12
The field is ruined; the land mourns. For the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails. / Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. / The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.

Isaiah 5:10
For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”

Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.”

Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

Hosea 9:2
The threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them.

Isaiah 17:10-11
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines— / though on the day you plant you make them grow, and on that morning you help your seed sprout—yet the harvest will vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.

Leviticus 26:20
and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.

Job 31:39
if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,

Psalm 128:2
For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.

Proverbs 13:23
Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but without justice it is swept away.

Matthew 21:19
Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

Luke 13:6-9
Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. / So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ / ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ...

John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.


Treasury of Scripture

You shall have olive trees throughout all your coasts, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall cast his fruit.

anoint thyself

Psalm 23:5
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 104:15
And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

Micah 6:15
Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.

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Deuteronomy 28
1. The blessings for obedience
15. The curses for disobedience














You will have olive trees throughout your territory
The presence of olive trees in ancient Israel was a sign of prosperity and blessing. Olive trees were highly valued for their fruit, which provided oil for cooking, lighting, and anointing. The Hebrew word for olive tree, "זַיִת" (zayit), is deeply rooted in the culture and economy of the Israelites. The phrase suggests an abundance of resources, yet it foreshadows a paradoxical lack of benefit from them. Historically, olive trees were a staple in the agrarian society of Israel, symbolizing peace and prosperity. The widespread presence of these trees throughout the territory indicates a potential for wealth and sustenance.

but you will not anoint yourself with the oil
Anointing with oil in biblical times was a significant act, often associated with consecration, healing, and hospitality. The Hebrew word for anoint, "מָשַׁח" (mashach), is the root for "Messiah," meaning "the Anointed One." This phrase highlights a deprivation of spiritual and physical blessings. Despite the abundance of olive trees, the inability to use the oil signifies a curse or divine judgment. In the historical context, oil was essential for daily life and religious practices, and its absence would be keenly felt, symbolizing a loss of divine favor and personal well-being.

because the olives will drop off
The dropping off of olives before they can be harvested is a metaphor for unfulfilled potential and thwarted prosperity. The Hebrew verb "נָשַׁל" (nashal) conveys the idea of falling away or being cast off. This imagery reflects a divine intervention where the natural order is disrupted as a consequence of disobedience. In the agricultural society of ancient Israel, such a loss would be devastating, leading to economic hardship and a reminder of the covenantal relationship between God and His people. Theologically, it serves as a warning of the consequences of turning away from God's commandments, emphasizing the importance of faithfulness and obedience to maintain His blessings.

Verse 40. - Thine olive shall cast his fruit. Some would render here "shall be plundered or rooted out," taking the verb יִשַּׁל as the Niph. of שָׁלַל; but the majority regard it as part of the verb נָשַׁל, and render "shall drop off," or as in the Authorized Version. There is some doubt, however, whether the verb נָשַׁל can be used intransitively.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You will have
יִהְי֥וּ (yih·yū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

olive trees
זֵיתִ֛ים (zê·ṯîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2132: An olive, the tree, the branch, the berry

throughout
בְּכָל־ (bə·ḵāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

your territory,
גְּבוּלֶ֑ךָ (gə·ḇū·le·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1366: A cord, a boundary, the territory inclosed

but you will never
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

anoint
תָס֔וּךְ (ṯā·sūḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5480: To pour (in anointing), anoint

yourself with oil,
וְשֶׁ֙מֶן֙ (wə·še·men)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8081: Grease, liquid, richness

because
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the olives
זֵיתֶֽךָ׃ (zê·ṯe·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2132: An olive, the tree, the branch, the berry

will drop off.
יִשַּׁ֖ל (yiš·šal)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5394: To slip or drop off, draw off, clear away


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 28:40 You shall have olive trees throughout all (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 28:39
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