Deuteronomy 28:12

12 The LORD shall open to thee his good treasure, the heaven to give rain to thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

Deuteronomy 28:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:12

The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure
The Lord has his treasures of snow and of hail, and of wind, ( Job 38:22 ) ( Psalms 135:7 ) ; but here his good treasure, as appears by what follows, is his treasure of rain. In the Targum of Jonathan it is said,

``there are four keys in the hand of the Lord of the whole world, which he does not deliver into the hands of any prince; the keys of life, and of the grave, and of food, and of rain:''

the heaven, to give the rain unto thy land in its season;
that is, he will open the heaven, where his good treasure of rain is laid up, and bring it forth or, the land of Canaan for the enriching of it; or will open the windows thereof, and pour down the blessing; see ( Malachi 3:10 ) ; and that at the proper time, both in autumn and spring, the one is called the former, and the other the latter rain; the one was in Marchesvan, or October, and the other in Nisan, or March, as the Targum of Jonathan; the former rain for the fitting the earth for seed, or for watering it when sown, and the latter for the plumping of it before harvest: and to bless all the work of thine hand;
in agriculture, for without the blessing of rain, all the labour of the husbandman would be to little purpose: and thou shall lend unto many nations, and thou shall not borrow;
(See Gill on Deuteronomy 15:16). The connection of these words with what goes before may lead to observe this sense of them, that they should furnish other countries with corn, and not need any of theirs; see ( Ezekiel 27:17 ) .

Deuteronomy 28:12 In-Context

10 And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11 And the LORD shall make thee to abound in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD swore to thy fathers to give thee.

12 The LORD shall open to thee his good treasure, the heaven to give rain to thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken to the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them]:

14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, [to] the right hand or [to] the left, to go after other gods to serve them.