The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

DEUTERONOMY 29:20KJV
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Deuteronomy 29:20 (KJV)

What does Deuteronomy 29:20 mean?

Deuteronomy 29:20 warns that a person who turns away from the LORD to serve other gods cannot expect to escape the consequences. The verse says that the LORD will not spare that person, but will bring the book’s curses upon him and blot out his name.

Moses gives this warning to the people of Israel as they stand before the LORD. After verse 19 describes someone who assumes he will be safe, verse 20 answers that confidence with the image of the LORD’s anger smoking against him. The picture suggests a fire burning fiercely.

The Hebrew behind Deuteronomy 29:20

  • “jealousy” — קִנְאָה (qinʾah): This word can mean jealousy or strong zeal. Here it describes the LORD’s fierce response to a person’s allegiance to other gods.
  • “lie” — רָבַץ (ravats): This word can mean to lie down or settle. The image is of the written curses settling upon the person, rather than merely passing over him.
  • “blot out” — מָחָה (machah): This word can mean to wipe or erase. Applied to a name, it pictures the removal of the person’s place among the living.

Why Deuteronomy 29:20 matters

  • The warning is aimed at a particular kind of person, not at someone chosen at random. Verse 18 speaks of a person whose heart turns away to serve the gods of other nations.
  • The curses are part of a written agreement the people have heard. The phrase “all the curses that are written in this book” links the warning to the penalties set out for breaking that agreement.
  • The person’s name matters because the warning reaches beyond immediate suffering. “From under heaven” gives the picture of being removed from the world of the living.

Where else these words appear

“smoke” Hebrew H6225 · used in 6 verses

  • Exodus 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
  • Psalms 74:1 Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
  • Psalms 104:32 He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

“lie” Hebrew H7257 · used in 30 verses

  • Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
  • Job 11:19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
  • Isaiah 27:10 Yet the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof.

“curses” Hebrew H423 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 24:41 Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.
  • Deuteronomy 30:7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
  • Jeremiah 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.

“out” Hebrew H4229 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
  • Deuteronomy 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
  • Psalms 109:13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.