What Does Deuteronomy 11:17 Mean in the King James?
And then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same Hebrew root lies beneath the land’s “yield” and the LORD’s “giveth”: the harvest and the ground beneath it are both gifts.
THE MEANING
The verse places you inside a stark sequence: the LORD’s anger burns, heaven is shut, rain stops, and the ground no longer gives its produce; then you perish quickly from the good land you receive. Sustenance and place both depend on gifts that can be withdrawn.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that receiving a good land guarantees its fruitfulness: the harvest and the land itself remain gifts, not self-sustaining possessions.
THE ROOT
תִּתֵּן
titen
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
English renders this root “yield” for the land and “giveth” for the LORD. In Hebrew, תִּתֵּן (titen) and נֹתֵן (nōtēn) share נתן (natan): the land’s produce and the land itself are both given.
ALSO GROWS
nōtēn: giving; gives
נֹתֵן
This form appears later in the verse for the LORD giving the land, repeating the root used for the land’s fruitfulness.
nātan: to give; gave
נָתַן
This form makes the shared sense plain: the land gives its produce, while the LORD gives the land.
וְעָצַר
ve'atsar
GROWS FROM
עצר
restrain, hold back, stop
The word translated “shut up” carries the sense of restraining or holding back. Heaven’s rain is held back, and the land’s ability to give is interrupted.
ALSO GROWS
atsirah: stoppage; cessation
עֲצִירָה
This noun from עצר makes the halt in rain a form of restraint.
ma'atsar: restraint; detention
מַעְצָר
This branch names a state of being held in or confined, echoing the closed heavens.
וַאֲבַדְתֶּם
va'avadtem
GROWS FROM
אבד
perish, be lost
The root carries both perishing and being lost. Here the loss reaches beyond survival: you perish from the good land that was given to you.
ALSO GROWS
avad: perish; be lost
אָבַד
This is the root verb behind the threatened loss of life and place.
avedah: loss; lost thing
אֲבֵדָה
This noun from אבד shows the root’s wider reach into what has gone missing or been lost.
THE PATTERN
Life in the land rests on a chain of gifts: rain from heaven, fruit from earth, and the ground that sustains people.
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.THE THREAD
That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.Here the promise uses נתן (natan) for God giving rain; in 11:17, that same root appears in the land’s “yield” and the LORD’s “giveth” the land. Together, the verses show rain, fruit, and land as one linked provision whose continuity is not automatic.
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