And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,
The blessings are here put before the curses, to intimate, 1. That God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy: he has said it, and sworn, that he would much rather we would obey and live than sin and die. It is his delight to bless. 2.
Commenting on Deuteronomy 28:1-14
And thou shall not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day,.... Depart from them as a rule to walk by, turn out from them as a path to walk in, neglect and disobey them, and go into practices contrary to them: turning to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them; which...
the head, and not the tail--an Oriental form of expression, indicating the possession of independent power and great dignity and acknowledged excellence (Isa 9:14; Isa 19:15).