The head is the leader, the one who decides and charts the course, while the tail just has to follow along. Being the head would have a similar meaning. In the previous verse, the lender has wealth and power while the borrower is subservient. The tail should not be dictating the direction of the dog-the head should do that.įrom the context of Deuteronomy 28:13, we know it is better to be the head than the tail. Today, we have a saying about “the tail wagging the dog.” In our culture, this means that something is fundamentally out of balance when an unimportant or insignificant issue is given far too much weight when making a decision. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!” (NLT). They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. Verses 43–44 provide an exact parallel for two of the points in verses 12–13: “The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker. In contrast, Deuteronomy 28:15–68 highlights the curses that will follow disobedience of God’s law. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom” (Deuteronomy 28:12–13). The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. The context gives a fuller series of contrasts: “You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. Since it is one of the blessings promised to the obedient Israelites, we know that being the head rather than the tail is a good thing. One of the blessings Moses lists is found in Deuteronomy 28:13: “The LORD will make you the head, not the tail.” Moses recounts all of God’s wondrous works on their behalf and finishes up by telling them of the blessings they can expect if they obey the Lord and the curses they can expect if they disobey. Now he is addressing a new generation of Israel, most of whom did not witness the miraculous deliverance from Egypt. In the previous almost 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, all of the adults who came out of Egypt have passed from the scene. Deuteronomy contains Moses’ last address to the people of Israel before his death.
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