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In vv.1-14 the covenant blessings are recounted, and in vv.15-68 a repetition of the curses is set forth—the two ways open to Israel (30:19). The extent of the blessings/cursings reaches to the total life experience of Israel before Yahweh (vv.3-6; 16-19). If Israel keeps faith with Yahweh “The Lord will make [the nation] the head, not the tail” (v.13). If Israel breaks faith with Yahweh, “The alien . . . will be the head, but [Israel] will be the tail” (28:43-44).
To be Yahweh’s unique ethical-religious people, Israel had to be different in a visible, cultural way, as well as in the heart. Only then could the nations “see” (werā'û, v.10) that they were different and reflected the character of their God by being called by his name. The Hebrew of v.11 contains an interesting and powerful wordplay. The Hebrew reads: wehôt̠îrk̠â yhwh leṭôb̠âh. The verb, which can be translated literally as “and Yahweh will cast unto you,” is the verb from which the noun Torah is formed. Its use suggests that if Israel keeps the Torah (instruction, teaching; that which is cast, thrown), the Lord will “torah” unto them goodness and prosperity. Yahweh will cast goodness (ṭôb̠) to Israel because she lives “holy” within the moral order of righteousness offered to her in the Torah, God’s gift to Israel for life, not death (32:47).
Many of the prophets refer to this section when they indict Israel for breaking Yahweh’s covenant and failing to keep faith with him. Their cursings are not amorphous and pulled from the air. They draw upon the specific curses mentioned in these words. The greatest irony would be that Israel should experience a reversal of the Exodus, a return to Egypt (v.68).