---
title: "Barnes"
description: "Repayeth them that hate him to their face - i. e., punishes His enemies in their own proper persons. Flocks of thy sheep - Render it instead: “the ewes of"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7"
---

**Repayeth them that hate him to their face -**i. e., punishes His enemies in their own proper persons.

**Flocks of thy sheep -**Render it instead: “the ewes of thy sheep.” The phrase is unique to Deuteronomy. The Hebrew word for “ewes” is the plural form of Ashtoreth, the well-known name of the “goddess of the Zidonians” [1 Kings 11:5](../../../kjv/1-kings/11/5). This goddess, called by the Classical writers “Astarte,” and identified with “Venus,” represented the fruitfulness of nature.

There seems to be here not so much as a reference to the plagues inflicted miraculously by God on Egypt (compare [Exodus 15:26](../../../kjv/exodus/15/26)), as to the terrible diseases with which, above other countries, Egypt was infested. Compare [Deuteronomy 28:27](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/27), [Deuteronomy 28:35](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/35). It is not without significance that Egypt, which represents in Scripture the world as contrasted with the Church, should thus above other lands lie under the power of disease and death.

**The silver or gold that is on them -**The silver and gold with which the statues of the gods were overlaid. Paul is probably alluding to this command in [Romans 2:22](../../../kjv/romans/2/22); and his accusation of the Jew thus shows that the prohibition of the text was very necessary.
**Lest thou be snared -**As by the rich ephod made by Gideon: compare the marginal reference.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible -  Deuteronomy 7"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7","name":"Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible -  Deuteronomy 7","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Repayeth them that hate him to their face - i. e., punishes His enemies in their own proper persons. Flocks of thy sheep - Render it instead: “the ewes of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy","name":"Deuteronomy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/barnes-notes-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/7","name":"7"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```