Deuteronomy 28:68 Debunking the myths of the Black Hebrew Israelites

Deuteronomy 28:68

68And the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, through the way about which I had said to you, You will never see it again. And there, you will seek to be sold to your enemies for slaves and handmaids, but there will be no buyer. סחוֶֽהֱשִֽׁיבְךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֥ה | מִצְרַ֘יִם֘ בָּֽאֳנִיּוֹת֒ בַּדֶּ֨רֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֣רְתִּי לְךָ֔ לֹֽא־תֹסִ֥יף ע֖וֹד לִרְאֹתָ֑הּ וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּ֨ם שָׁ֧ם לְאֹֽיְבֶ֛יךָ לַֽעֲבָדִ֥ים וְלִשְׁפָח֖וֹת וְאֵ֥ין קֹנֶֽה:

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki 1040–1105 CE):

in ships: In ships of captivity.

באניות: בספינות בשביה:

And there, you will seek to be sold to your enemies: You will wish to be sold to them as slaves and handmaids.

והתמכרתם שם לאיביך: אתם מבקשים להיות נמכרים להם לעבדים ולשפחות:

but there will be no buyer: Because they will decree death and destruction upon you.

ואין קנה: כי יגזרו עליך הרג וכליון:

and you will seek to be sold: Heb. וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם, in Old French epor vandrez vos. [That is, the verb is in the reflexive conjugation. Accordingly,] it is incorrect to explain וְהִתְמַכַּרְתֶּם [as if in the passive conjugation, i.e.,] as וְנִמְכַּרְתֶּם, “and you will be sold”-sold by others-because the verse continues: “but there will be no buyer.” [Thus how could they be “sold by others” if there is“no buyer”?]

והתמכרתם: בלע”ז איפורוונדרי”ץ וו”ש [ותמכרו עצמכם] ולא יתכן לפרש והתמכרתם לשון ונמכרתם על ידי מוכרים אחרים, מפני שנאמר אחריו ואין קונה:

The Aramaic Translation known as “Targum Yonatan ben Uziel”

(Died 26 Sivan, early first century CE)

And the LORD your God will exile you back to Egypt in ships by way of the Reed Sea that you once crossed and concerning which I said: You shall not see it again! And there you will be sold into servitude to your enemies for large sums of money as crafts-men. And afterwards (you will be sold) cheaply as slaves and maidservants, until you will be cheapened (and try) to sell yourselves for nothing, and no one will take you in (Deuteronomy 28:68).

Deuteronomy 28:15–68 are a collection of curses which will befall the Children of Israel if they forsake the Laws given in the Torah. Many of these same curses are reiterations of actual blessings which are initially promised if the Children of Israel obey the Laws dictated in the Torah. These curses are know as the “Tochacha” which means admonition or reproof in Hebrew. These “Tochacha” can also be found in Leviticus 26. The Black Hebrew Israelites use these curses as a proof that they are the Lost Tribes of Israel almost universally within each of the different sects of this this cult. The most popular and most often cited claim is that “Deuteronomy 28:68 unequivocally proves that these curses are speaking of the Transatlantic slave trade”. A common misconception of these BHI is that outside of the Transatlantic Slave Trade there was no other history of slavery in the world, and definitely none that could have been conducted by ship.

The problem with this common assumption in its most obvious sense is that the verse states quite plainly “The LORD will bring you back to EGYPT in ships….”. The phrase “will bring you back” or “v’heshiyvkha” in Hebrew would imply that you have already been there at least once and now you are going “back”. This does not bother the Black Hebrew Israelites in the least though. They will quickly make the claim that “Egypt” actually means “bondage”. Problem solved! It actually means that instead of being sent into literal Egypt as the verse clearly describes, it is actually saying you will be going “back into bondage”. Black Hebrew Israelites also commonly teach that when the Bible is speaking of “Babylon” it actually means America. This kind of Biblical thought does not put much weight into context or logic, but naive hope and blind faith.

The actual Hebrew term for Egypt is “Mitzrayim” or מִצְרַ֘יִם֘. Any native Hebrew speaker can tell you that when an “im” or “ים “ is placed at the end of a Hebrew word it means that the word in question is plural. Not only is the word plural, but it is also masculine, as opposed to the Hebrew plural form of a feminine word which ends in the suffix “ot” or “ות”. Mitzrayim is therefore both masculine and plural and has the meaning “straits”, referring to the two (plural) sea “straits” which border the Sinai Peninsula. This may also have been a reference to the dual nature of Egypts geography i.e. “Upper Egypt” and “Lower Egypt”. Also of note in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10:6 Mitzrayim is mentioned as the son of Ham, along with his brothers Cush, Put, and Cannan.

Verse 68 also states “through the way about which I had said to you, You will never see it again” referring to a commandment that was given to the Nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:16 as well as its mention again in Exodus 14:13.

Deuteronomy 17:15–16

15you shall set a king over you, one whom the Lord, your God, chooses; from among your brothers, you shall set a king over yourself; you shall not appoint a foreigner over yourself, one who is not your brother. טושׂ֣וֹם תָּשִׂ֤ים עָלֶ֨יךָ֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּ֑וֹ מִקֶּ֣רֶב אַחֶ֗יךָ תָּשִׂ֤ים עָלֶ֨יךָ֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ לֹ֣א תוּכַ֗ל לָתֵ֤ת עָלֶ֨יךָ֙ אִ֣ישׁ נָכְרִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־אָחִ֖יךָ הֽוּא:

16Only, he may not acquire many horses for himself, so that he will not bring the people back to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, for the Lord said to you, “You shall not return that way any more.” טזרַק֘ לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּה־לּ֣וֹ סוּסִים֒ וְלֹֽא־יָשִׁ֤יב אֶת־הָעָם֙ מִצְרַ֔יְמָה לְמַ֖עַן הַרְבּ֣וֹת ס֑וּס וַֽיהֹוָה֙ אָמַ֣ר לָכֶ֔ם לֹ֣א תֹֽסִפ֗וּן לָשׁ֛וּב בַּדֶּ֥רֶךְ הַזֶּ֖ה עֽוֹד:

Exodus 14:13

13Moses said to the people, Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that He will wreak for you today, for the way you have seen the Egyptians is [only] today, [but] you shall no longer continue to see them for eternity. יגוַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֣ה אֶל־הָעָם֘ אַל־תִּירָ֒אוּ֒ הִתְיַצְּב֗וּ וּרְאוּ֙ אֶת־יְשׁוּעַ֣ת יְהֹוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־יַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם כִּ֗י אֲשֶׁ֨ר רְאִיתֶ֤ם אֶת־מִצְרַ֨יִם֙ הַיּ֔וֹם לֹ֥א תֹסִ֛פוּ לִרְאֹתָ֥ם ע֖וֹד עַד־עוֹלָֽם:

This also is a major problem for what the Black Hebrew Israelites teach. The Transatlantic slave trade would not happen for another 3,000 some odd years from the time Moses dictated these curses at the base of Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. The Israelites would have had to have been in “bondage” in America previous to what Moses dictates, otherwise the place “which you will never see again” that you are now going back to would have to be literal Egypt as common sense would lead most people to believe.

The verse also states “you will seek to be sold”. If a person was to look at the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade as a whole, does history reveal to use that they “seek to be sold”? I think history clearly shows us just the opposite. The victims of the Transatlantic slave trade were forcibly and brutally ripped from their homes by captors often from a foreign land. These captors were very commonly complete strangers to those taken and sold, not “your enemies” or לְאֹֽיְבֶ֛יךָ as the term familiarly describes. If the term “enemy” was to somehow be explained in context to what truly happened, there are various cases of other neighboring (possibly enemy) African tribes who sold their brethren into slavery as the Kings of Dahomey were known for. I cannot in good conscience agree with this line of thinking as I have not found documentation of cases of Africans asking other tribes to sell them into servitude.

The verse continues on that “there will be no buyer”. The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database describes that 12.5 million Africans were shipped to “the New World”. Of that number 10.7 million survived Middle Passage and were bought by people as slaves in North and South America as well as the Caribbean. Sadly, yet clearly there were a large amount of buyers purchasing African slaves and an insatiable thirst for more to be brought to the Americas and ripped from their native lands.

If one does some digging they will find that the curses described in the Tochacha were premonitions of what was to come in the near future to the Children of Israel when they forsook the laws of the Torah and began to worship false and foreign deities that their fathers did not know. This played out most notably in the destruction of the first and second Holy Temples. The destruction of the first Holy Temple built under the auspices of King Solomon was around the year 832 BCE. Solomon’s Temple stood for around 410 years and then was subsequently destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian hordes around the year 422 BCE. Nebuchadnezzar laid waist to Jerusalem and burned the Holy Temple to the ground.

The second Holy Temple was built by Jews who were returning back to the Holy Land after the Babylonian exile of 70 years. These men who returned and rebuilt the Nation of Israel go back to Jerusalem and rebuilt around the year 530 BCE under the auspices of Cyrus King of Persia. The returning exiles included many notable people of the Hebrew Scriptures including Ezra, Nechemiah, Mordechai, and Daniel. Jerusalem and the Second Temple were later subsequently destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 CE. We can see this in the example from Josephus below:

After the Fall of the Second Temple (70 CE) Josephus reports:
“Because the soldiers were now growing weary of bloodshed, and survivors appeared constantly, Caesar orders to kill only those who offered armed resistance and to take alive all the rest. (415) The troops, in addition to those covered by their orders, slaughtered the aged and infirm; people to their prime who might be useful they herded into the Temple area and shut up in the Court of the Women (lcl. (416) Caesar appointed one of his freedmen as their guard, his friend Fronto, to decide the fate appropriate to each. (417) All those who had taken part in sedition and brigandage (they informed against other) he executed. He picked out the tallest and handsomest of the lot and reserved them for the Triumph (418). Of the rest, those who were over seventeen he put in chains and sent to hard labor in Egypt while great numbers were presented by Titus to the provinces to perish in the theaters by sword or by wild beasts; those under seventeen were sold”.
Josephus, “The Jewish Wars”; Book vi 9:2.

The wars which followed the destruction of the Second Temple were known as the Jewish Roman wars, most notable of which was the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132–136 CE. We find accounts of what happened in various places as shown below:

“The toll of the Bar Kochba uprising was devastating both on the population and on the places of habitation. The numbers of dead were awesome, while multitudes of Jews were taken captive to fill the slave markets near and far. The slave market of the Terebinth of Hebron was particularly famous as a center where Jewish slaves, sent into captivity by Hadrian were sold. So many Jewish slaves were available that, recording to one report, a Jew was sold for as little as the price of a portion of horse feed”.
History of Am Yisrael in Ancient Days (Hebrew, Devir), 1971, p.321.

The fortress of Betar was the last standing Jewish fortress during the Bar Kochba Revolt which was finally destroyed in the year 135 CE by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. We also have many accounts written of this as well.

“Now that Betar had been captured, everything came under Human control, while Palestine [Judah] was reduced to a desolate mound. Captives were sold into slavery in numbers too great to count. First they were brought to the grand annual market at the Terebinth-Eloh tree in Hebron, or in the words of Hyranumous, to the Tent-Ohel of Abraham near Hebron. Each slave sold for the price of a horse. Those captives who were not sold there were brought to the market place in Azza [Gaza] which, because of the great multitudes of slaves who were sold there, was called Hadrian’s market place. And those who were still not sold there were herded into ships and were taken to Egypt. Many died in transit, whether by starvation or by shipwreck, while many also were killed by cruel masters”.
Munter, Primordia Eccl. Africanae, pp. 85f.,113.

“Few Jews remained alive, 50 of their strongest fortified cities and 985 of the best towns and villages were demolished; 580,000 died on the battlefield, besides countless others who perished of hunger and pestilence .. the entire land of Judea was almost transformed into a barren wasteland.”

After the Fall of Betar (135 CE) Cassius (150–235 C.E.), a Roman historian

This similarity between the Tochacha and what played out during both the destruction of the first and second Temples is truly remarkable. We can see this as well in other curses mentioned in the Tochacha. Deuteronomy 28:53 is almost played out word for word later by the Prophet Jeremiah as he writes in Lamentations 4:10.

53 And during the siege and the desperation which your enemies will bring upon you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord, your God, gave you. נגוְאָֽכַלְתָּ֣ פְרִֽי־בִטְנְךָ֗ בְּשַׂ֤ר בָּנֶ֨יךָ֙ וּבְנֹתֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתַן־לְךָ֖ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּמָצוֹר֙ וּבְמָצ֔וֹק אֲשֶׁר־יָצִ֥יק לְךָ֖ אֹֽיְבֶֽךָ:

10 The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children; they have become their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people. ייְדֵ֗י נָשִׁים֙ רַֽחֲמָ֣נִיּ֔וֹת בִּשְּׁל֖וּ יַלְדֵיהֶ֑ן הָי֤וּ לְבָרוֹת֙ לָ֔מוֹ בְּשֶׁ֖בֶר בַּת־עַמִּֽי:

If you ask a Black Hebrew Israelite what “siege” is being spoken of in v.53 they will have no answer. These inconvenient technicalities are glossed over completely. It is clear to anyone who is honest with the Scriptural text that this curse is a direct assertion of what was to come under Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian troops. The Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem, burning the first Holy Temple down to the ground along with the rest of the city of Jerusalem. This siege is described in vivid detail by Jeremiah in his self named text as well as the book of Lamentations almost in its entirety. In 2nd Kings ch. 25 this same siege is described as well in great detail. In 2 Kings 25:3 we see allusion to the starvation the people were going through which Moses prophesied in v. 53 much earlier.

3 On the ninth of the month, the famine became severe in the city, and the people of the land had no food. גבְּתִשְׁעָ֣ה לַחֹ֔דֶשׁ וַיֶּחֱזַ֥ק הָרָעָ֖ב בָּעִ֑יר וְלֹא־הָ֥יָה לֶ֖חֶם לְעַ֥ם הָאָֽרֶץ:

Again we see in Deuteronomy 28:36 another instance where the Tochacha are clearly seen fulfilled under Babylonian tyranny within the actual pages of the Hebrew Bible. We see exact fulfillment in 2 Kings 24:15 as the “King” which is spoken of in v.36 is none other than Jehoiachin.

36 The Lord will lead you and your king whom you will have established over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers; and there, you will serve other deities [made] of wood and stone. לויוֹלֵ֨ךְ יְהֹוָ֜ה אֹֽתְךָ֗ וְאֶת־מַלְכְּךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תָּקִ֣ים עָלֶ֔יךָ אֶל־גּ֕וֹי אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖עְתָּ אַתָּ֣ה וַֽאֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ וְעָבַ֥דְתָּ שָּׁ֛ם אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִ֖ים עֵ֥ץ וָאָֽבֶן:

15 And he exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother and the king’s wives, and his officers and the dignitaries of the land, he led in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. טווַיֶּ֥גֶל אֶת־יְהוֹיָכִ֖ין בָּבֶ֑לָה וְאֶת־אֵ֣ם הַ֠מֶּלֶךְ וְאֶת־נְשׁ֨י הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ וְאֶת־סָרִיסָ֗יו וְאֵת֙ אֵילֵ֣י (כתיב אֵולֵ֣י) הָאָ֔רֶץ הוֹלִ֛יךְ גּוֹלָ֥ה מִירוּשָׁלַ֖םִ בָּבֶֽלָה:

If we continue to read in the book of 2 Kings in ch. 25 we see Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah gets it worse than Jehoiachin after his short stand in as a vassal King for Judah to Nebuchadnezzar. The evil Chief of the Guards Nebuzardan reigns destruction on what is left of the once great Kingdom of Judah and Zedekiah especially killing his sons in front of him in 25:7. It is one of the saddest descriptions of what can happen to even such a great people when they lose track of what is important and follow idolatrous customs of the nations.

7. And they slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and they blinded Zedekiah’s eyes, and he bound him with copper chains and brought him to Babylon. זוְאֶת־בְּנֵי֙ צִדְקִיָּ֔הוּ שָׁחֲט֖וּ לְעֵינָ֑יו וְאֶת־עֵינֵ֚י צִדְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙ עִוֵּ֔ר וַיַּאַסְרֵ֙הוּ֙ בַֽנְחֻשְׁתַּ֔יִם וַיְבִאֵ֖הוּ בָּבֶֽל:

Again Deuteronomy 28:37 seems to be played out again in Jeremiah 25:9 and Psalm 44:14.

37 And you will become an [object of] astonishment, an example, and a topic of discussion, among all the peoples to whom the Lord will lead you. לזוְהָיִ֣יתָ לְשַׁמָּ֔ה לְמָשָׁ֖ל וְלִשְׁנִינָ֑ה בְּכֹל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־יְנַֽהֶגְךָ֥ יְהֹוָ֖ה שָֽׁמָּה:

9 Behold, I send and I will take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I will bring them upon this land and upon its inhabitants and upon all these nations around, and I will destroy them and make them for a desolation and for a hissing and for perpetual ruins. טהִֽנְנִ֣י שֹׁלֵ֡חַ וְלָֽקַחְתִּי֩ אֶת־כָּל־מִשְׁפְּח֨וֹת צָפ֜וֹן נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֗ה וְאֶל־נְבֽוּכַדְרֶאצַּ֣ר מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֘ עַבְדִּי֒ וַֽהֲבִ֨אֹתִ֜ים עַל־הָאָ֚רֶץ הַזֹּאת֙ וְעַל־י֣שְׁבֶ֔יהָ וְעַ֛ל כָּל־הַגּוֹיִ֥ם הָאֵ֖לֶּה סָבִ֑יב וְהַֽ֣חֲרַמְתִּ֔ים וְשַׂמְתִּים֙ לְשַׁמָּ֣ה וְלִשְׁרֵקָ֔ה וּלְחָרְב֖וֹת עוֹלָֽם:

14 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those around us; ידתְּשִׂימֵ֣נוּ חֶ֖רְפָּה לִשְׁכֵנֵ֑ינוּ לַ֥עַג וָ֜קֶ֗לֶס לִסְבִֽיבוֹתֵֽינוּ:

Much of what was written in the curses of v.15–68 must really be taken and analyzed in conjunction with the first 14 verses of ch. 28 which speak of blessing. An exact opposite. An exact, yet opposite parallel. Verse 28:3 speaks as a blessing. Verse 28:16 is the opposite use of the text, with the intent of a curse.

3 You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. גבָּר֥וּךְ אַתָּ֖ה בָּעִ֑יר וּבָר֥וּךְ אַתָּ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶֽה

16 You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. טזאָר֥וּר אַתָּ֖ה בָּעִ֑יר וְאָר֥וּר אַתָּ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶֽה:

Again we see verse 28:6 used as a blessing, and an exact opposite to curse in verse 28:19.

6 You shall be blessed when you come, and you shall be blessed when you depart. ובָּר֥וּךְ אַתָּ֖ה בְּבֹאֶ֑ךָ וּבָר֥וּךְ אַתָּ֖ה בְּצֵאתֶֽךָ:

19 You shall be cursed when you come, and you shall be cursed when you depart. יטאָר֥וּר אַתָּ֖ה בְּבֹאֶ֑ךָ וְאָר֥וּר אַתָּ֖ה בְּצֵאתֶֽךָ:

The same with verse 28:7 and verse 28:25 and so on and so forth.

7 The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you, to be beaten before you; they will come out against you in one direction, but they will flee from you in seven directions.

זיִתֵּ֨ן יְהֹוָ֤ה אֶת־אֹֽיְבֶ֨יךָ֙ הַקָּמִ֣ים עָלֶ֔יךָ נִגָּפִ֖ים לְפָנֶ֑יךָ בְּדֶ֤רֶךְ אֶחָד֙ יֵֽצְא֣וּ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וּבְשִׁבְעָ֥ה דְרָכִ֖ים יָנ֥וּסוּ לְפָנֶֽיךָ:

25 The Lord will cause you to be broken before your enemy: you will come out against them in one direction, but you will flee from them in seven directions. And you will become a terrifying [example] to all the kingdoms on earth. כהיִתֶּנְךָ֨ יְהֹוָ֣ה | נִגָּף֘ לִפְנֵ֣י אֹֽיְבֶ֒יךָ֒ בְּדֶ֤רֶךְ אֶחָד֙ תֵּצֵ֣א אֵלָ֔יו וּבְשִׁבְעָ֥ה דְרָכִ֖ים תָּנ֣וּס לְפָנָ֑יו וְהָיִ֣יתָ לְזַֽעֲוָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל מַמְלְכ֥וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ:

There is also a repetition of earlier in Deuteronomy 20:6 which is reiterated in Deuteronomy 28:30.

30 You will betroth a woman, but another man will lie with her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not redeem it[s fruits]. לאִשָּׁ֣ה תְאָרֵ֗שׂ וְאִ֤ישׁ אַחֵר֙ יִשְׁכָּבֶ֔נָּה (כתיב ישגלנה) בַּ֥יִת תִּבְנֶ֖ה וְלֹֽא־תֵשֵׁ֣ב בּ֑וֹ כֶּ֥רֶם תִּטַּ֖ע וְלֹ֥א תְחַלְּלֶֽנּוּ:

6 And what man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not [yet] redeemed it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man redeem it. ווּמִֽי־הָאִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָטַ֥ע כֶּ֨רֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א חִלְּל֔וֹ יֵלֵ֖ךְ וְיָשֹׁ֣ב לְבֵית֑וֹ פֶּן־יָמוּת֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאִ֥ישׁ אַחֵ֖ר יְחַלְּלֶֽנּוּ:

In Deuteronomy 28:62 we see another premonition of what was to be the fate of Israel as a nation. The verse describes that “you will remain few in number” when you are in exile. If we look at a current statistic for how many African Americans live in the United States we see that “few in number” is not an accurate description of the African American population in the US.

62 And you will remain few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars of the heavens because you did not obey the Lord, your God. סבוְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם֙ בִּמְתֵ֣י מְעָ֔ט תַּ֚חַת אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֱיִיתֶ֔ם כְּכֽוֹכְבֵ֥י הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם לָרֹ֑ב כִּי־לֹ֣א שָׁמַ֔עְתָּ בְּק֖וֹל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ:

There were around 46,778,674 African Americans or African Americans in combination with another race in 2016 in the United States. Christianity is by far the major religion of the United States. A close estimate of the Christian faith in the US is around 75% when including various Christian denominations in the same count. In contrast Judaism is the religion of 2.1% of the population within the United States. According to the Pew Research Center there are around 5.3 million Jews living in the United States. Israel has just over 6.5 million Jews living there. World Jewry is estimated to be around 14.5 million total. When hearing these numbers the Black Hebrew Israelites should really be asking themselves if they fit the description of v.62. To an honest individual the answer is clear. If you add in the numbers of the African diaspora the numbers are staggering. The Caribbean has almost 40 million descendants of Africans living there. South America has over 388 million living there. North America has over 450 million. India alone has over 1 billion descendants of Africans living there. These are just the numbers within the African Diaspora. Africa itself is home to over 1 billion Africans. As you can see Africans are by no means “few in number”. They are a people composed of multiple billions.

Commonly the Black Hebrew Israelites will make the claim that their African brethren are not Hebrews, or descendants of Shem ben Noach. They will claim that Africans still living in Africa are actually sons of Noahs son Ham and that only those affected by the Transatlantic Slave Trade are true Shemites. They will often make the audacious claim that their African brethren (Hamites) sold them (Shemites) into slavery. This may seem unbelievable, but many of them actually believe just like this. If we were to look only at African Americans living in America at roughly 47 million, the population would still far outnumber world Jewry by almost 4 times as many, while Negroes in general would outnumber Jews 143:1 worldwide.

One must also note that Jews as a people are and have been the only people keeping the Torah. No other people have been worried about eating kosher. Where can you go in any other community and speak with someone who understands what must take place during the slaughter of an animal which makes it kosher and permissible for consumption. Every place where you find the Hebrew language, you will find the Jewish people. Every Torah Scroll in existence can only be attributed to the scribes of one nation, Israel.

These teachings which are so clearly false that have been taught and perpetrated by the so-called Black Hebrew Israelites are really no older than 50–60 years old. A man named Abba Bivens along with his seven misguided and equally imaginative companions named “The Seven” began to propagate these fairy tales to a group of the most ignorant and impoverished African Americans that they could find to soak up their message of hate. The Jew, both Sephardic and especially Ashkenazi, became the all too familiar scapegoat of the Black Hebrew Israelite narrative. The accusation was that somehow in a time before mass communication, before the internet, before a modern postal service, before the advent of the telephone, or electricity in general; worldwide Jewry had somehow collaborated and stolen the “true Israelite” the “African American” or “Negroes” real culture, language, and history. They made the sick claim that Jews were not only responsible, but funded the Transatlantic Slave Trade with the ultimate intention of stealing the West African’s true identity as “The Black Hebrew Israelite”. No matter how impossible or unbelievable this may seem there are huge numbers of good hearted African Americans falling into these lies. Another group has now been added to the list of hate groups which Jewish parents must teach their children to look out for. Numerous violent attacks carried out on visibly religious Jews (usually older and incapable of defense) have been happening over the past few years by members of this misguided and hate filled cult. It is my hope that by dispelling some of the myths that this hate group/cult teach, good hearted African Americans will find this information and apply some critical thinking to the claims of these hate groups and outright reject them as the lies they clearly are. I also hope this information I have detailed here is used to combat the lies that these people teach to an audience who usually has no clue how to answer back to such wild accusations.

This is to be the first of many articles which debunk their teachings of hate. I began with the curses of Deuteronomy 28 and 28:68 especially because every Black Hebrew Israelite I have ever spoken with, both in person or written communication, has fallen back on these curses as the reason and main proof text for getting involved in and believing in the teachings of this cult.