John Gill Commentary Deuteronomy 28:62

"And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou didst not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God." — Deuteronomy 28:62 (ASV)

And you shall be left few in number
There were but very few left in the land of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar's general when Jerusalem was taken by him; and these were of the poorer sort, and were left for vinedressers and husbandmen, (Jeremiah 39:10) (52:16) ;

and how much they were reduced by the Romans will appear by the accounts Josephus gives of those that were slain, and made prisoners by them: he says {i}, there were 1,100,000 slain at the siege of Jerusalem and by the war, and 97,000 made prisoners; and it is computed that 1,240,490 were destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of the nation ^F11 ;

and it is also said by their historian {l}, that of those that were transported from Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine into Spain, scarce a thousandth part remained and that an infinite number were slain in France and Germany; and though their number equalled those that came out of Egypt, yet scarce five thousand of them were left:

whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude ;
and, as it is sometimes said, as the sand of the sea, as was promised to Abraham, (Genesis 15:5) (22:18) ; and was fulfilled in the days of Solomon (1 Kings 4:20) ;

because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God ;
in his law, and by his prophets; and especially by the voice of the true Messiah, in his everlasting Gospel; of whom it is said, "today if you will hear his voice"; etc. (Hebrews 3:7) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F11: See Dr. Newton (Bp. of Bristol) on Prophecies, vol. 1. Dissert. 7. sect. 6. p. 186.