1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.
32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.
44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.
46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
1 Ye shall make H6213 you no idols H457 nor graven image, H6459 neither rear you up H6965 a standing image, H4676 neither shall ye set up H5414 any image H4906 of stone H68 in your land, H776 to bow down H7812 unto it: for I am the LORD H3068 your God. H430
2 Ye shall keep H8104 my sabbaths, H7676 and reverence H3372 my sanctuary: H4720 I am the LORD. H3068
3 If ye walk H3212 in my statutes, H2708 and keep H8104 my commandments, H4687 and do H6213 them;
4 Then I will give H5414 you rain H1653 in due season, H6256 and the land H776 shall yield H5414 her increase, H2981 and the trees H6086 of the field H7704 shall yield H5414 their fruit. H6529
5 And your threshing H1786 shall reach H5381 unto the vintage, H1210 and the vintage H1210 shall reach H5381 unto the sowing time: H2233 and ye shall eat H398 your bread H3899 to the full, H7648 and dwell H3427 in your land H776 safely. H983
6 And I will give H5414 peace H7965 in the land, H776 and ye shall lie down, H7901 and none shall make you afraid: H2729 and I will rid H7673 evil H7451 beasts H2416 out of the land, H776 neither shall the sword H2719 go H5674 through your land. H776
7 And ye shall chase H7291 your enemies, H341 and they shall fall H5307 before H6440 you by the sword. H2719
8 And five H2568 of you shall chase H7291 an hundred, H3967 and an hundred H3967 of you shall put ten thousand H7233 to flight: H7291 and your enemies H341 shall fall H5307 before H6440 you by the sword. H2719
9 For I will have respect H6437 unto you, and make you fruitful, H6509 and multiply H7235 you, and establish H6965 my covenant H1285 with you.
10 And ye shall eat H398 old store, H3462 and bring forth H3318 the old H3465 because H6440 of the new. H2319
11 And I will set H5414 my tabernacle H4908 among H8432 you: and my soul H5315 shall not abhor H1602 you.
12 And I will walk H1980 among H8432 you, and will be H1961 your God, H430 and ye shall be H1961 my people. H5971
13 I am the LORD H3068 your God, H430 which brought you forth H3318 out of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 that ye should not be their bondmen; H5650 and I have broken H7665 the bands H4133 of your yoke, H5923 and made you go H3212 upright. H6968
14 But if ye will not hearken H8085 unto me, and will not do H6213 all these commandments; H4687
15 And if ye shall despise H3988 my statutes, H2708 or if your soul H5315 abhor H1602 my judgments, H4941 so that ye will not do H6213 all my commandments, H4687 but that ye break H6565 my covenant: H1285
16 I also will do H6213 this unto you; I will even appoint H6485 over you terror, H928 consumption, H7829 and the burning ague, H6920 that shall consume H3615 the eyes, H5869 and cause sorrow H1727 of heart: H5315 and ye shall sow H2232 your seed H2233 in vain, H7385 for your enemies H341 shall eat H398 it.
17 And I will set H5414 my face H6440 against you, and ye shall be slain H5062 before H6440 your enemies: H341 they that hate H8130 you shall reign H7287 over you; and ye shall flee H5127 when none pursueth H7291 you.
18 And if ye will not yet H5704 for all this hearken H8085 unto me, then I will punish H3256 you seven times H7651 more H3254 for your sins. H2403
19 And I will break H7665 the pride H1347 of your power; H5797 and I will make H5414 your heaven H8064 as iron, H1270 and your earth H776 as brass: H5154
20 And your strength H3581 shall be spent H8552 in vain: H7385 for your land H776 shall not yield H5414 her increase, H2981 neither shall the trees H6086 of the land H776 yield H5414 their fruits. H6529
21 And if ye walk H3212 contrary H7147 unto me, and will H14 not hearken H8085 unto me; I will bring H3254 seven times H7651 more H3254 plagues H4347 upon you according to your sins. H2403
22 I will also send H7971 wild H7704 beasts H2416 among you, which shall rob you of your children, H7921 and destroy H3772 your cattle, H929 and make you few in number; H4591 and your high ways H1870 shall be desolate. H8074
23 And if ye will not be reformed H3256 by me by these things, but will walk H1980 contrary H7147 unto me;
24 Then will I also walk H1980 contrary H7147 unto you, and will punish H5221 you yet H1571 seven times H7651 for your sins. H2403
25 And I will bring H935 a sword H2719 upon you, that shall avenge H5358 the quarrel H5359 of my covenant: H1285 and when ye are gathered together H622 within H413 your cities, H5892 I will send H7971 the pestilence H1698 among H8432 you; and ye shall be delivered H5414 into the hand H3027 of the enemy. H341
26 And when I have broken H7665 the staff H4294 of your bread, H3899 ten H6235 women H802 shall bake H644 your bread H3899 in one H259 oven, H8574 and they shall deliver H7725 you your bread H3899 again H7725 by weight: H4948 and ye shall eat, H398 and not be satisfied. H7646
27 And if ye will not for all this H2063 hearken H8085 unto me, but walk H1980 contrary H7147 unto me;
28 Then I will walk H1980 contrary H7147 unto you also in fury; H2534 and I, even H637 I, will chastise H3256 you seven times H7651 for your sins. H2403
29 And ye shall eat H398 the flesh H1320 of your sons, H1121 and the flesh H1320 of your daughters H1323 shall ye eat. H398
30 And I will destroy H8045 your high places, H1116 and cut down H3772 your images, H2553 and cast H5414 your carcases H6297 upon the carcases H6297 of your idols, H1544 and my soul H5315 shall abhor H1602 you.
31 And I will make H5414 your cities H5892 waste, H2723 and bring H8074 your sanctuaries H4720 unto desolation, H8074 and I will not smell H7306 the savour H7381 of your sweet odours. H5207
32 And I will bring H8074 the land H776 into desolation: H8074 and your enemies H341 which dwell H3427 therein shall be astonished H8074 at it.
33 And I will scatter H2219 you among the heathen, H1471 and will draw out H7324 a sword H2719 after H310 you: and your land H776 shall be desolate, H8077 and your cities H5892 waste. H2723
34 Then shall the land H776 enjoy H7521 her sabbaths, H7676 as long H3117 as it lieth desolate, H8074 and ye be in your enemies' H341 land; H776 even then shall the land H776 rest, H7673 and enjoy H7521 her sabbaths. H7676
35 As long as H3117 it lieth desolate H8074 it shall rest; H7673 because it did not rest H7673 in your sabbaths, H7676 when ye dwelt H3427 upon it.
36 And upon them that are left H7604 alive of you I will send H935 a faintness H4816 into their hearts H3824 in the lands H776 of their enemies; H341 and the sound H6963 of a shaken H5086 leaf H5929 shall chase H7291 them; and they shall flee, H5127 as fleeing H4499 from a sword; H2719 and they shall fall H5307 when none pursueth. H7291
37 And they shall fall H3782 one H376 upon another, H251 as it were before H6440 a sword, H2719 when none pursueth: H7291 and ye shall have no power to stand H8617 before H6440 your enemies. H341
38 And ye shall perish H6 among the heathen, H1471 and the land H776 of your enemies H341 shall eat you up. H398
39 And they that are left H7604 of you shall pine away H4743 in their iniquity H5771 in your enemies' H341 lands; H776 and also in the iniquities H5771 of their fathers H1 shall they pine away H4743 with them.
40 If they shall confess H3034 their iniquity, H5771 and the iniquity H5771 of their fathers, H1 with their trespass H4604 which they trespassed H4603 against me, and that also they have walked H1980 contrary H7147 unto me;
41 And that I also have walked H3212 contrary H7147 unto them, and have brought H935 them into the land H776 of their enemies; H341 if then H176 their uncircumcised H6189 hearts H3824 be humbled, H3665 and they then accept H7521 of the punishment of their iniquity: H5771
42 Then will I remember H2142 my covenant H1285 with Jacob, H3290 and also my covenant H1285 with Isaac, H3327 and also my covenant H1285 with Abraham H85 will I remember; H2142 and I will remember H2142 the land. H776
43 The land H776 also shall be left H5800 of them, and shall enjoy H7521 her sabbaths, H7676 while she lieth desolate H8074 without them: and they shall accept H7521 of the punishment of their iniquity: H5771 because, H3282 even because H3282 they despised H3988 my judgments, H4941 and because their soul H5315 abhorred H1602 my statutes. H2708
44 And yet H637 for all that, H2063 when they be H1571 in the land H776 of their enemies, H341 I will not cast them away, H3988 neither will I abhor H1602 them, to destroy them utterly, H3615 and to break H6565 my covenant H1285 with them: for I am the LORD H3068 their God. H430
45 But I will for their sakes remember H2142 the covenant H1285 of their ancestors, H7223 whom I brought forth H3318 out of the land H776 of Egypt H4714 in the sight H5869 of the heathen, H1471 that I might be their God: H430 I am the LORD. H3068
46 These are the statutes H2706 and judgments H4941 and laws, H8451 which the LORD H3068 made H5414 between him and the children H1121 of Israel H3478 in mount H2022 Sinai H5514 by the hand H3027 of Moses. H4872
1 Ye shall make you no idols, neither shall ye rear you up a graven image, or a pillar, neither shall ye place any figured stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am Jehovah your God.
2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Jehovah.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.
10 And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old because of the new.
11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
13 I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 and if ye shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhor mine ordinances, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
16 I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be smitten before your enemies: they that hate you shall rule over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
18 And if ye will not yet for these things hearken unto me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.
19 And I will break the pride of your power: and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass;
20 and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 And I will send the beast of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your ways shall become desolate.
23 And if by these things ye will not be reformed unto me, but will walk contrary unto me;
24 then will I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant; and ye shall be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
28 then I will walk contrary unto you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-images, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul shall abhor you.
31 And I will make your cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.
32 And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
33 And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
34 Then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye are in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy its sabbaths.
35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it had not in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
36 And as for them that are left of you, I will send a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as one fleeth from the sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
37 And they shall stumble one upon another, as it were before the sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 And ye shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
40 And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary unto me,
41 I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity;
42 then will I remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left by them, and shall enjoy its sabbaths, while it lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected mine ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes.
44 And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Jehovah their God;
45 but I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Jehovah.
46 These are the statutes and ordinances and laws, which Jehovah made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by Moses.
1 `Ye do not make to yourselves idols; and graven image or standing image ye do not set up to yourselves; and a stone of imagery ye do not put in your land, to bow yourselves to it; for I `am' Jehovah your God.
2 `My sabbaths ye do keep, and My sanctuary ye do reverence; I `am' Jehovah.
3 `If in My statutes ye walk, and My commands ye keep, and have done them,
4 then I have given your rains in their season, and the land hath given her produce, and the tree of the field doth give its fruit;
5 and reached to you hath the threshing, the gathering, and the gathering doth reach the sowing-`time'; and ye have eaten your bread to satiety, and have dwelt confidently in your land.
6 `And I have given peace in the land, and ye have lain down, and there is none causing trembling; and I have caused evil beasts to cease out of the land, and the sword doth not pass over into your land.
7 `And ye have pursued your enemies, and they have fallen before you by the sword;
8 and five of you have pursued a hundred, and a hundred of you do pursue a myriad; and your enemies have fallen before you by the sword.
9 `And I have turned unto you, and have made you fruitful, and have multiplied you, and have established My covenant with you;
10 and ye have eaten old `store', and the old because of the new ye bring out.
11 `And I have given My tabernacle in your midst, and My soul doth not loathe you;
12 and I have walked habitually in your midst, and have become your God, and ye -- ye are become My people;
13 I `am' Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the land of the Egyptians, from being their servants; and I break the bars of your yoke, and cause you to go erect.
14 `And if ye do not hearken to Me, and do not all these commands;
15 and if at My statutes ye kick, and if My judgments your soul loathe, so as not to do all My commands -- to your breaking My covenant --
16 I also do this to you, and I have appointed over you trouble, the consumption, and the burning fever, consuming eyes, and causing pain of soul; and your seed in vain ye have sowed, and your enemies have eaten it;
17 and I have set My face against you, and ye have been smitten before your enemies; and those hating you have ruled over you, and ye have fled, and there is none pursuing you.
18 `And if unto these ye hearken not to Me, -- then I have added to chastise you seven times for your sins;
19 and I have broken the pride of your strength, and have made your heavens as iron, and your earth as brass;
20 and consumed hath been your strength in vain, and your land doth not give her produce, and the tree of the land doth not give its fruit.
21 `And if ye walk with Me `in' opposition, and are not willing to hearken to Me, then I have added to you a plague seven times, according to your sins,
22 and sent against you the beast of the field, and it hath bereaved you; and I have cut off your cattle, and have made you few, and your ways have been desolate.
23 `And if by these ye are not instructed by Me, and have walked with Me `in' opposition,
24 then I have walked -- I also -- with you in opposition, and have smitten you, even I, seven times for your sins;
25 and I have brought in on you a sword, executing the vengeance of a covenant; and ye have been gathered unto your cities, and I have sent pestilence into your midst, and ye have been given into the hand of an enemy.
26 `In My breaking to you the staff of bread, then ten women have baked your bread in one oven, and have given back your bread by weight; and ye have eaten, and are not satisfied.
27 `And if for this ye hearken not to Me, and have walked with Me in opposition,
28 then I have walked with you in the fury of opposition, and have chastised you, even I, seven times for your sins.
29 `And ye have eaten the flesh of your sons; even flesh of your daughters ye do eat.
30 And I have destroyed your high places, and cut down your images, and have put your carcases on the carcases of your idols, and My soul hath loathed you;
31 and I have made your cities a waste, and have made desolate your sanctuaries, and I smell not at your sweet fragrances;
32 and I have made desolate the land, and your enemies, who are dwelling in it, have been astonished at it.
33 And you I scatter among nations, and have drawn out after you a sword, and your land hath been a desolation, and your cities are a waste.
34 `Then doth the land enjoy its sabbaths -- all the days of the desolation, and ye in the land of your enemies -- then doth the land rest, and hath enjoyed its sabbaths;
35 all the days of the desolation it resteth that which it hath not rested in your sabbaths in your dwelling on it.
36 `And those who are left of you -- I have also brought a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a leaf driven away hath pursued them, and they have fled -- flight from a sword -- and they have fallen, and there is none pursuing.
37 And they have stumbled one on another, as from the face of a sword, and there is none pursuing, and ye have no standing before your enemies,
38 and ye have perished among the nations, and the land of your enemies hath consumed you.
39 `And those who are left of you -- they consume away in their iniquity, in the lands of your enemies; and also in the iniquities of their fathers, with them they consume away.
40 `And -- they have confessed their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they have trespassed against Me, and also, that they have walked with Me, in opposition,
41 also I walk to them in opposition, and have brought them into the land of their enemies -- or then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and then they accept the punishment of their iniquity, --
42 then I have remembered My covenant `with' Jacob, and also My covenant `with' Isaac, and also My covenant `with' Abraham I remember, and the land I remember.
43 `And -- the land is left of them, and doth enjoy its sabbaths, in the desolation without them, and they accept the punishment of their iniquity, because, even because, against My judgments they have kicked, and My statutes hath their soul loathed,
44 and also even this, in their being in the land of their enemies, I have not rejected them, nor have I loathed them, to consume them, to break My covenant with them; for I `am' Jehovah their God; --
45 then I have remembered for them the covenant of the ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to become their God; I `am' Jehovah.'
46 These `are' the statutes, and the judgments, and the laws, which Jehovah hath given between Him and the sons of Israel, in mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.
1 Ye shall make yourselves no idols, neither rear you up for yourselves carved image, or statue, nor shall ye set up a figured stone in your land, to bow down unto it; for I am Jehovah your God.
2 Ye shall observe my sabbaths, and my sanctuary shall ye reverence: I am Jehovah.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and observe my commandments and do them,
4 then I will give your rain in the season thereof, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit;
5 and your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land securely.
6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will put away the evil beasts out of the land; and the sword shall not go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword;
8 and five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall beside you by the sword.
9 And I will turn my face towards you and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
10 And ye shall eat old store, and clear away the old because of the new.
11 And I will set my habitation among you; and my soul shall not abhor you;
12 and I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be to me a people.
13 I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you walk upright.
14 But if ye hearken not unto me, and do not all these commandments,
15 and if ye shall despise my statutes, and if your soul shall abhor mine ordinances, so that ye do not all my commandments, that ye break my covenant,
16 I also will do this unto you -- I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and fever, which shall cause the eyes to fail, and the soul to waste away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 And I will set my face against you, that ye may be routed before your enemies; they that hate you shall have dominion over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
18 And if for this ye hearken not unto me, I will punish you sevenfold more for your sins,
19 and I will break the arrogance of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as bronze,
20 and your strength shall be spent in vain, and your land shall not yield its produce; and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.
21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me, I will bring sevenfold more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 And I will send the beasts of the field among you, that they may rob you of your children, and cut off your cattle, and make you few in number; and your streets shall be desolate.
23 And if ye will not be disciplined by me through these, but walk contrary unto me,
24 then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will smite you, even I, sevenfold for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword upon you that avengeth with the vengeance of the covenant, and ye shall be gathered together into your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 When I break the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and shall deliver you the bread again by weight; and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27 And if for this ye hearken not to me, but walk contrary unto me,
28 then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven-fold for your sins.
29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
30 And I will lay waste your high places, and cut down your sun-pillars, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols; and my soul shall abhor you.
31 And I will lay waste your cities and desolate your sanctuaries; and I will not smell your sweet odours.
32 And I will bring the land into desolation; that your enemies who dwell there in may be astonished at it.
33 And I will scatter you among the nations, and will draw out the sword after you; and your land shall be desolation, and your cities waste.
34 Then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, when ye are in your enemies' land; then shall the land rest, and enjoy its sabbaths.
35 All the days of the desolation it shall rest, [the days in] which it did not rest on your sabbaths, when ye dwelt therein.
36 And as to those that remain of you -- I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, that the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth;
37 and they shall stumble one over another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth; and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 And ye shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 And they that remain of you shall waste away through their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also through the iniquities of their fathers shall they waste away with them.
40 And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, through their unfaithfulness wherein they were unfaithful to me, and also that they have walked contrary unto me,
41 so that I also walked contrary unto them, and brought them into the land of their enemies. If then their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity,
42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
43 For the land shall be left by them, and shall enjoy its sabbaths, when it is in desolation without them; and they shall accept the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they despised my judgments, and their soul abhorred my statutes.
44 And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them, and will not abhor them, to make an end of them utterly, to break my covenant with them, for I am Jehovah their God.
45 But I will remember toward them the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations, that I might be their God: I am Jehovah.
46 These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which Jehovah made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.
1 "'You shall make for yourselves no idols, neither shall you raise up an engraved image or a pillar, neither shall you place any figured stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am Yahweh your God.
2 "'You shall keep my Sabbaths, and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am Yahweh.
3 "'If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 Your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 "'I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid; and I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 "'I will have respect for you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.
10 You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall move out the old because of the new.
11 I will set my tent among you: and my soul won't abhor you.
12 I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you will be my people.
13 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
14 "'But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 and if you shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhors my ordinances, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
16 I also will do this to you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and you will sow your seed in vain, for your enemies will eat it.
17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
18 "'If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.
19 I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your sky like iron, and your soil like brass;
20 and your strength will be spent in vain; for your land won't yield its increase, neither will the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21 "'If you walk contrary to me, and won't listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins.
22 I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your roads will become desolate.
23 "'If by these things you won't be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;
24 then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins.
25 I will bring a sword upon you, that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; and you will be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and you shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27 "'If you in spite of this won't listen to me, but walk contrary to me;
28 then I will walk contrary to you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
30 I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul will abhor you.
31 I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not take delight in the sweet fragrence of your offerings.
32 I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein will be astonished at it.
33 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.
35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn't have in your sabbaths, when you lived on it.
36 "'As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword; and they will fall when no one pursues.
37 They will stumble over one another, as it were before the sword, when no one pursues: and you will have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will eat you up.
39 Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
40 "'If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me,
41 I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies: if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity;
42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob; and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
43 The land also will be left by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them: and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they rejected my ordinances, and their soul abhorred my statutes.
44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them; for I am Yahweh their God;
45 but I will for their sake remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am Yahweh.'"
46 These are the statutes, ordinances and laws, which Yahweh made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.
1 Do not make images of false gods, or put up an image cut in stone or a pillar or any pictured stone in your land, to give worship to it; for I am the Lord your God.
2 Keep my Sabbaths and give honour to my holy place: I am the Lord.
3 If you are guided by my rules, and keep my laws and do them,
4 Then I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will give her increase and the trees of the field will give their fruit;
5 And the crushing of the grain will overtake the cutting of the grapes, and the cutting of the grapes will overtake the planting of the seed, and there will be bread in full measure, and you will be living in your land safely.
6 And I will give you peace in the land, and you will take your rest and no one will give you cause for fear; and I will put an end to all evil beasts in the land, and no sword of war will go through your land.
7 And you will put to flight those who are against you, and they will be put to death by your swords.
8 Then five of you will put to flight a hundred, and a hundred of you will put to flight ten thousand, and all who are against you will be put to death by your swords.
9 And I will have pleasure in you and make you fertile and greater in number; and I will keep my agreement with you.
10 And old stores long kept will be your food, and you will take out the old because of the new;
11 And I will put my holy House among you, and my soul will not be turned away from you in disgust.
12 And I will be present among you and will be your God and you will be my people.
13 I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt so that you might not be servants to them; by me the cords of your yoke were broken and I made you go upright.
14 But if you do not give ear to me, and do not keep all these my laws;
15 And if you go against my rules and if you have hate in your souls for my decisions and you do not do all my orders, but go against my agreement;
16 This will I do to you: I will put fear in your hearts, even wasting disease and burning pain, drying up the eyes and making the soul feeble, and you will get no profit from your seed, for your haters will take it for food.
17 And my face will be turned from you, and you will be broken before those who are against you, and your haters will become your rulers, and you will go in flight when no man comes after you.
18 And if, even after these things, you will not give ear to me, then I will send you punishment seven times more for your sins.
19 And the pride of your strength will be broken, and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass;
20 And your strength will be used up without profit; for your land will not give her increase and the trees of the field will not give their fruit.
21 And if you still go against me and will not give ear to me, I will put seven times more punishments on you because of your sins.
22 I will let loose the beasts of the field among you, and they will take away your children and send destruction on your cattle, so that your numbers will become small and your roads become waste.
23 And if by these things you will not be turned to me, but still go against me;
24 Then I will go against you, and I will give you punishment, I myself, seven times for all your sins.
25 And I will send a sword on you to give effect to the punishment of my agreement; and when you come together into your towns I will send disease among you and you will be given up into the hands of your haters.
26 When I take away your bread of life, ten women will be cooking bread in one oven, and your bread will be measured out by weight; you will have food but never enough.
27 And if, after all this, you do not give ear to me, but go against me still,
28 Then my wrath will be burning against you, and I will give you punishment, I myself, seven times for your sins.
29 Then you will take the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters for food;
30 And I will send destruction on your high places, overturning your perfume altars, and will put your dead bodies on your broken images, and my soul will be turned from you in disgust.
31 And I will make your towns waste and send destruction on your holy places; I will take no pleasure in the smell of your sweet perfumes;
32 And I will make your land a waste, a wonder to your haters living in it.
33 And I will send you out in all directions among the nations, and my sword will be uncovered against you, and your land will be without any living thing, and your towns will be made waste.
34 Then will the land take pleasure in its Sabbaths while it is waste and you are living in the land of your haters; then will the land have rest.
35 All the days while it is waste will the land have rest, such rest as it never had in your Sabbaths, when you were living in it.
36 And as for the rest of you, I will make their hearts feeble in the land of their haters, and the sound of a leaf moved by the wind will send them in flight, and they will go in flight as from the sword, falling down when no one comes after them;
37 Falling on one another, as before the sword, when no one comes after them; you will give way before your haters.
38 And death will overtake you among strange nations, and the land of your haters will be your destruction.
39 And those of you who are still living will be wasting away in their sins in the land of your haters; in the sins of their fathers they will be wasting away.
40 And they will have grief for their sins and for the sins of their fathers, when their hearts were untrue to me, and they went against me;
41 So that I went against them and sent them away into the land of their haters: if then the pride of their hearts is broken and they take the punishment of their sins,
42 Then I will keep in mind the agreement which I made with Jacob and with Isaac and with Abraham, and I will keep in mind the land.
43 And the land, while she is without them, will keep her Sabbaths; and they will undergo the punishment of their sins, because they were turned away from my decisions and in their souls was hate for my laws.
44 But for all that, when they are in the land of their haters I will not let them go, or be turned away from them, or give them up completely; my agreement with them will not be broken, for I am the Lord their God.
45 And because of them I will keep in mind the agreement which I made with their fathers, whom I took out of the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations, to be their God: I am the Lord.
46 These are the rules, decisions, and laws, which the Lord made between himself and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai, by the hand of Moses.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Leviticus 26
Commentary on Leviticus 26 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Promises and Threats - Leviticus 26
Just as the book of the covenant, the kernel containing the fundamental principles of the covenant fellowship, which the Lord established with the children of Israel whom He had adopted as His nation, and the rule of life for the covenant nation (Ex 20:22-23:19), concluded with promises and threats (Exodus 23:20-33); so the giving of the law at Sinai, as the unfolding of the inner, spiritual side of the whole of the covenant constitution, closes in this chapter with an elaborate unfolding of the blessing which would be secured by a faithful observance of the laws, and the curse which would follow the transgression of them. But whilst the former promises and threats (Ex 23) related to the conquest of the promised land of Canaan, the promises in this chapter refer to the blessings which were to be bestowed upon Israel when the land was in their possession (Leviticus 26:3-13), and the threats to the judgments with which the Lord would visit His disobedient people in their inheritance, and in fact drive them out and scatter them among the heathen (vv. 14-39). When this had been done, then, as is still further proclaimed with a prophetic look into the distant future, would they feel remorse, acknowledge their sin to the Lord, and be once more received into favour by Him, the eternally faithful covenant God (Leviticus 26:40-45).
(Note: When modern critics, who are carried away by naturalism, maintain that Moses was not the author of these exhortations and warnings, because of their prophetic contents, and assign them to the times of the kings, the end of the eighth, or beginning of the seventh century (see Ewald , Gesch. i. 156), they have not considered, in their antipathy to any supernatural revelations from God in the Old Testament, that even apart from any higher illumination, the fundamental idea of these promises and threats must have presented itself to the mind of the lawgiver Moses. It required but a very little knowledge of the nature of the human heart, and a clear insight into the spiritual and ethical character of the law, to enable him to foresee that the earthly-minded, unholy nation would not fulfil the solemn demand of the law that their whole life should be sanctified to the Lord God, that they would transgress in many ways, and rebel against God and His holy laws, and therefore that in any case times of fidelity and the corresponding blessing would alternate with times of unfaithfulness and the corresponding curse, but that, for all that, at the end the grace of God would obtain the victory over the severely punished and deeply humbled nation, and bring the work of salvation to a glorious close. It is true, the concrete character of this chapter cannot be fully explained in this way, but it furnishes the clue to the psychological interpretation of the conception of this prophetic discourse, and shows us the subjective points of contact for the divine revelation which Moses has announced to us here. For, as Auberlen observes, “there is a marvellous and grand display of the greatness of God in the fact, that He holds out before the people, whom He has just delivered from the hands of the heathen and gathered round Himself, the prospect of being scattered again among the heathen, and that, even before the land is taken by the Israelites, He predicts its return to desolation. These words could only be spoken by One who has the future really before His mind, who sees through the whole depth of sin, and who can destroy His own work, and yet attain His end. But so much the more adorable and marvellous is the grace, which nevertheless begins its work among such sinners, and is certain of victory notwithstanding all retarding and opposing difficulties.” The peculiar character of this revelation, which must deeply have affected Moses, will explain the peculiarities observable in the style, viz., the heaping up of unusual words and modes of expression, several of which never occur again in the Old Testament, whilst others are only used by the prophets who followed the Pentateuch in their style.)
The blessings and curse of the law were impressed upon the hearts of the people in a still more comprehensive manner at the close of the whole law (Deut 28-30), and on the threshold of the promised land.
Leviticus 26:1 and Leviticus 26:2 form the introduction; and the essence of the whole law, the observance of which will bring a rich blessing, and the transgression of it severe judgments, is summed up in two leading commandments, and placed at the head of the blessing and curse which were to be proclaimed. Ye shall not make to you elilim , nugatory gods, and set up carved images and standing images for worship, but worship Jehovah your God with the observance of His Sabbaths, and fear before His sanctuary. The prohibition of elilim , according to Leviticus 19:4, calls to mind the fundamental law of the decalogue (Exodus 20:3-4, cf. Leviticus 21:23; Exodus 23:24-25). To pesel (cf. Exodus 20:4) and mazzebah (cf. Exodus 23:24), which were not to be set up, there is added the command not to put משׂכּית אבן , “figure-stones,” in the land, to worship over (by) them. The “figure-stone” is a stone formed into a figure, and idol of stone, not merely a stone with an inscription or with hieroglyphical figures; it is synonymous with משׂכּית in Numbers 33:52, and consequently we are to understand by pesel the wooden idol as in Isaiah 44:15, etc. The construction of השׁתּחוה with על may be explained on the ground that the worshipper of a stone image placed upon the ground rises above it (for על in this sense, see Genesis 18:2). - In Leviticus 26:3 the true way to serve God is urged upon the Israelites once more, in words copied verbally from Leviticus 19:30.
The Blessing of Fidelity to the Law. - Leviticus 26:3-5. If the Israelites walked in the commandments of the Lord (for the expression see Leviticus 18:3.), the Lord would give fruitfulness to their land, that they should have bread to the full. “ I will give you rain-showers in season .” The allusion here is to the showers which fall at the two rainy seasons, and upon which the fruitfulness of Palestine depends, viz., the early and latter rain (Deuteronomy 11:14). The former of these occurs after the autumnal equinox, at the time of the winter-sowing of wheat and barley, in the latter half of October or beginning of November. It generally falls in heavy showers in November and December, and then after that only at long intervals, and not so heavily. The latter, or so-called latter rain, fall sin March before the beginning of the harvest of the winter crops, at the time of sowing the summer seed, and lasts only a few days, in some years only a few hours (see Robinson , Pal. ii. pp. 97ff.). - On Leviticus 26:5, Leviticus 26:6, see Leviticus 25:18-19.
The Lord would give peace in the land, and cause the beasts of prey which endanger life to vanish out of the land, and suffer no war to come over it, but would put to flight before the Israelites the enemies who attacked them, and cause them to fall into their sword. שׁכב , to lie without being frightened up by any one, is a figure used to denote the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of life, and taken from the resting of a flock in good pasture-ground (Isaiah 14:30) exposed to no attacks from either wild beasts or men. מחריד is generally applied to the frightening of men by a hostile attack (Micah 4:4; Jeremiah 30:10; Ezekiel 39:26; Job 11:19); but it is also applied to the frightening of flocks and animals (Isaiah 17:2; Deuteronomy 28:26; Jeremiah 7:33, etc.). רעה חיּה : an evil animal, for a beast of prey, as in Genesis 37:20. “ Sword ,” as the principal weapon applied, is used for war. The pursuing of the enemy relates to neighbouring tribes, who would make war upon the Israelites. לחרב נפל does not mean to be felled by the sword ( Knobel ), but to fall into the sword. The words, “five of you shall put a hundred to flight, and a hundred ten thousand,” are a proverbial expression for the most victorious superiority of Israel over their enemies. It is repeated in the opposite sense and in an intensified form in Deuteronomy 32:30 and Isaiah 30:17.
Moreover the Lord would bestow His covenant blessing upon them without intermission. אל פּנה signifies a sympathizing and gracious regard (Psalms 25:16; Psalms 69:17). The multiplication and fruitfulness of the nation were a constant fulfilment of the covenant promise (Genesis 17:4-6) and an establishment of the covenant (Genesis 17:7); not merely the preservation of it, but the continual realization of the covenant grace, by which the covenant itself was carried on further and further towards its completion. This was the real purpose of the blessing, to which all earthly good, as the pledge of the constant abode of God in the midst of His people, simply served as the foundation.
Notwithstanding their numerous increase, they would suffer no want of food. “Ye shall eat that which has become old, and bring out old for new.” Multiplicabo vos et multiplicabo simul annonam vestram, adeo ut illam prae multitudine et copia absumere non possitis, sed illam diutissime servare adeoque abjicere cogamini, novarum frugum suavitate et copia superveniente ( C. a Lap .). הוציא vetustum triticum ex horreo et vinum ex cella promere ( Calvin ).
“I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not despise you.” משׁכּן , applied to the dwelling of God among His people in the sanctuary, involves the idea of satisfied repose.
God's walking in the midst of Israel does not refer to His accompanying and leading the people on their journeyings, but denotes the walking of God in the midst of His people in Canaan itself, whereby He would continually manifest Himself to the nation as its God and make them a people of possession, bringing them into closer and closer fellowship with Himself, and giving them all the saving blessings of His covenant of grace.
For He was their God, who had brought them out of the land of the Egyptians, that they might no longer be servants to them, and had broken the bands of their yokes and made them go upright. על מטת , lit., the poles of the yoke (cf. Ezekiel 34:27), i.e., the poles which are laid upon the necks of beasts of burden (Jeremiah 27:2) as a yoke, to bend their necks and harness them for work. It was with the burden of such a yoke that Egypt had pressed down the Israelites, so that they could no longer walk upright, till God by breaking the yoke helped them to walk upright again. As the yoke is a figurative description of severe oppression, so going upright is a figurative description of emancipation from bondage. קוממיּוּת , lit., a substantive, an upright position; here it is an adverb (cf. Ges. §100, 2).
The Curse for Contempt of the Law. - The following judgments are threatened, not for single breaches of the law, but for contempt of all the laws, amounting to inward contempt of the divine commandments and a breach of the covenant (Leviticus 26:14, Leviticus 26:15), - for presumptuous and obstinate rebellion, therefore, against God and His commandments. For this, severe judgments are announced, which were to be carried to their uttermost in a fourfold series, if the hardening were obstinately continued. If Israel acted in opposition to the Lord in the manner stated, He would act towards them as follows (Leviticus 26:16, Leviticus 26:17): He would appoint over them בּחלה terror, - a general notion, which is afterwards particularized as consisting of diseases, sowing without enjoying the fruit, defeat in war, and flight before their enemies. Two kinds of disease are mentioned by which life is destroyed: consumption and burning, i.e., burning fever, πυρετός , febris , which cause the eyes (the light of this life) to disappear, and the soul (the life itself) to pine away; whereas in Exodus 23:25; Exodus 15:26, preservation from diseases is promised for obedience to the law. Of these diseases, consumption is at present very rare in Palestine and Syria, though it occurs in more elevated regions; but burning fever is one of the standing diseases. To these there would be added the invasion of the land by enemies, so that they would labour in vain and sow their seed to no purpose, for their enemies would consume the produce, as actually was the case (e.g., Judges 6:3-4).
Yea, the Lord would turn His face against them, so that they would be beaten by their enemies, and be so thoroughly humbled in consequence, that they would flee when no man pursued (cf. Leviticus 26:36).
But if these punishments did not answer their purpose, and bring Israel back to fidelity to its God, the Lord would punish the disobedient nation still more severely, and chasten the rebellious for their sin, not simply only, but sevenfold. This He would do, so long as Israel persevered in obstinate resistance, and to this end He would multiply His judgments by degrees. This graduated advance of the judgments of God is so depicted in the following passage, that four times in succession new and multiplied punishments are announced: (1) utter barrenness in their land, - that is to say, one heavier punishment (Leviticus 26:18-20); (2) the extermination of their cattle by beasts of prey, and childlessness, - two punishments (Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:22); (3) war, plague, and famine, - three punishments (Leviticus 26:23-26); (4) the destruction of all idolatrous abominations, the overthrow of their towns and holy places, the devastation of the land, and the dispersion of the people among the heathen-four punishments which would bring the Israelites to the verge of destruction (Leviticus 26:27-33). In this way would the Lord punish the stiffneckedness of His people. - These divine threats embrace the whole of Israel's future. But the series of judgments mentioned is not to be understood historically, as a prediction of the temporal succession of the different punishments, but as an ideal account of the judgments of God, unfolding themselves with inward necessity in a manner answering to the progressive development of the sin. As the nation would not resist the Lord continually, but times of disobedience and apostasy would alternate with times of obedience and faithfulness, so the judgments of God would alternate with His blessings; and as the opposition would not increase in uniform progress, sometimes becoming weaker and then at other times gaining greater force again, so the punishments would not multiply continuously, but correspond in every case to the amount of the sin, and only burst in upon the incorrigible race in all the intensity foretold, when ungodliness gained the upper hand.
First stage of the aggravated judgments. - If they did not hearken אלּה עד , “ up to these ” (the punishments named in Leviticus 26:16, Leviticus 26:17), that is to say, if they persisted in their disobedience even when the judgments reached to this height, God would add a sevenfold chastisement on account of their sins, would punish them seven times more severely, and break down their strong pride by fearful drought. Seven, as the number of perfection in the works of God, denotes the strengthening of the chastisement, even to the height of its full measure (cf. Proverbs 24:16). עז גּאון , lit., the eminence or pride of strength, includes everything upon which a nation rests its might; then the pride and haughtiness which rely upon earthly might and its auxiliaries (Ezekiel 30:6, Ezekiel 30:18; Ezekiel 33:28); here it signifies the pride of a nation, puffed up by the fruitfulness and rich produce of its land. God would make their heaven (the sky of their land) like iron and their earth like brass, i.e., as hard and dry as metal, so that not a drop of rain and dew would fall from heaven to moisten the earth, and not a plant could grow out of the earth (cf. Deuteronomy 28:23); and when the land was cultivated, the people would exhaust their strength for nought. תּמם , consumi .
The second stage. - But if the people's resistance amounted to a hostile rebellion against God, He would smite them sevenfold for their sin by sending beasts of prey and childlessness. By beasts of prey He would destroy their cattle, and by barrenness He would make the nation so small that the ways would be deserted, that high roads would cease because there would be no traveller upon them on account of the depopulation of the land (Isaiah 33:8; Zephaniah 3:6), and the few inhabitants who still remained would be afraid to venture because of the wild beasts (Ezekiel 14:15). עם קרי הלך (“to go a meeting with a person,” i.e., to meet a person in a hostile manner, to fight against him) only occurs here in Leviticus 26:21 and Leviticus 26:23, and is strengthened in Leviticus 26:24, Leviticus 26:27, Leviticus 26:28, Leviticus 26:40, Leviticus 26:41 into עם בּקרי הלך , to engage in a hostile encounter with a person. שׁבע מכּה , a sevenfold blow. “ According to your sins, ” i.e., answering to them sevenfold. In Leviticus 26:22 the first clause corresponds to the third, and the second to the fourth, so that Nos. 3 and 4 contain the effects of Nos. 1 and 2.
The third stage. - But if they would not be chastened by these punishments, and still rose up in hostility to the Lord, He would also engage in a hostile encounter with them, and punish them sevenfold with war, plague, and hunger.
He would bring over them “the sword avenging (i.e., executing) the covenant vengeance.” The “ covenant vengeance ” was punishment inflicted for a breach of the covenant, the severity of which corresponded to the greatness of the covenant blessings forfeited by a faithless apostasy. If they retreated to their towns (fortified places) from the sword of the enemy, the Lord would send a plague over them there, and give those who were spared by the plague into the power of the foe. He would also “break in pieces the staff of bread,” and compel them by the force of famine to submit to the foe. The means of sustenance should become so scarce, that ten women could bake their bread in a single oven, whereas in ordinary times every woman would require an oven for herself; and they would have to eat the bread which they brought home by weight, i.e., not as much as every one pleased, but in rations weighed out so scantily, that those who ate would not be satisfied, and would only be able to sustain their life in the most miserable way. Calamities such as these burst upon Israel and Judah more than once when their fortified towns were besieged, particularly in the later times of the kings, e.g., upon Samaria in the reign of Joram (2 Kings 6:25.), and upon Jerusalem through the invasions of the Chaldeans (cf. Isaiah 3:1; Jeremiah 14:18; Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:12).
Fourth and severest stage. - If they should still persist in their opposition, God would chastise them with wrathful meeting, yea, punish them so severely in His wrath, that they would be compelled to eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, i.e., to slay their own children and eat them in the extremity of their hunger, - a fact which literally occurred in Samaria in the period of the Syrians (2 Kings 6:28-29), and in Jerusalem in that of the Chaldeans (Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:10), and in the Roman war of extermination under Titus ( Josephus bell. jud. v. 10, 3) in the most appalling manner. Eating the flesh of their own children is mentioned first, as indicating the extremity of the misery and wretchedness in which the people would perish; and after this, the judgment, by which the nation would be brought to this extremity, is more minutely described in its four principal features: viz., (1) the destruction of all idolatrous abominations (Leviticus 26:30); (2) the overthrow of the towns and sanctuaries (Leviticus 26:31); (3) the devastation of the land, to the amazement of the enemies who dwelt therein (Leviticus 26:32); and (4) the dispersion of the people among the heathen (Leviticus 26:33). The “high places” are altars erected upon heights and mountains in the land, upon which sacrifices were offered both to Jehovah in an unlawful way and also to heathen deities. חמּנים , sun-pillars, are idols of the Canaanitish nature-worship, either simple pillars dedicated to Baal, or idolatrous statues of the sun-god (cf. Movers Phönizier i. pp. 343ff.). “ And I give your carcases upon the carcases of your idols .” גּלּלים , lit., clods, from גּלל to roll, a contemptuous expression for idols. With the idols the idolaters also were to perish, and defile with their corpses the images, which had also become corpses as it were, through their overthrow and destruction. For the further execution of this threat, see Ezekiel 6:4. This will be your lot, for “My soul rejects you.” By virtue of the inward character of His holy nature, Jehovah must abhor and reject the sinner.
Their towns and their sanctuaries He would destroy, because He took no pleasure in their sacrificial worship. מקדּשׁים are the holy things of the worship of Jehovah, the tabernacle and temple, with their altars and the rest of their holy furniture, as in Ps. 68:36; Psalms 74:7. ניחח ריח (Leviticus 1:9) is the odour of the sacrifice; and ריח , to smell, an anthropomorphic designation of divine satisfaction (cf. Amos 5:21; Isaiah 11:3).
The land was to become a wilderness, so that even the enemies who dwelt therein would be terrified in consequence (cf. Jeremiah 18:16; Jeremiah 19:8); and the Israelites would be scattered among the heathen, because Jehovah would draw out His sword behind them, i.e., drive them away with a drawn sword, and scatter them to all the winds of heaven (cf. Ezekiel 5:2, Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 12:14).
Object of the Divine Judgments in Relation to the Land and Nation of Israel. - Leviticus 26:34 and Leviticus 26:35. The land would then enjoy and keep its Sabbaths, so long as it was desolate, and Israel was in the land of its foes. השּׁמּה ימי כּל , during the whole period of its devastation. השּׁמּה inf. Hophal with the suffix, in which the mappik is wanting, as in Exodus 2:3 (cf. Ewald , §131e). רצה to have satisfaction: with בּ and an accusative it signifies to take delight, take pleasure, in anything, e.g., in rest after the day's work is done (Job 14:6); here also to enjoy rest (not “to pay its debt:” Ges. , Kn.). The keeping of the Sabbath was not a performance binding upon the land, nor had the land been in fault because the Sabbath was not kept. As the earth groans under the pressure of the sin of men, so does it rejoice in deliverance from this pressure, and participation in the blessed rest of the whole creation. וגו אשׁר את תּשׁבּת : the land “ will rest (keep) what it has not rested on your Sabbaths and whilst you dwelt in it; ” i.e., it will make up the rest which you did not give it on your Sabbaths (daily and yearly). It is evident from this, that the keeping of the Sabbaths and sabbatical years was suspended when the apostasy of the nation increased, - a result which could be clearly foreseen in consequence of the inward dislike of a sinner to the commandments of the holy God, and which is described in 2 Chronicles 26:21 as having actually occurred.
So far as the nation was concerned, those who were left when the kingdom was overthrown would find no rest in the land of their enemies, but would perish among the heathen for their own and their fathers' iniquities, till they confessed their sins and bent their uncircumcised hearts under the righteousness of the divine punishments. בּכם הנּשׁארים (nominative abs.): “as for those who are left in (as in Leviticus 5:9), i.e., of, you,” who have not perished in the destruction of the kingdom and dispersion of the people, God will bring despair into their heart in the lands of your enemies, that the sound (“voice”) of a moving leaf will hunt them to flee as before the sword, so that they will fall in their anxious flight, and stumble one over another, though no one is pursuing. The ἁπ. λεγ. מרך from מרך , related to מרח and מרק to rub, rub to pieces, signifies that inward anguish, fear, and despair, which rend the heart and destroy the life, δειλία , pavor (lxx, Vulg.), what is described in Deuteronomy 28:65 in even stronger terms as “a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.” There should not be to them תּקוּמה , standi et resistendi facultas ( Rosenmüller ), standing before the enemy; but they should perish among the nations. “The land of their enemies will eat them up,” sc., by their falling under the pressure of the circumstances in which they were placed (cf. Numbers 13:32; Ezekiel 36:13).
But those who still remained under this oppression would pine away in their iniquities ( ימּקּוּ , lit., to rot, moulder away), and “also in the iniquities of their fathers with them.” אתּם refers to עונות , “which are with them,” which they carry with them and must atone for (see at Exodus 20:5),
In this state of pining away under their enemies, they would confess to themselves their own and their fathers' sins, i.e., would make the discovery that their sufferings were a punishment from God for their sins, and acknowledge that they were suffering what they had deserved, through their unfaithfulness to their God and rebellion against Him, for which He had been obliged to set Himself in hostility to them, and bring them into the land of their enemies; or rather their uncircumcised hearts would then humble themselves, and they would look with satisfaction upon this fruit of their sin. The construction is the following: וזכרתּי (Leviticus 26:42) corresponds to התודּוּ (Leviticus 26:40) as the apodosis; so that, according to the more strictly logical connection, which is customary in our language, we may unite Leviticus 26:40, Leviticus 26:41 in one period with Leviticus 26:42. “If they shall confess their iniquity...or rather their uncircumcised heart shall humble itself...I will remember My covenant.” With בּמעלם a parenthetical clause is introduced into the main sentence explanatory of the iniquity, and reaches as far as “into the land of their enemies.” With יכּנע או־אז , “or if, etc.,” the main sentence is resumed. או , “or rather” (as in 1 Samuel 29:3), bringing out the humiliation of the heart as the most important result to which the confession of sin ought to deepen itself. The heart is called “uncircumcised” as being unsanctified, and not susceptible to the manifestations of divine grace. את־עונם ירצוּ וץ̓הןךח́ףןץףי פב̀ע ב̓לבספי́בע בץ̓פש͂ם (lxx), they will take pleasure, rejoice in their misdeeds, i.e., in the consequences and results of them-that their misdeed have so deeply humbled them, and brought them to the knowledge of the corruption into which they have fallen: a bold and, so to speak, paradoxical expression for their complete change of heart, which we may render thus: “they will enjoy their misdeeds,” as רצה may be rendered in the same way in Leviticus 26:43 also.
(Note: Luther has translated עון in this sense, “punishment of iniquity,” and observes in the marginal notes, - “(Pleasure), i.e., just as they had pleasure in their sins and felt disgust at My laws, so they would now take pleasure in their punishment and say, 'We have just what we deserve. This is what we have to thank our cursed sin for. It is just, O God, quite just.' And these are thoughts and words of earnest repentance, hating itself from the bottom of the heart, and crying out, Shame upon me, what have I done? This pleases God, so that He becomes gracious once more.”)
But where punishment bears such fruit, God looks upon the sinner with favour again. When Israel had gone so far, He would remember His covenant with the fathers (“My covenant with Jacob,” יעקב בּריתי : the suffix is attached to the governing noun, as in Leviticus 6:3, because the noun governed, being a proper name, could not take the suffix), and remember the land (including its inhabitants), which, as is repeated again in Leviticus 26:43, would be left by them (become desolate) and enjoy its Sabbaths whilst it was waste (depopulated) from (i.e., away from, without) them; and they would enjoy their iniquity, because they had despised the judgments of the Lord, and their soul had rejected His statues.
“And yet, even with regard to this, when they shall be in the land of their enemies, have I not despised them.” That is to say, if it shall have come even so far as that they are in the land of their enemies (the words גּם־זאת stand first in an absolute sense, and are strengthened or intensified by ואף and more fully explained by בּהיותם וגו ), I have not rejected them, to destroy them and break My covenant with them. For I am Jehovah their God, who, as the absolutely existing and unchangeably faithful One, keeps His promises and does not repent of His calling (Romans 11:29).
He would therefore remember the covenant with the forefathers, whom He had brought out of Egypt before the eyes of the nations, to be a God to them; and He would renew the covenant with the fathers to them (the descendants), to gather them again out of the heathen, and adopt them again as His nation (cf. Deuteronomy 30:3-5). In this way the judgment would eventually turn to a blessing, if they would bend in true repentance under the mighty hand of their God.
Leviticus 26:46 contains the close of the entire book, or rather of the whole of the covenant legislation from Ex 25 onwards, although the expression “in Mount Sinai” points back primarily to Leviticus 25:1.