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 » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 26
Commentary on Leviticus 26 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 26
In this chapter, after a repetition of some laws against idolatry, and concerning keeping sabbaths, and reverencing the sanctuary of God, Leviticus 26:1; in order to encourage the Israelites to keep the various statutes and commandments in this book, and in the preceding, many promises are made of plenty, and peace, and safety from enemies, and of the presence of God with them, Leviticus 26:3; and on the contrary, to such as should despise and break his commandments, the most grievous things are threatened, as diseases of body, destruction by their enemies, barrenness and unfruitfulness of land, the sore judgments of wild beasts, famine, sword, and pestilence, Leviticus 26:14; and yet after all, when they should confess their sins, and were humbled for them, the Lord promises to remember the covenant he made with their ancestors, and would deal kindly with them, and not cast them away, and utterly destroy them, Leviticus 26:40.
Ye shall have no idols, or graven image,.... Some of the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, think this law against idolatry is mentioned on account of the Israelite sold to a stranger, spoken of in the latter part of the preceding chapter, lest he should be drawn into idolatry; See Gill on Leviticus 25:48; but this is rather mentioned as being a principal law, respecting the honour and glory of God, and the foundation of all religion and godliness, and the breach of it a capital crime, and which led on to other sins, and exposed to the displeasure and resentment of God, and brought on all the calamities after mentioned in this chapter. "Idols" here signify "things of nought", as an idol is nothing in the world, 1 Corinthians 8:4; and a "graven image", any likeness of man or beast cut out of wood, or stone; and may include any molten image of gold, silver, or brass, and then engraven with a tool, as the golden calf was, Exodus 32:4,
neither rear you up a standing image; or pillarF7מצבה στηλην Sept. "titulos", V. L. "titulum", Samar. Ar. "pillar", Ainsworth. ; an heap of rude stones, set up pillar, not bearing the likeness of any creature; otherwise graven and molten images were standing ones, but these were statues without any figure; such as the Arabians used to worship; the god Mars, worshipped in Arabia Petraea, was no other than a black stone four square, unformed, four feet high, and two broad, and was placed on a basis of goldF8"Suidas in voce" θευς αρης Vid. Arnob. adv. Gentes, l. 6. p. 232. :
neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto; any "figured stone", as the Targum and Aben Ezra interpret it, which had figures and representations of creatures cut in it, in order to bow down unto and worship: the word has the signification of covering, as they cover a floor with a pavement of stones:
for I am the Lord your God; who is the alone object of religious worship and adoration.
Ye shall keep my sabbaths,.... The seventh day sabbaths, and the seventh year sabbaths; especially the former are meant, in which religious worship was given to the one true and living God, and therefore the observance of them is strictly enjoined; and hence this law follows closely upon the former, though Aben Ezra restrains it to the sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, as he applies the sanctuary in the following clause to the jubilee year, which is said to be holy, Leviticus 26:12; supposing that this refers unto and stands in strict connection with the laws of the preceding chapter, concerning the sabbatical, Leviticus 25:1, and jubilee years, Leviticus 25:8,
and reverence my sanctuary; by attending in it, and on the worship in it, with reverence and godly fear, see Leviticus 19:30,
I am the Lord; who had a right to such religious worship, and to command such things, in which he ought to be obeyed, his sabbaths kept, and sanctuary reverenced.
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them. Both moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which had been delivered unto them, and now completely recorded in this and the preceding book; for what follow in the two next are chiefly repetitions of what are contained in these.
Then I will give you rain in due season,.... The former and latter rain, in the two seasons of the year in which rain usually fell, and the Scriptures frequently speak of; and when the land of Israel, which required rain, not being watered with a river, as Egypt, was blessed with it; the one was at the sowing of their seed, or a little after it, and the other a little before harvest; and when it was had in those times it was had in due season, and hence the word is in the plural number, "your rains"F9גשמיכם "pluvias vestras", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. ; unless showers of rain are meant: to encourage to keep the commands of God, promises of many outward good things are made; and this is the first, being a principal blessing, and which only God, and not all the vanities of the Gentiles, could give:
and the land shall yield her increase; which is greatly owing to seasonable showers of rain, by which means the earth brings forth bread to the eater and seed to the sower, corn and grass for man and beast:
and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; vines, olives, pomegranates, figs, &c. are meant, with which the land of Israel abounded, Deuteronomy 8:8.
And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time,.... Signifying that there should be such plentiful harvests of barley and wheat, the first of which began in March, as would employ them in threshing them out unto the time of vintage, which may be supposed to, be in the month of July; for on the twenty ninth of Sivan, which was about the middle of June, was the time of the first ripe grapes, as appears; see Gill on Numbers 13:20; and that they should have such quantities of grapes on their vines, as would employ them in gathering and pressing them until seedtime, which was usually in October, see Amos 9:13,
and ye shall eat your bread to the full; which is put for all provisions; and the meaning is, they should have plenty of food, eat full meals, or however, what they ate, whether little or much, should be satisfying and refreshing to them, having it with a divine blessing:
and dwell in your land safely; would have no need to go out of it into other lands for the sake of food, and would be in no danger from enemies invading them and carrying off their substance; plenty without safety would not be so great a blessing as with it, since, though they had it, they might be deprived of it, wherefore security from enemies is promised.
And I will give peace in the land,.... Among yourselves, as Aben Ezra; that as safety from enemies is promised before, here it is assured they should be free from insurrections and from riots, broils, contentions, and civil wars among themselves:
and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; that is, lie down upon their beds, and sleep quietly and comfortably, and not be in any fear of thieves and robbers breaking in upon them, Psalm 3:5,
and I will rid evil beasts out of the land: out of the land of Israel, as the Targum of Jonathan, not out of the world, such as lions, bears, wolves, &c. which were sometimes troublesome and mischievous in the land:
neither shall the sword go through your land; either the sword of the enemy, which if it entered should not be suffered to proceed, much less to pervade the land and destroy the inhabitants of it: so the Targum of Jonathan,"they that draw the sword shall not pass through your land,'or the sword of the Lord, that is, the pestilence, 1 Chronicles 21:12; as Ainsworth suggests; though the JewsF11T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 22. 1. 2. commonly understand it of the sword of peace, as they call it, though that is of one that is not an enemy, but passes through one country to destroy another; which yet is distressing to the country he passes through, as in the case of Pharaoh Necho, whom Josiah went out to meet, 2 Chronicles 35:20; though, by what follows, it seems rather to be the first of these.
And ye shall chase your enemies,.... Who being overcome in battle, and put to the flight, should be pursued:
and they shall fall before you by the sword; not by the sword of one another, as the Midianites did, Judges 7:21, so Jarchi; but rather by the sword of the Israelites, for oftentimes multitudes of the enemy are killed in a pursuit.
And five of you shall chase an hundred,.... One man chase twenty:
and an hundred of you put ten thousand to flight; which, had it been in proportion to the other number, should have been two thousand, as in Deuteronomy 32:30; where there is a proportion observed; and Abendana observes, there are some that give the sense of it thus, an hundred of you, an hundred times five, that is, five hundred, and so it comes up to a right computation; but here it seems to be a certain number for an uncertain, and only a proverbial expression, signifying that a very few, under the blessing of divine Providence, should get the advantage over a large number, and oblige them to retire, and pursue them closely: instances we have of large bodies of the enemy being defeated by a small number of Israelites, Judges 7:21; and even many by a single person or two, 1 Samuel 14:13,
and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword; See Gill on Leviticus 26:7.
For I will have respect unto you,.... Look at them with delight and pleasure, and with a careful eye on them, watch over them to do them good, and protect them from all evil; or turn himself to them from all others, having a particular regard for them and special care of them:
and make you fruitful and multiply you; increase their number, as he did in Egypt, even amidst all their afflictions; and much more might they expect this blessing in the land of Canaan, when settled there, which is the original blessing of mankind, see Genesis 1:28,
and establish my covenant with you; not the new covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31; as Jarchi and other Jewish writersF12Torat Cohenim, apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 196. 3. suggest; for that was not to take place but in future time, under the Gospel dispensation; but rather the covenant made with them at Sinai, though perhaps it chiefly respects the covenant made with their ancestors concerning multiplication of their seed as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea, Genesis 15:5, since it follows upon the promise of an increase of them.
And ye shall eat old store,.... What is very old, corn of three years old, as Jarchi and KimchiF13Sepher Shorash. rad. ישן. interpret it; such plenty should they have that it would be so long consuming:
and bring forth the old because of the new; out of their barns and granaries, to make room for the new, which they should have great quantities of, and scarce know where to bestow them; and therefore should empty their treasures and garners of the old, and fill them with new; or they should bring them forth out of their barns into their houses, to make use of themselves, or into their markets to expose to sale, being under no temptation to withhold against a time of scarcity in order to make more of it, see Proverbs 11:26; now all these temporal blessings promised may be emblems of spiritual things, and might be so understood by such who were spiritually enlightened; as of the rain of divine grace, and the blessings of it, and of the doctrines of the Gospel, sometimes compared thereunto, Deuteronomy 32:2; and of great fruitfulness in grace and good works, and of internal peace in the minds of good men, and of their safety and security from spiritual enemies; of fulness of spiritual provisions, even of things new and old, and which are laid up for them, Song of Solomon 7:13; thus promises of a spiritual nature more manifestly follow.
And I will set my tabernacle amongst you,.... Which God had directed them to make, and they had made, and also erected; but here he promises to fix and establish it among them, that so it might continue as a place for the public worship of him, and where he would take up his residence, and grant them his presence; so the Targum of Jonathan,"I will put the Shechinah of my glory among you:"
and my soul shall not abhor you; though in themselves, and because of their sins, loathsome and abominable; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,"my Word shall not abhor you;'and the whole may have respect to Christ, the Word made flesh, and tabernacling among them; the tabernacle being a type and emblem of the human nature of Christ, in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and is the true tabernacle which God pitched and not man, John 1:14.
And I will walk among you,.... As they journeyed from place to place, he walked among them, in the tabernacle built for him, see 2 Samuel 7:6; it may be expressive of the familiarity and communion which the Lord grants to his people, in and through Christ:
and will be your God; to provide for them, and supply them with all the blessings of his goodness, both in providence and grace; and to protect and defend them against all their enemies, temporal and spiritual:
and ye shall be my people; appear to be a special and peculiar people of his, chosen, redeemed, and sanctified by him, and to whom he bore a special love, and took special care of; see 2 Corinthians 6:16; the Targum of Jonathan of the whole is,"I will make the glory of my Shechinah dwell among you, and my Word shall be unto you for God the Redeemer, and ye shall be to my name for a people of Holy Ones.'
I am the Lord your Lord, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt,.... Who, having done that, was able to fulfil the above promises; and which may be considered as an earnest and pledge of them, as well as be a motive to the Israelites, and an obligation upon them to obey the commandments of God, and walk in his statutes:
that ye should not be their bondmen; this was the end of their being brought out of Egypt, that they might be no longer in a state of bondage to the Egyptians, nor to any other, but to serve the Lord their God, by whom they were delivered; as those who are redeemed by Christ from worse than Egyptian bondage, from sin, Satan, and the law, are redeemed, that they might not be the servants of any, but be a peculiar people, zealous of good works to serve the Lord Christ:
and I have broken the bands of your yoke; which fastened it on their shoulders, that is, set them at full liberty, from the yoke of all their enemies, particularly the Egyptians, who made their lives bitter in hard bondage, making the yoke of it heavy upon them; as Christ has broken the yoke of spiritual enemies from off the shoulders and necks of his people, Isaiah 10:27,
and made you go upright; who before stooped under the yoke, as well as were of dejected countenances, but now were made to walk in an erect stature, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra, or in liberty, as Onkelos; see Galatians 5:1; and with heads lift up and countenances cheerful.
But if ye will not hearken unto me,.... To his commandments, as the rule of their duty, and to his promises, as an encouragement to it, or to his prophets and ministers, explaining and enforcing his law, and exhorting to a cheerful obedience to it; so the Targum of Jonathan,"if ye will not hearken to the doctrine of them that teach my laws;'which was the sin of the Jews in later times, for which captivity and other calamities befell them, Jeremiah 7:25,
and will not do all these commandments; which he had delivered to them by Moses, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial, recorded in this book and in the preceding; even all of them were to be respected, attended to, and performed, for the law curses everyone that does not do all things it requires, Galatians 3:10.
And if ye shall despise my statutes,.... Which is an aggravated sin; to be negligent hearers of the commands of God is bad, not to be doers of them worse, but to treat them with contempt is worse still:
or if your soul abhor my judgments: which is worst of all, to despise them as if not wisely or righteously made is a dreadful reflection upon the Maker of them; but to abhor them as bad things, not fit to be regarded, but to be had in the utmost detestation, is shocking impiety:
so that ye will not do all my commandments; nor any of them, but are set against them, and determined and resolved on the contrary:
but that ye break my covenant; the covenant made with them at Sinai, when they promised, on their part, that they would hearken and be obedient, Exodus 24:7.
I also will do this unto you,.... Henceforward follow threatenings of dreadful evils to the transgressors and despisers of the commandments of God, which thus begin:
I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart; some, as Aben Ezra observes, take these to design what may affect the seed sown and the increase of it, such as blasting and mildew, because it follows: "ye shall sow in vain"; but no doubt diseases of the body are intended; for what we translate "terror" does not signify terror of mind, but some sudden, hasty, terrible distemper; perhaps the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan; some have thought of the falling sickness, as Bishop Patrick, because the word has the signification of haste and precipitance; and the second is a disease well known among us, and so called from its wasting and consuming nature; Jarchi interprets it of a disease which swells the flesh, either fills it with tumours and pustules, the Septuagint calls it the itch; or with wind or water, which has led some to think of the dropsy; and the last of them seems to be rightly rendered a burning ague or fever, though the Septuagint takes it for the jaundice, but that seems not to be so threatening, terrible, and dangerous, as what may be here supposed: now these diseases and all others are by the appointment of God, they come and go by his order, and while they continue have the power over persons, nor can they rid themselves of them at pleasure; and these have such an effect on persons seized by them, as to cause dimness of sight, a hollowness of their eyes, which sink into the head, as well as fill the heart with grief and sorrow; either through present pains and agonies, or in a view of future judgment and wrath to come:
and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it; either eat it up for forage before it is ripe, or, if ripe and gathered in the barn, should come and besiege their cities and plunder their granaries.
And I will set my face against you,.... Exert his power, and stir up his wrath and indignation against them, as enemies of his, to cut them off; see Psalm 34:16; which is the reverse of having respect to them, Leviticus 26:9,
and ye shall be slain before your enemies; as they were sometimes by the Philistines and others:
and they that hate you shall reign over you; as did the Chaldeans and Babylonians; see Psalm 106:41,
and ye shall flee when none pursueth you; of such pusillanimous spirits should they be, and filled with such dread and terror of their enemies, so contrary from what is promised them on their obedience, Leviticus 26:8.
And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me,.... If such corrections by diseases of body, and by giving them up into the hands of their enemies, should be ineffectual to reform them, and bring them to obedience to the statutes and commandments of God, but should continue in their disobedience to him, and rebellion against him:
then I will punish you seven times more for your sins; that is, abundantly more, with sorer punishments, and these more frequently repeated.
And I will break the pride of your power,.... Which the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret of the sanctuary, which they were proud of, trusted in, and boasted of; but was broke or destroyed, first by Nebuchadnezzar, then by the Romans: but it may rather signify their country, the glory of all lands for its fruitfulness, which for their sins should become barren, as follows; or the multitude of their forces, and the strength of their mighty men of war, in which they put their confidence; it may take in everything, civil and ecclesiastical, they prided themselves with, and had their dependence on, thinking themselves safe on account of them, but should be broken to shivers, and be of no service to them:
and I will make your heaven as iron; so that neither dew nor rain shall descend from thence to make the earth fruitful; but, on the contrary, an heat should be reflected, which would parch it, and make it barren:
and your earth as brass; that the seed could not be cast into it, nor anything spring out of it, for the service of man and beast, so that a famine must unavoidably follow.
And your strength shall be spent in vain,.... In endeavouring to till the ground, to plough, or sow, or to dig about the vines or olives, and prune them:
for your land shall not yield its increase; produce corn, and bring forth grass, the one for the use of men, the other for the use of the cattle, and therefore both must starve:
neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits; such as vines, olives, figs, pomegranates, &c. which were very plentiful in the land of Judea, and on which they much lived, and on which their more comfortable subsistence at least depended, see Habakkuk 3:17; all this is the reverse of Leviticus 26:4.
And if ye walk contrary unto me,.... To his mind and will, to his laws, commands, and ordinances, showing no regard unto them by a walk and conversation agreeably to them, but neglecting and breaking them continually; or by chance, as the Targum of Jonathan, not with any intention and design to obey the Lord, and to honour and glorify him, but in a careless and indifferent manner, having no regard to the law of God, only now and then, as it happens, act according to it, but having no concern for the honour and glory of God:
and will not hearken unto me; to his voice in his laws and his precepts, or by his prophets, exhorting them to obedience to them:
I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins; greater and sorer punishments still, and these more frequently repeated, and in proportion to their transgressions of his righteous laws.
I will also send wild beasts among you,.... Either in a literal sense, as lions, bears, wolves, &c. and so is the reverse of what is promised to them on their doing well, Leviticus 26:6; or figuratively, mighty monarchs and cruel oppressors, such as were the kings of Assyria and Babylon, Jeremiah 50:17,
which shall rob you of your children; as the bears, in a literal sense, destroyed the children of them in the times of Elisha, 2 Kings 2:24,
and destroy your cattle; the tame beasts, who often become a prey to the wild ones, as both those of the flock, and of the herd, sheep and oxen, do to lions, wolves, &c.
and make you few in number; or diminish them, their number, by bereaving them of their children, and their wealth and substance, by destroying their cattle:
and your high ways shall be desolate; or ways, the word high not being in the text, and may signify both their public and private ones, which would be all forsaken, none caring to venture to walk in them for fear of beasts of prey.
And if ye will not be reformed by these things,.... Corrected and amended by these punishments, be prevailed upon to return from their evil ways to the Lord, and walk in his commandments, and keep his judgments, and do them:
but will walk contrary unto me; See Gill on Leviticus 26:21.
Then I will also walk contrary unto you,.... Opposing himself unto them as their enemy, fighting against them in his providence, whetting his sword, bending his bow, and causing the arrows of his wrath and vengeance to fall upon them; or behaving towards them in a careless and indifferent manner, not regarding what befell them, showing no peculiar concern for them, or as exercising any particular providence over them; but as if everything came by chance to them, which was the language of their actions, if not of their lips:
and will punish you yet seven times for your sins; add fresh corrections, and these greater than before, and more numerous in proportion to their aggravated transgressions.
And I will bring a sword upon you,.... War upon them by the sword of their enemies; they that use and kill with the sword, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; their neighbours that delighted in war, and bore an implacable, hatred unto them, and gladly embraced every opportunity of shedding their blood, and ravaging their country:
that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant; the covenant made with them at Sinai, which they transgressed, and for which vengeance would be taken on them in this way, God so ordering it in his providence, though the enemy meant it not, Isaiah 10:5,
and when ye are gathered together within your cities; from the fields and villages, fleeing from the enemy invading and destroying, to their fortified towns and cities for safety:
I will send the pestilence among you; which shall destroy those that escaped the sword, and thought themselves safe in a strong city, and even the very soldiers in the garrisons, who were set for the defence of the city:
and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy; so many being taken off by the pestilence, there would not be a sufficient number to defend the place, and therefore obliged to give it up, by which means those that escaped the pestilence would fall into the hands of the enemy.
And when I have broken the staff of your bread,.... Brought a famine, at least a scarcity of provisions upon them, deprived them of bread, the staff of life, by which it is supported; or however made it very scarce among them, so that they had hardly a sufficiency to sustain nature, and perhaps the blessing of nourishment withheld from that; see Isaiah 3:1,
ten women shall bake your bread in one oven; for want of wood, according to Jarchi; or rather through scarcity of bread corn, they should have so little to bake every week, that one oven would be sufficient for ten families, which in a time of plenty each made use of one for themselves; and so Aben Ezra says, it was a custom in Israel for every family to bake in an oven by themselves, which they ate the whole week. Ten is a certain number for an uncertain, and denotes many, as in Zechariah 8:23. Making and baking bread was the work of women in the eastern countries, as we find it was particularly among the PersiansF14Herodot. Polymnia, sive. l. 4. c. 187. , and continues to this day among the Moors and ArabsF15Shaw's Travels, p. 241. Ed. 2. :
and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; there being not enough for everyone to eat what they pleased, but were obliged to a rationed allowance, therefore everyone in the family should have their share delivered to him by weight; see Ezekiel 4:16,
and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied; not having enough to eat to satisfaction; or what they did eat, God would withhold a blessing from it for their nourishment, the reverse of Leviticus 26:5.
And if ye for all this will not hearken unto me,.... To his commands, and to his prophets sent unto them time after time, and all his corrections and chastisements being ineffectual to reform them, and make them obedient to him:
but walk contrary unto me; See Gill on Leviticus 26:21.
Then I will walk contrary to you also in fury,.... As in Leviticus 26:24; with this addition, in fury; being greatly provoked, and highly incensed, that no regard was had to him, neither to his commands, nor to his corrections; and therefore would be determined to stir up his wrath, and pour out the fury of his indignation on them, which must be terrible:
and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins; add new and many more chastisements, and that in hot displeasure, for their sins; and the repetition or doubling of the phrase, "I, even I, will do it", denotes the certainty of it, and that he will do it himself, and his hand should be visible in it; and they should feel the weight of it, and be obliged to own that these were punishments inflicted by him for their sins.
And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons,.... Which was fulfilled at the siege of Samaria, in the times of Joram, 2 Kings 6:29; and at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lamentations 4:10; and though there is no instance of it at that time in the sacred records, the JewsF16Torat Cohanim in Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 197. 1. tells us of one Doeg ben Joseph, who died and left a little one with his mother, who was very fond of him; but at this siege slew him with her own hands, and ate him, with respect to which they suppose Jeremiah makes the lamentation, Lamentations 2:2; and of this also there was an instance at the last siege of Jerusalem, by Titus, when a woman, named Mary, of a considerable family, boiled her son, and ate part of him, and the rest was found in her house when the seditious party broke in upon her, as JosephusF17De Bello. Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4. relates:
and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat; of which, though no instances are given, it is as reasonable to suppose it was done as the former. Some of the Jewish writersF18Torat Cohanim, ib. think, that in this prediction is included, that children should eat their parents, as well as parents their children, as in Ezekiel 5:10.
And I will destroy your high places,.... Which Jarchi interprets of towers and palaces; but Aben Ezra of the place of sacrifices; for on high places, hills and mountains, they used to build altars, and there offer sacrifices, in imitation of the Heathens; See Gill on Ezekiel 6:13,
and cut down your images; called Chammanim, either from Ham, the son of Noah, the first introducer of idolatrous worship after the flood, as some have thought; or from Jupiter Ammon, worshipped in Egypt, from whence the Jews might have these images; or rather from Chammah, the sun, so called from its heat; so Jarchi says, there were a sort of idols placed on the roofs of houses, and because they were set in the sun, they were called by this name; and KimchiF19Sepher Shorash. rad. חמם & חמן. observes they were made of wood, and made by the worshippers of the sun, see 2 Kings 23:11; but Aben Ezra is of opinion that these were temples built for the worship of the sun, which is the most early sort of idolatry that appeared in the world, to which Job may be thought to refer, Job 31:26. Some take these to be the πυραιθεια, or "fire hearths", which StraboF20Geograph. l. 15. p. 504. described as large enclosures, in the midst of which was an altar, where the (Persian) Magi kept their fire that never went out, which was an emblem of the sun they worshipped; and these, he says, were in the temples of Anaitis and Omanus, and where the statue of the latter was in great pomp; which idol seems to have its name from the word in the text; and these are fitly added to the high places, because on such, as HerodotusF21Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 131. says, the Persians used to worship:
and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols; or "dunghill gods"F23גלוליכם "stercoreorum deorum vestrorum", Junius & Trernellius, Piscator, Drusius. ; such as the beetle, the Egyptians worshipped, signifying that they and their idols should be destroyed together:
and my soul shall abhor you; the reverse of Leviticus 26:6; and by comparing it with that, this may signify the removal of the divine Presence from them, as a token of his abhorrence of them; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it.
I will make your cities waste,.... By suffering the enemy to besiege them, enter into them, and plunder them, and destroy the houses in them, and reduce them to the most desolate condition, as Jerusalem, their metropolis, was more than once:
and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation; the temple, so called from the several apartments in it, the court, the holy place, and the most holy; or rather both sanctuaries or temples are intended, the first built by Solomon, and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; the second rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and adorned by Herod, and reduced to ashes by Titus Vespasian: the Jews understand this of their synagogues, which were many both in Jerusalem, and in other parts of their country, but cannot be intended, since it follows:
and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours: of their incense offered on the altar of incense; or the savour of their offerings, as the Targum of Jonathan, of their burnt offerings, and the fat of their other offerings burnt on the altar of burnt offering; signifying, that these would not be acceptable to him, or he smell a savour of rest in them; see Genesis 8:21; now these were only offered in the temple, not in synagogues.
And I will bring the land into desolation,.... The whole country of Judea, cities, towns, villages, fields, vineyards, &c. through the ravage and plunder of the enemy; and they being driven out of it, and carried captive from it, and so the land left untilled, and become barren and unfruitful:
and your enemies which dwell therein; having destroyed them, or cast them out, and sent them into other countries, and took possession of theirs in their room:
shall be astonished at it; at the desolation of the land, that such a fruitful country, a land flowing with milk and honey, should be turned into barrenness, for the wickedness of its inhabitants, and shall be amazed at the judgments of God upon them and that.
And I will scatter you among the Heathen,.... As with a fan, Jeremiah 15:7; so they were at the time of the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities, some were carried to one place, and some to another, some fled to one place, and some to another, and they are at this day scattered among the several nations of the world:
and will draw out a sword after you; draw it out of its scabbard, and with it pursue after them, when fleeing or going whither they should not; as the remainder of the Jews in Judea sought to go to Egypt, contrary to the will of God, Jeremiah 42:16; see Leviticus 26:25,
and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste; for want of men to till the one, and inhabit the other.
Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths,.... The sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, when, according to the law in the preceding chapter, it was to rest from tillage, Leviticus 25:2,
as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; so long it should lie uncultivated, at least in part, there not being a sufficient number left to till it in general, or as it should be; this was the case during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon:
even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths; or complete them, as Aben Ezra, which is a bitter sarcasm upon them for their neglect of observance of the law concerning the sabbatical years; but now the land should have its sabbaths of rest whether they would or not; and it seems as if it was on account of this sin, as well as others, that they were carried captive; and it is remarkable, if what MaimonidesF24Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel, c. 10. sect. 3. says is right, that it was at the going out or end of a sabbatical year, that the first temple was destroyed, and the Jews carried captive, and endured a seventy years' captivity; which some say was because they had neglected seventy sabbatical years; see 2 Chronicles 36:21.
As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest,.... From tillage, neither man nor beast working upon it; for which reason such a space of time was called a sabbath:
because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when you dwelt upon it; they manured and tilled it on the seventh years, as on others, neglecting the command which God had given them; and this they did not once or twice, but many times, while they were dwellers in the land; which seems to confirm pretty much the notion of their having omitted so many years, though that cannot be affirmed with certainty; see Jarchi on the place.
And upon them that are left alive of you,.... In the land of Judea, or rather scattered about among the nations, suggesting that these would be comparatively few:
I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; or "a softness"F25מרך "mollitiem", Montanus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius. ; so that they should be effeminate, pusillanimous, and cowardly, have nothing of a manly spirit and courage in them; but be mean spirited and faint hearted, as the Jews are noted to be at this day, as Bishop Patrick observes; who also adds,"it being scarce ever heard, that a Jew listed himself for a soldier, or engaged in the defence of his country where he lives:"
and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; either the sound of a leaf that falls from the tree, as the Targum of Jonathan, or which the wind beats one against another, as Jarchi, which makes some little noise; even this should terrify them, taking it to be the noise of some enemy near at hand, just ready to fall on them; such poor faint hearted creatures should they be:
and they shall flee as fleeing from the sword; as if there were an army of soldiers with their swords drawn pursuing them:
and they shall fall when none pursueth; fall upon the ground, and into a fit, and drop down as if dead, as if they had been really wounded with a sword and slain, see Proverbs 28:1.
And they shall fall one upon another,.... In their hurry and confusion, everyone making all the haste he can to escape the imaginary danger; or "a man upon his brother"F26איש באחיו "vir in fratrem suum", Vatablus, Drusius, Piscator. ; his friend, as Aben Ezra interprets it, having no regard to relation and friendship, every one endeavouring to save himself. There is another sense which some Jewish writersF1Torat Cohanim apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 197. 2. give of this phrase, and is observed by Jarchi, which is, that everyone shall fall for the iniquities of his brother; for all the Israelites say, they are sureties for one another; but the former sense is best:
as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: as if a sword was drawn and brandished at them, just ready to be thrust in them, filling them with the utmost dread and terror, and yet at the same time none in pursuit of them:
and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies; no heart to resist them, no strength nor spirit to oppose them, and defend themselves but be obliged to surrender their cities, themselves, their families and goods, into the hand of the enemy.
And ye shall perish among the Heathen,.... Not utterly, but great numbers of them, through change of air, and different diet, as Aben Ezra, and through the cruel usage of their enemies; for there is a body of them which continues unto this day; unless this is to be understood of the ten tribes, as R. AkibaF2In Torat Cohanim, ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 197. 2.) interprets it, who are supposed to be entirely lost and swallowed up among the nations where they were carried captive:
and the land of your enemies shall eat you up; they should die in it through one disease or another; by the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so be buried in it; in which sense it may be said to eat them up, or consume them, for the grave swallows up and consumes all that are put into it; Jarchi says, this is to be understood of those that die in captivity.
And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands,.... Such as were not taken off by any public calamity, as the sword or pestilence should gradually diminish and melt away like wax before the fire, and die in and for their iniquities in an enemy's country, see Ezekiel 24:23,
and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them; or for the iniquities of their evil fathers, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; they treading in their steps, and doing the same evil deeds, whereby they filled up the measure of their fathers' sins, and brought upon them deserved punishment. Matthew 23:32.
If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds,"in the time of their distress;'which might serve to bring their sins to remembrance, and them to a confession of them, not only of their own sins, but of their fathers' also; acknowledging thereby that they had been guilty of sinning against God for a long course of years past; and that God had been long suffering towards them, and bore much with them before he brought his judgments on them, which were just, and what they righteously deserved; and such a confession Daniel made, Daniel 9:4; and the words may as well be rendered absolute as conditional, or better, and as a prediction of what would be done by them when in captivity and distress, "and they shall confess their iniquity"F3והתודו "et confitebuntur", Pagninus, Montanus. ; with shame and sorrow, with repentance for it, and abhorrence of it; or otherwise, if the confession was only verbal and hypocritical, it would not be acceptable:
with their trespass which they trespassed against me; along with their own iniquities, and those of their fathers, they should confess, their trespass against the Lord would be acknowledged by them; which seems to design some particular and grievous sin committed by them, by which perhaps is meant their idolatry, a capital sin, directly against God, and what those people were prone unto:
and that also they have walked contrary unto me; to his mind and will, to his laws, commands, statutes, and ordinances, disregarding him and them, as if enemies to him; or "by chance"; See Gill on Leviticus 26:21.
And that I also have walked contrary unto them,.... Showed no regard unto them, as if he took no care of them, or in a providential way concerned himself for them, but let what would befall them; yea, came out in the way of his judgments against them, as if he was an enemy to them; see Gill on Leviticus 26:24,
and have brought them into the land of their enemies; should acknowledge the hand of God in it, that he himself brought them out of their own country into an enemy's land, as Assyria, Babylon, and other nations: and that this was not the chance of war, or owing to the superior power or skill of their enemies, but to the just judgment of God upon them for their sins, who on that account delivered them up into the hands of their enemies:
if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled; their foolish proud heart, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; it signifies a sinful, wicked, hard, and impenitent heart, brought to a sense of sin, to repentance and humiliation for it. Jarchi interprets it, "or if their uncircumcised heart", &c. as in Exodus 2:23; and observes another sense of the word, "perhaps their uncircumcised heart", &c. not only would in words confess their sins, but be truly humbled at heart for them:
and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; take it well at the hand of God, bear it patiently without murmuring, or thinking themselves hardly dealt by, but freely owning it is less than their iniquities deserve; or complete and finish the punishment of their sins, as Aben Ezra, which upon their humiliation should be put an end to, and cease. Jarchi takes the word in the sense of atonement and pacification, as if by their chastisement their sins were expiatedF4Siphri apud Yalkut, ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 197. 2.) , and God was pacified toward them: but rather it denotes the free and full pardon of their sins, manifested to them upon their repentance and humiliation for sin.
Then i will also remember my covenant with Jacob,.... Would fulfil and make good all that he had promised in covenant with Jacob, and his posterity: the account begins with him, and rises upwards to Abraham, whereas it usually begins with Abraham, and descends to Jacob; no sufficient reason is given for this alteration, though several are attempted by the Jewish writersF5Saadiah Gaon apud Aben Ezram in loc. Pesikta & alii. :
and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; which chiefly respects the multiplication of their seed, the continuance of them, and the Messiah springing from them; which is the mercy promised to these fathers, and the principal part of the covenant made with them, and which was remembered and performed when God visited and redeemed his people by him, Luke 1:68,
and I will remember the land; the land of Judea, and return the Jews to it, and make it fruitful, after he had given it rest from tillage for many years, which was fulfilled at their return from the captivity of Babylon.
The land also shall be left of them,.... This seems to refer to a second time, when this should be the case of the land of Judea again, as it was when subdued by the Romans, and the Jews were carried captive from it, and so it was left by them, as it has been ever since:
and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while lieth desolate without them; shall be as in the sabbatical years, uncultivated, neither ploughed nor sown, nor reaped; and thus the land of Canaan, though once so very fruitful, is now desolate and barren, being without its former inhabitants, and so it is like to be until it is restored to them again:
and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; that is, when made sensible of their sins, and particularly of their iniquity of rejecting the Messiah; they will not think it hard that they have been punished in so severe a manner, but own the righteous hand of God in it, and be humble under it; and confessing their sins with true sorrow and repentance for them, looking at him whom they have pierced, and mourn, shall have the free and full remission of their sins applied unto them:
because, even, because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes; despised and abhorred Christ, his doctrines and ordinances, which was the reason of their being carried captive out of their land, when it was forsaken by them, and lay desolate as to this day, especially with respect to any benefit of it enjoyed by them; and which, when they are sensible of, will be a reason of their accepting the punishment of their iniquity so readily, and not murmur at the hand of God upon them, or reflect on his dealings with them, but freely and fully confess their sins, that he may be justified in all that he has done.
And yet for all that,.... I will have on them, in or through my Word, as the Targum of Jonathan; notwithstanding their many and great sins and transgressions, and the sad and miserable condition they were brought into by them, the Lord would have mercy on them and be gracious to them, through Christ and for his sake, and convert and save them, see Romans 11:26; the Jews, as Fagius tells us, wonderfully delight themselves with this passage, and read it with the greatest joy and pleasure, and with an elevated voice; concluding from hence that they shall certainly return to their own land; and because the first word in this verse is in sound the same as the Germans use for an "ape", they call this paragraph "the golden ape", and say, when this shall be fulfilled the golden age will take place with them: a very learned manF6Carpzovius de aurea Judaeorum Simia, in Thesaur. Theolog. Philolog. vol. 1. p. 344. vid. Pfeiffer. dubia vexata cent. 2. loc. 17. p. 145. has wrote a dissertation upon it: when
they shall be in the land of their enemies; of the Romans and other nations, among whom they have been disposed ever since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus:
I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly; for though they have been cast away by the Lord out of their land, and from being his people, and enjoying either the civil or religious privileges they formerly did; and though they have been cast off with abhorrence, and had in great detestation by him, for their sin of rejecting the Messiah, as appears by the punishment inflicted on them; yet not so as to make an utter end of them as a body of people, for, notwithstanding their dispersion everywhere, and their long captivity, they remain a distinct people from all others, which seems to forebode something favourable to them:
and to break my covenant with them; which he will not do, even his promise of the future call and conversion of them, and of their return to their own land:
for I am the Lord their God; their covenant God, and a covenant keeping God, Romans 11:27.
But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors,.... Or rather, "remember to them"F7וזכרתי להם "et recordabor eis", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "erga eos", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. , to their good and benefit, for their profit and advantage, not for their desert and merit, for any worth or worthiness in them; this covenant respects not the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as in Leviticus 26:42; but with their fathers, either at Sinai, or rather in the plains of Moab, Deuteronomy 29:1, for it follows:
whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the Heathen, that I might be their God; whom he brought out of great bondage and distress in Egypt, with an high hand and outstretched arm, and in the sight of the Egyptians, who were not able to oppose it, yea, because of their plagues, were urgent for it; and in the sight of all the nations round about, who heard of the wonderful power of God in the deliverance of his people; and this he did that he might appear to be their covenant God, who had taken them into covenant with him, and had taken them under his care and protection, and would be still their King and their God; and who also, in like manner, it may be here suggested, would deliver the people of the Jews out of their present exiled and captive state and condition in the sight of the whole world, and declare himself their covenant God and Father:
I am the Lord; whose will is sovereign, whose power is uncontrollable, who is a covenant keeping God, faithful to his promises, and able to perform them.
These are the statutes, and judgments, and laws,.... Which refer not only to those in this chapter, but in all the preceding chapters in this book, and respect them all, whether ceremonial, moral, or judicial, which may be signified by these three words:
which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,"between his Word and the children of Israel:"
in Mount Sinai; or near it, in the wilderness of it, while the children of Israel lay encamped about it:
by the hand of Moses; they were first delivered to him, and by means of him to the people.