Albert Barnes Commentary Leviticus 26:3-45

"If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 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. 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. 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. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 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. And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 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. But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 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; 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. 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. And if ye will not yet for these things hearken unto me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power: and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass; 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. 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. 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. And if by these things ye will not be reformed unto me, but will walk contrary unto me; then will I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins. 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. 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. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. 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. 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. And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And ye shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 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. 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, 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; 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. 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. 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; 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." — Leviticus 26:3-45 (ASV)

As “the book of the covenant” (Exodus 20:22-33) concludes with promises and warnings (Exodus 23:20–33), so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, while this one relates to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy 27–30 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations, having immediate reference not only to outward consequences but also to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will.

Leviticus 26:4: Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the Holy Land so much depends, are spoken of here. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture "the former and the latter rain" (Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23; Hosea 6:3; James 5:7). The former, or autumn rain, falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March, the latter, or spring rain, begins; it is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.

Leviticus 26:5: Compare Joel 2:19 and Job 11:18.

Leviticus 26:8: Five of you shall chase - This is a proverbial way of expressing superiority in warlike prowess (Deuteronomy 32:30; Isaiah 30:17).

Leviticus 26:9: Establish my covenant - All material blessings were to be regarded as seals of the “everlasting covenant.” Compare Genesis 17:4-8 and Nehemiah 9:23.

Leviticus 26:10: Bring forth the old because of the new - Rather, this means to clear away the old to make way for the new; that is, in order to make room for the latter.

Leviticus 26:16: The first warning for disobedience is disease. The term “Terror” (literally, trembling), as used here, is rendered as 'trouble' in other passages (Psalms 78:33; Isaiah 65:23).

It seems in this context to denote that terrible affliction: an anxious temperament, a mental state ever at war with faith and hope. This might well be placed at the head of the visitations on a backslider who had broken the covenant with his God. Compare Deuteronomy 32:25; Jeremiah 15:8; Proverbs 28:1; Job 24:17; and Psalm 23:4.

Consumption, and the burning ague - Regarding these terms from Leviticus 26:16: the first word in the original Hebrew comes from a root meaning "to waste away"; the latter (more accurately, "fever") from one meaning "to kindle a fire."

Consumption is common in Egypt and some parts of Asia Minor, but it is rarer in Syria. Fevers of different kinds are the most common of all diseases in Syria and all neighboring countries. The opposite promise to this threat is given in Exodus 15:26 and Exodus 23:25.

Leviticus 26:18: For all this - This refers to all the afflictions mentioned in Leviticus 26:16-17.

The phrase seven times, also from Leviticus 26:18, refers to the sabbatical number, used proverbially here to remind the people of the covenant. Compare Genesis 4:15, 24; Psalms 119:164; Proverbs 24:16; and Luke 17:4.

Leviticus 26:19–20: The second warning is utter sterility of the soil. Compare Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:18; Ezekiel 33:28; and Ezekiel 36:34-35.

Leviticus 26:21–22: The third warning is the multiplication of destructive animals. Compare Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:15; Judges 5:6–7; and Isaiah 33:8.

Leviticus 26:23–26: This is the fourth warning. Yahweh now places Himself, as it were, in a hostile position toward His people who will not be reformed (that is, will not be brought to God). He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.

Leviticus 26:26: (The initial "And" in some translations of this verse can be omitted.) The expression “when I have broken the staff of your bread” was a proverbial saying for cutting off the supply of bread, which is the staff of life (Psalms 105:16; Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:16; Ezekiel 14:13).

The supply of bread was to be so reduced that one oven would be sufficient for ten women (representing ten families) to bake their bread; and when it was made, it was to be dealt out in sparing rations by weight. (See 2 Kings 6:25; Jeremiah 14:18; Lamentations 4:9; Ezekiel 5:12; Hosea 4:10; Micah 6:14; Haggai 1:6).

Leviticus 26:27–33: This section contains the fifth warning. For verse 29, see 2 Kings 6:28–29; Jeremiah 19:8–9; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10. For verse 30, see 2 Chronicles 34:3; Ezekiel 6:4; Jeremiah 14:19. For verse 31, see 2 Kings 25:9; Psalms 74:6–7. For verses 32-33, see Deuteronomy 28:37; Psalms 44:11; Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 18:16; Ezekiel 5:1–17; Jeremiah 4:7; Ezekiel 9:6; Ezekiel 12:15; Zechariah 7:14.

Leviticus 26:30: High places - There is no doubt that the term here denotes elevated spots dedicated to false worship , and especially, it would seem, to the worship of Baal (Numbers 22:41; Joshua 13:17).

However, such spots were also employed and approved for the worship of Yahweh, not only before the building of the temple but also afterward (Judges 6:25–26; Judges 13:16–23; 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 3:2; 1 Kings 18:30; 2 Kings 12:3; 1 Chronicles 21:26; and others).

The three altars built by Abraham—at Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and at Mamre—appear to have been on high places, and so was the temple itself.

The high places in the Holy Land may thus be categorized into those dedicated to the worship of Yahweh and those dedicated to idols. It seems there was a constant struggle concerning their use.

The high places polluted by idol worship were, of course, to be wholly condemned. They were probably resorted to only to gratify a degraded superstition (Leviticus 20:2–5).

The others, dedicated to Yahweh, might have been innocently used for prayer and religious teaching. However, the temptation to misuse them appears to have been too great for the character of the people. They offered sacrifices and burned incense on them; consequently, thorough reformers of the national religion, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, removed the high places altogether (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 23:5).

Your images - This term from Leviticus 26:30 refers to a word that, in the marginal notes of some Bibles, is rendered as 'sun images' (2 Chronicles 14:5; Isaiah 17:8; Ezekiel 6:4; and elsewhere). Phoenician inscriptions prove that the word was commonly applied to images of Baal and Astarte—the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon. This exactly explains 2 Chronicles 34:4 and the verses that follow.

Idols - Also from Leviticus 26:30. The Hebrew word used here literally means things that could be rolled about, such as a block of wood or a lump of dirt. It was undoubtedly a name given in derision. Compare Isaiah 40:20; Isaiah 44:19; and 2 Kings 1:2.

Leviticus 26:31: Sanctuaries - This refers to the holy places within the tabernacle and the temple (Psalms 68:35).

Regarding the phrase from Leviticus 26:31, I will not smell the savor..., see Leviticus 1:9.

Leviticus 26:35: A more literal rendering is: All the days of its desolation it shall rest—that time which it did not rest in your Sabbaths while you dwelt upon it. This means that the periods of rest of which the land had been deprived would be restored to it. Compare 2 Chronicles 36:20–21.

Leviticus 26:38: The land of your enemies shall eat you up - Compare Numbers 13:32 and Ezekiel 36:13.

Leviticus 26:39: Iniquity - The meaning here is "in the punishment of their iniquity," and, in the next clause, "in the punishment of the iniquity" of their fathers (as also in Leviticus 26:41, 43).

In the following verse (Leviticus 26:40), the same Hebrew word is correctly rendered as “iniquity.” Translators of some English versions (like the King James Version) have, in several places, put one English word (e.g., "punishment") in the text and the other (e.g., "iniquity") in the margin, or vice versa (Genesis 4:13; Genesis 19:15; 2 Kings 7:9; Psalms 69:27; and elsewhere).

The language of Scripture does not make the sharp distinction between sin and punishment that we often make today. Sin is its own punishment, containing in itself, from its very beginning, the seed of death. As the Apostle James says, “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15; Romans 5:12).

Leviticus 26:40: Trespass - The Hebrew word used here means an injury inflicted on the rights of a person, as distinct from a sin or iniquity, which is viewed as a violation of divine law. Of course, every wrong act is both a sin and a trespass against God. In this passage, Yahweh regards the breach of the covenant as a personal trespass against Him.

Leviticus 26:41: Uncircumcised hearts - This phrase indicates that while the outward sign of the covenant (circumcision) might be preserved, the corresponding grace in the heart would be lacking (Acts 7:51; Romans 2:28–29; Jeremiah 6:10; Jeremiah 9:26).

The phrase from Leviticus 26:41, accept of the punishment of their iniquity, literally means "enjoy their iniquity." The Hebrew word rendered "accept" in this phrase (here and in Leviticus 26:43) is the same word rendered "enjoy" in the expression “the land shall enjoy her sabbaths” (Leviticus 26:34).

The antithesis in Leviticus 26:43 is this: Just as the land shall enjoy her sabbaths, so too shall they "enjoy" (that is, willingly accept the justice of) the punishment of their iniquity. The meaning is that the desolate land will have the blessing of rest, and the repentant people will have the blessing of chastisement. The feelings of a devout captive Israelite are beautifully expressed in Tobit 13:1-18.