Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 26:1

"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." — Leviticus 26:1 (ASV)

Ye shall make you no idols. —The first two verses of this chapter are still a part of the previous section in the Hebrew original. By separating them from their proper position and making them begin a new chapter, both the logical sequence and the significance of these two verses are greatly obscured.

As Leviticus 26:47-55 legislated for cases where Israelites were driven by extreme poverty to sell themselves to a Gentile, and when they might be compelled to continue in this service until the Year of Jubilee, and thus be obliged to witness idolatrous practices, the Lawgiver solemnly repeats the two fundamental precepts of Judaism, which they might be in danger of neglecting: namely, to abstain from idol-worship and to keep the Sabbath. These are two essential commandments of the Decalogue. The same two commandments, but in reverse order, are also joined together in Leviticus 19:3-4.

Idols. —For this expression, see Leviticus 19:4.

Nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image. —Better, nor shall you rear up for yourselves a graven image or pillar. A graven image is not only a plastic image of a pagan deity but also a visible or sensuous representation of the God of Israel (Exodus 20:19–20; Deuteronomy 4:15–16).

A standing image. —This expression, which only occurs once more in the text of the Authorized Version (Micah 5:13), and four times in the Margin (1 Kings 14:23; Jeremiah 43:13; Hosea 3:4; Hosea 10:1), is the rendering of a Hebrew word (matzebah), which is usually and more correctly translated “pillar” or “statue” (Genesis 28:18; Genesis 28:22; Genesis 31:13, and others).

This was a plain and unadorned stone without any image engraved on it, and was often erected to God Himself, but afterwards especially as a memorial to false deities (Genesis 28:18; Genesis 28:22; Genesis 31:13; Genesis 35:14, compared with Exodus 23:24; Exodus 34:13, and others).

Neither shall ye set up any image of stone. —The authorities during the Second Temple period interpreted the words here translated “images of stone” to denote beholding, or worshipping stones—that is, stones set in the ground in places of worship upon which the worshippers prostrated themselves to perform their devotions. The stone was therefore a kind of signal, calling the attention of the worshipper to itself, so that they might fall down upon it.

With such stones, these authorities assure us, the Temple was paved, since they were perfectly lawful in the sanctuary but must not be used in worship outside the Temple, or rather, outside the land, as these authorities understood the words in your land here to denote.

Thus, the Chaldee version paraphrases it: “and a painted stone you shall not place in your land to prostrate yourselves upon it, but a pavement adorned with figures and pictures you may put in the floor of your sanctuary, but not to bow down upon it”—that is, in an idolatrous manner.

Similarly, the ancient canon states: “in your own land (that is, in all other lands) you must not prostrate yourselves upon stones, but you may prostrate yourselves upon the stones in the sanctuary.”