John Gill Commentary Leviticus 26

You 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 up a standing image ;
or pillar ^F7 ; 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 gold ^F8 ;

neither shall you 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.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: (hbum) (sthlhn) Sept. "titulos", V. L. "titulum", Samar. Ar. "pillar", Ainsworth.
• F8: "Suidas in voce" (yeuv arhv) Vid. Arnob. adv. Gentes, l. 6. p. 232.

You 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 25:1–7) , and jubilee years, (Leviticus 25:8–55).

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 you 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" ^F9 ; 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 are meant, with which the land of Israel abounded, (Deuteronomy 8:8) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F9: (Mkymvg) "pluvias vestras", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

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 you 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.