Leviticus 26:22

22 And I will send {wild animals} out among you, and they shall make you childless, and they shall cut down your domestic animals, and they shall make you fewer; and your roads shall be desolate.

Leviticus 26:22 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 26:22

I will also send wild beasts among you
Either in a literal sense, as lions, bears, wolves 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 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.

Leviticus 26:22 In-Context

20 And your strength shall be consumed {in vain}; and your land shall not give its produce, and the land's trees shall not give their fruit.
21 " 'And if you go against me [in] hostility and you are not willing to listen to me, then I will add a plague onto you seven times according to your sins.
22 And I will send {wild animals} out among you, and they shall make you childless, and they shall cut down your domestic animals, and they shall make you fewer; and your roads shall be desolate.
23 " 'And if you do not accept correction from me through these [things], but you go against me [in] hostility,
24 then I myself will also go against you in hostility, and I myself also will strike you seven times for your sins.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "the animals of the field"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.