Leviticus 26:38

38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.

Leviticus 26:38 in Other Translations

KJV
38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
ESV
38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
NLT
38 You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies.
MSG
38 You'll perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will eat you up.
CSB
38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.

Leviticus 26:38 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 26:38

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. Akiba F2 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 In Torat Cohanim, ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 197. 2.)

Leviticus 26:38 In-Context

36 “ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.
37 They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.
38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.
39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away.
40 “ ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me,

Cross References 2

  • 1. Job 4:9; Job 36:12; Psalms 1:6; Isaiah 1:28; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 44:27
  • 2. Deuteronomy 4:26
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