Leviticus 26:29-39

29 so that ye (shall) eat the flesh of your sons, and of your daughters;
30 I shall destroy your high things, and I shall break your simulacra (I shall destroy your high places, or your hill shrines, and I shall break your idols); ye shall fall betwixt the fallings of your idols, and my soul shall have you abominable,
31 in so much that I shall turn your cities into wilderness, and make your saintuaries forsaken, neither I shall receive more the sweetest odour; (in so much that I shall turn your cities into wilderness, and make your sanctuaries forsaken, nor shall I receive from you any more the sweetest aroma;)
32 and I shall destroy your land, and your enemies shall be astonished thereon, when they shall be dwellers thereof; (and I shall destroy your land, and your enemies, when they become its inhabitants, shall be astonished at what hath happened there;)
33 forsooth I shall scatter you into folks, or into heathen men, and I shall draw out of the sheath the sword after you (yea, I shall scatter you among the heathen, and I shall draw the sword out of its sheath, and come after you), and your land shall be forsaken, and your cities shall be cast down.
34 Then his sabbaths shall please the earth, in all the days of his wilderness; when ye be in the land of (your) enemies, it shall keep sabbath, (Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths, in all the days of its wilderness; while ye be in the land of your enemies, it shall keep the sabbaths, that is, the land shall take rest,)
35 and it shall rest in the sabbaths of his wilderness, for it rested not in your sabbaths, when ye dwelled therein. (yea, it shall rest on its sabbaths in its time of wilderness, for it did not rest on your sabbaths, when ye still lived there.)
36 And I shall give dread in their hearts, that shall abide of you, in the countries of your enemies; the sound of a leaf flying shall make them afeared, and so they shall flee it as a sword; they shall fall, while none pursueth, (And I shall put fear in the hearts of those who be left of you, in the countries of your enemies; the sound of a leaf flying in the wind shall make them afraid, and they shall flee it like a sword; they shall fall, when no one pursueth them,)
37 and all they shall fall upon their brethren, as men fleeing battles (out of fear); no man of you shall be hardy to against-stand (your) enemies; (and they all shall fall upon their brothers, like men fearfully fleeing from battle; not one of you shall be hardy to stand against your enemies;)
38 ye shall perish among heathen men, and the land of (your) enemies shall waste you.
39 That if some of these Jews dwell (And those Jews who shall still remain), they shall fail in their wickednesses, in the land of their enemies; and they shall be tormented for the sins of their fathers, and for their own sins,

Leviticus 26:29-39 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 26

In this chapter, after a repetition of some laws against idolatry, and concerning keeping sabbaths, and reverencing the sanctuary of God, Le 26:1,2; in order to encourage the Israelites to keep the various statutes and commandments in this book, and in the preceding, many promises are made of plenty, and peace, and safety from enemies, and of the presence of God with them, Le 26:3-13; and on the contrary, to such as should despise and break his commandments, the most grievous things are threatened, as diseases of body, destruction by their enemies, barrenness and unfruitfulness of land, the sore judgments of wild beasts, famine, sword, and pestilence, Le 26:14-39; and yet after all, when they should confess their sins, and were humbled for them, the Lord promises to remember the covenant he made with their ancestors, and would deal kindly with them, and not cast them away, and utterly destroy them, Le 26:40-46.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.