Leviticus 26:34

34 "Then the land will enjoy its time [to honor the LORD] while it lies deserted and you are in your enemies' land. Then the land will joyfully celebrate its time [to honor the LORD].

Leviticus 26:34 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 26:34

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths
The sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, when, according to the law in the preceding chapter, it was to rest from tillage, ( Leviticus 25:2-4 ) : as long as it lieth desolate, and ye [be] in your enemies' land;
so long it should lie uncultivated, at least in part, there not being a sufficient number left to till it in general, or as it should be; this was the case during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon; [even] then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths;
or complete them, as Aben Ezra, which is a bitter sarcasm upon them for their neglect of observance of the law concerning the sabbatical years; but now the land should have its sabbaths of rest whether they would or not; and it seems as if it was on account of this sin, as well as others, that they were carried captive; and it is remarkable, if what Maimonides ^F24 says is right, that it was at the going out or end of a sabbatical year, that the first temple was destroyed, and the Jews carried captive, and endured a seventy years' captivity; which some say was because they had neglected seventy sabbatical years; see ( 2 Chronicles 36:21 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel, c. 10. sect. 3.

Leviticus 26:34 In-Context

32 I will make your land so deserted that your enemies will be shocked as they settle in it.

33 I will scatter you among the nations. War will follow you. Your country will be in ruins. Your cities will be deserted.

34 "Then the land will enjoy its time [to honor the LORD] while it lies deserted and you are in your enemies' land. Then the land will joyfully celebrate its time [to honor the LORD].

35 All the days it lies deserted, it will celebrate the time [to honor the LORD] it never celebrated while you lived there.

36 I will fill with despair those who are left in the land of their enemies. The sound of a windblown leaf will make them run. They will run away and fall, but no one will be chasing them.