Leviticus 26:38

38 And ye shall perish among the Gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall 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 And to those who are left of you I will bring bondage into their heart in the land of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from war, and shall fall when none pursues them.
37 And brother shall disregard brother as in war, when none pursues; and ye shall not be able to withstand your enemies.
38 And ye shall perish among the Gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall devour you.
39 And those who are left of you shall perish, because of their sins, and because of the sins of their fathers: in the land of their enemies shall they consume away.
40 And they shall confess their sins, and the sins of their fathers, that they have transgressed and neglected me, and that they have walked perversely before me,

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.