Leviticus 26:41

41 Therefore and I shall go against them (And so I shall go against them), and I shall bring them into the land of their enemies, till the uncircumcised soul of them be ashamed; then they shall pray for (the forgiveness of) their wickedness,

Leviticus 26:41 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 26:41

And [that] I also have walked contrary unto them
Showed no regard unto them, as if he took no care of them, or in a providential way concerned himself for them, but let what would befall them; yea, came out in the way of his judgments against them, as if he was an enemy to them, (See Gill on Leviticus 26:24);

and have brought them into the land of their enemies;
should acknowledge the hand of God in it, that he himself brought them out of their own country into an enemy's land, as Assyria, Babylon, and other nations: and that this was not the chance of war, or owing to the superior power or skill of their enemies, but to the just judgment of God upon them for their sins, who on that account delivered them up into the hands of their enemies:

if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled;
their foolish proud heart, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; it signifies a sinful, wicked, hard, and impenitent heart, brought to a sense of sin, to repentance and humiliation for it. Jarchi interprets it, "or if their uncircumcised heart" as in ( Exodus 2:23 ) ; and observes another sense of the word, "perhaps their uncircumcised heart" not only would in words confess their sins, but be truly humbled at heart for them:

and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity;
take it well at the hand of God, bear it patiently without murmuring, or thinking themselves hardly dealt by, but freely owning it is less than their iniquities deserve; or complete and finish the punishment of their sins, as Aben Ezra, which upon their humiliation should be put an end to, and cease. Jarchi takes the word in the sense of atonement and pacification, as if by their chastisement their sins were expiated F4, and God was pacified toward them: but rather it denotes the free and full pardon of their sins, manifested to them upon their repentance and humiliation for sin.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Siphri apud Yalkut, ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 197. 2.)

Leviticus 26:41 In-Context

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,
40 till they acknowledge their wickednesses, and have mind of their evils (and remember their evil-doing), by which they trespassed against me, and went contrary to me.
41 Therefore and I shall go against them (And so I shall go against them), and I shall bring them into the land of their enemies, till the uncircumcised soul of them be ashamed; then they shall pray for (the forgiveness of) their wickedness,
42 and I shall have mind of my bond of peace, that I covenanted with Jacob, Isaac, and with Abraham; also I shall be mindful of the land, (and I shall remember my covenant, which I made with Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham; and I shall remember the land,)
43 which, when it is left of them, shall please to itself in his sabbaths, and shall suffer wilderness for them; forsooth they shall pray for their sins, for they casted away my dooms, and despised my laws; (which, when it is rid of them, shall enjoy its sabbaths, and shall become a wilderness without them; and they shall pray for the forgiveness of their sins, for they threw away my judgements, and despised my laws;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.