Leviticus 26

Le 26:1, 2.

OF

IDOLATRY.

1. Ye shall make you no idols--Idolatry had been previously

forbidden

(Ex 20:4, 5),

but the law was repeated here with reference to some particular forms

of it that were very prevalent among the neighboring nations.

a standing image--that is, "upright pillar."

image of stone--that is, an obelisk, inscribed with

hieroglyphical and superstitious characters; the former denoting the

common and smaller pillars of the Syrians or Canaanites; the latter,

pointing to the large and elaborate obelisks which the Egyptians

worshipped as guardian divinities, or used as stones of adoration to

stimulate religious worship. The Israelites were enjoined to beware of

them.

2. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary--Very

frequently, in this Book of the Law, the Sabbath and the sanctuary are

mentioned as antidotes to idolatry.

Le 26:3-13.

A

BLESSING TO THE

OBEDIENT.

3. If ye walk in my statutes--In that covenant into which God

graciously entered with the people of Israel, He promised to bestow

upon them a variety of blessings, so long as they continued obedient to

Him as their Almighty Ruler; and in their subsequent history that

people found every promise amply fulfilled, in the enjoyment of plenty,

peace, a populous country, and victory over all enemies.

4. I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her

increase--Rain seldom fell in Judea except at two seasons--the

former rain at the end of autumn, the seedtime; and the latter rain in

spring, before the beginning of harvest

(Jer 5:24).

5. your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage

shall reach unto the sowing time, &c.--The barley harvest in Judea

was about the middle of April; the wheat harvest about six weeks after,

or in the beginning of June. After the harvest came the vintage, and

fruit gathering towards the latter end of July. Moses led the Hebrews

to believe that, provided they were faithful to God, there would be no

idle time between the harvest and vintage, so great would be the

increase. (See

Am 9:13).

This promise would be very animating to a people who had come from a

country where, for three months, they were pent up without being able

to walk abroad because the fields were under water.

10. ye shall eat old store--Their stock of old corn would be

still unexhausted and large when the next harvest brought a new

supply.

13. I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go

upright--a metaphorical expression to denote their emancipation

from Egyptian slavery.

Le 26:14-39.

A

CURSE TO THE

DISOBEDIENT.

14, 15. But if ye will not hearken unto me, &c.--In proportion

to the great and manifold privileges bestowed upon the Israelites would

be the extent of their national criminality and the severity of their

national punishments if they disobeyed.

16. I will even appoint over you terror--the falling sickness

[PATRICK].

consumption, and the burning ague--Some consider these as

symptoms of the same disease--consumption followed by the shivering,

burning, and sweating fits that are the usual concomitants of that

malady. According to the Septuagint, "ague" is "the jaundice,"

which disorders the eyes and produces great depression of spirits.

Others, however, consider the word as referring to a scorching wind; no

certain explanation can be given.

18. if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will

punish you seven times more--that is, with far more severe and

protracted calamities.

19. I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass--No

figures could have been employed to convey a better idea of severe and

long-continued famine.

22. I will also send wild beasts among you--This was one of the

four judgments threatened

(Eze 14:21;

see also

2Ki 2:4).

your highways shall be desolate--Trade and commerce will be

destroyed--freedom and safety will be gone--neither stranger nor native

will be found on the roads

(Isa 33:8).

This is an exact picture of the present state of the Holy Land, which

has long lain in a state of desolation, brought on by the sins of the

ancient Jews.

26. ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, &c.--The bread

used in families is usually baked by women, and at home. But sometimes

also, in times of scarcity, it is baked in public ovens for want of

fuel; and the scarcity predicted here would be so great, that one oven

would be sufficient to bake as much as ten women used in ordinary

occasions to provide for family use; and even this scanty portion of

bread would be distributed by weight

(Eze 4:16).

29. ye shall eat the flesh of your sons--The revolting picture

was actually exhibited at the siege of Samaria, at the siege of

Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar

(La 4:10),

and at the destruction of that city by the Romans. (See on

De 28:53).

30. I will destroy your high places--Consecrated enclosures on

the tops of mountains, or on little hillocks, raised for practising the

rites of idolatry.

cut down your images--According to some, those images were made

in the form of chariots

(2Ki 23:11);

according to others, they were of a conical form, like small pyramids.

Reared in honor of the sun, they were usually placed on a very high

situation, to enable the worshippers to have a better view of the

rising sun. They were forbidden to the Israelites, and when set up,

ordered to be destroyed.

cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, &c.--Like

the statues of idols, which, when broken, lie neglected and contemned,

the Jews during the sieges and subsequent captivity often wanted the

rites of sepulture.

31. I will make your cities waste--This destruction of its

numerous and flourishing cities, which was brought upon Judea through

the sins of Israel, took place by the forced removal of the people

during, and long after, the captivity. But it is realized to a far

greater extent now.

bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the

savour of your sweet odours--the tabernacle and temple, as is

evident from the tenor of the subsequent clause, in which God announces

that He will not accept or regard their sacrifices.

33. I will scatter you among the heathen, &c.--as was done when

the elite of the nation were removed into Assyria and placed in various

parts of the kingdom.

34. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth

desolate, &c.--A long arrear of sabbatic years had accumulated

through the avarice and apostasy of the Israelites, who had deprived

their land of its appointed season of rest. The number of those

sabbatic years seems to have been seventy, as determined by the

duration of the captivity. This early prediction is very remarkable,

considering that the usual policy of the Assyrian conquerors was to

send colonies to cultivate and inhabit their newly acquired

provinces.

38. the land of your enemies shall eat you up, &c.--On the

removal of the ten tribes into captivity, they never returned, and all

traces of them were lost.

40-45. If they shall confess their iniquity, &c.--This passage

holds out the gracious promise of divine forgiveness and favor on their

repentance, and their happy restoration to their land, in memory of the

covenant made with their fathers

(Ro 2:1-29).

46. These are the statutes and judgments and laws--It has been

thought by some that the last chapter was originally placed after the

twenty-fifth [ADAM CLARKE],

while others consider that the next chapter was added as an appendix,

in consequence of many people being influenced by the promises and

threats of the preceding one, to resolve that they would dedicate

themselves and their possessions to the service of God [CALMET].