Leviticus26
English Standard Version
1You shall not for yourselves or an or , and you shall not a in your to to it, for I am the Lord your .
2You shall my and my : I am the Lord.
3If you in my and my and them,
4then I will you your in their , and the shall its , and the of the shall their .
5Your shall to the time of the , and the shall to the time for . And you shall your to the and in your .
6I will in the , and you shall , and none shall make you . And I will from the , and the shall not go your .
7You shall your , and they shall you by the .
8 of you shall a , and a of you shall , and your shall you by the .
9I will to you and make you and you and will my with you.
10You shall , and you shall clear the to make for the .
11I will my you, and my shall not you.
12And I will you and will your , and you shall my .
13I am the Lord your , who of the of , that you should not be their . And I have the of your and made you .
14But if you will not to me and will not all these ,
15if you my , and if your my , so that you will not all my , but my ,
16 I will this to you: I will you with , with and that the and make the . And you shall your in , for your shall it.
17I will my against you, and you shall be your . Those who you shall you, and you shall when you.
18And in of this you will not to me, then I will you for your ,
19and I will the of your , and I will your like and your like .
20And your shall be in , for your shall not its , and the of the shall not their .
21Then if you to me and not to me, I you, for your .
22And I will the against you, which shall you of your and your and make you few in , so that your shall be .
23And if by discipline you are not to me but to me,
24then I also will to you, I myself will you for your .
25And I will a upon you, that shall for the . And if you your , I will you, and you shall be into the of the .
26When I your of , shall your in a and shall your again by , and you shall and not be .
27But in spite of you will not to me, but to me,
28then I will to you in , and I will you for your .
29You shall the of your , and you shall the of your .
30And I will your and your and your upon the of your , and my will you.
31And I will your and will your , and I will not your .
32And I will the , so that your who in it shall be at it.
33And I will you among the , and I will the you, and your shall be a , and your shall be a .
34Then the shall its as as it , while you are in your ’ ; then the shall , and its .
35As it it shall have , the that it did not have on your when you were in it.
36And as for those of you who are , I will into their in the of their . The of a shall them to , and they shall as from the , and they shall when .
37They shall over , as if to a , though . And you shall have no to your .
38And you shall among the , and the of your shall .
39And those of you who are shall in your ’ because of their , and also because of the of their they shall like them.
40But if they their and the of their in their that they against me, and also in to me,
41so that I to them and the of their — their is and they for their ,
42then I will my with , and I will my with and my with , and I will the .
43But the shall be by them and its while it them, and they shall for their , they my and their my .
44 for , when they are in the of their , I will not them, neither will I them so as to them utterly and my with them, for I am the Lord their .
45But I will for their sake the with their , whom I of the of in the of the , that I might be their : I am the Lord.
46These are the and and that the Lord between himself and the of on .
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 26.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Promises upon keeping the precepts. (1–13). Threatenings against disobedience. (14–39). God promises to remember those that repent. (40–46).
vv1-13
This chapter contains a general enforcement of all the laws given by Moses; by promises of reward in case of obedience, on the one hand; and threatenings of punishment for disobedience, on the other. While Israel maintained a national regard to God's worship, sabbaths, and sanctuary, and did not turn aside to idolatry, the Lord engaged to continue to them temporal mercies and religious advantages. These great and precious promises, though they relate chiefly to the life which now is, were typical of the spiritual blessings made sure by the covenant of grace to all believers, through Christ. 1. Plenty and abundance of the fruits of the earth. Every good and perfect gift must be expected from above, from the Father of lights. 2. Peace under the Divine protection. Those dwell in safety, that dwell in God. 3. Victory and success in their wars. It is all one with the Lord to save by many or by few. 4. The increase of their people. The gospel church shall be fruitful. 5. The favour of God, which is the fountain of all Good. 6. Tokens of his presence in and by his ordinances. The way to have God's ordinances fixed among us, is to cleave closely to them. 7. The grace of the covenant. All covenant blessings are summed up in the covenant relation, I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and they are all grounded upon their redemption. Having purchased them, God would own them, and never cast them off till they cast him off. (Le 26:14-39)
vv14-39
After God has set the blessing before them which would make them a happy people if they would be obedient, he here sets the curse before them, the evils which would make them miserable, if they were disobedient. Two things would bring ruin. 1. A contempt of God's commandments. They that reject the precept, will come at last to renounce the covenant. 2. A contempt of his corrections. If they will not learn obedience by the things they suffer, God himself would be against them; and this is the root and cause of all their misery. And also, The whole creation would be at war with them. All God's sore judgments would be sent against them. The threatenings here are very particular, they were prophecies, and He that foresaw all their rebellions, knew they would prove so. TEMPORAL judgments are threatened. Those who will not be parted from their sins by the commands of God, shall be parted from them by judgments. Those wedded to their lusts, will have enough of them. SPIRITUAL judgments are threatened, which should seize the mind. They should find no acceptance with God. A guilty conscience would be their continual terror. It is righteous with God to leave those to despair of pardon, who presume to sin; and it is owing to free grace, if we are not left to pine away in the iniquity we were born in, and have lived in.
vv40-46
Among the Israelites, persons were not always prosperous or afflicted according to their obedience or disobedience. But national prosperity was the effect of national obedience, and national judgments were brought on by national wickedness. Israel was under a peculiar covenant. National wickedness will end in the ruin of any people, especially where the word of God and the light of the gospel are enjoyed. Sooner or later, sin will be the ruin, as well as the reproach, of every people. Oh that, being humbled for our sins, we might avert the rising storm before it bursts upon us! God grant that we may, in this our day, consider the things which belong to our eternal peace.
Key Words
עָשָׂה: to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application
אֱלִיל: good for nothing, by anal. vain or vanity; specifically an idol
קוּם: to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)
פֶּסֶל: an idol
מַצֵּבָה: something stationed, i.e. a column or (memorial stone); by analogy, an idol
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
מַשְׂכִּית: a figure (carved on stone, the wall, or any object); figuratively, imagination
אֶבֶן: a stone
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
שָׁחָה: to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God)
Cross References
Leviticus 26The parallel primary legal discourse outlining Israel's covenant curses for national disobedience.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallels the terrifying warning of eating the flesh of sons and daughters during severe siege.
Supported by JFB
Explicit fulfillment of the land resting to enjoy its sabbaths during the seventy-year exile.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Explicit historical fulfillment of the land resting to enjoy its sabbaths during the Babylonian exile.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The matching covenant blessings discourse detailing prosperity for keeping God's commandments.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The covenant of peace where God rids the land of evil beasts.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Corresponds directly to the judgment of heaven as brass and earth as iron.
Supported by JFB
Lists wild beasts, sword, famine, and pestilence as God's four sore judgments.
Supported by JFB
Directly echoes breaking the staff of bread and delivering bread by weight.
Supported by JFB
Records the tragic historical fulfillment of mothers eating their own children during the siege.
Supported by JFB
Promises the spiritual circumcision of the heart to cure Israel's stubborn, uncircumcised heart.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Calvin highlights this as the direct prohibition of making molten gods of silver or gold.
Supported by John Calvin
The prophetic fulfillment where the plowman overtakes the reaper and treading grapes reaches sowing.
Supported by JFB
Reflects the mathematical impossibility of five chasing an hundred except by God's judgment.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Grounds the covenant obligations in the historic redemption from Egyptian bondage.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Expanded details on the sorrow of heart, terror, and failing eyes threatened here.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfillment of being slain before enemies and fleeing when none pursueth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Describes the highways lying waste and travelers ceasing, fulfilling the predicted desolation.
Supported by JFB
Fulfills the promise to destroy high places, make cities waste, and lay idols desolate.
Supported by JFB
Expands on the threat of being scattered among all people and finding no ease.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Establishes the Sabbatical year law that Israel violated, leading to the forced land rest.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Illustrates the wicked fleeing when no one pursues, matching the shaken leaf terror.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Explicitly describes house of Israel as being physically circumcised but having 'uncircumcised hearts'.
Supported by Matthew Henry
New Testament definition of true circumcision as that of the heart and spirit, not letter.
Supported by Matthew Henry
God hears Israel's groaning and remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Exilic confession that God in His great mercy did not utterly consume or forsake them.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Relates to eating the old store of harvest until the ninth year's increase.
Supported by JFB
The promise of God's sanctuary and tabernacle being set in their midst forever.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophetic fulfillment of sowing much but bringing in little as a covenant curse.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The curse of sowing but not reaping, treading olives but not anointing.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The wicked flee when no man pursueth, matching verse 17's internal terror.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the threat of sending the teeth of wild beasts against disobedient Israel.
Supported by JFB
Prophesies God taking away from Jerusalem the whole stay and staff of bread.
Supported by JFB
Repeats the curse of eating but not being satisfied due to lack of bread.
Supported by JFB
Josiah literalized this by burning human bones on pagan altars, defiling their idols.
Supported by JFB
Solomon's prayer models confession after being smitten before enemies for sinning.
Supported by Matthew Henry