---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Leviticus 26:1. Ye shall make you no idols — Exodus 20:4; Exodus 20:4, and Genesis 28:18; Genesis 28:18; \"Genesis 28:19\", concerning consecrated sto"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/leviticus/26"
---

Verse [Leviticus 26:1](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/1). ***Ye shall make you no idols*** — [Exodus 20:4](../../../kjv/exodus/20/4); [Exodus 20:4](../../../kjv/exodus/20/4), and [Genesis 28:18](../../../kjv/genesis/28/18); [Genesis 28:18](../../../kjv/genesis/28/18); *"*[Genesis 28:19](../../../kjv/genesis/28/19)*"*, *concerning consecrated* stones. Not only *idolatry* in general is forbidden here, but also the *superstitious use* of *innocent* and *lawful things*. Probably the *stones* or *pillars* which were first set up, and *anointed* by holy men in commemoration of signal interpositions of God in their behalf, were afterward abused to idolatrous and superstitious purposes, and therefore prohibited. This we know was the case with the brazen serpent, [2 Kings 18:4](../../../kjv/2-kings/18/4).

Verse [Leviticus 26:3](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/3). ***If ye walk in my statutes*** — For the meaning of this and similar words used in the law, [Leviticus 26:15](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/15); [Leviticus 26:15](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/15).

Verse [Leviticus 26:4](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/4). ***Rain in due season*** — What in Scripture is called the *early* and the *latter* rain. The first fell in Palestine at the commencement of *spring*, and the latter in *autumn*. - *Calmet*.

Verse [Leviticus 26:5](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/5). ***Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage*** — According to Pliny, *Hist. Nat.*, l. xviii., c. 18, the Egyptians reaped their barley six months, and their oats seven months, after seed time; for they sowed all their grain about the end of summer, when the overflowings of the Nile had ceased. It was nearly the same in Judaea: they sowed their corn and barley towards the end of autumn, and about the month of October; and they began their barley-harvest after the *passover*, about the middle of March; and in one month or six weeks after, about *pentecost*, they began that of their wheat. After their wheat-harvest their vintage commenced. Moses here leads the Hebrews to hope, if they continued faithful to God, that between their harvest and vintage, and between their vintage and seed-time, there should be no interval, so great should the abundance be; and these promises would appear to them the more impressive, as they had just now come out of a country where the inhabitants were obliged to remain for nearly three months shut up within their cities, because the Nile had then inundated the whole country. See *Calmet*.
"This is a nervous and beautiful promise of such entire plenty of corn and wine, that before they could have *reaped* and *threshed* out their *corn* the *vintage* should be ready, and before they could have *pressed out their wine* it would be time to *sow again*. The Prophet Amos, [Amos 9:13](../../../kjv/amos/9/13) expresses the same blessing in the same manner: *The ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader* *of grapes him who soweth seed*." - Dodd.

Verse [Leviticus 26:11](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/11). ***I will set my tabernacle among you*** — This and the following verse contain the grand promise of the *Gospel* *dispensation*, viz. the *presence, manifestation*, and *indwelling of* *God* in human nature, and his constant in dwelling in the souls of his followers. So [John 1:14](../../../kjv/john/1/14) the WORD *was made flesh*, και εσκηνωσεν εν ἡμιν, *and* MADE HIS TABERNACLE *among us*. And to this promise of the law St. Paul evidently refers, [2 Corinthians 6:16-18](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/6/16-18) and [2 Corinthians 7:1](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/7/1)

Verse [Leviticus 26:15](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/15). ***If ye shall despise my statutes - abhor my judgments*** — As these words, and others of a similar import, which point out different properties of the revelation of God, are frequently occurring, I Judge it best to take a general view of them, once for all, in this place, and show how they differ among themselves, and what property of the Divine law each points out.
1. STATUTES. חקת *chukkoth*, from חק *chak*, to *mark out*, *define*, c. This term seems to signify the things which God has *defined, marked*, and *traced out*, that men might have a perfect copy of pure conduct always before their eyes, to teach them how they might walk *so* as to please him in all things, which they could not do without such instruction as God gives in his word, and the help which he affords by his Spirit.
2. JUDGMENTS. שפטים *shephatim*, from שפט *shaphat*, to *distinguish, regulate*, and *determine* meaning those things which God has *determined* that men shall pursue, by which their whole conduct shall be *regulated*, making the proper *distinction* between virtue and vice, good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice; in a word, between what is proper to be *done*, and what is proper to be left *undone*.
3. COMMANDMENTS. מצות mitsvoth, from צוה *tsavah*, to *command, ordain*, and *appoint, as a legislator*. This term is properly applied to those parts of the law which contain the *obligation* the people are under to act according to the *statutes*, *judgments*, c., already established, and which prohibit them by penal sanctions from acting contrary to the laws.
4. COVENANT. ברית berith, from בר *bar*, to *clear, cleanse,* or *purify* because the *covenant*, the whole system of revelation given to the Jews, was intended to *separate* them from all the people of the earth, and to make them *holy*. *Berith* also signifies the *covenant-sacrifice*, which *prefigured* the atonement made by Christ for the sin of the world, by which he *purifies* believers unto himself, and makes them a *peculiar people, zealous of good* *works*. Besides those *four*, we may add the following, from other places of Scripture.
5. TESTIMONIES. עדות edoth, from עד *ad, beyond, farther*, *besides*; because the whole ritual law referred to something *farther on* or *beyond* the Jewish dispensation, even to that sacrifice which in the fulness of time was to be offered for the sins of men. Thus all the sacrifices, c., of the Mosaic law *referred to Christ*, and bore testimony to him *who was to come*.
6. ORDINANCES. משמרות mishmaroth, from שמר *shamar*, to *guard, keep safe, watch over* those parts of Divine revelation which exhorted men to *watch their ways, keep their hearts*, and promised them, in consequence, the continual *protection* and blessing of God their Maker.
7. PRECEPTS. פקודים pikkudim, from פקד *pakad*, to *overlook, take care* or *notice of, to visit*; a very expressive character of the Divine testimonies, the *overseers* of a man's conduct, those who *stand by* and *look on* to see whether he acts according to the commands of his Master; also the *visiters*, because God's precepts are suited to all the circumstances of human life; some are applicable in adversity, others in prosperity; some in times of temptation and sadness, others in seasons of spiritual joy and exultation, c., c. Thus they may be said to *overlook* and *visit* man in all times, places, and circumstances.
8. TRUTH. אמת emeth, from אם *am*, to *support, sustain*, *confirm* because God is *immutable* who has promised, threatened, commanded, and therefore all his promises, threatenings, commandments, c., are *unalterable* and *eternal*. Error and falsity promise to *direct* and *sustain*, but they *fail*. God's word is *supported* by his own *faithfulness*, and it *supports* and *confirms* them who conscientiously believe it.
9. RIGHTEOUSNESS. צדקה tsedakah, from צדק which, though not used as a *verb* in the Hebrew Bible, seems to convey, from its use as a *noun*, the idea of *giving just weight* or *good measure*, see [Leviticus 19:36](../../../kjv/leviticus/19/36). This is one of the characters which is attributed to the revelation God makes of himself (see [Psalms 119:137-144](../../../kjv/psalms/119/137-144)) and by this the *impartiality* of the Divine testimonies is pointed out. God gives to all their *due*, and his word *distributes* to every man according to his state, circumstances, talents, graces, c. to none *too much*, to none *too little*, to all *enough*.
10. WORD of JEHOVAH. דבר יהוה *debar Yehovah*, from דבר, *dabar,* to *drive, lead, bring forward*, hence to *bring forward*, or *utter* *one's sentiments*; so the word of God is what God has *brought* *forth to man* from his own mind and counsel; it is a perfect *similitude* of his own *righteousness, holiness, goodness*, and *truth*. This Divine law is sometimes expressed by: -
11. אמרה imrah, speech or *word*, variously modified from אמר *amar*, to *branch out*, because of the interesting *details* into which the word of God enters in order to instruct man and make him wise unto salvation, or, as the apostle expresses it, "God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophets," πολυμερως και πολυτροπως, in *many* *distinct parcels*, and by *various tropes* or *figures*; a curious and elegant description of Divine revelation; [Hebrews 1:1](../../../kjv/hebrews/1/1).
12. All these collectively are termed the LAW תורה *torah*, or תורת יהוה *torath Yehovah*, the *law of the Lord*, from ירה *yarah*, to *direct, set straight and true, as stones in a building*, to *teach* and *instruct*, because this whole system of Divine revelation is calculated to *direct* men to the attainment of present and eternal felicity, to *set them right* in their notions concerning the supreme God, to *order* and *adjust them* in the several departments of civil and religious society, and thus to *teach* and *instruct* them in the knowledge of themselves, and in the true knowledge of God. Thus those who receive the truth become the *city* of the living God - the temple of the Most High, *built together* for a habitation of God through the Spirit. To complete this description of the word *law*, [Exodus 12:49](../../../kjv/exodus/12/49), where other properties of the law of God are specified.

Verse [Leviticus 26:16](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/16). ***I will even appoint over you terror, &c.*** — How dreadful is this curse! A whole train of evils are here *personified* and appointed to be the governors of a disobedient people. *Terror* is to be one of their keepers. How awful a state! to be continually under the influence of dismay, feeling indescribable evils, and fearing worse! *Consumption*, שחפת shachepheth, generally allowed to be some kind of *atrophy* or *marasmus*, by which the flesh was consumed, and the whole body dried up by *raging fever* through lack of sustenance. [Leviticus 11:16](../../../kjv/leviticus/11/16). How circumstantially were all these threatenings fulfilled in this disobedient and rebellious people! Let a *deist* read over this chapter and compare it with the state of the Jews since the days of Vespasian, and then let him doubt the authenticity of this word if he can.

Verse [Leviticus 26:22](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/22). ***I will also send wild beasts among you*** — God fulfilled these threatenings at different times. He sent *fiery* SERPENTS among them, [Numbers 21:6](../../../kjv/numbers/21/6); LIONS, [2 Kings 17:25](../../../kjv/2-kings/17/25); BEARS, [2 Kings 2:24](../../../kjv/2-kings/2/24), and threatened them with total desolation, so that their land should be overrun with *wild beasts*, c., see [Ezekiel 5:17](../../../kjv/ezekiel/5/17). "Spiritually," says Mr. *Ainsworth*, "these are *wicked rulers* and *tyrants* that kill and spoil, [Proverbs 28:15](../../../kjv/proverbs/28/15); [Daniel 7:3-6](../../../kjv/daniel/7/3-6); [Psalms 80:13](../../../kjv/psalms/80/13); and *false prophets* that devour souls, [Matthew 7:15](../../../kjv/matthew/7/15); [Revelation 13:1](../../../kjv/revelation/13/1), c. So the prophet, speaking of their punishment by *tyrants*, says: *A* LION *out of the forest shall slay them a* WOLF *of the evening* *shall spoil them; a* LEOPARD *shall watch over their cities; every* *one that goeth out thence shall be torn to pieces, because their* *transgressions be many*. And of their *prophets* it is said: *O* *Israel, thy prophets are like* FOXES *in the deserts*, [Ezekiel 13:4](../../../kjv/ezekiel/13/4); [Jeremiah 8:17](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/17); [Jeremiah 15:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/15/3)."

Verse [Leviticus 26:26](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/26). ***Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven*** — Though in general every family in the East bakes its own bread, yet there are some *public bakehouses* where the bread of several families is baked at a certain price. Moses here foretells that the desolation should be so great and the want so pressing that there should be many *idle hands* to be employed, many mouths to be fed, and very little for each: *Ten women shall bake your bread in* *one oven*, &c.

Verse [Leviticus 26:29](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/29). ***Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, &c.*** — This was literally fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem. Josephus, WARS of the Jews, book vii., chap. ii., gives us a particular instance in dreadful detail of a woman named *Mary*, who, in the extremity of the famine during the siege, killed her sucking child, roasted, and had eaten part of it when discovered by the soldiers! See this threatened, [Jeremiah 19:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/19/9).

Verse [Leviticus 26:34](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/34). ***Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths*** — This Houbigant observes to be a historical truth. - "From Saul to the Babylonish captivity are numbered about *four hundred and ninety* *years*, during which period there were *seventy Sabbaths* of years; for 7, multiplied by 70, make 490. Now the Babylonish captivity lasted *seventy years*, and during that time the land of Israel *rested*. Therefore the land rested just *as many years* in the Babylonish captivity, as it *should have rested Sabbaths* if the Jews had observed the laws relative to the Sabbaths of the land." This is a most remarkable fact, and deserves to be particularly noticed, as a most literal fulfilment of the prophetic declaration in this verse: *Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths* *as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land*.
May it not be argued from this that the law concerning the Sabbatical year *was observed till Saul's time*, as it is only *after* this period the land enjoyed its rest in the seventy years' captivity? And if that breach of the law was thus punished, may it not be presumed it had been fulfilled till then, or else the captivity would have lasted longer, i. e., till the land had enjoyed *all* its rests, of which it had ever been thus deprived?

Verse [Leviticus 26:38](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/38). ***The land of your enemies shall eat you up.*** — Does this refer to the total loss of the *ten tribes*? These are so completely swallowed up in *some enemies*' land, that nothing concerning their existence or place of residence remains but mere conjecture.

Verse [Leviticus 26:44](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/44). ***Neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly*** — Though God has literally fulfilled all his threatenings upon this people in dispossessing them of their land, destroying their polity, overturning their city, demolishing their temple, and scattering themselves over the face of the whole earth; yet he has, in his providence, strangely preserved them as a *distinct* people, and in very considerable numbers also. He still remembers the *covenant of their ancestors*, and in his providence and grace he has some very important design in their favour. All Israel shall yet be saved, and, with the Gentiles, they shall all be restored to his favour; and under Christ Jesus, the great Shepherd; become, with them, one grand everlasting fold.

Verse [Leviticus 26:46](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/46). ***These*****are*****the statutes, and judgments, c.*** — [Leviticus 26:15](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/15). This verse appears to be the proper concluding verse of the whole book and I rather think that the [Leviticus 27](../../../kjv/leviticus/27) originally followed the [Leviticus 25](../../../kjv/leviticus/25). As the law was anciently written upon skins of parchment, sheep or goat skins, pasted or stitched together, and all rolled up in one roll, the matter being written in columns, one of those columns might have been very easily displaced, and thus whole chapters might have been readily interchanged. - It is likely that this might have been the case in the present instance. Others endeavour to solve this difficulty, by supposing that the [Leviticus 27](../../../kjv/leviticus/27) was *added* after the book had been finished; and therefore there is apparently a double conclusion, one at the end of the [Leviticus 26](../../../kjv/leviticus/26) and the other at the end of the [Leviticus 27](../../../kjv/leviticus/27). However the above may have been, all the ancient versions agree in concluding both the chapters in nearly the same way; yet the 26th chapter must be allowed to be by far the most natural conclusion of the book.
THE most important points in this chapter have already been particularly noticed in the notes; and to those on the [Leviticus 26:15](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/15); [Leviticus 26:15](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/15), [Leviticus 26:34](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/34); [Leviticus 26:34](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/34), and [Leviticus 26:44](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/44); [Leviticus 26:44](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/44) verses, the reader is especially referred. How unwilling is God to cast off his people! and yet how sure is their rejection if they refuse to obey and live to him! No nation has ever been so signally *elected* as the Jews; and yet no nation has ever been so signally and so awfully *reprobated*. O Britain, be not high-minded, but fear! Behold here the goodness and severity of God!

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