1.
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
Ye refers to any Israelites sold to heathen masters, who hence were in danger of being tempted to idolatry, while in this servitude.
idols = non-entities. Heb, 'elilim = clay or terra cotta "gods". Compare 1 Corinthians 8:4 . Occurs only once more in Pentateuch, Leviticus 19:4 .
graven image. Hebrew. pesel , an idol of wood or stone.
standing image. Hebrew. Mazzebah, a sacred pillar. In Genitive always "pillar". Compare Leviticus 26:30 .
image of stone. Hebrew. maskith, a sculptured or painted stone. Compare Leviticus 26:30 .
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
2.
Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
3.
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
If. Then. Note the four occurrences of "If" and "Then" in this chapter.
4.
Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Then. See note on "If", Leviticus 26:3 above.
rain. Hebrew rains: i.e. the early and latter rains. Deuteronomy 11:14 ; Deuteronomy 28:12 .Jeremiah 14:22 .Deuteronomy 32:2 .Psalms 72:6 .
increase = produce, sustenance. Heb yebul. See notes on Leviticus 25:7 ; Leviticus 25:36 .
5.
And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6.
And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
peace, or prosperity.
rid evil beasts. Compare Ezekiel 34:25 , Ezekiel 34:28 .
7.
And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
enemies = foes. First occurrence in Leviticus.
8.
And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
five. See App-10 , this promise enlarged in Deuteronomy 32:30 . Joshua 23:10 . Compare 2 Samuel 23:8 , 2Sa 23:18 . 1 Chronicles 11:11 , 1 Chronicles 11:18 . Isaiah 30:17 .
9.
For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
have respect = turn unto you, as rendered in Ezekiel 46:9 ; the only other place where this form occurs.
10.
And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
11.
And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
tabernacle = habitation. Hebrew. mishkan. App-40 .
My soul = Myself, or I. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
12.
And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
walk. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia, App-6 ; or, literally, as in Eden. See Genesis 3:8 . App-4 . Quoted 2 Corinthians 6:16 .
13.
I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
broken broken in pieces. Hebrew. shabar, as in verses: Leviticus 26:19 , Leviticus 26:26 ; not parar, as in verses: Leviticus 26:15 , Leviticus 26:24 .
upright. The yoke makes the wearer stoop. The above structure shows God's fivefold threatening for disobedience. We have the fivefold execution in Isaiah 5:25 ; Isaiah 9:12 , Isaiah 9:17 , Isaiah 9:21 ; Isaiah 10:4 ; and His fivefold lamentation in Amos 4:6-12 .
14.
But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15.
And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
your soul = you (emphatic). Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
break = violate. Hebrew. parar, break asunder, as in Leviticus 26:46 ; not shabar, as in verses: Leviticus 26:13 , Leviticus 26:19 , Leviticus 26:26 .
16.
I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
burning ague. Probably = fever.
consume the eyes = causing the sight to fail.
heart = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
17.
And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
face. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
reign = rule.
18.
And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
sins. Hebrew, plural of 'avon. App-44 .
19.
And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
of. Genitive of cause, the power being the cause of the pride = your great pride. Compare Ezekiel 30:6 . So Ezekiel 24:21 , where the sense is lost in Authorized Version by the rendering "the excellency of your strength".
20.
And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
of the land. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint, read "of the field".
21.
And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
contrary. First occurrence, and only in this chapter (seven times).
22.
I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.
wild beasts. These abounded in Palestine. (Deuteronomy 32:24 . 2 Kings 17:25 .Isaiah 13:21 , Isaiah 13:22 .Ezekiel 14:10 , &c.)
23.
And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
24.
Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25.
And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
And I = I also.
gathered together = withdrawn or escaped to (compare Jeremiah 21:6-9 . Ezekiel 5:12 ; Ezekiel 7:15 ).
26.
And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
broken the staff of your bread. Figure of speech Metalepsis ( App-6 ), bread being put for the support it gives, and staff which it is; and the breaking of the staff put for the cutting off the supply. Compare Isaiah 3:1 .Ezekiel 4:16 ; Ezekiel 5:16 ; Ezekiel 14:13 .Psalms 105:16 .
ten. Supply Ellipsis ( App-6 ) by supplying the word "then" = then ten: i.e. one oven shall be sufficient for ten families. Compare 2 Kings 6:28 , 2 Kings 6:29 .
27.
And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
28.
Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29.
And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
30.
And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
high places: used for idolatrous worship (Numbers 22:41 ; Numbers 33:52 .Deuteronomy 12:2 .Joshua 13:17 (margin). Thus showing the helplessness of the gods worshipped.
images . Hebrew. hammanim, sun-idols. Compare Leviticus 26:1 . 2 Chronicles 34:4 . This was prophetic.
carcases. Figure of speech Catachresis. App-6 . Another prophecy, See 2 Kings 23:20 . 2 Chronicles 34:5 .
idols = logs of wood. Hebrew. gallulim, trunks, blocks, used in derision for idols. Also derived from galal = dung, or detestable thing. First occurrence; frequently in Ezekiel.
My soul. Hebrew. nephesh . App-13 . Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 . This is the converse of verse Leviticus 26:11 .
31.
And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
sanctuaries , or holy places. Some codices, with one printed edition, Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac, read the singular "sanctuary".
smell. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
odours. Compare Isaiah 11:3 (margin).
32.
And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
I. Emphatic = I myself.
33.
And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
heathen = nations.
34.
Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
enjoy. Figure of speech Prosopopatheia. App-6 . Compare Leviticus 18:25 .
35.
As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
rest. Figure of speech Prosopopatheia. App-6 . Compare Jeremiah 34:17 . 2 Chronicles 36:21 .
36.
And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
37.
And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38.
And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39.
And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
iniquity = perversity. Hebrew " avah , App-44 .
40.
If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
If they shall confess. This is the one abiding condition for national blessing and restoration.
trespass . . . trespassed. Hebrew. maal. App-44 .
41.
And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
walked. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
42.
Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
Jacob. This is the only place where the order of the three Patriarchs is inverted.
43.
The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.
their soul = they. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 .
44.
And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
when, &c. Compare Deuteronomy 4:31 . 2 Kings 13:23 .Romans 11:1 , Romans 11:2 , Romans 11:28 , Romans 11:29 .
I am the LORD. Compare Psalms 144:15 ; Psalms 33:12 .
45.
But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.
46.
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
children. Hebrew sons.
in mount Sinai: thus concluding with the words with which this section began in Leviticus 25:1 .