Leviticus 26:16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 26:14-39

After God had set the blessing before them (the life and good which would make them a happy people if they would be obedient), he here sets the curse before them, the death and evil which would make them as miserable if they were disobedient. Let them not think themselves so deeply rooted as that God's power could not ruin them, nor so highly favoured as that his justice would not ruin them if they revolted from him and rebelled against him; no You only have I known, therefore I will punish... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 26:16

I also will do this unto you ,.... Henceforward follow threatenings of dreadful evils to the transgressors and despisers of the commandments of God, which thus begin: I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart ; some, as Aben Ezra observes, take these to design what may affect the seed sown and the increase of it, such as blasting and mildew, because it follows: "ye shall sow in vain"; but no doubt... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 26:16

I will even appoint over you terror, etc. - 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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:1-46

PART V. CONCLUDING EXHORTATION . 1 . The blessings. which should result from obedience ( Leviticus 26:3-13 ). 2 . The curses which should follow disobedience ( Leviticus 26:14-39 ). 3 . The gracious treatment which would ensue on repentance ( Leviticus 26:40-45 ). Hitherto the Book of Leviticus has consisted of ceremonial and moral injunctions, with two historical passages interposed. In the present chapter it rises in its subject and its diction from legal... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:1-46

Temporal rewards and punishments. cf. Ecclesiastes 8:11 ; Isaiah 48:18 ; Matthew 5:44 , Matthew 5:45 ; and 1 Timothy 4:8 . There is in this chapter a distinct assertion of moral government exercised over Israel. If they obeyed God's Law, he would grant them great temporal blessing; if they disobeyed, he would send them sore chastisement; but if after disobedience they became penitent, he would remember their fathers and his covenant with them, and receive their penitent seed into... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:3-39

Promises and threatenings. Leviticus 26:12 , "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." I. The true law of human life. 1 . Religion the upholding support of individual, social, national well-being. Natural laws subservient to higher ends. Ascending scale in the universe, the physical the basis of the psychical, the psychical of the moral, the moral of the spiritual. 2 . The covenant relationship of God and man the only true form in which the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:3-46

Promises and threatenings. In this chapter the prophet looks forward, and declares how God would deal with his people; which should be according to the way in which they should act. In 2 Chronicles 36:14-21 , the chronicler looks back, and shows how God had dealt with them; which had been according to the way in which they had acted. The promises and the threatenings are to the nation, not to individuals; and the prophetical assurance is that national obedience to God shall bring about... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:14-17

Punishment in its first degree. Terror, consumption,— that is, wasting— and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: —a proverbial expression for great distress (see 1 Samuel 2:33 )— and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it (see Jeremiah 5:17 , and Micah 6:15 , "Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil")… and ye shall be slain before your enemies (as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:14-39

Prophetic maledictions. The promises of God are prophecies of good; so are his threatening prophecies of evil. Prophecy, therefore, gives no countenance to fatalism, since it is made to depend upon conditions. God may, therefore, repent him of evils threatened, viz. when sinners repent of the sin that provoked him. So long as the Hebrews were faithful to their God, they found him faithful in mercy; when they rebelled, they found him no less faithful in judgment. What a commentary upon the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 26:14-39

Divine retribution. The Divine Legislator of Israel knew well that he must contemplate disobedience as well as obedience to his laws. When he had intimated the fullness of the reward he would bestow on the faithful, he was compelled to pass on to "But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do," etc. It is sad to think that it did not need Divine prescience to foretell this issue. Human disobedience is too constantly occurring a factor in human history to require that: it may always... read more

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