And if ye for all this will not hearken unto me ,.... To his commands, and to his prophets sent unto them time after time, and all his corrections and chastisements being ineffectual to reform them, and make them obedient to him: but walk contrary unto me ; See Gill on Leviticus 26:21 . read more
Then I will walk contrary to you also in fury ,.... As in Leviticus 26:24 ; with this addition, in fury; being greatly provoked, and highly incensed, that no regard was had to him, neither to his commands, nor to his corrections; and therefore would be determined to stir up his wrath, and pour out the fury of his indignation on them, which must be terrible: and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins ; add new and many more chastisements, and that in hot displeasure, for... read more
And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons ,.... Which was fulfilled at the siege of Samaria, in the times of Joram, 2 Kings 6:29 ; and at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lamentations 4:10 ; and though there is no instance of it at that time in the sacred records, the Jews F16 Torat Cohanim in Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 197. 1. tells us of one Doeg ben Joseph, who died and left a little one with his mother, who was very fond of him; but at this siege slew him with her own hands,... read more
And I will destroy your high places ,.... Which Jarchi interprets of towers and palaces; but Aben Ezra of the place of sacrifices; for on high places, hills and mountains, they used to build altars, and there offer sacrifices, in imitation of the Heathens; See Gill on Ezekiel 6:13 , and cut down your images ; called Chammanim, either from Ham, the son of Noah, the first introducer of idolatrous worship after the flood, as some have thought; or from Jupiter Ammon, worshipped in Egypt,... read more
Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, etc. - 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 ; (note). read more
Verse 29 29.And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons. This scourge is still more severe and terrible (than the others;) (229) yet we know that the Israelites were smitten with it more than once. This savage act would be incredible; but we gather from it how terrible it is to fall into the hands of God, when men, by adding crime to crime, cease not to provoke His wrath. Jeremiah (230) mentions this monstrous case among others: “The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children,” and... read more
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
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
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
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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