Levítico 26

Levítico 26

Robertson writes: "The words sound to us like clods on the coffin as God leaves men to work their own wicked will") Romans 1:26 {note} For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, Romans 1:28 {note} And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26 That shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant. That shall execute vengeance for the violation of my covenant. Chal. ‘That shall avenge on you the vengeance for that ye have transgressed against the words of the law.’ So in Jer. 50:28, mention is made of the ‘vengeance of the Lord’s temple,’ by which is meant the punishment of the Babylonians for robbing and burning the temple. I will send the pestilence among you. Gr. θανατος, the death. Chal. id. See Note on Ex. 5:3. It implies the cutting off by death of man and beast. See Ezek. 14:19, 21. Leviticus 26:26 'When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied. Isa 3:1 Isa 9:20 Jer 14:12 La 4:3-9 Eze 4:10,16 Ezek 5:16 Eze 14:13 Ho 4:10 Mic 6:14 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages Isaiah 3:1 For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah Both supply and support, the whole supply of bread And the whole supply of water; Isaiah 9:20 They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm. Jeremiah 14:12 “When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.” Psalm 105:16 And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. Ezekiel 4:16-17 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror, because bread and water will be scarce; and they will be appalled with one another and waste away in their iniquity. Haggai 1:6 “You have sown much, but harvest little; [you] eat, but [there is] not [enough] to be satisfied; [you] drink, but [there is] not [enough] to become drunk; [you] put on clothing, but no one is warm [enough;] and he who earns, earns wages [to put] into a purse with holes.” Ezekiel 5:16 ‘When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread. Ezekiel 14:13 “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, Hosea 4:10 They will eat, but not have enough; They will play the harlot, but not increase, Because they have stopped giving heed to the LORD. Micah 6:14 “You will eat, but you will not be satisfied, And your vileness will be in your midst. You will try to remove for safekeeping, But you will not preserve anything, And what you do preserve I will give to the sword. FAMINE IN THE LAND When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven - Note that God will personally punish as indicated by I will break your staff of bread. God would send famine and the people would starve. Bush explains "there shall be such a scarcity of bread that one ordinary oven shall answer for the baking of ten, that is a great many families, whereas in common circumstances one oven would serve for one family. The editor of the Pict. Bible gives somewhat of a different turn to the expression. ‘In the note to chap. 2:4, we remarked that in the East it was a general custom for families to bake their own bread in the sort of ovens which we there described. The performance of this duty always falls to the lot of the women. These ovens are, as we have seen, small, and only suited to the use of one family; but it is by no means impossible to bake at one of them an adequate supply of bread for ten ft rallies, although, of course, the process would consume time. We therefore do not, with most expositors, understand scarcity to be implied in the simple fact that ten families baked their bread in an oven for one; but that ten families, represented by their females, clubbed their dough together, and the produce being no more than an ordinary supply for one family, it was baked in one oven, instead of each family, as usual, making a separate baking. Afterwards, the cakes thus baked were proportioned by weight to the respective contributors—so precious was the bread. This is implied in the words, ‘shall deliver you your bread again by weight;’ which shows that the bread was previously theirs, and had been baked for them, not that it was sold to them by weight.’ And they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied - "No language could be more expressive of the extremities to which they should be reduced. As the survivors of a shipwreck, who put to sea in an open boat, are often reduced to the most stinted allowance, and have a small quantity of food and drink served out to them by weight and measure, so should it be in the extremity of famine to which the Israelites should be brought by their disobedience. In allusion to this it is threatened again, Ezek. 4:16, 17, ‘I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care, and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment; that they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.’" (George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26) Leviticus 26:27 'Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Three times we read that Israel will act with hostility ( walk contrary to, walk with hostility) toward God: Leviticus 26:21 ‘If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins. Leviticus 26:23 And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act with hostility against Me, Leviticus 26:27 'Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, See discussion of act with hostility in Lev 26:21) Leviticus 26:28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. NET I will walk in hostile rage against you and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. ESV then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. NLT then I will give full vent to my hostility. I myself will punish you seven times over for your sins. NAB I, also, will meet you with fiery defiance and will chastise you with sevenfold fiercer punishment for your sins, wrathful hostility: Isa 27:4 59:18 63:3 66:15 Jer 21:5 Eze 5:13,15 8:18 Na 1:2,6 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries FOURTH INSTALLMENT OF SEVEN TIMES MORE PUNISHMENT Then - (Be alert to this expression of time) When? When Israel disobeys (Lev 26:27) See discussion of act with hostility in Lev 26:21) Seven times for your sins - See notes on Lev 26:18. As discussed above this phrase could describe the fullness or completeness of the punishment (Seven is a "perfect" number). Leviticus 26:29 'Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat. Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.: This was literally fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem. Josephus (War VI, 15-32 [3-4]) gives a dreadful detail respecting a woman named Mary, who, in the extremity of the famine, during the seige, killed her sucking child, roasted, and had eaten part of it, when discovered by the soldiers! The horrors of ancient sieges are matched perhaps only by the modern siege of Leningrad in World War II. There also cannibalism occurred. There are biblical references to these horrors in the sieges of Samaria (see below) and Jerusalem (see below). tells similarly dreadful stories of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. SIEGE OF SAMARIA 2 Kings 6:28; 29 And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ “So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” SIEGE OF JERUSALEM Lamentations 4:10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. Deuteronomy 28 (see commentary) describes this horrible prophecy in even greater detail... “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. 51“Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. 52 “It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the LORD your God has given you. 53 “Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you. 54“The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 55 so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else left, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your towns. 56 “The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57 and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns. (Deut 28:49-57) 58 “IF (CONDITIONAL CLAUSE) you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 THEN the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. 60 “He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you. 61“Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the LORD will bring on you until you are destroyed. 62 “THEN you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the LORD your God. 63“ It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 64“Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. 65“Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66“So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. 67“In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68“The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.” George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26 Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, &c. This was literally fulfilled at the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 6:29, in the days of Jehoram, and also in that of Jerusalem, under Titus. Josephus, J. W. B. 7, c. 2, gives an instance in dreadful detail, of a woman named Mary, who in the height of the famine, during the siege, killed her infant child, roasted, and had eaten part of it when discovered by the soldiers.’ The fearful accomplishment of the threatened punishment is thus bewailed by Jeremiah, Lam. 4:10, ‘The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.’ Leviticus 26:30 'I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you. I will destroy (KJV): 1Ki 13:2 2Ki 23:8,16,20 2Ch 14:3-5 23:17 31:1 34:3-7 Isa 27:9 Jer 8:1-3 Eze 6:3-6,13 my soul (KJV): Lev 26:11,15 20:23 Ps 78:58,59 89:38 Jer 14:19 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains (carcases, corpses) on the remains of your idols, Destroy (demolish, exterminate) (08045) (shamad) is a verb meaning "be destroyed, decimated, perished, overthrown, exterminated, i.e., pertaining to being in a totally ruined state, which can include death of a person or extinction of an entity." (Swanson) The destruction depicted by shamad usually involves a rather sudden catastrophe such as warfare or a mass killing. For example in Dt 6:15 God says He will "wipe" Israel off the face of the earth, so great was His anger against them! In this verse the Lxx translates shamad with eremoo which means to make unihabitable, to lay waste, to depopulate. High places (01116)(bamah) Six activities seem to be related to high places -- burning of incense, sacrificing, eating of sacrificial meals, praying, prostitution, child sacrifice (cf. bama in the valley, Je 7:31). The first use in Lev 26:30 is God's declaration to Israel "I will destroy your high places." In Dt 32:13 speaking of Jacob (Israel) He declared "He made him ride on the high places of the earth," so clearly some uses of bamah are not negative. In a similar use God says Israel "you will tread upon their (Israel's enemies') high places." Another positive use is Psalm 18:33 where David declared Jehovah "makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me upon my high places." (cp Hab 3:19 - NET Note = David "compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured.", cp Isa 58:14) We see he effect of Israel's high places on Jehovah in Ps 78:58 = "For they provoked Him with their high places and aroused His jealousy with their graven images." A sad phrase that is repeated again and again (speaking of Israel) is "the high places were not taken away" (1Ki 15:14, 2Chr 15:17 = King Asa but notice he did remove some of them - 2Chr 14:3, 5, 1Ki 22:43, 2Chr 20:33 = King Jehoshaphat, 2Ki 12:3 = King Jehoash, 2Ki 14:4 = King Amaziah, 2Ki 15:4 = King Azariah, 2Ki 15:35 = King Jotham son of Uzziah and look what his son did in 2Ki 16:1-4!, 2Chr 20:33). In many of these passages the context was of a king doing "spiritual house cleaning" so to speak and yet still failing to remove the high places. Isn't sin that way? We confess one or two sins but we have a little pet sin (better a "venomous viper") that we just don't have the heart to kill! God grant us spiritual eyes and hearts to learn from Israel's mistakes. Amen! Some kings like Hezekiah (1Ki 18:4, 2Chr 31:1, Isa 36:7) and Josiah (2Ki 23:4,8, 13, 15, 19-20, 2Chr 34:3 cp prophecy about Josiah 300 years earlier = 1Ki 13:2) did destroy the high places, but in Hezekiah's case his own son Manasseh rebuilt them (2Ki 21:1-2, 3, 2Chr 33:3) and in Josiah's case the people rebuilt them! One of the most incredible (and saddest) verses in the OT (in my opinion) is "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon." (1Ki 11:7, cp 1Ki 3:3 = Solomon had "half a heart" for God!) This was too much for Jehovah and He declared that the 12 tribes would be split as a result of Solomon's sin! Sin is costly. You may think you are getting away with it, but you are not! You may think you are the wisest man in the world (like Solomon) but you are really the most foolish (as Solomon was)! There was one high place that was not idolatrous (at least not at the outset) - "Then Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place which was at Gibeon; for God's tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness." (2Chr 1:3, cp 1Chr 16:39-40, 21:29). Cut down (03772)(karath) literally means to cut, to cut off or to sever an object from its source or cut into parts and implies a violent action. For example, Zipporah "cut off her son’s foreskin." (Ex 4:25) or the Jews "cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes." (Nu 13:2-24, cf Dt 19:5, 20:19-20, Jdg 9:48-49, 1Sa 5:4, 17:51, 24:4-5,11, 31:9, 2Sa 10:4, 2Sa 20:22) In another literal use as punishment to Israel for breaking the Mosaic covenant (cf Dt 29:25, 31:16), God says He will "cut down (karath) your incense altars" (Lev 26:30, cf Jdg 6:25-26, cf 1Sa 28:9). Idols (01544) (gillul/gillulim - latter is the plural form = all OT uses are plural) means logs, blocks, shapeless things. This word describes "an object (not necessarily three dimensional) which has been formed to resemble a person, god, animal." (Louw-Nida). Idols is translated in this verse in the LXX with the Greek word eidolon. What effect do idols have on our hands and heart? (God's solution = 2 Cor 7:1-note). For - term of explanation - What is God explaining? My soul shall abhor you - This is a horrible thought, that the Almighty God abhors Israel. Of course what He really abhors is their gross idolatry. Abhors (01602) see gaal George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26 I will destroy your high places. What those were is not agreed, but probably they were raised places, artificial eminences, upon which they were wont to worship their idols. The word rendered ‘images’ clearly denotes some species of idol, though of what particular kind is doubtful. Comp. 2 Chron. 34:7. The probability is that they were some kind of idolatrous fabrication, dedicated to the sun. And cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols. They shall be denied a seemly burial or a quiet repose in their graves. Thus Ezek. 6:4, 5, 13, ‘I will cast down your slain men before your idols; and I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.’ Comp. 2 Kings 23:20. 2 Chron. 34:5. Leviticus 26:31 'I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. LXE And I will lay your cities waste, and I will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell the savour of your sacrifices. CSB I will reduce your cities to ruins and devastate your sanctuaries. I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices. ESV And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. KJV And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. NET I will lay your cities waste and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. NIV I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. NLT I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of pagan worship. I will take no pleasure in your offerings that should be a pleasing aroma to me. YLT and I have made your cities a waste, and have made desolate your sanctuaries, and I smell not at your sweet fragrances; And I will make (KJV): 2Ki 25:4-10 2Ch 36:19 Ne 2:3,17 Isa 1:7 24:10-12 Jer 4:7 9:11 La 1:1 2:7 Eze 6:6 21:15 Mic 3:12 and bring (KJV): Ps 74:3-8 Jer 22:5 26:6,9 52:13 La 1:10 Eze 9:6 21:7 24:21 Mt 24:1,2 Lu 21:5,6,24 Ac 6:14 I will not smell (KJV): Ge 8:21 Isa 1:11-14 66:3 Am 5:21-23 Heb 10:26 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Waste (ruins) (02723)(chorbah from chareb = to be laid waste, devastated, utterly ruined) is a feminine noun which describes that which lays in waste, desolation or ruin. A variety of entities were described as ruins or waste including (as in the present context) the cities of Israel (Lev 26:31, 33, 44:6, Ezek 35:4, Daniel 9:2), the Temple (Jer 22:5 and Ezra 9:9 latter actually speaking of God's restoration of the ruins after the return from Babylonian exile), the reputation of the nation of Judah (Ezek 5:14), the Land of Judah (Jer 7:34, 25:11, 44:22), the kings of Judah (Jer 25:18), or homes (Ps 109:10). In Isaiah God promises repeatedly and prophetically to restore the ruins, the fulfillment of this promise awaiting the coming of the Millennial Age (Isa 44:26, 51:3; 52:9; 58:12, 61:4, cp Ezek 36:10-note, Ezek 36:33-note). As you study the various entities that are in ruins, you see that the one common denominator in each situation is the stubborn, unrelenting, unrepentant practice of sin. In Ps 9:6 chorbah seems to refer to eternal ruin - "The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished (Lxx = apollumi as in Mt 10:28)." Gilbrant writes that chareb "generally appears in imagery of God's judgment against his people (Jer. 25:11) or oppressive foreign nations (Isa. 5:17; Ezek. 36:10). The rebuilding of ruins is symbolic of cessation of divine judgment (Ezek. 25:13; Mal. 1:4). The occurrence in Job 3:14 is taken by some to mean "pyramid."" (Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary) Gesenius Definition of chorbah - חָרְבָּה plur. חֳרָבוֹת, with art. הֶחֳרָבוֹת const. חָרְבוֹת f. (1) dryness, pl. dry places, Isaiah 48:21 (2) a desolation, a place laid waste, ruins. Leviticus 26:31, “I will lay your cities waste.” to build up ruins or places laid waste. Ezekiel 36:10, 33 Ezekiel 36:33, 38:12 Malachi 1:4; Isaiah 58:12, 61:4. Job 3:14, “kings and counsellors of the earth who have built ruins for themselves,” i.e. splendid edifices, presently however to fall into ruins, Synonymous with this is הֵקִים חֳרָבוֹת Isaiah 44:26. חָרְבוֹת מֵחִים the ruins, i.e. the ruined houses of the rich, Isaiah 5:17 Brown-Driver-Briggs Expanded Definition - chorbah - חָרְבָּה noun feminine waste, desolation, ruin; — absolute ׳ח Leviticus 26:31 15t. + Ezekiel 38:8 (strike out ᵑ6 Co) + Ezekiel 38:12 חרבהᵐ5 Co for חרבות; plural חֳרָבוֺת Psalm 9:7 11t. ( Ezekiel 38:12, compare above); construct חָרְבוֺת Isaiah 5:17 7t.; suffix חָרְבֹתַיִךְ Isaiah 49:19; חָרְבֹתָיו Ezra 9:9; חָרְבֹתֶיהָ Isaiah 51:3; חָרְבוֺתֶיהָ Isaiah 44:26; חָרְבוֺתֵיהֶם Psalm 109:10 2 Chronicles 34:6 (compare חֶרֶב and below); (chiefly mid. and late Hebrew Isa28t.; Jeremiah 10t., Ezekiel 14t. — including Ezekiel 38:8, q. strike out Co); — 1 waste, ruin, of cities of Israel Leviticus 26:31,33 (H); Judah Isaiah 44:26; Isaiah 49:19 ("" שֹׁמְמֹת), Isaiah 58:12 (בנה), Jeremiah 25:18; Jeremiah 27:17; Jeremiah 44:2,6; Ezekiel 5:14; ruins of Jerusalem Isaiah 52:9; Daniel 9:2; also Ezekiel 35:4; compare Malachi 1:4 (with בנה), Ezekiel 36:10 (with בנה) Ezekiel 36:33 ( id.); Egypt Ezekiel 29:9,10 (in both "" שְׁמָמָה; חרבות חֹרֶב in Ezekiel 29:10); ruin of temple Ezra 9:9; = ruined dwellings Psalm 109:10; compare 2 Chronicles 34:6, where read perhaps בְּחָרְבֹתֵיהֶם for בּחר בתיהם (see חֶרֶב below III. חרב); Jeremiah 22:5; in General ruins (si vera 1., see Di; object of בנה) Job 3:14; ׳כוס ח Psalm 102:7 an owl of a ruin. 2 of land: waste place amid ruins Isaiah 5:17, compare Isaiah 51:3 ("" מִדְבָּר, עֲרָבָה); land a desolation Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 44:22; Ezekiel 25:13 (Edom) Jeremiah 25:11; Isaiah 64:10 and Ezekiel 33:24,27 (of Judah), compare Ezekiel 13:4, ׳כְשֻׁעָלִים בח simile of the prophets; הַשֹּׁמֵמוֺת׳הח Ezekiel 36:4 (of Israel); of desolation of enemies of Israel Psalm 9:7 (לָנֶ֫צַח׳ח); עולם׳ח = old ruins Isaiah 61:4 (with בנה); elsewhere perpetual ruin, desolation Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 49:13 (cities of Bosra); מעולם׳ה Ezekiel 26:20 (simile of Tyre). Chorbah - 42x in 42 verses - Usage: deserts(1), desolation(4), desolations(1), ruin(6), ruined homes(1), ruins(11), waste(7), waste places(10), wastes(1). Leviticus 26:31 'I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. Leviticus 26:33 'You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. 2 Chronicles 34:6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins, Ezra 9:9 "For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. Job 3:14 With kings and with counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves; Psalm 9:6 The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, And You have uprooted the cities; The very memory of them has perished. Psalm 102:6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. Psalm 109:10 Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Isaiah 5:17 Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy. Isaiah 44:26 Confirming the word of His servant And performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited!' And of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built.' And I will raise up her ruins again. Isaiah 48:21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth. Isaiah 49:19 "For your waste and desolate places and your destroyed land-- Surely now you will be too cramped for the inhabitants, And those who swallowed you will be far away. Isaiah 51:3 Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. Isaiah 52:9 Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. Isaiah 58:12 "Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. Isaiah 61:4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Isaiah 64:11 Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin. Jeremiah 7:34 "Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin. Jeremiah 22:5 "But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself," declares the LORD, "that this house will become a desolation."'" Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' declares the LORD, 'and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Jeremiah 25:11 'This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Jeremiah 25:18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day; Jeremiah 27:17 "Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a ruin? Jeremiah 44:2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'You yourselves have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are in ruins and no one lives in them, Jeremiah 44:6 'Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a ruin and a desolation as it is this day. Jeremiah 44:22 "So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. Jeremiah 49:13 "For I have sworn by Myself," declares the LORD, "that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin and a curse; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins." Ezekiel 5:14 'Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by. Ezekiel 13:4 "O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. Ezekiel 25:13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "I will also stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from Teman even to Dedan they will fall by the sword. Ezekiel 26:20 then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory in the land of the living. Ezekiel 29:9 "The land of Egypt will become a desolation and waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, 'The Nile is mine, and I have made it,' Ezekiel 33:24 "Son of man, they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to us who are many the land has been given as a possession.' Ezekiel 33:27 "Thus you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. Ezekiel 35:4 "I will lay waste your cities And you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 36:4 'Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, Ezekiel 36:10 'I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. Ezekiel 36:33 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. Ezekiel 38:8 "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. Ezekiel 38:12 to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.' Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Malachi 1:4 Though Edom says, "We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins"; thus says the LORD of hosts, "They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever." Make desolate (appalled, astonished) (08074)(shamen/samen) means ruin or waste and is a primary root which refers to a desolation caused by some great disaster, usually a result of divine judgment and is used of people (2 Sa 13:20; Lam 1:13, 16) and places (Lev. 26:31, 32; Isa. 61:4; Ezek 35:12). Shamem also refers to the reaction to such a ruin, including consternation, astonishment, or being appalled (Job 18:20; Isa. 52:14; Jer. 18:16). Shamen often describes a person’s reaction on seeing desolation and destruction (1Ki 9:8) The following verse (Lev 26:32) uses shamen/samen twice and conveys both of the ideas inherent in shamen - first idea of the desolation and then the reaction to the desolation ('I will make the land desolate [shamen] so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled [shamen] over it.) Webster's English definition of desolate - Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; devoid of inhabitants and visitors; joyless, disconsolate, and sorrowful through or as if through separation from a loved one, showing the effects of abandonment and neglect; barren, lifeless (desolate landscape). Verb = to lay waste, to make wretched. Webster's English definition of appalled - to overcome with consternation, shock, or dismay; causing extreme dismay, horror, or revulsion The Septuagint translates shamen here with the strong verb exeremoo which means to make quite desolate, to leave destitute, to abandon and is used only in the Septuagint not the NT (Lev 26:31, 32, Jdg 16:26, 2 Ki 19:24, Isa 37:46) I will not smell - The NIV has "I will take no delight in" and NLT has "I will take no pleasure in." Merrill Unger comments on "I will not smell" noting that "Here empty ritualism, even when done in the right "form," that is, according to the literal regulations and therefore able to produce "the pleasing aroma" outwardly, is not acceptable to God for the purpose of making atonement (Lev. 1:4, 9). The verb ryij means "smell, perceive odor" (BDB, 926) and so God's declaration that he will not "smell" their offerings is a choice on his part due to their continued sinfulness and his decision to send them into exile. The breath of man was given him by the LORD God (Ge 2:7). Now the LORD seeks to enjoy the smell that man can produce as he offers obedient sacrifices. The goal of OT sacrifice as evidenced by Noah was that God could smell the sacrifice as a pleasing aroma (Ge 8:21). This figure is further seen in the NT when the prayers of the saints rise like incense to God (Rev. 5:8)." (The Bible Knowledge Key Word Study) George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26 I will make your cities waste. The fulfilment of this minatory prediction has been so signal, that we cannot refrain from inserting from Keith the following graphic illustration of its effects. ‘By the concurring testimony of all travellers, Judea may now be called a field of ruins. Columns, the memorials of ancient magnificence, now covered with rubbish, and buried under ruins, may be found in all Syria. From Mount Tabor is beheld an immensity of plains, interspersed with hamlets, fortresses, and heaps of ruins. Of the celebrated cities Capernaum, Bethsaida, Gadara, Tarichea, and Chorazin, nothing remains but shapeless ruins. Some vestiges of Emmaus may still be seen. Cana is a very paltry village. The ruins of Tekoa present only the foundations of some considerable buildings. The city of Nain is now a hamlet. The ruins of the ancient Sapphura announce the previous existence of a large city, and its name is still preserved in the appellation of a miserable village called Sephoury. Loudd, the ancient Lydda and Diospolis, appears like a place lately ravaged by fire and sword, and is one continued heap of rubbish and ruins. Ramla, the ancient Arimathea, is in almost as ruinous a state. Nothing but rubbish is to be found within is boundaries. In the adjacent country there are found at every step dry wells, cisterns fallen in, and vast vaulted reservoirs, which prove that in ancient times this town must have been upwards of a league and a half in circumference. Cæsarea can no longer excite the envy of a conqueror, and has long been abandoned to silent desolation. The city of Tiberias is now almost abandoned, and its subsistence precarious; of the towns that bordered on its lake there are no traces left. Zabulon, once the rival of Tyre and Sidon, is a heap of ruins. A few shapeless stones, unworthy the attention of the traveller, mark the site of the Safire. The ruins of Jericho, covering no less than a square mile, are surrounded with complete desolation; and there is not a tree of any description, either of palm or balsam, and scarcely any verdure or bushes to be seen about the site of this abandoned city. Bethel is not to be found. The ruins of Sarepta, and of several large cities in its vicinity, are now ‘mere rubbish, and are only distinguishable as the sites of towns by heaps of dilapidated stones and fragments of columns.’ How marvellously are the predictions of their desolation verified, when in general nothing but ruined ruins form the most distinguished remnants of the cities of Israel; and when the multitude of its towns are almost all left, with many a vestige to testify of their number, but without a mark to tell their name.’ And bring your sanctuaries unto desolation. As they had, properly speaking, but one sanctuary, the term here is undoubtedly used in a large sense including the tabernacle, the temple, and the various synagogues scattered over the land. Leviticus 26:32 'I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. And I: De 29:23 Isa 1:7,8 5:6,9 6:11 24:1 32:13,14 64:10 Jer 9:11 Jer 25:11,18,38 44:2,22 La 5:18 Eze 33:28,29 Da 9:2,18 Hab 3:17 Lu 21:20 and your: De 28:37 29:24-28 1Ki 9:8 Jer 18:16 19:8 La 4:12 Eze 5:15 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE PROMISED LAND LAID WASTE I will (or I shall) - Jehovah's personal promise to do something occurs 21 times in Leviticus 26 - 4 times it is for Israel's blessing (Lev. 26:4, 6, 9, 11) and 14 times for Israel's "bad" (Lev. 26:12; Lev. 26:16; Lev. 26:17; Lev. 26:18; Lev. 26:19; Lev. 26:21; Lev. 26:22; Lev. 26:24; Lev. 26:25; Lev. 26:28; Lev. 26:31; Lev. 26:32; Lev. 26:33; Lev. 26:36) and 3 times in the context of promising future restoration (Lev. 26:42; Lev. 26:44; Lev. 26:45) Make desolate...appalled (08074) (shamen/samen) means to ruin or waste and is a primary root which refers to a desolation caused by some great disaster, usually a result of divine judgment and is used of people (2 Sam. 13:20; Lam. 1:13, 16) and places (Lev. 26:31, 32; Isa. 61:4; Ezek. 35:12). Shamem also refers to the reaction to such a ruin, including consternation, astonishment, or being appalled (Job 18:20; Isa. 52:14; Jer. 18:16). Shamen often describes a person’s reaction on seeing desolation and destruction (1Ki 9:8) Lev 26:32 uses shamen/samen twice and conveys both of the ideas of this word the desolation and the reaction to the desolation = 'I will make the land desolate (shamen) so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled (shamen) over it. Webster's English definition of desolate - Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; devoid of inhabitants and visitors; joyless, disconsolate, and sorrowful through or as if through separation from a loved one, showing the effects of abandonment and neglect; barren, lifeless (desolate landscape). Verb = to lay waste, to make wretched. Moses describes this desolation more vividly Deuteronomy 29:23 All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’ Leviticus 26:33 'You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. NETS Septuagint And you I will scatter into the nations, and the dagger, coming by surprise, will utterly destroy you, and your land shall be desolate, and your cities shall be desolate. NET I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste. KJV 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. CSB But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword to chase after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins. ESV And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. NLT I will scatter you among the nations and bring out my sword against you. Your land will become desolate, and your cities will lie in ruins. Dt 4:27 28:64-66 Ps 44:11 Jer 9:16 La 1:3 Lam 4:15 Eze 12:14-16 Eze 20:23 22:15 Zec 7:14 Lu 21:24 Jas 1:1 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries You, however, I will scatter among the nations: exiles to Assyria and Babylonia (2 Chr 36:21, cp Lv 26:34) (Dt 4:27, 28:64, Ps 44:11, Jer 9:16, James 1:1) and later scattered essentially throughout the nations of the world, which is Israel's fate in our modern day, despite the rebirth of the nation of Israel. Will draw out a sword after you - Young's Literal - "and have drawn out after you a sword" As your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste - Reduced in population (devoid of inhabitants) with extensive destruction to the point of utter ruin. Waste (waste places, ruins, desolation) (02723)(chorbah) describes a place destroyed, in rubble, implying depopulation and desolation. George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26 I will scatter you among the heathen. Heb. אזרה ezrah, I will fan or winnow you. The terra properly implies that kind of scattering which is the effect of winnowing grain, where the chaff is carried away by the wind. Comp. a similar use of the word, Ps. 44:12, Zech. 7:14 Leviticus 26:34 'Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. Lev 25:2-4,10 2Ch 36:21 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE LAND WILL BE GIVEN ITS SABBATH RESTS Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths: There were approximately 490 years in Israel's monarchy, from Saul to Zedekiah, followed by the 70 years of Babylonian captivity (Jer 25:11,12). While it may seem incredible, the fact is that during this 490 years the nation consistently failed to observe God's command for Sabbatical and Jubilee years (What is a sabbatical year?). The penalty was 1 year of rest for the land for each 7 years. Hence, the LORD enforced seventy years of rest which were due His land. The instructions for the land were given in Leviticus 25 Leviticus 25:2-7 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 ‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, 4 but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 ‘Your harvest’s aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6 ‘All of you shall have the Sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. 7 ‘Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat. The penalty for the failure to keep the Sabbaths for the land was 70 years 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete. TSK note: This was fulfilled during the Babylonian captivity: for, from Saul to the captivity are about 490 years, during which period there were 70 sabbaths of years neglected by the Hebrews. Now the Babylonish captivity lasted 70 years, and during that time the land of Israel rested. George Bush - Leviticus Notes Critical and Practical - Leviticus 26 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate. This is shown by Houbigant to have proved to be a historical fact. From Saul to the Babylonish captivity are numbered about 490 years, during which period there were of course 70 sabbaths of years (What is a sabbatical year?). Now the Babylonish captivity lasted 70 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 law relative to the sabbatic years. Leviticus 26:35 'All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it. Isa 24:5,6 Ro 8:22 Leviticus 26 Commentaries - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries This verse continues from Lev 26:34 reiterating the desolation of the land was to allow it to rest, something which was not done by Israel every seventh year for 490 years. In short, Israel had missed 70 Sabbatical years and their exile from the land would allow it to rest for 70 years and make up for the lost years. Sabbaths (07676)(sabbat) comes from the verb shabath (07673) meaning to desist (from exertion), cease (see this use of the verb in Ge 8:22, Jer 31:36), rest (first used of God resting in Creation - Ge 2:2-3), repose, cease from labor. So here the noun form sabbat means intermission, the Sabbath (day), the day of rest, the holy seventh day; a week, the sacred 7th year, a sabbatical year. It was not until the giving of the Law at Mt Sinai that the keeping of the Sabbath became a part of the law and a sign of God's covenant relationship with His people (Ex 20:8-11 Ex 31:12-17). Sabbath = rest for the land: Lev 25:4 but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. Comment: This demonstrates God's concern for His creation! Sabbatical Year was the year when land not tilled (Lev 25:4ff.). In a very real sense the land of Palestine needed a rest from the sin of the sons of Israel. The length of the Babylonian captivity was determined by the extent of Israel's abuse of the Sabbatical year (2Chr 36:21 [cf. Lev 26:33, 34, 35]). After they had learned their lesson of 70 years of exile, God allowed them to return to the land of Israel.