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Leviticus Chapter Twenty-six

 

Leviticus 26 Outlines

Promise of Blessing and Retribution (v.1~46)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 26

In this chapter after a repetition of some laws against idolatry and concerning keeping sabbaths and reverencing the sanctuary of God Leviticus 26:1; in order to encourage the Israelites to keep the various statutes and commandments in this book and in the preceding many promises are made of plenty and peace and safety from enemies and of the presence of God with them Leviticus 26:3; and on the contrary to such as should despise and break his commandments the most grievous things are threatened as diseases of body destruction by their enemies barrenness and unfruitfulness of land the sore judgments of wild beasts famine sword and pestilence Leviticus 26:14; and yet after all when they should confess their sins and were humbled for them the Lord promises to remember the covenant he made with their ancestors and would deal kindly with them and not cast them away and utterly destroy them Leviticus 26:40.

 

Leviticus 26:1.  ‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.

   YLT  1`Ye do not make to yourselves idols; and graven image or standing image ye do not set up to yourselves; and a stone of imagery ye do not put in your land to bow yourselves to it; for I [am] Jehovah your God.

Ye shall have no idols or graven image .... Some of the Jewish writers as Jarchi and Aben Ezra think this law against idolatry is mentioned on account of the Israelite sold to a stranger spoken of in the latter part of the preceding chapter lest he should be drawn into idolatry; See Gill on Leviticus 25:48; but this is rather mentioned as being a principal law respecting the honour and glory of God and the foundation of all religion and godliness and the breach of it a capital crime and which led on to other sins and exposed to the displeasure and resentment of God and brought on all the calamities after mentioned in this chapter. "Idols" here signify "things of nought" as an idol is nothing in the world 1 Corinthians 8:4; and a "graven image" any likeness of man or beast cut out of wood or stone; and may include any molten image of gold silver or brass and then engraven with a tool as the golden calf was Exodus 32:4

neither rear you up a standing image; or pillarF7מצבה στηλην Sept. "titulos" V. L. "titulum" Samar. Ar. "pillar" Ainsworth. ; an heap of rude stones set up pillar not bearing the likeness of any creature; otherwise graven and molten images were standing ones but these were statues without any figure; such as the Arabians used to worship; the god Mars worshipped in Arabia Petraea was no other than a black stone four square unformed four feet high and two broad and was placed on a basis of goldF8"Suidas in voce" θευς αρης Vid. Arnob. adv. Gentes l. 6. p. 232. :

neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land to bow down unto; any "figured stone" as the Targum and Aben Ezra interpret it which had figures and representations of creatures cut in it in order to bow down unto and worship: the word has the signification of covering as they cover a floor with a pavement of stones:

for I am the Lord your God; who is the alone object of religious worship and adoration.

 

Leviticus 26:2.  2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

   YLT  2`My sabbaths ye do keep and My sanctuary ye do reverence; I [am] Jehovah.

Ye shall keep my sabbaths .... The seventh day sabbaths and the seventh year sabbaths; especially the former are meant in which religious worship was given to the one true and living God and therefore the observance of them is strictly enjoined; and hence this law follows closely upon the former though Aben Ezra restrains it to the sabbatical years or seventh year sabbaths as he applies the sanctuary in the following clause to the jubilee year which is said to be holy Leviticus 26:12; supposing that this refers unto and stands in strict connection with the laws of the preceding chapter concerning the sabbatical Leviticus 25:1 and jubilee years Leviticus 25:8

and reverence my sanctuary; by attending in it and on the worship in it with reverence and godly fear see Leviticus 19:30

I am the Lord; who had a right to such religious worship and to command such things in which he ought to be obeyed his sabbaths kept and sanctuary reverenced.

 

Leviticus 26:3.  3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and perform them

   YLT  3`If in My statutes ye walk and My commands ye keep and have done them

If ye walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and do them. Both moral ceremonial and judicial which had been delivered unto them and now completely recorded in this and the preceding book; for what follow in the two next are chiefly repetitions of what are contained in these.

 

Leviticus 26:4.  4 then I will give you rain in its season the land shall yield its produce and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

   YLT  4then I have given your rains in their season and the land hath given her produce and the tree of the field doth give its fruit;

Then I will give you rain in due season .... The former and latter rain in the two seasons of the year in which rain usually fell and the Scriptures frequently speak of; and when the land of Israel which required rain not being watered with a river as Egypt was blessed with it; the one was at the sowing of their seed or a little after it and the other a little before harvest; and when it was had in those times it was had in due season and hence the word is in the plural number "your rains"F9גשמיכם "pluvias vestras" Pagninus Montanus Tigurine version Junius & Tremellius Piscator. ; unless showers of rain are meant: to encourage to keep the commands of God promises of many outward good things are made; and this is the first being a principal blessing and which only God and not all the vanities of the Gentiles could give:

and the land shall yield her increase; which is greatly owing to seasonable showers of rain by which means the earth brings forth bread to the eater and seed to the sower corn and grass for man and beast:

and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; vines olives pomegranates figs &c. are meant with which the land of Israel abounded Deuteronomy 8:8.

 

Leviticus 26:5.  5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land safely.

   YLT  5and reached to you hath the threshing the gathering and the gathering doth reach the sowing-[time]; and ye have eaten your bread to satiety and have dwelt confidently in your land.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time .... Signifying that there should be such plentiful harvests of barley and wheat the first of which began in March as would employ them in threshing them out unto the time of vintage which may be supposed to be in the month of July; for on the twenty ninth of Sivan which was about the middle of June was the time of the first ripe grapes as appears; see Gill on Numbers 13:20; and that they should have such quantities of grapes on their vines as would employ them in gathering and pressing them until seedtime which was usually in October see Amos 9:13

and ye shall eat your bread to the full; which is put for all provisions; and the meaning is they should have plenty of food eat full meals or however what they ate whether little or much should be satisfying and refreshing to them having it with a divine blessing:

and dwell in your land safely; would have no need to go out of it into other lands for the sake of food and would be in no danger from enemies invading them and carrying off their substance; plenty without safety would not be so great a blessing as with it since though they had it they might be deprived of it wherefore security from enemies is promised.

 

Leviticus 26:6.  6 I will give peace in the land and you shall lie down and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts and the sword will not go through your land.

   YLT  6`And I have given peace in the land and ye have lain down and there is none causing trembling; and I have caused evil beasts to cease out of the land and the sword doth not pass over into your land.

And I will give peace in the land .... Among yourselves as Aben Ezra; that as safety from enemies is promised before here it is assured they should be free from insurrections and from riots broils contentions and civil wars among themselves:

and ye shall lie down and none shall make you afraid; that is lie down upon their beds and sleep quietly and comfortably and not be in any fear of thieves and robbers breaking in upon them Psalm 3:5

and I will rid evil beasts out of the land: out of the land of Israel as the Targum of Jonathan not out of the world such as lions bears wolves &c. which were sometimes troublesome and mischievous in the land:

neither shall the sword go through your land; either the sword of the enemy which if it entered should not be suffered to proceed much less to pervade the land and destroy the inhabitants of it: so the Targum of Jonathan "they that draw the sword shall not pass through your land 'or the sword of the Lord that is the pestilence 1 Chronicles 21:12; as Ainsworth suggests; though the JewsF11T. Bab. Taanith fol. 22. 1. 2. commonly understand it of the sword of peace as they call it though that is of one that is not an enemy but passes through one country to destroy another; which yet is distressing to the country he passes through as in the case of Pharaoh Necho whom Josiah went out to meet 2 Chronicles 35:20; though by what follows it seems rather to be the first of these.

 

Leviticus 26:7.  7 You will chase your enemies and they shall fall by the sword before you.

   YLT  7`And ye have pursued your enemies and they have fallen before you by the sword;

And ye shall chase your enemies .... Who being overcome in battle and put to the flight should be pursued:

and they shall fall before you by the sword; not by the sword of one another as the Midianites did Judges 7:21 so Jarchi; but rather by the sword of the Israelites for oftentimes multitudes of the enemy are killed in a pursuit.

 

Leviticus 26:8.  8 Five of you shall chase a hundred and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

   YLT  8and five of you have pursued a hundred and a hundred of you do pursue a myriad; and your enemies have fallen before you by the sword.

And five of you shall chase an hundred .... One man chase twenty:

and an hundred of you put ten thousand to flight; which had it been in proportion to the other number should have been two thousand as in Deuteronomy 32:30; where there is a proportion observed; and Abendana observes there are some that give the sense of it thus an hundred of you an hundred times five that is five hundred and so it comes up to a right computation; but here it seems to be a certain number for an uncertain and only a proverbial expression signifying that a very few under the blessing of divine Providence should get the advantage over a large number and oblige them to retire and pursue them closely: instances we have of large bodies of the enemy being defeated by a small number of Israelites Judges 7:21; and even many by a single person or two 1 Samuel 14:13

and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword; See Gill on Leviticus 26:7.

 

Leviticus 26:9.  9 ‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.

   YLT  9`And I have turned unto you and have made you fruitful and have multiplied you and have established My covenant with you;

For I will have respect unto you .... Look at them with delight and pleasure and with a careful eye on them watch over them to do them good and protect them from all evil; or turn himself to them from all others having a particular regard for them and special care of them:

and make you fruitful and multiply you; increase their number as he did in Egypt even amidst all their afflictions; and much more might they expect this blessing in the land of Canaan when settled there which is the original blessing of mankind see Genesis 1:28

and establish my covenant with you; not the new covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 31:31; as Jarchi and other Jewish writersF12Torat Cohenim apud Yalkut par. 1. fol. 196. 3. suggest; for that was not to take place but in future time under the Gospel dispensation; but rather the covenant made with them at Sinai though perhaps it chiefly respects the covenant made with their ancestors concerning multiplication of their seed as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea Genesis 15:5 since it follows upon the promise of an increase of them.

 

Leviticus 26:10.  10 You shall eat the old harvest and clear out the old because of the new.

   YLT  10and ye have eaten old [store] and the old because of the new ye bring out.

And ye shall eat old store .... What is very old corn of three years old as Jarchi and KimchiF13Sepher Shorash. rad. ישן. interpret it; such plenty should they have that it would be so long consuming:

and bring forth the old because of the new; out of their barns and granaries to make room for the new which they should have great quantities of and scarce know where to bestow them; and therefore should empty their treasures and garners of the old and fill them with new; or they should bring them forth out of their barns into their houses to make use of themselves or into their markets to expose to sale being under no temptation to withhold against a time of scarcity in order to make more of it see Proverbs 11:26; now all these temporal blessings promised may be emblems of spiritual things and might be so understood by such who were spiritually enlightened; as of the rain of divine grace and the blessings of it and of the doctrines of the Gospel sometimes compared thereunto Deuteronomy 32:2; and of great fruitfulness in grace and good works and of internal peace in the minds of good men and of their safety and security from spiritual enemies; of fulness of spiritual provisions even of things new and old and which are laid up for them Song of Solomon 7:13; thus promises of a spiritual nature more manifestly follow.

 

Leviticus 26:11.  11 I will set My tabernacle among you and My soul shall not abhor you.

   YLT  11`And I have given My tabernacle in your midst and My soul doth not loathe you;

And I will set my tabernacle amongst you .... Which God had directed them to make and they had made and also erected; but here he promises to fix and establish it among them that so it might continue as a place for the public worship of him and where he would take up his residence and grant them his presence; so the Targum of Jonathan "I will put the Shechinah of my glory among you:"

and my soul shall not abhor you; though in themselves and because of their sins loathsome and abominable; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are "my Word shall not abhor you;'and the whole may have respect to Christ the Word made flesh and tabernacling among them; the tabernacle being a type and emblem of the human nature of Christ in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily and is the true tabernacle which God pitched and not man John 1:14.

 

Leviticus 26:12.  12 I will walk among you and be your God and you shall be My people.

   YLT  12and I have walked habitually in your midst and have become your God and ye -- ye are become My people;

And I will walk among you .... As they journeyed from place to place he walked among them in the tabernacle built for him see 2 Samuel 7:6; it may be expressive of the familiarity and communion which the Lord grants to his people in and through Christ:

and will be your God; to provide for them and supply them with all the blessings of his goodness both in providence and grace; and to protect and defend them against all their enemies temporal and spiritual:

and ye shall be my people; appear to be a special and peculiar people of his chosen redeemed and sanctified by him and to whom he bore a special love and took special care of; see 2 Corinthians 6:16; the Targum of Jonathan of the whole is "I will make the glory of my Shechinah dwell among you and my Word shall be unto you for God the Redeemer and ye shall be to my name for a people of Holy Ones.'

 

Leviticus 26:13.  13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.

   YLT  13I [am] Jehovah your God who have brought you out of the land of the Egyptians from being their servants; and I break the bars of your yoke and cause you to go erect.

I am the Lord your Lord which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt .... Who having done that was able to fulfil the above promises; and which may be considered as an earnest and pledge of them as well as be a motive to the Israelites and an obligation upon them to obey the commandments of God and walk in his statutes:

that ye should not be their bondmen; this was the end of their being brought out of Egypt that they might be no longer in a state of bondage to the Egyptians nor to any other but to serve the Lord their God by whom they were delivered; as those who are redeemed by Christ from worse than Egyptian bondage from sin Satan and the law are redeemed that they might not be the servants of any but be a peculiar people zealous of good works to serve the Lord Christ:

and I have broken the bands of your yoke; which fastened it on their shoulders that is set them at full liberty from the yoke of all their enemies particularly the Egyptians who made their lives bitter in hard bondage making the yoke of it heavy upon them; as Christ has broken the yoke of spiritual enemies from off the shoulders and necks of his people Isaiah 10:27

and made you go upright; who before stooped under the yoke as well as were of dejected countenances but now were made to walk in an erect stature as the Targum of Jonathan and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra or in liberty as Onkelos; see Galatians 5:1; and with heads lift up and countenances cheerful.

 

Leviticus 26:14.  14 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments

   YLT  14`And if ye do not hearken to Me and do not all these commands;

But if ye will not hearken unto me .... To his commandments as the rule of their duty and to his promises as an encouragement to it or to his prophets and ministers explaining and enforcing his law and exhorting to a cheerful obedience to it; so the Targum of Jonathan "if ye will not hearken to the doctrine of them that teach my laws;'which was the sin of the Jews in later times for which captivity and other calamities befell them Jeremiah 7:25

and will not do all these commandments; which he had delivered to them by Moses whether moral ceremonial or judicial recorded in this book and in the preceding; even all of them were to be respected attended to and performed for the law curses everyone that does not do all things it requires Galatians 3:10.

 

Leviticus 26:15.  15 and if you despise My statutes or if your soul abhors My judgments so that you do not perform all My commandments but break My covenant

   YLT  15and if at My statutes ye kick and if My judgments your soul loathe so as not to do all My commands -- to your breaking My covenant –

And if ye shall despise my statutes .... Which is an aggravated sin; to be negligent hearers of the commands of God is bad not to be doers of them worse but to treat them with contempt is worse still:

or if your soul abhor my judgments: which is worst of all to despise them as if not wisely or righteously made is a dreadful reflection upon the Maker of them; but to abhor them as bad things not fit to be regarded but to be had in the utmost detestation is shocking impiety:

so that ye will not do all my commandments; nor any of them but are set against them and determined and resolved on the contrary:

but that ye break my covenant; the covenant made with them at Sinai when they promised on their part that they would hearken and be obedient Exodus 24:7.

 

Leviticus 26:16.  16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it.

   YLT  16I also do this to you and I have appointed over you trouble the consumption and the burning fever consuming eyes and causing pain of soul; and your seed in vain ye have sowed and your enemies have eaten it;

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 diseases of the body are intended; for what we translate "terror" does not signify terror of mind but some sudden hasty terrible distemper; perhaps the pestilence as the Targum of Jonathan; some have thought of the falling sickness as Bishop Patrick because the word has the signification of haste and precipitance; and the second is a disease well known among us and so called from its wasting and consuming nature; Jarchi interprets it of a disease which swells the flesh either fills it with tumours and pustules the Septuagint calls it the itch; or with wind or water which has led some to think of the dropsy; and the last of them seems to be rightly rendered a burning ague or fever though the Septuagint takes it for the jaundice but that seems not to be so threatening terrible and dangerous as what may be here supposed: now these diseases and all others are by the appointment of God they come and go by his order and while they continue have the power over persons nor can they rid themselves of them at pleasure; and these have such an effect on persons seized by them as to cause dimness of sight a hollowness of their eyes which sink into the head as well as fill the heart with grief and sorrow; either through present pains and agonies or in a view of future judgment and wrath to come:

and ye shall sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it; either eat it up for forage before it is ripe or if ripe and gathered in the barn should come and besiege their cities and plunder their granaries.

 

Leviticus 26:17.  17 I will set My face against you and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you and you shall flee when no one pursues you.

   YLT  17and I have set My face against you and ye have been smitten before your enemies; and those hating you have ruled over you and ye have fled and there is none pursuing you.

And I will set my face against you .... Exert his power and stir up his wrath and indignation against them as enemies of his to cut them off; see Psalm 34:16; which is the reverse of having respect to them Leviticus 26:9

and ye shall be slain before your enemies; as they were sometimes by the Philistines and others:

and they that hate you shall reign over you; as did the Chaldeans and Babylonians; see Psalm 106:41

and ye shall flee when none pursueth you; of such pusillanimous spirits should they be and filled with such dread and terror of their enemies so contrary from what is promised them on their obedience Leviticus 26:8.

 

Leviticus 26:18.  18 ‘And after all this if you do not obey Me then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

   YLT  18`And if unto these ye hearken not to Me -- then I have added to chastise you seven times for your sins;

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me .... If such corrections by diseases of body and by giving them up into the hands of their enemies should be ineffectual to reform them and bring them to obedience to the statutes and commandments of God but should continue in their disobedience to him and rebellion against him:

then I will punish you seven times more for your sins; that is abundantly more with sorer punishments and these more frequently repeated.

 

Leviticus 26:19.  19 I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

   YLT  19and I have broken the pride of your strength and have made your heavens as iron and your earth as brass;

And I will break the pride of your power .... Which the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret of the sanctuary which they were proud of trusted in and boasted of; but was broke or destroyed first by Nebuchadnezzar then by the Romans: but it may rather signify their country the glory of all lands for its fruitfulness which for their sins should become barren as follows; or the multitude of their forces and the strength of their mighty men of war in which they put their confidence; it may take in everything civil and ecclesiastical they prided themselves with and had their dependence on thinking themselves safe on account of them but should be broken to shivers and be of no service to them:

and I will make your heaven as iron; so that neither dew nor rain shall descend from thence to make the earth fruitful; but on the contrary an heat should be reflected which would parch it and make it barren:

and your earth as brass; that the seed could not be cast into it nor anything spring out of it for the service of man and beast so that a famine must unavoidably follow.

 

Leviticus 26:20.  20 And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

   YLT  20and consumed hath been your strength in vain and your land doth not give her produce and the tree of the land doth not give its fruit.

And your strength shall be spent in vain .... In endeavouring to till the ground to plough or sow or to dig about the vines or olives and prune them:

for your land shall not yield its increase; produce corn and bring forth grass the one for the use of men the other for the use of the cattle and therefore both must starve:

neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits; such as vines olives figs pomegranates &c. which were very plentiful in the land of Judea and on which they much lived and on which their more comfortable subsistence at least depended see Habakkuk 3:17; all this is the reverse of Leviticus 26:4.

 

Leviticus 26:21.  21 ‘Then if you walk contrary to Me and are not willing to obey Me I will bring on you seven times more plagues according to your sins.

   YLT  21`And if ye walk with Me [in] opposition and are not willing to hearken to Me then I have added to you a plague seven times according to your sins

And if ye walk contrary unto me .... To his mind and will to his laws commands and ordinances showing no regard unto them by a walk and conversation agreeably to them but neglecting and breaking them continually; or by chance as the Targum of Jonathan not with any intention and design to obey the Lord and to honour and glorify him but in a careless and indifferent manner having no regard to the law of God only now and then as it happens act according to it but having no concern for the honour and glory of God:

and will not hearken unto me; to his voice in his laws and his precepts or by his prophets exhorting them to obedience to them:

I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins; greater and sorer punishments still and these more frequently repeated and in proportion to their transgressions of his righteous laws.

 

Leviticus 26:22.  22 I will also send wild beasts among you which shall rob you of your children destroy your livestock and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate.

  YLT  22and sent against you the beast of the field and it hath bereaved you; and I have cut off your cattle and have made you few and your ways have been desolate.

I will also send wild beasts among you .... Either in a literal sense as lions bears wolves &c. and so is the reverse of what is promised to them on their doing well Leviticus 26:6; or figuratively mighty monarchs and cruel oppressors such as were the kings of Assyria and Babylon Jeremiah 50:17

which shall rob you of your children; as the bears in a literal sense destroyed the children of them in the times of Elisha 2 Kings 2:24

and destroy your cattle; the tame beasts who often become a prey to the wild ones as both those of the flock and of the herd sheep and oxen do to lions wolves &c.

and make you few in number; or diminish them their number by bereaving them of their children and their wealth and substance by destroying their cattle:

and your high ways shall be desolate; or ways the word high not being in the text and may signify both their public and private ones which would be all forsaken none caring to venture to walk in them for fear of beasts of prey.

 

Leviticus 26:23.  23 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me but walk contrary to Me

   YLT  23`And if by these ye are not instructed by Me and have walked with Me [in] opposition

And if ye will not be reformed by these things .... Corrected and amended by these punishments be prevailed upon to return from their evil ways to the Lord and walk in his commandments and keep his judgments and do them:

but will walk contrary unto me; See Gill on Leviticus 26:21.

 

Leviticus 26:24.  24 then I also will walk contrary to you and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

   YLT  24then I have walked -- I also -- with you in opposition and have smitten you even I seven times for your sins;

Then I will also walk contrary unto you .... Opposing himself unto them as their enemy fighting against them in his providence whetting his sword bending his bow and causing the arrows of his wrath and vengeance to fall upon them; or behaving towards them in a careless and indifferent manner not regarding what befell them showing no peculiar concern for them or as exercising any particular providence over them; but as if everything came by chance to them which was the language of their actions if not of their lips:

and will punish you yet seven times for your sins; add fresh corrections and these greater than before and more numerous in proportion to their aggravated transgressions.

 

Leviticus 26:25.  25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

   YLT  25and I have brought in on you a sword executing the vengeance of a covenant; and ye have been gathered unto your cities and I have sent pestilence into your midst and ye have been given into the hand of an enemy.

And I will bring a sword upon you .... War upon them by the sword of their enemies; they that use and kill with the sword as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; their neighbours that delighted in war and bore an implacable hatred unto them and gladly embraced every opportunity of shedding their blood and ravaging their country:

that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant; the covenant made with them at Sinai which they transgressed and for which vengeance would be taken on them in this way God so ordering it in his providence though the enemy meant it not Isaiah 10:5

and when ye are gathered together within your cities; from the fields and villages fleeing from the enemy invading and destroying to their fortified towns and cities for safety:

I will send the pestilence among you; which shall destroy those that escaped the sword and thought themselves safe in a strong city and even the very soldiers in the garrisons who were set for the defence of the city:

and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy; so many being taken off by the pestilence there would not be a sufficient number to defend the place and therefore obliged to give it up by which means those that escaped the pestilence would fall into the hands of the enemy.

 

Leviticus 26:26.  26 When I have cut off your supply of bread ten women shall bake your bread in one oven and they shall bring back your bread by weight and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

   YLT  26`In My breaking to you the staff of bread then ten women have baked your bread in one oven and have given back your bread by weight; and ye have eaten and are not satisfied.

And when I have broken the staff of your bread .... Brought a famine at least a scarcity of provisions upon them deprived them of bread the staff of life by which it is supported; or however made it very scarce among them so that they had hardly a sufficiency to sustain nature and perhaps the blessing of nourishment withheld from that; see Isaiah 3:1

ten women shall bake your bread in one oven; for want of wood according to Jarchi; or rather through scarcity of bread corn they should have so little to bake every week that one oven would be sufficient for ten families which in a time of plenty each made use of one for themselves; and so Aben Ezra says it was a custom in Israel for every family to bake in an oven by themselves which they ate the whole week. Ten is a certain number for an uncertain and denotes many as in Zechariah 8:23. Making and baking bread was the work of women in the eastern countries as we find it was particularly among the PersiansF14Herodot. Polymnia sive. l. 4. c. 187. and continues to this day among the Moors and ArabsF15Shaw's Travels p. 241. Ed. 2. :

and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; there being not enough for everyone to eat what they pleased but were obliged to a rationed allowance therefore everyone in the family should have their share delivered to him by weight; see Ezekiel 4:16

and ye shall eat and not be satisfied; not having enough to eat to satisfaction; or what they did eat God would withhold a blessing from it for their nourishment the reverse of Leviticus 26:5.

 

Leviticus 26:27.  27 ‘And after all this if you do not obey Me but walk contrary to Me

   YLT  27`And if for this ye hearken not to Me and have walked with Me in opposition

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.

 

Leviticus 26:28.  28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I even I will chastise you seven times for your sins.

   YLT  28then I have walked with you in the fury of opposition and have chastised you even I seven times for your sins.

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 their sins; and the repetition or doubling of the phrase "I even I will do it" denotes the certainty of it and that he will do it himself and his hand should be visible in it; and they should feel the weight of it and be obliged to own that these were punishments inflicted by him for their sins.

 

Leviticus 26:29.  29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.

   YLT  29`And ye have eaten the flesh of your sons; even flesh of your daughters ye do eat.

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 JewsF16Torat 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 and ate him with respect to which they suppose Jeremiah makes the lamentation Lamentations 2:2; and of this also there was an instance at the last siege of Jerusalem by Titus when a woman named Mary of a considerable family boiled her son and ate part of him and the rest was found in her house when the seditious party broke in upon her as JosephusF17De Bello. Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4. relates:

and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat; of which though no instances are given it is as reasonable to suppose it was done as the former. Some of the Jewish writersF18Torat Cohanim ib. think that in this prediction is included that children should eat their parents as well as parents their children as in Ezekiel 5:10.

 

Leviticus 26:30.  30 I will destroy your high places cut down your incense altars and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you.

   YLT  30And I have destroyed your high places and cut down your images and have put your carcases on the carcases of your idols and My soul hath loathed you;

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 from whence the Jews might have these images; or rather from Chammah the sun so called from its heat; so Jarchi says there were a sort of idols placed on the roofs of houses and because they were set in the sun they were called by this name; and KimchiF19Sepher Shorash. rad. חמם & חמן. observes they were made of wood and made by the worshippers of the sun see 2 Kings 23:11; but Aben Ezra is of opinion that these were temples built for the worship of the sun which is the most early sort of idolatry that appeared in the world to which Job may be thought to refer Job 31:26. Some take these to be the πυραιθεια or "fire hearths" which StraboF20Geograph. l. 15. p. 504. described as large enclosures in the midst of which was an altar where the (Persian) Magi kept their fire that never went out which was an emblem of the sun they worshipped; and these he says were in the temples of Anaitis and Omanus and where the statue of the latter was in great pomp; which idol seems to have its name from the word in the text; and these are fitly added to the high places because on such as HerodotusF21Clio sive l. 1. c. 131. says the Persians used to worship:

and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols; or "dunghill gods"F23גלוליכם "stercoreorum deorum vestrorum" Junius & Trernellius Piscator Drusius. ; such as the beetle the Egyptians worshipped signifying that they and their idols should be destroyed together:

and my soul shall abhor you; the reverse of Leviticus 26:6; and by comparing it with that this may signify the removal of the divine Presence from them as a token of his abhorrence of them; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it.

 

Leviticus 26:31.  31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.

   YLT  31and I have made your cities a waste and have made desolate your sanctuaries and I smell not at your sweet fragrances;

I will make your cities waste .... By suffering the enemy to besiege them enter into them and plunder them and destroy the houses in them and reduce them to the most desolate condition as Jerusalem their metropolis was more than once:

and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation; the temple so called from the several apartments in it the court the holy place and the most holy; or rather both sanctuaries or temples are intended the first built by Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; the second rebuilt by Zerubbabel and adorned by Herod and reduced to ashes by Titus Vespasian: the Jews understand this of their synagogues which were many both in Jerusalem and in other parts of their country but cannot be intended since it follows:

and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours: of their incense offered on the altar of incense; or the savour of their offerings as the Targum of Jonathan of their burnt offerings and the fat of their other offerings burnt on the altar of burnt offering; signifying that these would not be acceptable to him or he smell a savour of rest in them; see Genesis 8:21; now these were only offered in the temple not in synagogues.

 

Leviticus 26:32.  32 I will bring the land to desolation and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.

   YLT  32and I have made desolate the land and your enemies who are dwelling in it have been astonished at it.

And I will bring the land into desolation .... The whole country of Judea cities towns villages fields vineyards &c. through the ravage and plunder of the enemy; and they being driven out of it and carried captive from it and so the land left untilled and become barren and unfruitful:

and your enemies which dwell therein; having destroyed them or cast them out and sent them into other countries and took possession of theirs in their room:

shall be astonished at it; at the desolation of the land that such a fruitful country a land flowing with milk and honey should be turned into barrenness for the wickedness of its inhabitants and shall be amazed at the judgments of God upon them and that.

 

Leviticus 26:33.  33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

   YLT  33And you I scatter among nations and have drawn out after you a sword and your land hath been a desolation and your cities are a waste.

And I will scatter you among the Heathen .... As with a fan Jeremiah 15:7; so they were at the time of the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities some were carried to one place and some to another some fled to one place and some to another and they are at this day scattered among the several nations of the world:

and will draw out a sword after you; draw it out of its scabbard and with it pursue after them when fleeing or going whither they should not; as the remainder of the Jews in Judea sought to go to Egypt contrary to the will of God Jeremiah 42:16; see Leviticus 26:25

and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste; for want of men to till the one and inhabit the other.

 

Leviticus 26:34.  34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

   YLT  34`Then doth the land enjoy its sabbaths -- all the days of the desolation and ye in the land of your enemies -- then doth the land rest and hath enjoyed its sabbaths;

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths .... The sabbatical years or seventh year sabbaths when according to the law in the preceding chapter it was to rest from tillage Leviticus 25:2

as long as it lieth desolate and ye be in your enemies' land; so long it should lie uncultivated at least in part there not being a sufficient number left to till it in general or as it should be; this was the case during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon:

even then shall the land rest and enjoy her sabbaths; or complete them as Aben Ezra which is a bitter sarcasm upon them for their neglect of observance of the law concerning the sabbatical years; but now the land should have its sabbaths of rest whether they would or not; and it seems as if it was on account of this sin as well as others that they were carried captive; and it is remarkable if what MaimonidesF24Hilchot Shemitah Vejobel c. 10. sect. 3. says is right that it was at the going out or end of a sabbatical year that the first temple was destroyed and the Jews carried captive and endured a seventy years' captivity; which some say was because they had neglected seventy sabbatical years; see 2 Chronicles 36:21.

 

Leviticus 26:35.  35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

   YLT  35all the days of the desolation it resteth that which it hath not rested in your sabbaths in your dwelling on it.

As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest .... From tillage neither man nor beast working upon it; for which reason such a space of time was called a sabbath:

because it did not rest in your sabbaths when you dwelt upon it; they manured and tilled it on the seventh years as on others neglecting the command which God had given them; and this they did not once or twice but many times while they were dwellers in the land; which seems to confirm pretty much the notion of their having omitted so many years though that cannot be affirmed with certainty; see Jarchi on the place.

 

Leviticus 26:36.  36 ‘And as for those of you who are left I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword and they shall fall when no one pursues.

   YLT  36`And those who are left of you -- I have also brought a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies and the sound of a leaf driven away hath pursued them and they have fled -- flight from a sword -- and they have fallen and there is none pursuing.

And upon them that are left alive of you .... In the land of Judea or rather scattered about among the nations suggesting that these would be comparatively few:

I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; or "a softness"F25מרך "mollitiem" Montanus Vatablus Junius & Tremellius Piscator Drusius. ; so that they should be effeminate pusillanimous and cowardly have nothing of a manly spirit and courage in them; but be mean spirited and faint hearted as the Jews are noted to be at this day as Bishop Patrick observes; who also adds "it being scarce ever heard that a Jew listed himself for a soldier or engaged in the defence of his country where he lives:"

and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; either the sound of a leaf that falls from the tree as the Targum of Jonathan or which the wind beats one against another as Jarchi which makes some little noise; even this should terrify them taking it to be the noise of some enemy near at hand just ready to fall on them; such poor faint hearted creatures should they be:

and they shall flee as fleeing from the sword; as if there were an army of soldiers with their swords drawn pursuing them:

and they shall fall when none pursueth; fall upon the ground and into a fit and drop down as if dead as if they had been really wounded with a sword and slain see Proverbs 28:1.

 

Leviticus 26:37.  37 They shall stumble over one another as it were before a sword when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

  YLT  37And they have stumbled one on another as from the face of a sword and there is none pursuing and ye have no standing before your enemies

And they shall fall one upon another .... In their hurry and confusion everyone making all the haste he can to escape the imaginary danger; or "a man upon his brother"F26איש באחיו "vir in fratrem suum" Vatablus Drusius Piscator. ; his friend as Aben Ezra interprets it having no regard to relation and friendship every one endeavouring to save himself. There is another sense which some Jewish writersF1Torat Cohanim apud Yalkut par. 1. fol. 197. 2. give of this phrase and is observed by Jarchi which is that everyone shall fall for the iniquities of his brother; for all the Israelites say they are sureties for one another; but the former sense is best:

as it were before a sword when none pursueth: as if a sword was drawn and brandished at them just ready to be thrust in them filling them with the utmost dread and terror and yet at the same time none in pursuit of them:

and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies; no heart to resist them no strength nor spirit to oppose them and defend themselves but be obliged to surrender their cities themselves their families and goods into the hand of the enemy.

 

Leviticus 26:38.  38 You shall perish among the nations and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

   YLT  38and ye have perished among the nations and the land of your enemies hath consumed you.

And ye shall perish among the Heathen .... Not utterly but great numbers of them through change of air and different diet as Aben Ezra and through the cruel usage of their enemies; for there is a body of them which continues unto this day; unless this is to be understood of the ten tribes as R. AkibaF2In Torat Cohanim ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 197. 2.) interprets it who are supposed to be entirely lost and swallowed up among the nations where they were carried captive:

and the land of your enemies shall eat you up; they should die in it through one disease or another; by the pestilence as the Targum of Jonathan and so be buried in it; in which sense it may be said to eat them up or consume them for the grave swallows up and consumes all that are put into it; Jarchi says this is to be understood of those that die in captivity.

 

Leviticus 26:39.  39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities which are with them they shall waste away.

   YLT  39`And those who are left of you -- they consume away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also in the iniquities of their fathers with them they consume away.

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands .... Such as were not taken off by any public calamity as the sword or pestilence should gradually diminish and melt away like wax before the fire and die in and for their iniquities in an enemy's country see Ezekiel 24:23

and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them; or for the iniquities of their evil fathers as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; they treading in their steps and doing the same evil deeds whereby they filled up the measure of their fathers' sins and brought upon them deserved punishment. Matthew 23:32.

 

Leviticus 26:40.  40 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me and that they also have walked contrary to Me

   YLT  40`And -- they have confessed their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their trespass which they have trespassed against Me and also that they have walked with Me in opposition

If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers .... The Targum of Jonathan adds "in the time of their distress;'which might serve to bring their sins to remembrance and them to a confession of them not only of their own sins but of their fathers' also; acknowledging thereby that they had been guilty of sinning against God for a long course of years past; and that God had been long suffering towards them and bore much with them before he brought his judgments on them which were just and what they righteously deserved; and such a confession Daniel made Daniel 9:4; and the words may as well be rendered absolute as conditional or better and as a prediction of what would be done by them when in captivity and distress "and they shall confess their iniquity"F3והתודו "et confitebuntur" Pagninus Montanus. ; with shame and sorrow with repentance for it and abhorrence of it; or otherwise if the confession was only verbal and hypocritical it would not be acceptable:

with their trespass which they trespassed against me; along with their own iniquities and those of their fathers they should confess their trespass against the Lord would be acknowledged by them; which seems to design some particular and grievous sin committed by them by which perhaps is meant their idolatry a capital sin directly against God and what those people were prone unto:

and that also they have walked contrary unto me; to his mind and will to his laws commands statutes and ordinances disregarding him and them as if enemies to him; or "by chance"; See Gill on Leviticus 26:21.

 

Leviticus 26:41.  41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they accept their guilt—

   YLT  41also I walk to them in opposition and have brought them into the land of their enemies -- or then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and then they accept the punishment of their iniquity --

And that I also have walked contrary unto them .... Showed no regard unto them as if he took no care of them or in a providential way concerned himself for them but let what would befall them; yea came out in the way of his judgments against them as if he was an enemy to them; see Gill on Leviticus 26:24

and have brought them into the land of their enemies; should acknowledge the hand of God in it that he himself brought them out of their own country into an enemy's land as Assyria Babylon and other nations: and that this was not the chance of war or owing to the superior power or skill of their enemies but to the just judgment of God upon them for their sins who on that account delivered them up into the hands of their enemies:

if then their uncircumcised heart be humbled; their foolish proud heart as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; it signifies a sinful wicked hard and impenitent heart brought to a sense of sin to repentance and humiliation for it. Jarchi interprets it "or if their uncircumcised heart" &c. as in Exodus 2:23; and observes another sense of the word "perhaps their uncircumcised heart" &c. not only would in words confess their sins but be truly humbled at heart for them:

and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; take it well at the hand of God bear it patiently without murmuring or thinking themselves hardly dealt by but freely owning it is less than their iniquities deserve; or complete and finish the punishment of their sins as Aben Ezra which upon their humiliation should be put an end to and cease. Jarchi takes the word in the sense of atonement and pacification as if by their chastisement their sins were expiatedF4Siphri apud Yalkut ut supra. (par. 1. fol. 197. 2.) and God was pacified toward them: but rather it denotes the free and full pardon of their sins manifested to them upon their repentance and humiliation for sin.

 

Leviticus 26:42.  42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.

   YLT  42then I have remembered My covenant [with] Jacob and also My covenant [with] Isaac and also My covenant [with] Abraham I remember and the land I remember.

Then i will also remember my covenant with Jacob .... Would fulfil and make good all that he had promised in covenant with Jacob and his posterity: the account begins with him and rises upwards to Abraham whereas it usually begins with Abraham and descends to Jacob; no sufficient reason is given for this alteration though several are attempted by the Jewish writersF5Saadiah Gaon apud Aben Ezram in loc. Pesikta & alii. :

and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; which chiefly respects the multiplication of their seed the continuance of them and the Messiah springing from them; which is the mercy promised to these fathers and the principal part of the covenant made with them and which was remembered and performed when God visited and redeemed his people by him Luke 1:68

and I will remember the land; the land of Judea and return the Jews to it and make it fruitful after he had given it rest from tillage for many years which was fulfilled at their return from the captivity of Babylon.

 

Leviticus 26:43.  43 The land also shall be left empty by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.

   YLT  43`And -- the land is left of them and doth enjoy its sabbaths in the desolation without them and they accept the punishment of their iniquity because even because against My judgments they have kicked and My statutes hath their soul loathed

The land also shall be left of them .... This seems to refer to a second time when this should be the case of the land of Judea again as it was when subdued by the Romans and the Jews were carried captive from it and so it was left by them as it has been ever since:

and shall enjoy her sabbaths while lieth desolate without them; shall be as in the sabbatical years uncultivated neither ploughed nor sown nor reaped; and thus the land of Canaan though once so very fruitful is now desolate and barren being without its former inhabitants and so it is like to be until it is restored to them again:

and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; that is when made sensible of their sins and particularly of their iniquity of rejecting the Messiah; they will not think it hard that they have been punished in so severe a manner but own the righteous hand of God in it and be humble under it; and confessing their sins with true sorrow and repentance for them looking at him whom they have pierced and mourn shall have the free and full remission of their sins applied unto them:

because even because they despised my judgments and because their soul abhorred my statutes; despised and abhorred Christ his doctrines and ordinances which was the reason of their being carried captive out of their land when it was forsaken by them and lay desolate as to this day especially with respect to any benefit of it enjoyed by them; and which when they are sensible of will be a reason of their accepting the punishment of their iniquity so readily and not murmur at the hand of God upon them or reflect on his dealings with them but freely and fully confess their sins that he may be justified in all that he has done.

 

Leviticus 26:44.  44 Yet for all that when they are in the land of their enemies I will not cast them away nor shall I abhor them to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God.

   YLT  44and also even this in their being in the land of their enemies I have not rejected them nor have I loathed them to consume them to break My covenant with them; for I [am] Jehovah their God; --

And yet for all that .... I will have on them in or through my Word as the Targum of Jonathan; notwithstanding their many and great sins and transgressions and the sad and miserable condition they were brought into by them the Lord would have mercy on them and be gracious to them through Christ and for his sake and convert and save them see Romans 11:26; the Jews as Fagius tells us wonderfully delight themselves with this passage and read it with the greatest joy and pleasure and with an elevated voice; concluding from hence that they shall certainly return to their own land; and because the first word in this verse is in sound the same as the Germans use for an "ape" they call this paragraph "the golden ape" and say when this shall be fulfilled the golden age will take place with them: a very learned manF6Carpzovius de aurea Judaeorum Simia in Thesaur. Theolog. Philolog. vol. 1. p. 344. vid. Pfeiffer. dubia vexata cent. 2. loc. 17. p. 145. has wrote a dissertation upon it: when

they shall be in the land of their enemies; of the Romans and other nations among whom they have been disposed ever since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus:

I will not cast them away neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly; for though they have been cast away by the Lord out of their land and from being his people and enjoying either the civil or religious privileges they formerly did; and though they have been cast off with abhorrence and had in great detestation by him for their sin of rejecting the Messiah as appears by the punishment inflicted on them; yet not so as to make an utter end of them as a body of people for notwithstanding their dispersion everywhere and their long captivity they remain a distinct people from all others which seems to forebode something favourable to them:

and to break my covenant with them; which he will not do even his promise of the future call and conversion of them and of their return to their own land:

for I am the Lord their God; their covenant God and a covenant keeping God Romans 11:27.

 

Leviticus 26:45.  45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’”

   YLT  45then I have remembered for them the covenant of the ancestors whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to become their God; I [am] Jehovah.'

But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors .... Or rather "remember to them"F7וזכרתי להם "et recordabor eis" Pagninus Montanus Drusius; "erga eos" Junius & Tremellius Piscator. to their good and benefit for their profit and advantage not for their desert and merit for any worth or worthiness in them; this covenant respects not the covenant made with Abraham Isaac and Jacob as in Leviticus 26:42; but with their fathers either at Sinai or rather in the plains of Moab Deuteronomy 29:1 for it follows:

whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the Heathen that I might be their God; whom he brought out of great bondage and distress in Egypt with an high hand and outstretched arm and in the sight of the Egyptians who were not able to oppose it yea because of their plagues were urgent for it; and in the sight of all the nations round about who heard of the wonderful power of God in the deliverance of his people; and this he did that he might appear to be their covenant God who had taken them into covenant with him and had taken them under his care and protection and would be still their King and their God; and who also in like manner it may be here suggested would deliver the people of the Jews out of their present exiled and captive state and condition in the sight of the whole world and declare himself their covenant God and Father:

I am the Lord; whose will is sovereign whose power is uncontrollable who is a covenant keeping God faithful to his promises and able to perform them.

 

Leviticus 26:46.  46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

   YLT  46These [are] the statutes and the judgments and the laws which Jehovah hath given between Him and the sons of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

These are the statutes and judgments and laws .... Which refer not only to those in this chapter but in all the preceding chapters in this book and respect them all whether ceremonial moral or judicial which may be signified by these three words:

which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are "between his Word and the children of Israel:"

in Mount Sinai; or near it in the wilderness of it while the children of Israel lay encamped about it:

by the hand of Moses; they were first delivered to him and by means of him to the people.

 

──John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible