Leviticus 26

-this objection not to be so great as to. make them" depart from the letter of this law, which saith, (vcr; 10.) ye shall hallow the fiftieth year; and here in this verse, a jubilee shall tliat fiftieth year be unto you. Though a very learned man, P. Cunceus, thinks this of no great moment either way; for it is usual, in common speech, septimaham octiduum appellare (and Hospinian, in like manner, wo call a we’ek octiduum, eight days, because we reckon titramq; Dominicam, both the Lord’s days). And the greatest writers anciently called an olympiad, which contained but the space of four complete years, by the name of Quinquennium. (See lib. i. de Republ. Judaeorum, cap. 6.) -Yet> besides the express words of the law, the consent of the Jews sways very much the other way"; for they accurately distinguish between the schemitta, or year of remission, and jobel, the year of jubilee, even then when these two* solemnities succeeded each other; as I shall have occasion to observe on the next verse. < Ye shall not sow, neither \reap that which groweth of itself in it.] Because it was the sabbatical year, (ver. 4, 5.) as some will have it; from the observance of which they were not absolved by its being the jubilee. But others think, as I observed, that the jubilee itself was a new sabbatical year. •.’ * For I will have respect unto you.] The reason of which great success (as well as of the plenty beforementioned), he would make them sensible, was God’s great kindness and favour towards them, as the reward of their obedience. This Joshua most thankfully acknowledges, chap, xxiii. 9. And make you fruitful, and multiply you.] Make you a populous, and consequently a powerful nation. And establish my covenant with you:] Keep it inviolably, and most certainly perform it: (see Gen. vi. 18.) do all these commandments.] After the promise of these extraordinary blessings, as the reward of their obedience, he threatens them with as extraordinary plagues and calamities, if they were disobedient. " And as nothing moves us more powerfully than hope of some good, or fear of some evil; so there are no greater blessings in this world than those which God’s promises gave them hope to enjoy, nor greater evils than those of which his threatenings put them in fear. But such is the Divine goodness, he always offers mercy before he proceeds to judgment, and mingles judgment with mercy, before he proceeds in rigour of justice. Which will appear in the following threatenings. contrary to me), which some follow; If ye walk at all adventures with me; that is, live carelessly, as if you had no regard at all to. me; I will have as little regard to you, or concern for you. But the ancient translations go the other way.

Leviticus 26:1

JL Esliall make you no idols. This precept hath been often mentioned; but being now to enforce all his precepts by the most solemn promises and threatenings, he repeats the principal thing upon which all depended, which was, that they should keep close to the worship of him, the only God, and abhor all idolatry, which ho knew would corrupt their manners.,, The Hebrew word elilim.hath been observed before, (chap. xix. 4.) to express contempt; signifying the idols (as we translate it) which the heathen worshipped, to be mere empty vanities, things of nought, as we speak; and therefore to be rejected with disdain, rather than anyway regarded.,… L,:,j:. -.. Nor graven image.] The Hebrew word pesel signifies the image of any thing hewn out of wood or stone: (see Exod; xx. 4.) These images the gentiles did not worship, till they were dedicated and consecrated with certain rites and ceremonies (which were very various^ according to the difference of.the deities, and the superstitions of several countries), by which consecration they imagined their gods were invited to-be present iri these images and statues; otherwise they were not so stupid, as to worship wood and stone. Neither rear up a standing image.] The Hebrew word matsebah, is translated by the LXX. gtvXtiv, a pillar, as we also translate it in the margin. And if we translate it statue, or standing image, we are not to understand by it the figure of a man, or of any other creature; but, as* the Hebrews seem rightlyto take it, for any.work, an altar for instance, which is erected and set up for sacred assemblies to be held thereat, though they be to the true. God. So Maimonides, (as* Mr. Selden observes, lib. ii. de Jure Nat. et Gent. cap. 6.) who saith, this was the custom among idolaters, to erect such statues to their gods. And so Pausanias saith (in his Achaica), that in ancient time among the Greeks, universally, avr\ dydkfxdnov &xpv dpyol \l9oiTiftac$tu>v, rude stones, instead of images, had Divine honours paid to them. (See Maimonides de cultu Stell. et Plan, cap. 6. sect. 8.) These were the most ancient monuments of all other; and being.plain and simple^ might be thought I to be less tempting and inviting, than those images which [ had the figure of men, or other creatures; yet, even these’ God forbids to his people, because he would have no re- [ presentation of him whatsoever, though it might seem to have no danger in it. These were they which. the Greeks called BairtXia. (See upon Gen. xxviii. 19. and Selden de • Diis Syris, Syntag. 2. cap. 1.) Neither set up any image" of stone in your land.] There was greater reason they should not set up Eben Maschhith, which signifies carved or figured stones that had pictures cut in it, as the Hebrews understand it. (See Maimonides in the place beforenamed, and Dionys. Vossius’s notes upon him.) And Mr. Selden observes, also, it was unlawful to set up these in their land (as Moses here speaks), though it were without the temple; and it was no more permitted to a proselyte than to an Israelite. If any man did make such statues he was beaten. Possibly this may signify such images^ as were common among the Egyptians in aftertimes; which were not representations of their gods, but were full of symbols and hieroglyphics, expressing some of the perfections of their gods. These God would as little allow among his people as any of the former: such caution he used to prevent this sort offidolatry, by image-worship. To bow down unto it.] Though they did not worship it; but only worship God before it. I am the Lord your God.] Who admit of no such things where I am worshipped, (Exod. xx; 4.)

Leviticus 26:2

Ye shall keep my sabbatlis, and reverence my sanctuary, &c. See chap. xix. 30. whcre.therc is the same precept: which seems to be here repeated, because, if they kept his sabbaths, they would preserve them from idolatry, being appointed for the worship of the Creator of all things; especially if they, had such a sense of his Divine majesty as wrought reverence in them, even to his sanctuary.

Leviticus 26:3

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them. If the regard you have to my majesty make you obedient to my laws.

Leviticus 26:4

Then ivill I give you rain in due season. Here follow the promises of all things that men naturally most desire for their happy living here in this world. And first he assures them they should have fruitful seasons, which depended upon rain in due time, (Jerem. v. 24.) For Canaan was not a country like Egypt, which was watered and made fertile by the overflowing of their river; but without rain was quite barren. And the land shall yield her. increase.] Corn for the use of men; and grass for the cattle. And the trees of the field shall yield. their fruit.] Which was very various, every one knows, such as figs, pomegranates, dates, apples, &c. which he promises they should never want.

Leviticus 26:5

And your thrashing shall reach nrito. the vintage, &c. This is a promise of such plenty of corn, that before they could have reaped it all, and thrashed it out, the vintage would be ready, and call for their labour about it; and before they could have pressed out their wine, it would be time to sow again: as.much as to say, they should have such abundance, that they should have scarce time enough to receive and lay up one blessing before another came upon them. And ye shall eatymir bread to. the fulL] Have.no.want of any sort of provision (which is comprehended under the.name of bread), but as much as you can desire: which promise may seem to have. a peculiar regard to the command lately given, chap. xxv. 4. 11. though there he took care to. secure them by a special promise, that they should not want in those years, (ver. 20, 21.) and therefore much less in any other. And dwell in your land safely.] Plenty would have been little satisfaction to them, if they had been in danger to lose it, or to be disturbed in it; and therefore he promises to defend and protect them in the secure enjoyment of it. (See chap. xxv. 18; 1!).). Ver. G. And I. will give peace in your land.] There shall be no insurrections or seditions in your country, which are wont to arise from poverty and discontent: for this seems to relate to peace among themselves; as the latter end of.the verse, to freedom from the desolations their enemies might make among them. And ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid.’] It is a promise to preserve them from housebreakers and robbeTS. And I will rid evil beasts out of the land.] Which (as it will appear from ver. 22.) made lamentable havoc when they increased, and were let loose upon them: but these God promises to extirpate,.if they would be obedient, either by hindering their breed, or making them devour one another; or driving them out of their country. Neither shall the sword go through your land.] Their enemies should not be able to penetrate their country, to make any ravage there.

Leviticus 26:7

And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. This suppose$ their neighbour’s might invade their country, but should fail in their attempt, and be driven away with shame. Ver,. 8, And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of y oil shall put ten thousand to flight] That is, a few shall be too hard for a great multitude; as it proved in the conquest of Canaan: insomuch that Joshua saith, (chap, xxiii. 10.) One man of you shall chase a thousand. Which was fulfilled in the days of Gideon, who, with three hundred men, put to flight a vast army, (Judg. vii. 22.) And your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.] Which commonly made a greater slaughter in their flight than was made in the battle.

Leviticus 26:10

And ye.shall eat old store. Have a great deal of old corn left when the new is come in. Andbring forth the old because of the new.] Have so much of it left, as to want room for it when the new is to be laid up.

Leviticus 26:11

And I will set my tabernacle amongst you. This is the great promise of all, that his tabernacle, wherein he dwelt among them, should remain and abide with them: for it was. set already.among them; but now he promises it should be fixed: that is, his Divine presence should continue with them. And my soul shall not abhor you.] I wilLnot cast you off, because of your offences; for which I havo appointed an expiation.

Leviticus 26:12

For it is the jubilee. He doth not say it is the sabbath’ of the land, as he doth of the seventh year, (ver. G.) Which makes for their opinion who think the jubilee was not the same with that, but a new sabbatical year; r so that two years together they neither sowed nor reaped.‘But they that maintain the other, opinion, look upon this only as a new reason why they should forbear such labour this year; because, besides that it was the sabbatical year, it was also the jubilee; a time of great joy, in regard of th6 liberty to which every one was restored; which made it more necessary every one should enjoy what the;earth brought forth of itself, and none appropriate any thing to themselves. It shall be holy unto you.] Because it was the Lord’s sabbath, (Yer. 3.) separate from the common employments x)f other years; being dedicated to the uses expressed in this law; (vcr. 10.) which are two; manumission of servants, and restitution of men to their ancient possessions: unto which some add a third, viz. remission of debts. But the Jews are of a quite contrary opinion; that in this the year of jubilee differed from the sabbatical year— that debts were’remittcd in the one, but not in the other. Whence those words of Maimonides, in the treatise I have so often mentioned: (cap. 10. sect. 1G.) e " In this the sabbatical year excels the jubilee, that it remits debts, which the jubilee doth not: but the jubilee in this excels the sabbatical year, that it sets servants free, and restores possessions, which the other doth not. And the jubilee likewise restores possessions in the very beginning of the year; but the sabbatical year doth not release debts till it be ended." Ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.] By plucking what they needed for every day’s use; but not by reaping, and gathering, and laying up in barns. Vcr. 13. In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man to his possession.] This being the most remarkable thing belonging to the liberty of this year, it is therefore here again repeated. For it was so famous, that the heathens themselves took notice of it; insomuch, that JModorus Siculus saitb, (lib. xi.) it was not lawful for the Jews robs lliovq KkypovQ iro)\up, to sell their own inheritances: meaning, as Mr. Selden expounds it, (Lib. de Success, ad Leges Hebr. cap. 14.) to sell them quite, so as to alienate them for ever from their families; which is expressly forbidden, (ver. 23.) And so the Locrians, as is observed by Aristotle in his Politics, were prohibited, by.their laws, to sell their ancient possessions. (See P. Cuna&us, lib. i. de Repub. Jud. cap. 4.) Many reasons are given, by learned men, for this law among the Jews, (see Menochius, lib. iii. de Repub. JHfcbraeor.‘Quest. 3.) The most obvious is, that by this law God fixed the Jews to the land of Canaan; since all their possessions were so entailed, that the right heir of any of them could never be wholly excluded from his estate; but it would entirely return to him after a certain number of years. And, by this means also, they preserved a distinct knowledge of their several tribes and families to which they belonged; for which end their genealogies.were of necessity to be carefully kept,.that theymight.be able to prove their right to the inheritance of their ancestors. By which means, as Menochius notes, it was cer^ tainly known of what tribe, and family the Messiah was when he was born. And M. Alix hath taken notice (which is worthobserving)/ that God ordered things so, that they should have the means of preserving their genealogies, by riot suffering them to continue in captivity out of’ their own land,’ for the space of two whole jubilees.. For they were but seventy years in Babylon; in which short time their genealogies could not be easily confounded, especially kince several who saw the first temple burnt, lived to. see thesecond begin to be rebuilt. Two other reasons are most judiciously managed by Petrus Cuna3us, lib.,i. de RepubL Hebr. cap. 3. to which I refer the learned reader. And I will tvalk among you.] Conduct you from place to place, all the time you are in this wilderness. For he dwelling in the tabernacle, in the cloud of glory which covered it; when that cloud was taken up, the ark presently moved to go before them, and led them to the next station, where they should pitch their tents, Numb. x. 11, 12.;(See Exod. xxv. 8.) This is given as the reason why they should keep their camp from all impurities: (see Deut. xxiii. 12 — 14.) And J will be your God, and ye shall be 7iiy people.] Bring you to the land of Canaan; and there continue with you, and bless you, as my peculiar people.

Leviticus 26:13

1 am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt. I will not leave my own work im perfect; but as I delivered you from the Egyptian slavery, so I will continue to preserve your liberty and happiness. That ye should not be their bondmen.] Remain any longer their slaves, as they intended to make you for ever. And I have broken the bands of your yoke.] When you could not deliver yourselves, I set you free from the heavy burdens which oppressed you. And made you go upright.] They were so loaded with insupportable burdens in. Egypt, that they could not look up, but hung down their heads with heaviness: till God, by setting them free, made them go out from thence, not with dejected, but with cheerful countenances. For that is the meaning of making.them go upright: as freemen, not bowed down.with oppression, but lifting up their heads for joy at their deliverance: (see Exod. xjv. 8.)’

Leviticus 26:14

If thou sellest aught to thy neighbour; or buy est aught of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another. As Moses took care that the wealth of some should not oppress the poverty of others, by making the foregoing law, that a poor man should not lose his land for ever; so, in buying of a poor man’s land, he, would hot have the rich man give less for it than it was worth; no more than the poor man require more for it than its just value till the year of jubilee. 4 The Hebrew doctors have formed a rule about this: that if a man bought any thing for a sixth part less than its worth, or sold it for a sixth part more than its worth, he wag bound to restore that sixth part; but nothing at all if it were short of a sixth part, wherein he had.damaged his neighbour. But if the difference was more than a sixth part, the buyer might rescind his contract, if the bargain was not quite finished, and require his:money again. And the seller (if the damage was on his side) might at any time require the thing to be returned, to him at the price for which he sold it. (See Selden,. lib, vi. de Jure Nat. et Gent. cap. 5.) But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not

Leviticus 26:15

According to the number of years after.the jubilee, thou shalt buy of thy neighbour. They were to consider how many years were gone since the last jubilee, and consequently to purchase the profits of the remaining years till the next; for they could not, either by sale or any other contract, transfer plenum fundi dominium (as Cunocus speaks), their full interest in the land to any other man. And if ye despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments.’] They were not thus wicked at the first; but disobedience to God’s commands (mentioned in the foregoing verse) proceeded to a contemptuous neglect of them; and that in time to an abhorrence of them. I So that ye will not do all my commandments.] Though often admonished by his prophets; whose messages they not only rejected, but slighted and despised. But tlutt ye break my covenant’*] By forsaking him, and falling to idolatry. For that was the principal thing in the covenant, thattheyshouldhaveno other God, but him alone:

Leviticus 26:16

J also’tvill do this unto you. I will alter the method of my providence towards you* * I will even appoint aver you*] Or, as it is in the Hebrew, upon you: causing the following diseases" to seize upon them (as the phrase signifies) and arrest them; that they mightfeel the’heavy displeasure of Him, whose laws they set at nought.;.. Terror, consumption, and the burning ague.] It is not certain what diseases are comprehended under these “words; especially the first, bebalah, which “we translate terror. But, coming from a word importing haste arid precipitancy, I take it fo signify the falling sickness; whereby people are so suddenly surprised, that they sometimes fall into the’firo by which they sit. • The other two words probably are rightly translated. For the next, sachepheth is By Kimchi and a great many others understood to signify a consumption, or a hectic fever; though R. Solomon and some others seem to take it for a dropsy; for he says it is a disease that puffs up the flesh, or (as David de Pomis) makes it to break out in blotches. (Sec Bochart in his Hierozoic. par. ii. lib.ii. cap. 18.) As for the last word, chaddachat, it coming from a word denoting great heat, may well be translated a burning fever. That shall consume the eyes.] Make you look ghastly. And cause sorrow of heart.] Take away all. the comfort of life. And ye shall soiv your seed, but your enemies shall eat it.] Next to bodily sickness, he threatens them with the incursions of their enemies; which was a higher punishment than the former, according to that of David, it is better to fall into the hands of the Lord than into the hands of men. Here also it is observable, he doth not threaten the worst that their enemies might do to them; but first, that they should carry away their harvest, and make a scarcity among them; and in the next verse, speaks of delivering them to he slain by them.

Leviticus 26:17

And I will set my face against you.* Be extremely angry with you. (Sec chap. xvii. 10.). And ye shall be slain before your enemies.] The neighbouring nations oft-times made great slaughter of them, and conquered them; as we find in the book of Judges, and in the beginning of the first book of Samuel.. TJiey that hate you shall reign over you.] And grievously oppressed them, (Judges iv. 3. vi.2, &c.) This made them very contemptible; and was a just punishment of theircontempt of God’s laws. And ye shall flee when none pursueth you.] Lose all your courage; directly opposite to the promise, ver. 7, 8.

Leviticus 26:18

And if ye wilt not for all this hearken unto me. If by these sore punishments they were not reclaimed from their idolatrous practices, he threatens to’send greater. Then will I punish you seven tunes more for your sins.] The number seven is used for any indefinite multitude, and therefore here signifies a great increase of their plagues; which, by their continued provocations, became more and more grievous than in former ages..

Leviticus 26:19

And I will break the pride of your power. That power wherein you glory. Which some understand of the sanctuai-y; which in the days of Eli was forsaken of the ark of God’s strength (as the Psalmist calls it), 1 Sam. iv. 10, 11. But it seems rather to relate to their numerous forces, which at the first were every where victorious; but, after sundry defeats in foregoing times, were in the days of Saul reduced to such straits, that they hid themselves in caves, and pits,* and thickets, &c. and there was not a sword or a spear to be found in any of their hands (save Saul’s and Jonathan’s), when they should have fought with their enemies, (1 Sam. xiii. 6, 7. 22.) And I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass.] The one, he means, should afford no rain, and the other, for want of moisture, bring forth no fruit; which must needs make a sore famine among them.

Leviticus 26:20

And your strength’shall be spent in vain, &c. This is a further description’ of that calamity; when, after all their labour in ploughing and sowing their land, or digging and dunging their trees, they brought forth nothing for their sustenance. We read in Scripture of such famines, wherein man and beast were ready to perish; particularly 1 Kings xvii. 1. 12. xviii. 15. 2 Kings viii. 1.

Leviticus 26:21

And if ye walk contrary unto me. Go on in your idolatrous courses, directly contrary to my commands, (ver. 1.) And willnot hearken unto me.] Be obedient to the admo-* nitions of his prophets, whom he sent to call them to tepentance. I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.] As their sins increased, so did their plagues: for these that follow are more dreadful than the foregoing. And it was a high aggravation of their sins, that they would take no warning by the severe punishments which God inflicted upon their forefathers. This augmented his plagues upon succeeding generations; which, as Dr. Jackson speaks, usually run by the scale of sevens; so that if we call the literal meaning to a strict arithmetical account, these later plagues were nine-and-forty times heavier than the former. But it is most likely, a certain number is put for an uncertain; yet denoting a very great increase of their punishments, beyond what had been in preceding times. It ought to be observed, that there is in the margin another rendering of the £rst words of this verse ( If ye walk

Leviticus 26:22

I will also send wild beasts among yon, which shall rob you of your children, &c. Ifthe terrible famine would not work upon their stubborn hearts, no more than the forenamed sicknesses and wars, (ver. 16, 17. 19, 20.) then he threatens they and their cattle should be devoured by wild beasts; the principal of which were lions, unto which the depopulation and devastation of countries are ascribed in Scripture; particularly in the prophet Jeremiah, (chap. ii. 15. iv. 7.) where the Assyrians and Nebuchadnezzar are therefore compared to lions, because by those fierce beasts countries were sometimes laid desolate; man and beast being destroyed by them. We read of no other that killed.the people; planted in Samaria by the king of Assyria, instead of the Israelites, whom they carried away captive, (2 Kings xyii. 25.) And God threatened to destroy the remnant of Moab, by the same means, (Isai. xv. 9.) But there were other wild beasts also to do this execution, (Jer. v. G.) As bears, who killed two-andforty children at one time, (2 Kings ii. 24.). Serpents and cockatrices, (Jer. viii. 17.), And in general, that prophet threatens the destruction of Judea by such creatures, (Jer. xv. 3.) Nor are example^ wanting in other histories of such calamities; one monument of which continues still in the church. For the solemn prayers in Rogation week were first instituted (as Sidonius relates), by Mamertus bishop of Vienne, in France, for this reason among others, that wolves and other wild beasts did very great mischief in those parts. (See Sirmondus, in lib. vii. Epist. 1.) Nay, some countries have been. so infested with smaller creatures, particularly Spain, by conies, that they left no thing untouched; being noxious not only to roots and seeds, but subverting whole towns, which were undermined by them. And in the neighbouring islands, called Baleares, they were so plagued.with them,, that they were forced to petition Augustus to.send soldiers to defend them from these little animals. (See Bochartus, in his Phaleg. lib.iii. cap. 7.),.. > * „ *.: And your highways shall be desolate.] For travellers would not venture into the highways, for fear of the wild beasts, and because of the scarcity of people to give them entertainment. It is observable, that this plague is di-; rectly opposite to the blessing promised unto their obedience, (ver. 6.) where he saith, I will rid evil beasts out of the land; which was never overrun with them till it was overspread with wickedness.

Leviticus 26:23

If ye will rwt be reformed by me, by these things. He would have them observe his hand in all these punishments; by which, he intended their.rcformation. But will walk contrary unto me.] See ver. 21.

Leviticus 26:24

Then will I also walk contrary unto you. Serve you in your kind, and still make your plagues more grievous, as your stubbornness grows more obstinate. To what was said before of this matter, I shall add the interpretation of Maimonides, in his More Nevoch. (par. iii. cap. 36.) where he thus glosses on this place: " If, when I inflict upon you these punishments, you believe them to be accidental things, mere chances (so he understands the word keri, which we translate contrary), then will I deal with you according to your opinion, and lay more heavy punishments upon you: for because they believed these plagues happened by accident, which were the consequents of their false opinions and evil works, therefore they did not reform them; as Jeremiah saith, (chap. v. 3.) Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved” Thus he. And will punish you yet seven times for your sins.] If we should, follow the literal exposition mentioned ver. 21. then those plagues there threatened being seven times multiplied, would make the plagues threatened in this verse, for their multiplied transgressions, three’ hundred and fortythree times greater than the first, ver. 18. But the meaning is only, that they should still grow more numerous and more destructive.

Leviticus 26:25

And I will bring a sword upon you. This seems to be no new plague, having been before threatened, ver. 17. Therefore the meaning is, that he would send three sore judgments upon them, all at the same time, viz. war, pestilence, and famine; which are contained in this and the’next verse. Of war and famine at once, see Jer. xiv. 18. and xvi.4. Of pestilence added to them, together with captivity, chap. xv. 2 — 4. and xliv. 12, 13. and see Ezek. vi. 11, 12. and still worse, Ezek. xiv. 21. That shallavenge the quarrel of my covenant.] My quarrel with you for the breach of that covenant which you solemnly made with me, (Exod. xxiv. 3. 8. and xxxiv. 10— 12, &c.): And when you are gathered together within yovr cities.] Thinking there to defend yourselves against your enemies, by impregnable fortifications. J will send the pestilence among you.] To destroy the soldiers in your garrison. And ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.] Forced to surrender, because you have no men left to defend tho place.

Leviticus 26:26

And when I have broken the staff of bread. Taken away itspbwer to nourish you (as Bochart expounds it), or rather, taken bread itself from you, which is the support of life by a sore famine, (ver. 10.) If they either wanted corn to make bread, or their com had no heart in it (as we speak), either way they would be starved. Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven.] That is, there shall be such scarcity, that a small oven shall be sufficient to bake bread Tor ten families, i. e. for a great many, as the number ten in Scripture signifies, (1 Sam.i. 8. Job xix. 3.) And they shall deliver you again your bread by weight*] Distribute to every one in the family a certain quantity; not enough to satisfy them, but only (as we speak) to keep body and soul’together. So it follows: And ye shall eat, andnot besatisfied.] Never have enough to satisfy their hunger; but, by eating, made to crave the more to eat: so Pellicanus glosses, who thus concludes his notes on these verses, Hcec sunt anna Dei contra insensatos, &c. " Tltese are the weapons of God against stupid wretches; w r hich no wicked man can evade, when God in anger begins to fall upon them. Let no man, though never so great and rich, hope to be safe from* the hand of the Lord, who can kill kings by worms and lice when he pleasethT -

Leviticus 26:27

And if you tvill not for all this hearken unto me, uigmzea oy microson <& CHAP. XXVI. j UPON LEVITICUS. but walk contrary to me.’] If all these plagues have no better effect upon you than the former. (See ver. 21. 23, 24.)* «

Leviticus 26:28

Then ivill I also walk contrary to you in fury. His indignation rises proportionable to their offences: for now he not only saith he mil set his face against them, (as he speaks, ver. 17.) but proceed against them, in fury; by such punishments as should quite ruin them. And I, even I will chastise.] The very manner of speech expresses anger and indignation: being as if he had said, I will make you know who it is that you have despised, (ver. 15.) The wovAjissarti also, which “we render chastise, imports smarter punishments than those expressed by hickethi,I will smite, or punish you, (ver. 24.). Seven times for your sins.] If w r e should by a literal account multiply the number of plagues mentioned, ver. 24. seven times, the threatening here would amount to this: that their rebellion, not amended by so’many plagues, but continued still from age to age, (notwithstanding all the corrections inflicted on them for their reformation, ver. 23.) should in conclusion be punished one thousand one hundred ninetyseven times more severely than at first, (ver. 18.) But the simple sense is, that their obstinate contempt of his laws, should be punished with new and more grievous plagues. Which was fulfilled, as our Dr. Jackson observes, (book i. on the Creed, chap. 22.) in their captivity, in the days of Manasseh, Jchoiachim, and Zedekiah: and again in* the time’of Ptolemy, the first under Antiochus Epiphanes. For these latter calamities were at Ieastsemi times greater (both for extent and durance) than the former persecutions, which they suffered from the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Syrians. By all which, and by what follows, it plainly appears, that these threatenings were a kind of prediction. For Moses evidently foresaw they would not prove’ go obedient as he desired, (Dcut. xxxi. 27, 29.) and consequently that these threatenings, in case of disobedience, would turn into prophecies. Unto every one of which their history exactly answers; as the book of Deuteronomy will give me occasion to shew more fully.

Leviticus 26:29

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. This is the very utmost’ calamity that could come upon a people: and yet (as Conradus Pcllicanus observes) it is put before the throwing down of their high places and images, &c. As if the devouring of their children (such was their incredible lust after idols) wotfld seem a less evil to them, than the loss of their images. This was fulfilled among the Israelites in the siege of Samaria, (2 Kings vi. 29.) and among the Jews in the siege of Jerusalem before the Babylonian captivity, (Lament, i v. 10.) and in the last siege by Titus, as Josephus relates, (lib. vii. de Bello Judaico, cap. 8.)

Leviticus 26:30

And I will destroy your high places. Where they were wont to worship their idols, according to the manner of the heathen; who built temples, and altars, and offered sacrifices to their gods, upon mountains and high hills; especially such as were shaded with trees. Insomuch, that the Indians in Philostratus call the high mountain Caucasus, Scwv 61kov, the house of the gods. And the ancient Persians, (as Herodotus saith in his Clio, cap. 131.) tTrl to. v^r\K6rara twv opttov dvafiaivovreg, going up to the top of the highest mountains, there offered sacrificesunto Jupiter; calling the whole circle of the heavens by that name. ■ And V0L’• Digitized b in the island Naxus the highest mountain was also consecrated to him; as from his worship on Mount Athos he fet called’ASwoe in Hesychius. They that would see more of this matter, may look into Cuperus’s Apotheosis Homeri, p. 15, 16, &c. And the reason of their choosing these places for their worship was, because they thought their’- sacrifices would be more acceptable there than in valleys. For, as Lucian himself saith, they thought themselves in such high places to be nearer to their gods, and so should more easily obtain audience, “0™ twv jvx^Xcwv ayxuQtv hratovm ol Seoi. (Lib. de Dea Syr.) and Tacitus saith the; same in the last book of his Annals. How much the Israelites were inclined to follow the nations of the world in this, appears too plainly by their history; which shews that high places were frequented in the reigns of their good kings, as well as* of their bad. Yea, they were so fond of them, that when they could not go to them, they offered upon the tops of their houses, (Jer. xix. 13. xxxii. 29. Zeph. i. 5.) And cut down your images.] The Hebrew word chammanecem, which we translate your images, properly signifies” temples erected for the worship of the sun, as Aben Ezra % says upon this place. For it is certain that the Hebrews call the sun Chamma; from whence comes the word Chamman, the temple of the sun: whom the ancient Phoenicians took to be the Lord of Heaven. So Sanchoniathon, Tovtov* yap (speaking of the sun) Scov lv6f.uZov fiovov ovpavov Kvpiov. Though it is very probable, that, as superstition increased, the name of Chammanim was given to other temples, as well as those of the sun. (See Bochart in his Canaan, lib. ii. cap. 17.) Others take this word to signify what the Greeks call UvpaOeta and UvpeXa, temples of the fire; which being worshipped by the eastern people, temples were erected in honour of it. But this is not much different from the former: the Persians worshipped the sun in the fire, which was the symbol and representative of the Sun: (see Selden Syntagma ii. de Diis Syris, cap. 8.) And cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols.] Which were both burnt together, as some imagine. However, this expresses the utmost contempt both of them and: of their idols; who were alike detestable. Their fondness of them also when they were alive seems to be represented by throwing’ them upon them when they were dead. And the Hebrew word gillulim (which we barely translate idols), importing something belonging to the dunghill, is taken by some to signify the images of Baal-pcor; who was worshipped, as the Jews say, after a most beastly manner. These idols, whatsoever they were, though dressed up finely, yet were no better than dead carcasses, without any life or soul in them. And we might think (if that superstition were so old) that Moses alludes to the little images of Isis, which were made of plaster and clay, and are found frequently in the sepulchres of Egyptians at this day. Unto which Christoph. Arnoldus (in his epistle to Wagenscil) thinks the Talmudists allude, when they say that Pharaoh’s daughter, becoming a proselyte to the Jewish religion; washed herself in the river Megullile, from these dunghill idols (as some render it) of her -father’s house, (Excerp. Gemaras in Sota, cap. l.‘sect.‘40.) The Dutch interpreters translate it drecfagoden, not merely for the matter (as Arnoldus thinks), but also for the form of a beetle, which lives in dung: for so they represented Isis, as Plutarch Micrasoft (B 3 Q [chap. XXVI. tells us in his book de Isid. et Osir. (See Wagenseil Sota, p:117G.) And my soul shall abhor you.] As so offensive to me, that I can bear with you no longer. This is directly opposite to his promise, if they would be obedient, ver. 11. My soul shall not abhor you.

Leviticus 26:31

And I will make your cities waste. Their walls being thrown down, and their houses burnt. Arid bring your sanctuaries unto desolation.] They had but one sanctuary, and therefore some think their synar gogues are comprehended under this name; for they are sometimes called sanctuaries, as I observed before. But the sanctuary, properly so called, having several parts, which were all holy, Moses may be thought to speak of it here in the plural number.. As Jeremiah represents the Jews, saying, " The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord aro these;” (chap. vii. 4.) that is, both these courts wherein wo stand, as well as that of the priests, and the most holy place, aro all the Lord’s temple. Or the word your is to be applied to such places of worship as they themselves had consecrated, in opposition to God’s sanctuary. And I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.] This seems to determine the meaning of saiictuaries to God’s own house, where siveet odours of incense, made of several sweet spices, were daily offered unto him: which being a representation of their prayers sent up to him, he here declares that he will not be appeased by them, nor by any sacrifices they could offer to him, but utterlyreject’them.

Leviticus 26:32

And I ivill bring the land into desolation. The people being carried captive, or forced to flee into strange countries, (ver. 33.) And your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished qt it.] They that possess this country, out of which you are expelled, shall be amazed when they reflect upon the calamities that are fallen upon you: which Jeremiah describes as very dreadful, (chap. vii. 20.) and often mentions the astonishment wherewith they were struck, who beheld them, (chap, xviii.16. xix. 8. xxv. 9.11.) and see 2 Chron. xxix. 8, 9. which shews this began before Jeremiah’s time.

Leviticus 26:33

And J will scatter you among the heathen. Some, fled into one strange country, and others into another, according as they could find means and opportunity; insomuch, that there were no known places where they were not dispersed. So Jeremiah threatens, chap. xiii. 24. xv. 4..And I will draw a sivord after you.] So Jeremiah threatens those that would go into Egypt for safety; that *f the sword which they feared should overtake them there,” (chap. xlii. 10— 18.). And your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.’] For they that were left there, and their enemies to" whom the country was given, were not enough to cultivate the land und build their cities. By all this, as well as by what follows, it appears that here is a plain prediction of the.miseries that came upon Israel, by Tiglath-Pileser and Salmanasar; and upon Judah by Nebuchadnezzar; who laid their cities M’aste, destroyed the sanctuaries, despoiled them of their goods, drove them into strange countries, and, as it here follows, made their land keep its sabbaths.

Leviticus 26:34

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as itlieth desolate, and ye be in your enemy s land, &c. This is a most bitter reproach to them for their ingratitude uigiiizea oy microson <® to God, and inhumanity to their brethren, in not keeping the sabbatical year, mentioned in the foregoing chapter. Dr. Hammond hath another notion of the word, which we translate enjoy: (see Note g. upon Psal. cii. p. 504.)

Leviticus 26:35

As long as it lieth desolate’ it shall rest. Lie untilled, as it ought to have done every seventh year. And it lay thus seventy years; because, as some think, they had neglected to keep so many sabbatical years: which we cannot think to be true, without supposing that they kept none for half the time, from their entrance into Canaan, till they were expelled out of it by the captivity of Babylon. Because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.] " For in those four hundred and ninety years (says Procopius Gazaeus), when they were under the government of kings, there were seventy years to be kept as sabbaths: which, that the land might enjoy its sabbaths, were spent in the captivity of Babylon." We do not expressly read, indeed, of this profane neglect, while they dwelt in’ their land; but Jeremiah complains, that they did not, in his time, give their servants liberty in the seventh year, (chap, xxxiv. 17.) and he gives this as one reason why God delivered them up to slavery, (for so I understand those words, Lam. i.3. “Judah is gone into captivity, because of affliction, and because of great servitude.”) And from thence we may conclude, that the same covetous humour (and distrust of God’s providence) made them not suffer their land to rest in that year; especially since the author of the second book of Chronicles expressly mentions this as a reason of their captivity, to fulfd the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah the prophet, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbatlis, to fulfd threescore and ten years, (2 Chron. xxxvi. 21.) Now their punishment in this was made the more remarkable, if itbe tnic, that both the kingdom of Samaria and the kingdom of Judah were destroyed in a sabbatical year; and that immediately after a jubilee, the city and temple were destroyed by Titus, according to Scaliger’s computation. And so I observed before Maimonides makes account, (chap. xxv. 8.) that the year when they were carried captive to Babylon, and the first temple destroyed, was in the expiration of a sabbatical year, (Schemitta ve Jobel, cap. 10. sect. 3.)

Leviticus 26:36

And upon them that are left alive ofyou.~. This imports that the body of the people should be destroyed. I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies.] Where their spirits sunk under their present miseries. And the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them.]. And yet they were condemned to live in continual dread of more miseries. For the Hebrew word we translate faint- 7iess signifies softness, which could not support the weight of their affliction. And this last phrase imports such a timorousness as should make their life always uneasy to them, and such a cowardice asshould render them vile and despicable. And so they are noted at this day to be meanspirited and faint-hearted: it being scarce ever heard, that a Jew listed himself for a soldier, or engaged in the defence of the country where he lives. And they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword, and fall when none pursueth.] Fancy they hear the sound of trumpets or clashing of arras; which made them start and run away, nay, fall into a swoon, when there was no danger. CHAP. XXVI.] UPON LEVITICUS. Such terrors the heathen themselves have observed, in men of an evil conscience, who arc afraid of their own shadow, as they say of Orestes. f

Leviticus 26:37

And they shall fall one upon another. As people are wont to do, when they make too much haste, and run confusedly;. or the foremost hinder the flight of those that follow, (Jerem. xlvi. 16.) As it were before a sword, &c] For fear of the sword; as this Hebrew phrase certainly signifies, and is so translated in the margin of eur Bibles, Isa. xxi. 15. and xxxi. 8. (See Bochartus in his Hierozoicon, par. i. lib. ii. cap. 8.) And ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.] Being so timorous as to flee when there were none (as it goes before), they could not stand before them when they appeared.

Leviticus 26:38

And ye shall perish among the heathen. Die with grief, or by diseases, poverty, oppression, and hard usage. • And the land of your enemies shall eat you up.] Insomuch, that the ten tribes never returned to their own land: but either perished by hunger and bad accommodations; or were swallowed up (as we say) into the body of another nation.

Leviticus 26:39

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquities, in their enemy’s land. With grief and sorrow, and sad reflections upon the miseries into which their sins, and the sins of their fathers, had thrown them: insomuch that death was more acceptable to them than life, (Jerem. viii. 3.) And also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.] Especially those of Manasseh king of Judah, whose wickedness was so great, that the zealous reformation which his grandchild made could not turn away " the fierceness of God’s great wrath against them," (2 Kings xxiii. 26, 27.)

Leviticus 26:41

And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies. Bo sensible that all the miseries they have endured came not by chance, but were the just punishment I sent upon them for their sins: particularly that it was by my order that they were carried captive into a strange land.. If then their uncircumcised heart be humbled.] By an un* circumcised heart seems to be meant a heathenish temper of mind, insensible of God; which made them stubborn and refractory; and, therefore, this phrase is the same with a hard heart: for which there was no cure, but such remarkable judgments, as evidently carried in them the marks of a Divine hand: which when they saw, and submitted to it, he gives them hope of deliverance.. And they accept of the punishment of their iniquity.] Patiently bear it, as their just desert; and acknowledge they do not deserve to be delivered from it.

Leviticus 26:42

Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham. See Exod. iii. 6. He promises to restore them to their own land; according to the covenant made with their forefathers, that he would give it them for ah everlasting possession. For to remember a covenant, or promise, in Scripture language, is to perform it, and make it good. Accordingly we find the forenamed confession made by Daniel, (chap, ix.) and he makes it in the name of all the people; among whom, no doubt, there were many that heartily joined with him: and then followed their wonderful restoration in the reign of Cyrus; of which we read, Ezra i. &c. And I will remember the land.] Repeople it with its former inhabitants, &c. See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23. where this immediately follows the relation he had made of the land being laid desolate. -

Leviticus 26:43

TJxe land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbatlts, &c. This verse is very obscure; unless we take it to speak of a new expulsion out of their land, after their reduction to it. And then the next words, And they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity.] Must be interpreted, after they had accepted, or though they had accepted, &c. This made their sin the more provoking; that they offended God again, when he had so graciously forgiven them, and delivered them from a dismal captivity. Because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.] Returned to the very same wicked disposition for which they had been formerly expelled, (ver. 15.) This was fulfilled by degrees, by the successors of Alexander, and at last by the Romans.

Leviticus 26:44

And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies. He would not have them utterly despair of mercy, even after a new banishment, which hath now continued many ages. For this promise is not yet fulfilled; as Dr. Jackson observes, book i. on the Creed, chap. 31. sect. 9. - I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to de* stroy them utterly.] As we see at this very day they are not destroyed utterly, but remain a great body in several countries; after above sixteen hundred years’ expulsion from their own land. And to break my covenant with them.] Never more to own them for my people. For I am the Lord their God.] I still continue to have a 3Q2 A COxMMENTARY [Chap, xxviir peculiar right to their obedience, as they have to my kindness, if they will return to their duty. i

Leviticus 26:45

And I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, &c. The meaning cannot be, that God would be so gracious for their sakes who were so very wicked; but, as the words in the Hebrew are, he would/or them (t. e. for their good and advantage) remember the cot;enant of their ancestors, whom he had brought forth out of the land of Egypt; that is, once more deliver them from their miserable condition, and restore them to his favour, that he may be their God. And that great man (now men-: tioned on the foregoing verse) observes, " That the con: tinuation of their plagues seems so much interrupted, and the plagues themselves so much mitigated, in the last age (since the gospel hath been again revealed), as if their misery were almost expired, and the day of their redemption drawing nigh." But then they must first confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, (as Moses speaks before, ver. 40.) with their trespass which they trespassed in crucifying Christ the Lord, and accept the punishment of their iniquity, acknowledging that so horrid a crime de T served so long and so heavy a punishment For every child (as he observes in another place, book xi. p. 3750.) is born, as it were, heir to his father’s sins, and to their plagues; unless he renounce them by taking their guilt upon him, and such hearty confession as this law prescribes, and patient submission of himself to God’s correction.

Leviticus 26:46

If they shall confess their iniquity, &c. Though Moses had been above three times as long in recounting the plagues, which he either foresaw, or feared would come upon them for their sins, than in the blessings which he promised should follow their obedience: yet he plainly shews, that the blessings would have far excelled the curses, had not their disobedience hindered. For after all these dreadful calamities were come upon them, he concludes with a most gracious promise, that God would restore them to their own land, from whence they were expelled, if they truly repented of those sins which were the cause of it. He means, by confessing their iniquities, and the iniquities of their fathers, &c. acknowledging them with such unfeigned sorrow as wrought repentance; without which he gave them no hope of deliverance. And it is well observed by a great divine of our own, that if, without confession of their fathers* iniquities, they could not be absolved ivomtheir own, their fathers’ iniquity not repented of was their own, and so was the punishment due unto it. And that they have walked contrary to me.] Both they and their forefathers; whose ways had been so contrary to God’s laws, that, if they sincerely confessed it, God expected they should take the quite contrary course, and observe those precepts carefully which their fathers had violated. Tliese are the statutes, andjudgments, and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel.] This may be thought to refer either to all the foregoing book of laws, or to what is said in this chapter. Menochius thus expounds it: These are the punishments which God threatened to the breakers of his laws. But it is more reasonable to take in the whole, in this manner, These are the statutes, and judgments, and laws (together with the promises and threatenings annexed to them), which the Lord made between him and Israel. In Mount Sinai. ~\ See chap. xxv. 1. By the hand of Moses.’] By the ministry of Moses, who delivered these, laws from God’s own mouth. It is obvious to observe, that, instead of these are the laws which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel, Onkelos, the famous Chaldee interpreter, hath, between his Word and the children of Israel. Which TheodoricHackspan produces, among other places, to proved that in those paraphrasts the Word of the Lord signifies no more than avrbg, himself Which, though it be true in some places, yet in others, as I have observed before, it cannot have that signification; particularly in Psal. ex. 1. where tfie Hebrew words are, The Lord said unto my Lord; which are thus expounded by Jonathan, Tlxe Lord said unto his Word: where it can signify nothing, but another tiivine person. And so Onkelos might intend it here; that the Lord made all these laws between his eternal Word and them.