Leviticus 26:16
in Leviticus 26then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
KJV
I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
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This verse in Leviticus 26
Commentary
7 notes on this verseI will even appoint over you terror, etc. - How dreadful is this curse! A whole train of evils are here personified and appointed to be the governors of a disobedient people. Terror is to be one of their keepers. How awful a state! to be continually under the influence of dismay, feeling indescribable evils, and fearing worse! Consumption, שחפת shachepheth, generally allowed to be some kind of atrophy or marasmus, by which the flesh was consumed, and the whole body dried up by raging fever through lack of sustenance. See the note on Lev 11:
This site's exposition
But if ye will not hearken unto me
on Leviticus 26:14-17
The curses run more than twice the length of the blessings, twenty-six verses against eleven. Verse 15 traces the failure inward before anything happens outside, from despising statutes, to a soul that abhors judgments, to a broken covenant. The first round strikes the body, the harvest and the nerve together, and it ends at verse 17 with men fleeing when no one pursues, which verse 36 takes up again.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The danger of transgression ought to move us to the observance of the commandments, because the transgressor of the commandments falls into many dangers: first, because he loses many goods; second, because he rushes into abominable crimes; third, because he merits eternal punishments. Transgressors lose …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What we translate terror, some think, signifies a particular disease, probably (says the learned bishop Patrick) the falling sickness, which is terror indeed: all chronical diseases are included in the consumption, and all acute diseases in the burning ague or fever.
It eminently weakens the sight, and sinks the spirit. All chronical diseases are here included in the consumption, all acute in the burning ague or fever. The pride of your power - That is, your strength of which you are proud, your numerous and united forces, your kingdom, yea, your ark and sanctuary.
I also will do this unto you,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
According to the Septuagint, "ague" is "the jaundice," which disorders the eyes and produces great depression of spirits. Others, however, consider the word as referring to a scorching wind; no certain explanation can be given.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| אֲנִ֞י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־ | ʾeeseh- | I will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| זֹּ֣את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לָכֶ֗ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| וְהִפְקַדְתִּ֨י | vehifkadti | and I will appoint | H6485 → | 303 times |
| עֲלֵיכֶ֤ם | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֶּֽהָלָה֙ | behalah | sudden terror | H928 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשַּׁחֶ֣פֶת | hashachefet | <the> consumption | H7829 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַקַּדַּ֔חַת | hakadachat | <the> fever | H6920 → | |
| מְכַלּ֥וֹת | mekhalot | [which] cause to fail | H3615 → | 208 times |
| עֵינַ֖יִם | ʾeinayim | [the] eyes | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּמְדִיבֹ֣ת | umedivot | and [which] make pine away | H1727 → | |
| נָ֑פֶשׁ | nafesh | [the] life | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וּזְרַעְתֶּ֤ם | uzera'tem | and you will sow | H2232 → | 56 times |
| לָרִיק֙ | larik | to <the> emptiness | H7385 → | |
| זַרְעֲכֶ֔ם | zarakhem | seed your | H2233 → | 229 times |
| וַאֲכָלֻ֖הוּ | vaakhaluhu | and they will eat it | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾoyeveikhem | enemies your | H341 → | 282 times |
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
אֲנִ֞יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־I will do
ʾeeseh-H6213 →2628 times
זֹּ֣אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
לָכֶ֗םto <the> you
lakhem
וְהִפְקַדְתִּ֨יand I will appoint
vehifkadtiH6485 →303 times
עֲלֵיכֶ֤םon you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
בֶּֽהָלָה֙sudden terror
behalahH928 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשַּׁחֶ֣פֶת<the> consumption
hashachefetH7829 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַקַּדַּ֔חַת<the> fever
hakadachatH6920 →
מְכַלּ֥וֹת[which] cause to fail
mekhalotH3615 →208 times
עֵינַ֖יִם[the] eyes
ʾeinayimH5869 →887 times
וּמְדִיבֹ֣תand [which] make pine away
umedivotH1727 →
נָ֑פֶשׁ[the] life
nafeshH5315 →754 times
וּזְרַעְתֶּ֤םand you will sow
uzera'temH2232 →56 times
לָרִיק֙to <the> emptiness
larikH7385 →
זַרְעֲכֶ֔םseed your
zarakhemH2233 →229 times
וַאֲכָלֻ֖הוּand they will eat it
vaakhaluhuH398 →810 times
אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם׃enemies your
ʾoyeveikhemH341 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Job 31:8then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
it leads to
- Micah 6:15
You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
- Micah 6:15
Through
Micah 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
- Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
- Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
- Leviticus 26:20
and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.
- Zephaniah 1:13
Through
Jeremiah 5:17They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Hosea 8:14
Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; Judah has multiplied its fortified cities. But I will send fire upon their cities, and it will consume their citadels.
- Deuteronomy 28:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.