Leviticus 26:15
in Leviticus 26and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and if ye shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhor mine ordinances, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;
KJV
And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
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This verse in Leviticus 26
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThose that reject the precept will come at last to renounce the covenant. Observe, It is God's covenant which they break: he made it, but they break it. Note, If a covenant be made and kept between God and man, God must have all the honour; but, if ever it be broken, man must bear all the blame: on him shall this breach be.
This site's exposition
If, however, you fail to obey Me
on Leviticus 26:14-17
Verse 15 traces the failure inward before anything happens outside. It runs from despising statutes, to a soul that abhors judgments, to a broken covenant.
This site's exposition
and so break My covenant
The covenant here is called His own. Matthew Henry reads that as a charge: God made it, Israel breaks it, and rejecting the precepts ends in renouncing the covenant. Where the covenant holds, God has the honour, and where it breaks, the blame lies with man.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Break my covenant - Break your part of that covenant made between me and you, and thereby discharge me from the blessings promised on my part.
And if ye shall despise my statutes,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
If ye shall despise my statutes - abhor my judgments - As these words, and others of a similar import, which point out different properties of the revelation of God, are frequently occurring, I Judge it best to take a general view of them, once for all, in this place, and show how they differ among themselves, and what property of the Divine law each points out.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| בְּחֻקֹּתַ֣י | bechukotai | <in> statutes my | H2708 → | 104 times |
| תִּמְאָ֔סוּ | timasu | you will reject | H3988 → | 76 times |
| וְאִ֥ם | veim | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטַ֖י | mishpatai | judgments my | H4941 → | 422 times |
| תִּגְעַ֣ל | tigal | it will abhor | H1602 → | 10 times |
| נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם | nafshekhem | self your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֤י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| עֲשׂוֹת֙ | ʾasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מִצְוֹתַ֔י | mitzvotai | commandments my | H4687 → | 181 times |
| לְהַפְרְכֶ֖ם | lehafrekhem | to break you | H6565 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּרִיתִֽי׃ | beriti | covenant my | H1285 → | 284 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
בְּחֻקֹּתַ֣י<in> statutes my
bechukotaiH2708 →104 times
תִּמְאָ֔סוּyou will reject
timasuH3988 →76 times
וְאִ֥םand if
veimH518 →1069 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִשְׁפָּטַ֖יjudgments my
mishpataiH4941 →422 times
תִּגְעַ֣לit will abhor
tigalH1602 →10 times
נַפְשְׁכֶ֑םself your
nafshekhemH5315 →754 times
לְבִלְתִּ֤יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
עֲשׂוֹת֙to do
ʾasotH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
מִצְוֹתַ֔יcommandments my
mitzvotaiH4687 →181 times
לְהַפְרְכֶ֖םto break you
lehafrekhemH6565 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּרִיתִֽי׃covenant my
beritiH1285 →284 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
Numbers 15:31He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 12:9
Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have…
- Proverbs 13:13
He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.
- 2 Samuel 12:9
Through
Deuteronomy 31:16And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will…
it leads to
- Judges 10:6
And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus…
- Judges 10:13
But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.
- Judges 2:12
Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down…
- Exodus 34:15
Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.
- Judges 10:6
Through
Isaiah 24:5The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:20
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
- Hebrews 13:20
Through
2 Kings 17:15They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:30–31
be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
- Deuteronomy 12:30–31
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the 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.