Leviticus 26:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Leviticus 26:16
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.
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
appoint
וְהִפְקַדְתִּ֨יve.hif.kad.Ti
H6485
to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
terror
בֶּֽהָלָה֙be.ha.Lah
H928
panic · noun, common feminine singular absolute
consumption
הַשַּׁחֶ֣פֶתha.sha.Che.fet
H7829
emaciation · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
ague
הַקַּדַּ֔חַתha.ka.Da.chat
H6920
inflammation · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
consume
מְכַלּ֥וֹתme.kha.Lot
H3615
to end · verb, piel active participle, feminine plural absolute
eyes
עֵינַ֖יִם'ei.Na.yim
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual absolute
sorrow
וּמְדִיבֹ֣תu.me.di.Vot
H1727
to mope · conjunction + verb, hiphil active participle, feminine plural absolute
heart
נָ֑פֶשׁNa.fesh
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
sow
וּזְרַעְתֶּ֤םu.ze.ra'.Tem
H2232
to sow · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
seed
זַרְעֲכֶ֔םzar.'a.Khem
H2233
seed · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
vain
לָרִיק֙la.Rik
H7385
emptiness · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
enemies
אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם'o.ye.vei.Khem
H341
hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
eat
וַאֲכָלֻ֖הוּva.'a.kha.Lu.hu
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 31:8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
Jeremiah 5:17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herd…
Micah 6:15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not…
1 Samuel 2:33 And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the incre…
Deuteronomy 28:21-22 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
Deuteronomy 28:32-35 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: a…
Deuteronomy 28:51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, w…
Haggai 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 26:14-39
After God had set the blessing before them (the life and good which would make them a happy people if they would be obedient), he here sets the curse before them, the death and evil which would make them as miserable if they were disobedient. Let them not think themselves so deeply rooted as that God's power could not ruin them, nor so highly favoured as that his justice would not ruin them if they revolted from him and rebelled against him; no You only have I known, therefore I will punish you soonest and sorest. Amo 3:2. Observe,
I. How their sin is described, which would bring all this misery upon them. Not sins of ignorance and infirmity; God had provided sacrifices for those. Not the si…
I will even appoint over you terror--the falling sickness [PATRICK].
consumption, and the burning ague--Some consider these as symptoms of the same disease--consumption followed by the shivering, burning, and sweating fits that are the usual concomitants of that malady. 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.
Adam Clarke on Leviticus 26:16
I 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 11:16. How circumstantially were all these threatenings fulfilled in this disobedient and rebellious people! Let a deist read over this chapter and compare i…
Ague — The translation in Lev. 26:16 (R.V., “fever”) of the Hebrew word kaddah’ath, meaning “kindling”, i.e., an inflammatory or burning fever. In Deut. 28:22 the word is rendered “fever.”
Heathen — (Heb. plural goyum). At first the word goyim denoted generally all the nations of the world (Gen. 18:18; comp. Gal. 3:8). The Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner from the…
Jerusalem — Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the “city of God,” the “holy city;” by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning “the holy;” once “the city of Judah” (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the…
Ague · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Backsliders · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Blessing · CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE — CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE
Consumption · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Contingencies · IN DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF MAN — IN DIVINE GOVERNMENT OF MAN
Disease · .Threatened as — .Threatened as
Diseases · Mentioned in scripture: Ague — Mentioned in scripture: Ague
Disobedience To God · 18:19;28:15-68; — 18:19;28:15-68;
Eye, The · Consumed by sickness — Consumed by sickness
John Gill on Leviticus 26:16
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…
Leviticus 26:14-45
14. But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
14. Si autem non audieritis me, neque feceritis omnia praecepta ista.
15. 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:
15. Et, si decreta mea spreveritis, et judicia mea abominata fuerit anima vestra, ita ut non faciatis omnia praecepta mea, et irritum faciatis pactum meum:
16. 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 sh…
The Curse for Contempt of the Law. - The following judgments are threatened, not for single breaches of the law, but for contempt of all the laws, amounting to inward contempt of the divine commandments and a breach of the covenant (Lev 26:14, Lev 26:15), - for presumptuous and obstinate rebellion, therefore, against God and His commandments. For this, severe judgments are announced, which were to be carried to their uttermost in a fourfold series, if the hardening were obstinately continued. If Israel acted in opposition to the Lord in the manner stated, He would act towards them as follows (Lev 26:16, Lev 26:17): He would appoint over them בּחלה terror, - a general notion, which is afterwa…
The objective of God’s punishment of his people is to change behavior and restore relationship. God responds to his disobedient people as a perfectly righteous and loving parent would to a child. The punishments designed to curb rebellious behavior gradually increase, giving Israel the opportunity to repent at any time (26:18-28). Even when Israel was punished with exile from the land in 722 and 586 BC, God was working to restore his people (see, e.g., Isa 40–66; Jer 29:10; Amos 9:11-15).
Rashi on Leviticus 26:16
והפקדתי עליכם means, I will order upon you the following calamities.
שחפת CONSUMPTION — A disease which swells the flesh, ampoules in old French; it resembles a thing that has been distended, the distension of which has become reduced — and the appearance of his (the sick man’s) face is thin and woebegone.
קדחת is a disease which inflames the body, makes it hot and burning (feverish). It is similar in meaning to the verb in, (Deuteronomy 32:22) “For a fire burns (קדחה) in My nostril”.
מכלות עינים ומדיבת נפש THAT THE EYES PINE AND CAUSE SORROW TO THE SOUL — The eyes look expectantly and pine to see that he (the sick) should be relieved and healed, and in the end it turns out that he is not…
Fever · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Judgments · General references — General references
Pestilence · Sent as a — Sent as a
Protection · Withdrawn from the: Disobedient — Withdrawn from the: Disobedient
Punishment Of The Wicked, The · In this life by: Sickness — In this life by: Sickness
Rebellion Against God · Punishment for — Punishment for
Reward · A MOTIVE TO FAITHFULNESS — A MOTIVE TO FAITHFULNESS
Seed · The Jews punished by: Its increase being consume by enemies — The Jews punished by: Its increase being consume by enemies
Sickness · Often sent as a punishment of sin — Often sent as a punishment of sin
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
