Bible Commentaries

Le 26:1, 2.

OF IDOLATRY.

1. Ye shall make you no idols--Idolatry had been previously forbidden

(Ex 20:4, 5),

but the law was repeated here with reference to some particular forms of it that were very prevalent among the neighboring nations.

a standing image--that is, "upright pillar."

image of stone--that is, an obelisk, inscribed with hieroglyphical and superstitious characters; the former denoting the common and smaller pillars of the Syrians or Canaanites; the latter, pointing to the large and elaborate obelisks which the Egyptians worshipped as guardian divinities, or used as stones of adoration to stimulate religious worship. The Israelites were enjoined to beware of them.

2. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary--Very frequently, in this Book of the Law, the Sabbath and the sanctuary are mentioned as antidotes to idolatry.

Le 26:3-13.

A BLESSING TO THE OBEDIENT.

3. If ye walk in my statutes--In that covenant into which God graciously entered with the people of Israel, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings, so long as they continued obedient to Him as their Almighty Ruler; and in their subsequent history that people found every promise amply fulfilled, in the enjoyment of plenty, peace, a populous country, and victory over all enemies.

4. I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase--Rain seldom fell in Judea except at two seasons--the former rain at the end of autumn, the seedtime; and the latter rain in spring, before the beginning of harvest

(Jer 5:24).

5. your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time, &c.--The barley harvest in Judea was about the middle of April; the wheat harvest about six weeks after, or in the beginning of June. After the harvest came the vintage, and fruit gathering towards the latter end of July. Moses led the Hebrews to believe that, provided they were faithful to God, there would be no idle time between the harvest and vintage, so great would be the increase. (See

Am 9:13).

This promise would be very animating to a people who had come from a country where, for three months, they were pent up without being able to walk abroad because the fields were under water.

10. ye shall eat old store--Their stock of old corn would be still unexhausted and large when the next harvest brought a new supply.

13. I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright--a metaphorical expression to denote their emancipation from Egyptian slavery.

Le 26:14-39.

A CURSE TO THE DISOBEDIENT.

14, 15. But if ye will not hearken unto me, &c.--In proportion to the great and manifold privileges bestowed upon the Israelites would be the extent of their national criminality and the severity of their national punishments if they disobeyed.