Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 18:25
And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Verse 25. The land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.] This is a very nervous prosopopoeia or personification; a figure by which any part of inanimate nature may be represented as possessing the passions and reason of man. Here the land is represented as an intelligent being, with a deep and refined sense of moral good and evil: information concerning the abominations of the people is brought to this personified land, with which it is so deeply affected that a nausea is produced, and it vomits out its abominable and accursed inhabitants. It was natural for the inspired penman to make use of such a figure, as the description he was obliged to give of so many and enormous abominations must have affected him nearly in the same way in which he represents the land to be affected.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I do visit; I am now visiting, or about to visit, i. e. to punish. See Isa 26:21.
The land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants, as no less burdens to the earth than corrupted food is to the stomach. See Jer 9:19; Mic 2:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. therefore I do visit theiniquity thereof upon it; and the land itself vomiteth out herinhabitantsThe Canaanites, as enormous and incorrigiblesinners, were to be exterminated; and this extermination wasmanifestly a judicial punishment inflicted by a ruler whose laws hadbeen grossly and perseveringly outraged. But before a law can bedisobeyed, it must have been previously in existence; and hence alaw, prohibiting all the horrid crimes enumerated abovea lawobligatory upon the Canaanites as well as other nationswas alreadyknown and in force before the Levitical law of incest waspromulgated. Some general Iaw, then, prohibiting these crimes musthave been published to mankind at a very early period of the world’shistory; and that law must either have been the moral law, originallywritten on the human heart, or a law on the institution of marriagerevealed to Adam and known to the Canaanites and others by traditionor otherwise.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the land is defiled,…. The inhabitants of it, with the immoralities and idolatries before mentioned:
therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it; or punish the inhabitants that are on it for their sins:
and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants; as a stomach loaded with corrupt and bad food it has taken in, nauseates it, and cannot bear and retain it, but casts it up, and never receives it again; so the land of Canaan is represented as loathing its inhabitants, and as having an aversion to them, and indignation against them, and as not being able to bear them, but entirely willing to be rid of them and throw them out of their places in it, never to be admitted more, being as nauseous and as useless as the cast of a man’s stomach; see Re 3:16.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(25) The land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.From the creation the earth shared in the punishment of mans guilt (Gen. 3:17), and at the restitution of all things she is to participate in his restoration (Rom. 8:19-22). The physical condition of the land, therefore, depends upon the moral conduct of man. When he disobeys Gods commandments she is parched up and does not yield her fruit (Deu. 11:17). The land is defiled when he defiles himself. When he walks in the way of the Divine commands she is blessed (Lev. 25:19; Lev. 26:4); God is merciful unto his land and to his people (Deu. 32:43). Hence, the earth mourneth when her inhabitants sin (Isa. 24:4-5), and the earth is glad when God avenges the cause of His people (Psa. 96:11-13). It is owing to this intimate connection between them that the land, which is here personified, is represented as loathing the wicked conduct of her children and being unable to restrain them. She nauseated them. The same figure is used in Lev. 18:28; Lev. 20:22; and in Rev. 3:16.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. The land itself Canaan.
Vomiteth By a striking personification the very ground on which these abominations are enacted, like the stomach of a sick man, figuratively ejects the perpetrators of these filthy deeds.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 18:25. The land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants One cannot conceive a stronger figure. The land, by an elegant prosopopaeia, is personified, and represented as so sensible of the loathsome wickedness of her inhabitants, as to nauseate them on that account, and to cast them as offensive from her stomach. See Lev 18:28 in which it is to be wished that the word vomit had been retained, as well as in other similar passages; see ch. Lev 20:22. Rev 3:16; Rev 3:22. What an idea does all this give us of idolatry, which sanctified such horrid and detestable practices!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Ver. 25. And the land is defiled. ] From one end thereof to the other; Ezr 9:11 as the face of the old world was grown so foul, that God was fain to wash it with a flood.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
iniquity. Hebrew. ‘avah. App-44.
vomiteth. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia, App-6. Compare “spued”, Lev 18:28. From the beginning, the earth has shared the consequences of man’s guilt (Gen 3:17. Rom 8:19-22). Since it yields no fruit when man yields no obedience; and defiled when man is defiled (Deu 11:17). Is blessed when man is blessed (Lev 25:19; Lev 26:4. Deu 32:43). Mourns when man sins (Isa 24:4, Isa 24:5). Glad when God avenges His People (Psa 96:11-13).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the land: Num 35:33, Num 35:34, Psa 106:38, Isa 24:5, Jer 2:7, Jer 16:18, Eze 36:17, Eze 36:18, Rom 8:22
therefore: Psa 89:32, Isa 26:21, Jer 5:9, Jer 5:29, Jer 9:9, Jer 14:10, Jer 23:2, Hos 2:13, Hos 8:13, Hos 9:9
vomiteth: Lev 18:28, Lev 20:22
Reciprocal: Exo 22:19 – General Lev 20:16 – And if a woman Deu 9:4 – for the wickedness Deu 21:23 – thy land Jos 22:19 – unclean 1Ki 21:26 – according to 2Ki 21:2 – after the abominations Jer 9:19 – our Eze 33:26 – and shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do {m} visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself {n} vomiteth out her inhabitants.
(m) I will punish the land where such incestuous marriages and pollutions are tolerated.
(n) He compares the wicked to evil humours and overeating, which corrupt the stomach, and oppress nature, and therefore must be cast out by vomit.