Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 26:26
[And] when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver [you] your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
26. your staff of bread ] the bread which sustains life. For the expression see Psa 105:16; Eze 4:16; Eze 5:16; Eze 14:13, and cp. Isa 3:1. The rest of the v. means that the amount available for baking, and therefore the frequency with which the oven is used, will be so limited that one oven will be sufficient to serve ten families. Moreover, instead of the bread being brought home from the oven in such an abundant quantity that there is no need of weighing it, as there is obviously enough for all comers, it will then be needful to weigh it with the utmost precision, that the scanty supply may be measured out carefully to each, lest any should get more than their share.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 26. Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven] Though in general every family in the East bakes its own bread, yet there are some public bakehouses where the bread of several families is baked at a certain price. Moses here foretells that the desolation should be so great and the want so pressing that there should be many idle hands to be employed, many mouths to be fed, and very little for each: Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Broken the staff of your bread; either,
1. By taking away that power and virtue of nourishing which I have put into bread or food, which when I withdraw it will be unable to nourish. Or rather,
2. By sending a famine, or scarcity of bread, which is the staff and support of mans present life, Psa 104:15; for so this phrase is commonly used, and elsewhere explained, as Psa 105:16; Eze 4:16, and so the following words expound it here. Ten women, i.e. ten or many families, for the women took care for the bread and food of all the family. Bread by weight: this is a sign and consequence both of a famine, and of the baking of the bread of several families together in one oven, wherein each family took care to weigh their bread, and to receive the same proportion which they put in. Compare Eze 4:16.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. ten women shall bake your breadin one oven, c.The bread used in families is usually baked bywomen, and at home. But sometimes also, in times of scarcity, it isbaked in public ovens for want of fuel and the scarcity predictedhere would be so great, that one oven would be sufficient to bake asmuch as ten women used in ordinary occasions to provide for familyuse; and even this scanty portion of bread would be distributed byweight (Eze 4:16).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[And] when I have broken the staff of your bread,…. Brought a famine, at least a scarcity of provisions upon them, deprived them of bread, the staff of life, by which it is supported; or however made it very scarce among them, so that they had hardly a sufficiency to sustain nature, and perhaps the blessing of nourishment withheld from that; see Isa 3:1;
ten women shall bake your bread in one oven; for want of wood, according to Jarchi; or rather through scarcity of bread corn, they should have so little to bake every week, that one oven would be sufficient for ten families, which in a time of plenty each made use of one for themselves; and so Aben Ezra says, it was a custom in Israel for every family to bake in an oven by themselves, which they ate the whole week. Ten is a certain number for an uncertain, and denotes many, as in Zec 8:23. Making and baking bread was the work of women in the eastern countries, as we find it was particularly among the Persians n, and continues to this day among the Moors and Arabs o:
and they shall deliver [you] your bread again by weight; there being not enough for everyone to eat what they pleased, but were obliged to a rationed allowance, therefore everyone in the family should have their share delivered to him by weight; see Eze 4:16;
and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied; not having enough to eat to satisfaction; or what they did eat, God would withhold a blessing from it for their nourishment, the reverse of Le 26:5.
n Herodot. Polymnia, sive. l. 4. c. 187. o Shaw’s Travels, p. 241. Ed. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26. And when I have broken the staff of your bread. By these words God implies, that although He should not punish them by the sterility of the land, still He was prepared with other means for destroying them by famine. We shall indeed see hereafter that, when God was wroth, the earth in a manner shut up her bowels so as to produce no food; and that the heaven also grew hard so as not to fertilize it with dew or rain. In a word, all unseasonableness of weather and infertility of soil is a sign of the curse of God; but now He goes further, viz., that although there should be no scarcity of food, still they should suffer from hunger, when He had taken away its nourishing qualities from their bread. This curse confirms the instruction which we have seen elsewhere, that man does not live by bread, but by (227) the command of God, just as if the efficacy contained in the bread proceeded out of His mouth. (Deu 8:3.) And assuredly an inanimate thing could not give rigor to our senses except by the secret ordinance of God. He employs a very appropriate comparison, calling the support of bread, whereby man’s strength is refreshed, “the staff;” as we see the old and weak leaning on their sticks as they walk, when otherwise they would totter and fall. God says, then, that it is in His power to break this staff, so that their bread should only fill their stomachs without refreshing their strength. Ezekiel has borrowed from Moses this figure, which he makes use of in several places, (Eze 4:16,) although he there adverts to two sorts of punishment, like another Prophet, when He says, “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 is none warm; and he that; earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes;” and again,
“
Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it;” (Hag 1:6😉
for he points out scarcity of food as one of God’s scourges, and the inability to profit by their abundance, as another; and with this Micah also accords, for after he has said, “Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied,” he adds,
“
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 drink wine.” (Mic 6:14.)
But Moses, in order that the curse may be more apparent, says that there shall be abundance of bread; and also that there shall be no deception practiced in kneading and baking it; for that two (228) women shall come to one oven together, who may mutually observe whether weight is duly given. He implies, therefore, that there shall be abundance in their hands, and yet, when they are filled, they shall not be satisfied.
(227) “Mais de la parole sortant de la bouche de Dieu, comme s’il inspiroit au pain la faculte de nous sustenter;” but by the word proceeding out of the mouth of God, as if He inspired the bread with the power of supporting us. — Fr.
(228) C. is here at issue with the commentators in general. The usual view is that stated by Bush: “There shall be such a scarcity of bread that one ordinary oven shall answer for the baking of ten, that is a great many families; whereas in common circumstances one oven would serve (or rather be required) for one family.” Dr. Kitto supposes that “ten families, represented by their females, clubbed their dough together, and the produce being no more than an ordinary supply for one family, it was baked in one oven instead of each family, as usual, making a separate baking. Afterwards the cakes thus baked were proportioned by weight to the respective contributors, so precious was the bread. This is implied in the words, ‘shall deliver you your bread again by weight;’ which shews that the bread was previously theirs, and had been baked for them, not that it was sold to them by weight.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26)And when I have broken the staff of your bread.Better, when I break you the staff of bread, that is, when God cuts off their supply of bread, which is the staff of life. To break the staff of bread denotes to take away or to destroy the staff or the support which bread is to man. This metaphor also occurs in other parts of Scripture (Isa. 3:1; Eze. 4:16; Eze. 5:16; Eze. 14:13; Psa. 105:16). This, in addition to the pestilence in the cities, which will drive them to deliver themselves up to the enemy, or rather the cause of this pestilence will be the famine which will rage in the town whither they fled for protection.
Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven.Better, then ten women, &c., that is, so great will be the famine when God cuts off the supply, that one ordinary oven will suffice to bake the bread of ten families, who are represented by their ten women, whilst in ordinary times one oven was only sufficient for one family.
And they shall deliver you your bread again by weight.When it is brought from the bake-house each one will not be allowed to eat as much as he requires, but will have his stinted allowance most carefully served out to him by weight. Parallel to this picture of misery is the appalling scene described by Ezekiel, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care, and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment; that they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity (Eze. 4:16-17).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. The staff of bread Bread is called “the staff of life,” because it is man’s chief sustenance. By famine this staff is broken.
Ten women one oven The oven which commonly was sufficient for the use of one woman will hold the diminutive loaves of ten.
By weight So severe shall be the famine that wretchedly small rations shall be weighed out by the ounce. Hunger shall be aggravated and shall not be satisfied. In the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans many of the rich sold all they had for one measure of wheat, and the poor gave all their possessions for a measure of barley. Then shutting themselves up in the inmost rooms of their house they ate it, some without grinding, others made bread, and snatched it out of the fire half-baked, in their haste to banish the gnawings of hunger. Children pulled the morsels that their fathers were eating out of their very mouths, and so did the mothers to their infants.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 26:26. Ten women, &c. Ten, that is, many; a certain for an uncertain number. See 1Sa 1:8. Job 19:3. See also Eze 4:16-17.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 26:26
Ver. 26. And not be satisfied. ] As sick of a bulimy, or dog-like appetite, common in times of famine, such as was that of Samaria, Saguntum, Jerusalem, Sancerra, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
broken the staff of your bread. Figure of speech Metalepsis (App-6), bread being put for the support it gives, and staff which it is; and the breaking of the staff put for the cutting off the supply. Compare Isa 3:1. Eze 4:16; Eze 5:16; Eze 14:13. Psa 105:16.
ten. Supply Ellipsis (App-6) by supplying the word “then” = then ten: i.e. one oven shall be sufficient for ten families. Compare 2Ki 6:28, 2Ki 6:29.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 105:16, Isa 3:1, Isa 9:20, Jer 14:12, Lam 4:3-9, Eze 4:10, Eze 4:16, Eze 5:16, Eze 14:13, Hos 4:10, Mic 6:14, Hag 1:6
Reciprocal: Gen 31:7 – ten times Deu 28:18 – thy land Deu 28:51 – which also 2Sa 21:1 – a famine 1Ki 8:37 – in the land famine 1Ki 18:2 – a sore 2Ki 4:38 – a dearth 2Ki 8:1 – the Lord 2Ki 25:3 – the famine 1Ch 21:12 – three years’ famine 2Ch 6:28 – if there be dearth Job 19:3 – ten times Psa 104:15 – bread Jer 52:6 – the famine Eze 12:18 – General Joe 2:26 – ye shall Amo 4:6 – and want Mat 14:20 – were Rev 6:5 – had
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 26:26. When I have broken the staff of your bread By sending a famine, or scarcity of bread, which is the staff and support of mans present life. Ten women That is, ten or many families, for the women took care for the bread and food of all the family. By weight This is a sign and consequence both of a famine, and of the baking of the bread of several families together in one oven, wherein each family took care to weigh their bread, and to receive the same proportion which they put in.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
26:26 [And] when I have broken the {n} staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one {o} oven, and they shall deliver [you] your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
(n) That is, the strength by which life is sustained, Eze 4:16; Eze 5:16.
(o) One oven will be sufficient for ten families.