Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 23:25
And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
25a. The positive complement of v. 24: Jehovah is to be the object of Israel’s worship.
25b, 26. The blessings which will follow upon Israel’s obedience: abundance of food, freedom from sickness, fertility of flocks and herds, and long life.
25b. and he shall bless ] read with LXX., Vulg., Di., &c., and I will bless (cf. the following, ‘and I will take’); originally (if vv. 23 25a be a later insertion) the continuation of v. 22 end.
take sickness away, &c.] Cf. Exo 15:26; and the reminiscence of the present passage in Deu 7:15 (as of v. 26a in Deu 7:14 b).
26a. Cf. Deu 7:14 b; also (expressed positively) the blessings promised in Deu 28:11; Deu 30:9, and Lev 26:9 (H).
26b. I will fulfil ] Life will not come to an end prematurely, either for the individual, or for the nation (cf. Exo 20:12).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 25. Shall bless thy bread and thy water] That is, all thy provisions, no matter of what sort; the meanest fare shall be sufficiently nutritive when God’s blessing is in it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy bread and thy water, i.e. thy meat and thy drink, that they shall be able to nourish thee, and give thee comfort, which without my blessing they will never be able to do.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And ye shall serve the Lord your God,…. And him only, who had brought them out of Egypt, and done so many great and good things for them at the Red sea, and now in the wilderness; by which he appeared to be the true Jehovah, the one and only living God, and to be their God in covenant, who had promised them much, and had performed it; and therefore was in a special and peculiar manner their God, and they were under the highest obligations to serve and worship him in the way and manner he directed them to:
and he shall bless thy bread and thy water; and make them nourishing and refreshing to them, and preserve them thereby in health, as well as prosper and succeed them, and increase their worldly substance:
and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee; the stroke of bitterness, or the bitter stroke, as the Targum of Jonathan, any grievous disease, which is bitter and distressing; signifying that there should be none among them, but that they should be healthful, and free from distempers and diseases.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
25. And ye shall serve the Lord your God. It is true that this promise is very similar to others, to which I have assigned a peculiar place, but it has this difference, that, in inviting the people to be zealous in keeping the Law, it sets before their eyes the effect of the covenant already made with their fathers, in order that they may more cheerfully receive the Law. Therefore there was good reason for my saying just before that the promises which refer to the past have their appropriate place here, where their minds are prepared to obey God and keep His Law, because the race of Abraham God had chosen to Himself, that tie may continually visit them with His favor. He therefore promises them His blessing on their bread and water and bodily health, for on these three things depend the condition of our present life. Two other things He adds — fecundity in generation, and length of days. The sum is, that they had been prevented by God’s loving-kindness, in order that they might willingly honor Him, and that now all He had promised them was close at hand, if only they responded to His grace. But, although the fertility of the land was great, and its productions various and abundant, no mention is here made, as in other places, of wine or oil, but only of simple food, as if He had said that the necessary supports of life should not be wanting to them.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(25) He shall bless thy bread, and thy wateri.e., all the food, whether meat or drink, on which they subsisted. It is Gods blessing which makes food healthful to us.
Take sickness away.Half the sicknesses from which men suffer are directly caused by sin, and would disappear if men led godly, righteous, and sober lives. Others, as plague and pestilence, are scourges sent by God to punish those who have offended Him. If Israel had walked in Gods ways, He would have preserved them from sicknesses of all kinds by a miraculous interposition. (Comp. Deu. 7:15.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Take sickness away This promise to give health and blessing is in accord with Exo 15:26, where Jehovah calls himself Israel’s healer . Great temporal abundance and a long life passed in divine favour are held up as ideals of excellence .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 23:25-27. And ye shall serve the Lord your God In consequence of their utter extirpation of idols and idolatry, and their obedience to God, he promises every sort of temporal blessings: Plenty of meat and drink; implied in the words bread and water; see 1Sa 25:11. Health; I will take sickness away, &c. Fruitfulness and increase, Exo 23:26 and long life; the number of thy days I will fulfil. See Psa 90:10; Psa 55:23 besides which, the Lord promises to send a panic fear upon their enemies; which we find verified, Jos 2:9-11 and confirmed by an old inscription in Procopius, (lib. 2: De Reb. Vandal.) found not far from Tangier, which imported, that the ancient inhabitants of that country had fled from the face of Joshua, the son of Nun.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 28:1-14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 23:25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Ver. 25. Bless thy bread. ] God’s blessing is the staff of bread, and strength of water. See Trapp on “ Mat 4:4 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
bread, and thy water. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species), App-6, put for all kinds of food and drink.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
And ye: Deu 6:13, Deu 10:12, Deu 10:20, Deu 11:13, Deu 11:14, Deu 13:4, Deu 28:1-6, Jos 22:5, Jos 24:14, Jos 24:15, Jos 24:21, Jos 24:24, 1Sa 7:3, 1Sa 12:20, 1Sa 12:24, Jer 8:2, Mat 4:10
he shall: Deu 7:13, Deu 28:5-8, Isa 33:16, Mal 3:10
I will take: Exo 15:26, Deu 7:15, Psa 103:3, Isa 33:24
Reciprocal: Psa 132:15 – bless her provision Dan 1:15 – their Hos 11:3 – I healed Luk 4:4 – That
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 23:25-26. He shall bless thy bread and thy water And Gods blessing will make bread and water more refreshing and nourishing than a feast of fat things, and wines on the lees, without that blessing. And I will take sickness away Either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall not be visited with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful, and sometimes have laid countries waste. The number of thy days I will fulfil And they shall not be cut off in the midst by untimely deaths. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
23:25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy {o} bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
(o) That is, all things necessary for this present life.