Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 26:36
And upon them that are left [alive] of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
36. the sound of driven leaf ] Cp. Lev 26:17; Pro 28:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Faintness: the word notes a tenderness and softness of mind, whereby they are disenabled from bearing the present miseries, and are in continual dread of further and sorer miseries.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And upon them that are left [alive] of you,…. In the land of Judea, or rather scattered about among the nations, suggesting that these would be comparatively few:
I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; or “a softness” y; so that they should be effeminate, pusillanimous, and cowardly, have nothing of a manly spirit and courage in them; but be mean spirited and faint hearted, as the Jews are noted to be at this day, as Bishop Patrick observes; who also adds,
“it being scarce ever heard, that a Jew listed himself for a soldier, or engaged in the defence of his country where he lives:”
and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; either the sound of a leaf that falls from the tree, as the Targum of Jonathan, or which the wind beats one against another, as Jarchi, which makes some little noise; even this should terrify them, taking it to be the noise of some enemy near at hand, just ready to fall on them; such poor faint hearted creatures should they be;
and they shall flee as fleeing from the sword; as if there were an army of soldiers with their swords drawn pursuing them:
and they shall fall when none pursueth; fall upon the ground, and into a fit, and drop down as if dead, as if they had been really wounded with a sword and slain, see Pr 28:1.
y “mollitiem”, Montanus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
So far as the nation was concerned, those who were left when the kingdom was overthrown would find no rest in the land of their enemies, but would perish among the heathen for their own and their fathers’ iniquities, till they confessed their sins and bent their uncircumcised hearts under the righteousness of the divine punishments. (nominative abs.): “as for those who are left in (as in Lev 5:9), i.e., of, you,” who have not perished in the destruction of the kingdom and dispersion of the people, God will bring despair into their heart in the lands of your enemies, that the sound (“voice”) of a moving leaf will hunt them to flee as before the sword, so that they will fall in their anxious flight, and stumble one over another, though no one is pursuing. The . . from , related to and to rub, rub to pieces, signifies that inward anguish, fear, and despair, which rend the heart and destroy the life, , pavor (lxx, Vulg.), what is described in Deu 28:65 in even stronger terms as “a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.” There should not be to them , standi et resistendi facultas ( Rosenmller), standing before the enemy; but they should perish among the nations. “The land of their enemies will eat them up,” sc., by their falling under the pressure of the circumstances in which they were placed (cf. Num 13:32; Eze 36:13).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 36-39:
6. The final punishment, to come upon the survivors of the previous judgments, who are taken captive into exile:
(1) An unreasonable and pervasive fear, see Eze 21:7;
(2) Powerless before their enemies, as subject peoples;
(3) Consumed in the land of their enemies, perhaps referring to the numerous graves filled by exiled Israelis during their exile in foreign lands. The Holocaust of World War II in the gas chambers and ovens of Dachau, Buchenwald, and other extermination camps, is dramatic evidence of the tragic fulfillment of this prophecy.
(4) The overwhelming sorrow of dispersed Israel, in the land of their exile, as they yearn for their own Land.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(36, 37) And upon them that are left alive of you.Better, And as to those that remain of you, as the Authorised Version generally renders this expression. This obviates the insertion of the expression alive, which is not in the original, and is not put in the Authorised Version in Lev. 26:39, where the same phrase occurs. Where these will remain is explained in the next clause.
I will send a faintness into their hearts.That is, He will implant in them such timidity and cowardice that they will be frightened at the faintest sound. He will make life a misery to them. (Comp. Deu. 28:65-67.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36. The sound of a shaken leaf The Hebrew is more poetical, the voice of a driven leaf. “So wrong doing is never blessed. Even when men appear to succeed and to save themselves alive, their success is partial, and may only create an opportunity for further divine judgment. Do not suppose that men are successful simply because they are living. A man may have escaped the sea only to die a more terrible death on land. Marvellous are the judicial resources of God. We have an indication here of a law to whose subtle force many men can testify. Fear takes away all power, and turns the most dauntless soldier into a coward.” Joseph Parker. No expression could more vividly portray the perpetual terror, the distressing alarm, of the poor captives.
In the lands of their enemies In the Orient, outside of the Hebrew theocracy, slaves had no civil rights. Even under Roman law the master with impunity could chop up his slaves into mince meat for his fish ponds if he should choose. After the return from Babylon four different dynasties obtained the supremacy of the land of Canaan. The dominion of Persia was from 536 to 333 B.C.; of Greece, from 333 to 167 B.C.; of the Asmoneans, from 167 to 63 B.C.; of the Herods under Rome, from 40 B.C., to 70 A.D.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“And upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.” Lev 26:36
So wrong-doing is never blessed. Even when men appear to succeed and to save themselves alive, their success is partial, and may only create an opportunity for further divine judgment. Do not suppose that men are successful simply because they are living. A man may have escaped the sea only to die a more terrible death on land. Marvellous are the judicious resources of God. We have an indication here of a law to whose subtle force many men can testify. Fear takes away all power, and turns the most dauntless soldier into a coward. We cannot account for faintness of heart; it has no history; it cannot be cross-examined; it is something sent into us by a higher power, and is permitted to work miracles in the spirits of otherwise brave men. We are surrounded by mystery. The sound of “a shaken leaf” is magnified by the imagination into the sound of a rushing army. Shadows are ministers of Heaven. Unexplained noises come to do the work of judgment. It is not enough to describe these things as superstition, or fancy, or nightmare: there they are, operating directly and energetically in the whole administration of life, and it is more rational to accept a spiritual interpretation of them than to regard them as mere dreams without purpose or force. By so talking of them we disprove our own argument by the very fact that we are ruled by them, and cannot resist their effect. God crushes some men as by a great weight: other men he beclouds so that reason cannot find its way through all the conditions of life’s necessities: the memory of other men is taken away: men who never feared the face of man have fled before a shaking leaf, as if they were fleeing from an infinite sword. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Our God is a consuming fire. It is gracious on his part that he should be so revealed. His severity is but an aspect of his love. We read of the wrath of the Lamb. Can any wrath be so terrible? Can any surprise be so startling? Was ever such a change contemplated by the boldest imagination of man? When love becomes wrath, how hot is that perdition! Yet God is always willing to turn, anxious to be conciliated, prepared to readopt the wandering child. When we take out the element of fear from the Christian ministry, we deprive that ministry of one of its most useful auxiliaries. Christ never failed to avail himself of the uses of fear. There was a “hell” even in the gracious speech of the Saviour of the world. He did not conceal the sword; he revealed it in its strength and keenness.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Lev 26:36 And upon them that are left [alive] of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
Ver. 36. I will send a faintness. ] See this explained in Job 15:21-22 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will send: Gen 35:5, Deu 28:65-67, Jos 2:9-11, Jos 5:1, 1Sa 17:24, 2Ki 7:6, 2Ki 7:7, 2Ch 14:14, Job 15:21, Job 15:22, Isa 7:2, Isa 7:4, Eze 21:7, Eze 21:12, Eze 21:15
and the: Lev 26:7, Lev 26:8, Lev 26:17, Deu 1:44, Job 15:21, Pro 28:1, Isa 30:17
shaken: Heb. driven
Reciprocal: Gen 4:12 – a fugitive Gen 4:14 – that Gen 42:28 – their heart Gen 50:15 – Joseph Deu 28:25 – cause thee Deu 32:25 – sword Jos 7:5 – wherefore 1Sa 13:7 – the Hebrews 1Sa 14:15 – very great trembling 1Sa 31:7 – they forsook the cities 2Sa 24:13 – flee 1Ki 20:4 – I am thine 2Ki 21:14 – deliver 2Ki 25:4 – fled 1Ch 10:7 – then they 1Ch 14:15 – when thou shalt hear 1Ch 21:12 – to be destroyed Job 18:11 – to his feet Psa 44:10 – Thou Psa 53:5 – There Psa 89:43 – not made Isa 10:4 – Without me Jer 37:10 – though Jer 39:4 – when Jer 46:16 – one Jer 52:7 – all the men Lam 1:3 – she Lam 1:6 – her princes Lam 5:17 – our heart Eze 12:18 – General Hos 8:3 – the enemy Amo 9:4 – go Luk 21:26 – hearts
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 26:36. The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them A very significant phrase, importing that they should sink into a state of the most slavish fear and despicable cowardice.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
26:36 And upon them that are left [alive] of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall {s} flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
(s) As if their enemies chased them.