Leviticus 26 31

Leviticus 26:31 kjv

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.

Leviticus 26:31 nkjv

I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.

Leviticus 26:31 niv

I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.

Leviticus 26:31 esv

And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas.

Leviticus 26:31 nlt

I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of pagan worship. I will take no pleasure in your offerings that should be a pleasing aroma to me.

Leviticus 26 verses

Leviticus 26 31 Meaning

Leviticus 26:31 proclaims a severe and personal divine judgment upon the nation of Israel for their covenant unfaithfulness. It signifies that God will actively dismantle their societal structures by making their cities desolate and bringing ruin upon their most sacred places of worship, ultimately refusing to accept or find pleasure in their ritual offerings and sacrifices, thereby signaling a complete withdrawal of His favor and presence due to their rebellion.

Leviticus 26 31 Context

Leviticus 26 details the covenant stipulations between God and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. It is divided into clear sections outlining the blessings for obedience (Lev 26:3-13) and the severe, escalating curses for disobedience (Lev 26:14-45). Verse 31 falls squarely within these curses, following earlier warnings of famine, disease, military defeat, and the humiliation of seeing their land become unproductive. The particular curse in verse 31 escalates the punishment to direct attacks on Israel's physical infrastructure and their spiritual center. This threat foreshadows the historical realities of national defeat, especially the Babylonian exile where Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed, and ultimately, the Roman destruction of the Second Temple. The verse highlights that their formal religious practices would become an empty shell without the accompanying spiritual and moral obedience required by the covenant, rendering their sacrifices meaningless in God's sight.

Leviticus 26 31 Word analysis

• And I will make: The conjunction "And" (wĕ) links this judgment to preceding curses. "I will make" (וְנָתַתִּי - v'natati) is God speaking in the first person, singular, using the perfect tense with a waw consecutive, which conveys strong divine resolve and certainty. It emphasizes God as the active agent of this desolation.
• your cities: (‘arei-khem - עָרֵיכֶם) Plural. Refers to all their populated centers, symbolic of their organized society, national security, and economic life. This implies widespread ruin across the land, affecting all aspects of Israelite daily existence.
• a waste: (ḥorbah - חָרְבָּה) This noun signifies ruin, desolation, or devastation. It suggests emptiness, abandonment, and utter destruction, often resulting from warfare or natural disaster, and here, directly from divine judgment. It depicts places once vibrant that are now uninhabitable.
• and bring: (וְהַשִׁמֹּתִי - v'hashimoti) From the root shamem (שמם), meaning to be desolate, appalled, or devastated. This verb is causative (Hiphil), implying an active act of making desolate. It echoes a profound and dreadful ruin. The linking conjunction "and" signifies this is a continuation or an intensified aspect of the preceding judgment.
• your sanctuaries: (miqdashei-khem - מִקְדְּשֵׁיכֶם) This is the plural form of miqdash (מִקְדָּשׁ), meaning a holy place or sanctuary. In the Mosaic period, this primarily refers to the Tabernacle in its various sacred components or functions. Later, it would refer to the Temple in Jerusalem. The plural could indicate the sacred nature of various aspects of the Tabernacle/Temple (e.g., holy place, Most Holy Place, altars, courtyards) or refer inclusively to any place they would set up for worship that claimed a holy status (even high places later), signifying that God's judgment would extend to every facet and locale they considered holy. It underlines God's direct violation of the sanctity that He Himself established, demonstrating the depth of their offense.
• to desolation: (l'hashimah - לְהַשִּׁמָּה) Similar to ḥorbah, but the phrase "bring to desolation" (הֲשִׁמֹּתִי...לְהַשִּׁמָּה) strengthens the idea of complete ruin, actively reducing to nothingness. It emphasizes the direct divine agency in their utter destruction.
• and I will not smell: (וְלֹא אָרִיחַ - v'lo ariach) A powerful expression of absolute rejection and displeasure. The negative "not" (lo) preceding the verb "smell" (ariach, from ruach, "to smell/sense") indicates a definitive refusal. In biblical terms, for God to "smell" the aroma of an offering was a sign of acceptance, favor, and presence (e.g., Noah's sacrifice in Gen 8:21, offerings in Exod and Lev). Here, He declares He will not accept them.
• the aroma: (reiach - רֵיחַ) The scent, often a "pleasing aroma" (reiach niḥoaḥ), which symbolized God's acceptance of an offering and the presence of His favor. The absence of "pleasing" here, combined with the negation, signifies the exact opposite: disgust, rejection, and utter displeasure.
• of your offerings: (qorbanei-khem - קָרְבָּנֵיכֶם) Plural of qorban, which means "that which is brought near." These were the various sacrifices and offerings the Israelites presented to God as acts of worship, atonement, and communion. God's rejection of these core rituals signifies that their entire religious system has become an abomination to Him because of their sin, stripped of all efficacy and spiritual meaning.

• "And I will make your cities a waste, and bring your sanctuaries to desolation": This dual declaration outlines a comprehensive judgment on both Israel's national-civic life and their religious life. It signals an overwhelming collapse of their society from a geopolitical and social perspective (cities) and a sacred, religious one (sanctuaries). This demonstrates God's holistic sovereignty over every sphere of their existence.
• "and I will not smell the aroma of your offerings": This phrase marks the pinnacle of rejection. It signifies not merely a failure of their rituals but God's personal disengagement and disdain for what were supposed to be expressions of devotion and avenues of reconciliation. It powerfully communicates that the outward act of worship, without the inward heart of obedience, is an affront to God, devoid of power or favor.

Leviticus 26 31 Bonus section

This verse serves as a crucial theological anchor, demonstrating God's sovereign priority of ethical and covenantal obedience over mere ceremonial ritual. The emphasis on God personally refusing to "smell the aroma" (an anthropomorphism) highlights the intensely relational aspect of His covenant with Israel. It implies a personal sense of repulsion, conveying that their actions not only incurred judgment but fundamentally corrupted the very means by which they sought to commune with Him. This principle resonated strongly through the prophetic books, where figures like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos repeatedly decried the empty formalism of worship without justice or righteousness. The plural "sanctuaries" could also imply a warning against the proliferation of unauthorized altars or high places that emerged in later periods of Israelite history, where cultic activity sometimes deviated from true worship prescribed by the Torah. Furthermore, this curse points forward to a time when physical temples and sacrifices would give way to a more profound, internal, and spiritual form of worship under the New Covenant, where the body of believers becomes the true temple (1 Cor 6:19) and spiritual sacrifices of praise and good deeds are offered (Heb 13:15-16).

Leviticus 26 31 Commentary

Leviticus 26:31 is a severe pronouncement within God's covenant curses, illustrating that true worship and God's favor are not inherent in physical locations or ritual acts, but contingent upon the people's obedience and faithfulness to Him. It delivers a stark warning: Israel's most valued possessions—their vibrant cities, representing their societal stability and future, and their holy sanctuaries, symbolizing God's presence among them and their spiritual identity—would be reduced to utter ruin by divine command. Crucially, this judgment extends to the core of their religious practice, stating that God would actively turn away from and refuse to accept their most sacred offerings. This means that despite adhering to the prescribed rites, their sacrifices would lose their spiritual significance and fail to elicit divine favor. The verse thus emphasizes that external religious performance cannot compensate for internal rebellion or covenant unfaithfulness; God prioritizes the genuine heart of obedience and justice over ritual. This prophetic declaration ultimately found fulfillment in historical events like the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the Temple, serving as an eternal reminder that a holy God cannot abide an unholy people, and their formal worship, when separated from sincere obedience, becomes meaningless to Him.