Leviticus 26 38

Leviticus 26:38 kjv

And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

Leviticus 26:38 nkjv

You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

Leviticus 26:38 niv

You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.

Leviticus 26:38 esv

And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

Leviticus 26:38 nlt

You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies.

Leviticus 26 verses

Leviticus 26 38 Meaning

Leviticus 26:38 proclaims a severe consequence for Israel's disobedience to God's covenant: they will experience decimation and dissipation among foreign nations. Their own national identity and vitality will be absorbed and extinguished within the hostile territory of their enemies, symbolizing complete subjugation and the tragic loss of their promised inheritance and unique status as God's chosen people.

Leviticus 26 38 Context

Leviticus chapter 26 is a pivotal section within the book, serving as the covenant ratification document for the Israelites as they stood at the threshold of the Promised Land. It starkly presents the conditional nature of God's covenant with Israel: blessings are promised for obedience (Lev 26:3-13), while severe curses are warned for disobedience, particularly idolatry and a contemptuous rejection of God's statutes (Lev 26:14-39). The progression of curses escalates from less severe afflictions to ultimately the terrifying prospect of war, famine, plague, desolation of the land, and the devastating exile from their land and perishing among their enemies. Leviticus 26:38 represents one of the climactic points in this progression of curses, vividly describing the ultimate degradation of a people dispossessed of their homeland and absorbed into foreign, hostile cultures, a direct consequence of breaking faith with Yahweh.

Leviticus 26 38 Word analysis

• And you shall perish (וַאֲבַדְתֶּם, va'avadtem):

  • Word: avad (אבד).
  • Meaning: To perish, to be lost, to be destroyed, to be ruined, to vanish. It implies a cessation of being, or a loss of identity and functionality.
  • Significance: This is not just physical death but the destruction of national and communal identity, the dissolution of a distinct people. It suggests losing their way, being no longer found as a unique entity, or even complete annihilation of large numbers. The passive form emphasizes the active role of divine judgment.

• among the nations (בַּגּוֹיִם, baggoyim):

  • Word: goyim (גּוֹיִם).
  • Meaning: Nations, peoples, gentiles.
  • Significance: This is highly significant. Israel was set apart from the goyim. To perish "among" them means losing their unique status, becoming indistinct from the very peoples they were meant to stand distinct from. It implies scattering, diaspora, and losing the centralized worship and national life tied to the land of promise. This outcome undermines their very covenantal identity as a peculiar people unto God.

• and the land of your enemies (וְאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיכֶם, v'eretz oy'veikhem):

  • Word: eretz (אֶרֶץ) - land, earth; oy'veikhem (אֹיְבֵיכֶם) - your enemies.
  • Meaning: The territory or dwelling place of those who are hostile towards Israel.
  • Significance: The contrast is stark. Instead of dwelling in their God-given land (a land flowing with milk and honey), they will reside in an "enemy land." This land offers no comfort, no security, no promise; it is by its very nature antagonistic. This is not just foreign land but enemy land, a place where their captors wield power over them, accentuating their helplessness and degradation.

• shall consume you (תֹּאכַל אֶתְכֶם, tokhal et'khem):

  • Word: akal (אָכַל).
  • Meaning: To eat, consume, devour.
  • Significance: A vivid metaphor. The land itself is personified as actively "eating" or "devouring" them. This implies absorption, assimilation, annihilation, or spiritual and physical depletion. The land drains their vitality, diminishes their numbers, and destroys their distinctiveness, much like a predator consumes its prey. It highlights a complete, pervasive destruction not just by external forces but by the very environment they find themselves in.

• Word-Group Analysis:

  • "And you shall perish among the nations": This phrase encapsulates the theme of exile and the existential threat to Israel's identity. It signifies dispersion, reduction in number, loss of a national center, and cultural assimilation leading to the cessation of Israel's unique covenantal role and existence as a distinct people. Their chosenness appears revoked in this context of utter dispersion.
  • "and the land of your enemies shall consume you": This vividly describes the comprehensive nature of the judgment. The "consumption" implies that the foreign environment will drain them of life, absorb them, make them disappear, and remove any distinctiveness, symbolizing profound and irrevocable decline, spiritual demise, and cultural effacement within a hostile foreign domain.

Leviticus 26 38 Bonus section

The metaphor of the land "consuming" is not unique to this passage. Elsewhere in Scripture, the land itself is depicted as responsive to human actions, either "vomiting out" its inhabitants because of their defilement (Lev 18:28) or consuming them through judgment. This reinforces the idea that the created order, particularly the Promised Land, participates in and reflects God's covenantal dealings with Israel. The curse implies not only external force but also the internal inability to sustain themselves within an alien environment, as their spiritual vitality would be gone. This verse's profound impact lay in its accuracy, becoming a historical reality for generations of Israelites, thus reinforcing the enduring truth of God's covenant promises and warnings.

Leviticus 26 38 Commentary

Leviticus 26:38 serves as a chilling summary of the most extreme covenantal curses, articulating a fate that was a primal fear for ancient Israel: loss of land, identity, and perishing among foreign peoples. It underscores that the Abrahamic promises of numerous descendants and possession of the land were conditional upon Israel's covenant fidelity. The severity of the curse emphasizes the gravity of sin and the high stakes of their unique relationship with God. This verse prophetically foreshadowed the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, where large portions of Israel and Judah indeed perished or were assimilated among hostile nations, fulfilling this terrifying warning. While it depicts a future of utter loss, the broader chapter also subtly hints at potential restoration for a repentant remnant (Lev 26:40-45), though the focus here remains on the dreadful consequence of abandoning the Lord. This verse stresses God's unyielding justice and His power to both give and take away the covenantal blessings, ensuring that Israel would know Him as sovereign over all nations and lands.

• Example: Historically, the Northern Kingdom of Israel, captured by Assyria (722 BCE), largely "perished among the nations" through forced resettlement and assimilation, becoming indistinguishable over time. The Southern Kingdom of Judah, taken to Babylon (586 BCE), while experiencing significant loss, managed to retain a core identity, though also facing the threat of consumption by their hostile environment.