48 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will break the pride of your power,.... Which the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret of the sanctuary, which they were proud of, trusted in, and boasted of; but was broke or destroyed, first by Nebuchadnezzar, then by the Romans: but it may rather signify their country, the glory of all lands for its fruitfulness, which for their sins...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And your strength shall be spent in vain,.... In endeavouring to till the ground, to plough, or sow, or to dig about the vines or olives, and prune them; for your land shall not yield its increase; produce corn, and bring forth grass, the one for the use of men, the other for the use of the cattle, and therefore both must starve: neither shall the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if ye walk contrary unto me,.... To his mind and will, to his laws, commands, and ordinances, showing no regard unto them by a walk and conversation agreeably to them, but neglecting and breaking them continually; or by chance, as the Targum of Jonathan, not with any intention and design to obey the Lord, and to honour and glorify him, but in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will also send wild beasts among you,.... Either in a literal sense, as lions, bears, wolves, c. and so is the reverse of what is promised to them on their doing well, Leviticus 26:6 or figuratively, mighty monarchs and cruel oppressors, such as were the kings of Assyria and Babylon, Jeremiah 50:17; which shall rob you of your children; as the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if ye will not be reformed by these things,.... Corrected and amended by these punishments, be prevailed upon to return from their evil ways to the Lord, and walk in his commandments, and keep his judgments, and do them: but will walk contrary unto me; [See comments on Leviticus 26:21].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then I will also walk contrary unto you,.... Opposing himself unto them as their enemy, fighting against them in his providence, whetting his sword, bending his bow, and causing the arrows of his wrath and vengeance to fall upon them; or behaving towards them in a careless and indifferent manner, not regarding what befell them, showing no peculiar...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will bring a sword upon you,.... War upon them by the sword of their enemies; they that use and kill with the sword, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; their neighbours that delighted in war, and bore an implacable, hatred unto them, and gladly embraced every opportunity of shedding their blood, and ravaging their country: that shall...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And if ye for all this will not hearken unto me,.... To his commands, and to his prophets sent unto them time after time, and all his corrections and chastisements being ineffectual to reform them, and make them obedient to him: but walk contrary unto me; [See comments on Leviticus 26:21].
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then I will walk contrary to you also in fury,.... As in Leviticus 26:24; with this addition, in fury; being greatly provoked, and highly incensed, that no regard was had to him, neither to his commands, nor to his corrections; and therefore would be determined to stir up his wrath, and pour out the fury of his indignation on them, which must be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons,.... Which was fulfilled at the siege of Samaria, in the times of Joram, 2 Kings 6:29; and at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lamentations 4:10; and though there is no instance of it at that time in the sacred records, the Jews (p) tells us of one Doeg ben Joseph, who died and left a little one...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will destroy your high places,.... Which Jarchi interprets of towers and palaces; but Aben Ezra of the place of sacrifices; for on high places, hills and mountains, they used to build altars, and there offer sacrifices, in imitation of the Heathens; [See comments on Ezekiel 6:13]; and cut down your images; called Chammanim, either from Ham,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will make your cities waste,.... By suffering the enemy to besiege them, enter into them, and plunder them, and destroy the houses in them, and reduce them to the most desolate condition, as Jerusalem, their metropolis, was more than once: and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation; the temple, so called from the several apartments in it, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will bring the land into desolation,.... The whole country of Judea, cities, towns, villages, fields, vineyards, c. through the ravage and plunder of the enemy and they being driven out of it, and carried captive from it, and so the land left untilled, and become barren and unfruitful: and your enemies which dwell therein; having destroyed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I will scatter you among the Heathen,.... As with a fan, Jeremiah 15:7; so they were at the time of the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities, some were carried to one place, and some to another, some fled to one place, and some to another, and they are at this day scattered among the several nations of the world; and will draw out a sword after...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths,.... The sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, when, according to the law in the preceding chapter, it was to rest from tillage, Leviticus 25:2: as long as it lieth desolate, and ye [be] in your enemies' land; so long it should lie uncultivated, at least in part, there not being a sufficient number left...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest,.... From tillage, neither man nor beast working upon it; for which reason such a space of time was called a sabbath: because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when you dwelt upon it; they manured and tilled it on the seventh years, as on others, neglecting the command which God had given them; and this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they shall fall one upon another,.... In their hurry and confusion, everyone making all the haste he can to escape the imaginary danger; or "a man upon his brother" (z); his friend, as Aben Ezra interprets it, having no regard to relation and friendship, every one endeavouring to save himself. There is another sense which some Jewish writers...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And ye shall perish among the Heathen,.... Not utterly, but great numbers of them, through change of air, and different diet, as Aben Ezra, and through the cruel usage of their enemies; for there is a body of them which continues unto this day; unless this is to be understood of the ten tribes, as R. Akiba (b) interprets it, who are supposed to be...