Exodus 23:25

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"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 23:25-26. He shall bless thy bread and thy water — And God’s 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, all things necessary for this present life.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(25) He shall bless thy bread, and thy water—i.e., all the food, whether meat or drink, on which they subsisted. It is God’s 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 God’s ways, He would have preserved them from sicknesses of all kinds by a miraculous interposition. (Comp. Deu_7:15.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I will send my fear before thee,.... What should cause fear among the nations of the land of Canaan; either the hornets mentioned in the next verse as the explanative of this; or the fame of his mighty works, which he had done for Israel in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; which struck the inhabitants of Canaan with such a panic, that they were ready to faint and melt away, and lost all courage, Jos 2:9.

and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come; that is, the greatest part of them:

and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee; flee away, not being able to face them and stand a battle, or, however, not stand it long, but run and make their escape: "or I will give thee the neck of them" (p); cause them to submit, to lay down their necks and be trampled upon; an expression denoting their subjection, and an entire conquest of them, see Psa 18:39.

(p) "et dabo-cervicem", Pagninus, Montanus; "exponam tibi cervicem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "ponam ad te cervicem", Drusius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Waters, or all things necessary for your sustenance.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall bless thy bread and thy water. If the Israelites were exact in their obedience, and destroyed the idols, and served God only, then he promised to bless "their bread and their water the food, i.e. , whether meat or drink, on which they subsisted, and to give them vigorous health, free from sickness of any kind, which he pledged himself to take away from the midst of them. Though Christians have no such special pledge, there is, no doubt, that virtuous and godly living would greatly conduce to health, and take away half the sicknesses from which men suffer, even at the present day.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall bless thy bread and thy water - And God's 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.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

AND YE SHALL SERVE THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D, AND HE WILL BLESS THY BREAD, AND THY WATER. The intention of this verse is as follows. Most idolators acknowledge and know that the revered G-d is G-d of gods, and Lord of lords, and they do not intend to worship the idols themselves, but they think that because of these acts of worship they will have success in their endeavors. Thus when they worship the sun it is because they have found it to have a beneficial power over their crops, and they find the moon to have influence over fountains and all deep waters, and similarly [they attribute powers] to all the hosts of heaven. They are even more inclined to think that they will be greatly benefitted by worshipping the angels, since they are invested with dignity through ministering before the Great G-d. Therefore this verse states that only through the worship of the Holy One, blessed be He, can you have success and protection, and the uprooting of idolatry will not cause damage; on the contrary, it will add goodness and blessing to you, for the Holy One, blessed be He, will bless your “bread,” this being a term which includes all manner of food, and will bless your “water,” which is a generic term for all liquids that people drink. The blessing referred to means increase, so that you will have an exceeding abundance of them.

AND I WILL TAKE SICKNESS AWAY FROM THE MIDST OF THEE. That is to say, through them [the bread and water that I will bless], I will free you from disease, for when your food and drink are good and healthy, they do not cause sicknesses but, on the contrary, heal you. And He states furthermore that there will not be amongst you a woman that miscarries, a miscarrying womb nor one barren of the womb and with dry breasts, for when food and drink and the air are blessed, human bodies become healthy and the organs of reproduction are able to function properly. The verse singles out women because they are liable to miscarriage, and sterility too is more common amongst them than amongst men. It is possible that [male sterility] is included in the expression, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee, for barrenness is a sickness in bodies. He addresses Himself without specifications to men, and afterwards He mentioned the women, as He said, there shall not be male or female barren among you. The meaning of the expression in thy land, [None shall miscarry, nor be barren, in thy land], is to include also the animals, just as He said there, or amongst your cattle. The number of thy days I will fulfill means that one will not die prematurely in battle, nor through an epidemic caused by a change in the atmosphere, but only at a ripe age, whatever happens to be the normal span of life during that particular generation, such as seventy or eighty years as in the generation of King David. I have already mentioned, and on Genesis 17:1 (Vol. I, p. 215). that these are all miracles, G-d showing wonders in the heavens and in the earth for the sake of those who do His will. And then He said that just as He will do on their behalf a sign for good, so will He do to their enemies for bad; He will give them a trembling heart, (Verse 27). and in the chambers terror., 32:25. — Ramban derives this from the expression here: And I will cause discomfort to all the people to whom thou shalt come. Moreover, He will send the tzir’ah amongst them, this being a certain kind of hornet of the family of the bee. The Sages mention it continually: “Bees’ honey, hornets’ honey.” The meaning of the verse is that He will send this plague through the atmosphere of their land, like the locust that He had sent in Egypt: the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, His great army which came in the days of Joel. The meaning of the expression, and she [the hornet] will drive out the Hivite etc., is that this will be the cause of their being driven out of the land, for since the hornets will cover the face of the earth and darken it, they will not be able to go into battle. Moreover, it will eat up all their produce in the field, similar to that which is said in the imprecations, Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it, etc.; All thy trees and the fruit of thy land shall the locust possess., Verse 42. Similarly He said here that He will do such things to our enemies.Scripture mentioned here the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, [and not the other four nations as well], because it adopted here a shortened form, and the intention is to all those mentioned above. The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the majority of these three nations [mentioned here] did not go out to battle and thus avoided being killed by the sword, because they remained strongly enclosed in their fortified places. It is against them that He sent only this form of death [through the hornet], in a similar manner to that which is said of Egypt, And thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians. It is this which He said in the Book of Deuteronomy: Moreover the Eternal thy G-d will send the hornet amongst them, until they that are left, and they that hide themselves, perish from before thee, and it is this hornet that crossed the Jordon with Joshua. cross the Jordan but merely “placed themselves on the east bank of the Jordan and from there injected the poison against them” applies to the hornet of the days of Moses. The one in the days of Joshua did cross the Jordan. This distinction is made in Sotah 36a. So did the Rabbis conclude in Tractate Sotah, cross the Jordan but merely “placed themselves on the east bank of the Jordan and from there injected the poison against them” applies to the hornet of the days of Moses. The one in the days of Joshua did cross the Jordan. This distinction is made in Sotah 36a. saying that the hornet injected a poison into them which caused their death, and indeed there is nowadays also in the hornet a poisonous substance which harms or even kills the victim. And it is written in the Book of Joshua: And ye went over the Jordan, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand, and it is further written there, And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow., Verse 12. The phrase which drove them out, Verse 12. refers to those that are left amongst them, for after I delivered into your hand all the nations mentioned, I sent the hornet to drive out those that are left and they that hide themselves. He mentioned the two kings of the Amorites, Verse 12. meaning Sichon and Og whom He had referred to earlier. All this you have done not with thy sword, nor with thy bow., Verse 12.Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that the tzir’ah refers to a disease in the body, the word being of the root tzara’ath (leprosy). But there is no need for this interpretation.And ye shall serve the Eternal your G-d means that service [by offering or prayer] is to be devoted to the Proper Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton]. The verse stating and He will bless… and I will take, [thus changing from the third-person pronoun to the first-person pronoun], is similar to the verse and thou wilt keep all His statutes… for I am the Eternal that healeth thee. I have already explained it, and the person learned [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand the verse here from what I have written there.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.