Leviticus 26:18

Lev 26:18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

Ver. 18. Seven times more.] God will have the better of us, and good reason: for is it fit that he should cast down the bucklers first? Illud quidem sic habeto, said the orator, {a} nisi sanatus animus sit, quod sine philosophia fieri non potest, finem miseriarum nullum fore, Be sure of this; if thy mind mend not, there will be no end of thy misery.

{a} Tusc. Quae., Cic. iii.

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.

26:18 seven times over: I.e., many times (see also 26:21, 24, 28; Gen 4:15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, more extremely.

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

if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more--that is, with far more severe and protracted calamities.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(18) And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me.—Better, and if up to these ye will not hearken unto me, that is, if they should persist in their disobedience to the very end of those punishments mentioned in Lev_26:16-17. This verse, therefore, introduces the second degree of punishments, which ends with Lev_26:20.

I will punish you seven times more.—That is, indefinitely or unceasingly; many more times. Seven being a complete number is often used to denote thoroughness (see Note on Lev_4:6), a large or indefinite number. Hence the declaration “He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee” (Job_5:19), and “if he trespass against thee seven times in a day” (Luk_17:4), that is, an indefinite number of times. (Comp. also Psa_119:164; Pro_24:16, &c.)

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

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 should become barren, as follows; or the multitude of their forces, and the strength of their mighty men of war, in which they put their confidence; it may take in everything, civil and ecclesiastical, they prided themselves with, and had their dependence on, thinking themselves safe on account of them, but should be broken to shivers, and be of no service to them:

and I will make your heaven as iron; so that neither dew nor rain shall descend from thence to make the earth fruitful; but, on the contrary, an heat should be reflected, which would parch it, and make it barren:

and your earth as brass; that the seed could not be cast into it, nor anything spring out of it, for the service of man and beast, so that a famine must unavoidably follow.

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

More, (septuplum.) "Very often, or very much;" in which sense it is used in this chapter. (Calmet)

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).

18. Seven times more — Seven typifies perfection. The chastisement will be complete. The resources of Jehovah are infinite, and he has the cycles of eternity for their development.

For your sins — National sins are punished in this world, because nations do not exist after death. Individual sinners are reserved unto the day of judgment to be punished.

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

Vers. 18-20. Punishment in its second degree. I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass; the result of no rain in a land scorched by the fiery Eastern sun. Your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the tress of the land yield their fruits. Cf. 1Ki_8:35 Hag_1:10, Hag_1:11.

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

First stage of the aggravated judgments. - If they did not hearken אלּה עד, "up to these" (the punishments named in Lev 26:16, Lev 26:17), that is to say, if they persisted in their disobedience even when the judgments reached to this height, God would add a sevenfold chastisement on account of their sins, would punish them seven times more severely, and break down their strong pride by fearful drought. Seven, as the number of perfection in the works of God, denotes the strengthening of the chastisement, even to the height of its full measure (cf. Pro 24:16). עז גּאון, lit., the eminence or pride of strength, includes everything upon which a nation rests its might; then the pride and haughtiness which rely upon earthly might and its auxiliaries (Eze 30:6, Eze 30:18; Eze 33:28); here it signifies the pride of a nation, puffed up by the fruitfulness and rich produce of its land. God would make their heaven (the sky of their land) like iron and their earth like brass, i.e., as hard and dry as metal, so that not a drop of rain and dew would fall from heaven to moisten the earth, and not a plant could grow out of the earth (cf. Deu 28:23); and when the land was cultivated, the people would exhaust their strength for nought. תּמם, consumi.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

seven times

Here "seven times" is not literal. It means Yahweh will increase the severity of his punishment. (See: Idiom)

I will break your pride in your power

Using force to cause them not to be proud is spoken of as if he were to break their pride. AT: "I will punish you and so end the pride that you feel about your power" or "I will punish you so that you will no longer be proud of your power" (See: Metaphor)

I will make the sky over you like iron and your land like bronze

This means God will stop the rain from falling from the sky. This will make the ground hard so that people cannot plant seed or grow crops. (See: Simile)

Your strength will be used up for nothing

Working very hard is spoken of as if they were to use all their strength until they had no more strength. The phrase "for nothing" means that they would get nothing from working so hard. AT: "You will work very hard in vain" or "You will work very hard, but you will not receive anything good from working so hard" (See: Metaphor and Idiom)

translationWords

command

punish

sin

proud

power

heaven

bronze

harvest

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ואם עד אלה means AND IF, WHILE THESE ARE YET with you,לא תשמעו YOU WILL NOT HEARKEN,

ויספתי — This together with ליסרה means, THEN I WILL ADD still other afflictions,

שבע על חטאתיכם SEVEN punishments FOR THE seven SINS which were mentioned above (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 1).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.