Leviticus 26:42

Lev 26:42. I will remember my covenant — So as to make good all that I have promised in it. For words of knowledge or remembrance, in Scripture, commonly denote affection and kindness. I will remember the land — Which now seems to be forgotten and despised, as if I had never chosen it to be the peculiar place of my presence and blessing.

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

26:42 God had begun his covenant with Abraham (then called Abram, Gen 15:18) and continued it with Isaac (Gen 17:19) and Jacob (Exod 2:24). Jacob’s twelve sons were the ancestors of Israel’s twelve tribes. Israel’s liberation from Egypt and settlement in Canaan were based on God’s promises to their ancestors, not on the Israelites’ own virtues (Deut 9:4-5).

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

(42) Then will I remember.—That is, perform the covenant God made. The expression “remember” frequently denotes “to be mindful,” “to perform,” especially when used with regard to God; as, for instance, “I have remembered my covenant,” &c. (Exo_6:5-6); “He remembered for them his covenant” (Psa_106:45).

My covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham.—When thus brought to repentance, the Lord will perform towards them the covenant which He made with their ancestors, and in which He not only promised that the Israelites are to be a numerous people, but that they are to possess the land for ever (Exo_32:13). From the fact that the expression “covenant” is here exceptionally repeated before the name of each patriarch, the authorities during the second Temple rightly concluded that it refers to three distinct covenants made respectively with the patriarchs. Hence the Chaldee Versions render it, “And I will remember in mercy the covenant which I covenanted with Jacob at Bethel [Gen_35:9-15], and also the covenant which I covenanted with Isaac at Mount Moriah [Genesis 22], and the covenant which I covenanted with Abraham between the divided pieces [of the sacrifices (Gen_15:18-21)].” The ancients also call attention to the fact that whilst in all other passages where the three patriarchs are mentioned together, the order is according to their seniority, viz., Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen_1:24; Exo_2:24; Exo_6:8; Exo_32:13; Deu_29:13; Deu_34:4; 2Ki_13:23; Psa_105:8-10; 1Ch_16:16-17), this is the solitary instance where the regular order is inverted.

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

The land also shall be left of them,.... This seems to refer to a second time, when this should be the case of the land of Judea again, as it was when subdued by the Romans, and the Jews were carried captive from it, and so it was left by them, as it has been ever since:

and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while lieth desolate without them; shall be as in the sabbatical years, uncultivated, neither ploughed nor sown, nor reaped; and thus the land of Canaan, though once so very fruitful, is now desolate and barren, being without its former inhabitants, and so it is like to be until it is restored to them again:

and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; that is, when made sensible of their sins, and particularly of their iniquity of rejecting the Messiah; they will not think it hard that they have been punished in so severe a manner, but own the righteous hand of God in it, and be humble under it; and confessing their sins with true sorrow and repentance for them, looking at him whom they have pierced, and mourn, shall have the free and full remission of their sins applied unto them:

because, even, because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes; despised and abhorred Christ, his doctrines and ordinances, which was the reason of their being carried captive out of their land, when it was forsaken by them, and lay desolate as to this day, especially with respect to any benefit of it enjoyed by them; and which, when they are sensible of, will be a reason of their accepting the punishment of their iniquity so readily, and not murmur at the hand of God upon them, or reflect on his dealings with them, but freely and fully confess their sins, that he may be justified in all that he has done.

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

Jacob is placed first because he was the father of no other nation; as Abraham and Isaac were. (Worthington)

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).

I will remember my covenant, to wit, so as to perform it, and make good all that I have promised in it. For words of knowledge or remembrance in Scripture do most commonly connote affection and kindness; of which there are many instances, some given before, and more hereafter.

I will remember the land, which now seems to be forgotten, and neglected, and despised, as if I had never chosen it to be the peculiar place of my presence and blessing.

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

42. Will I remember — Memory cannot be properly predicated of the Omniscient — one with whom there is no succession of thoughts and no past nor future. He will surely bring to pass that which he has promised in the covenant with the patriarchs. Strictly speaking, God’s covenant with Abraham respecting the greatness of his seed was quite unconditional, except circumcision, and it amounts to a promise or an act of mere favour. See Gal_3:15-16, where επαγγελια, promise, and διαθηκη, covenant, are used as synonymes.

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

I will remember my covenant - So as to make good all that I have promised in it. For words of knowledge or remembrance in scripture, commonly denote affection and kindness. I will remember the land - Which now seems to be forgotten and despised, as if I had never chosen it to be the peculiar place of my presence and blessing.

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

וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב THEN I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH JACOB — In five places in Scripture it (the name יעקב) is written plene (יעקוב) and the name אליהו is written defectively in five places, to intimate that Jacob — as it were — took one letter of his (Elijah’s) name as a pledge that at some future time he should come and proclaim the good tidings of his descendants’ redemption (cf. Midrash ‎חסירות ויתירות).

‎ וזכרתי את בריתי יעקוב‎ THEN I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH JACOB [AND ALSO MY COVENANT WITH ISAAC, AND ALSO MY COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM WILL I REMEMBER] — Why are they (the patriarchs) enumerated here in a reverse order (in contrast to e. g., Exodus 32:13, where it states: ‎'לאברהם ליצחק ולישראל וכו‎‎‎זכור ‏)? It is to say: Jacob the youngest among the patriarchs is worthy of this that, through his merits, his children should be redeemed; if he be not sufficiently worthy, behold, the merit of Isaac is with him; if that does not suffice, behold, then there is Abraham with him who is surely worthy enough! And why does Scripture not use the word “remember” in connection with Isaac’s name? Because this is unnecessary, for — says God, as it were — the ashes of Isaac (who according to My command to Abraham was to become a burnt offering) are ever visible before Me as though they were heaped up lying upon the altar (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 8 6-7).

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.

THEN WILL I REMEMBER MY COVENANT WITH JACOB. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that this [is a case where a word] draws along with itself another [similar] word, thus meaning: “Then will I remember My covenant, the covenant with Jacob. (My covenant) is grammatically equivalent to saying habrith sheli (the covenant of Mine). Now since a noun that is preceded by the definite article cannot be in the construct state, it follows that there is a word implied here, which makes it: eth brithi ‘brith’ Ya’akov (My covenant, the covenant of Jacob). A similar explanation applies to the following two verses which Ramban mentions. Similarly: the prophecy of Oded the prophet; (and the prophecy — a prophecy of Oded the prophet). your heads of your tribes. (your heads — heads of your tribes). And the Land I will remember. The meaning thereof is that I will remember the Land, and that it was paid its Sabbaths and lay forsaken without them, and I will remember that they have atoned for their iniquity.”It is possible according to the way of Truth, [the mystic doctrines of the Cabala], that He is saying: “And I will remember Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, who are the men of the covenant,” for all attributes are so called when they are in the covenant; “v’ha’aretz (and the earth),. which is composed of them all, I will remember among them.” Our Rabbis have so alluded. Thus they said: “And why does He mention the merit of ha’aretz with them? Said Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: This is like the case of a master who had three daughters, and one maidservant who raised them. Whenever the master asked about the welfare of his daughters, he would say: ‘Ask on my behalf about the welfare of she who raises them.’”

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.