“ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘As for those of you who are left, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will put them to flight; and they shall flee, as one flees from the sword. They will fall when no one pursues.
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And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
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And as for them that are left of you, I will send a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as one fleeth from the sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to Leviticus 26:36 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 21:7 It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
- Isaiah 30:17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.
- Leviticus 26:17 I will set my face against you, and you will be struck before your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you; and you will flee when no one pursues you.
- Deuteronomy 28:65-67 Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see.
- Joshua 2:9-11 She said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, and there wasn’t any more spirit in any man, because of you: for Yahweh your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.
- Joshua 5:1 When all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.
- 1 Samuel 17:24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were terrified.
- 2 Kings 7:6-7 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.” Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
- 2 Chronicles 14:14 They struck all the cities around Gerar; for the fear of Yahweh came on them, and they plundered all the cities; for there was much plunder in them.
- Job 15:21-22 A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer will come on him. He doesn’t believe that he will return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.
- Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
- Isaiah 7:2 David’s house was told, “Syria is allied with Ephraim.” His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.
- Isaiah 7:4 Tell him, ‘Be careful, and keep calm. Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
- Ezekiel 21:12 Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore beat your thigh.
- Ezekiel 21:15 I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah! It is made as lightning. It is pointed for slaughter.
- Genesis 35:5 They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob.
- Leviticus 26:7-8 You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
- Deuteronomy 1:44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As if their enemies did chase them.
As if their enemies did chase them.
Or, cowardness.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 26:36 And upon them that are left [alive]…
Lev 26:36 And upon them that are left [alive] of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
Ver. 36. I will send a faintness.] See this explained in Job 15:21-22.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Faintness: the word notes a tenderness and softness of…
Faintness: the word notes a tenderness and softness of mind, whereby they are disenabled from bearing the present miseries, and are in continual dread of further and sorer miseries.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they shall fall one upon another,.... In their…
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 (a) give of this phrase, and is observed by Jarchi, which is, that everyone shall fall for the iniquities of his brother; for all the Israelites say, they are sureties for one another; but the former sense is best:
as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: as if a sword was drawn and brandished at them, just ready to be thrust in them, filling them with the utmost dread and terror, and yet at the same time none in pursuit of them:
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and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies; no heart to resist them, no strength nor spirit to oppose them, and defend themselves but be obliged to surrender their cities, themselves, their families and goods, into the hand of the enemy.
(z) "vir in fratrem suum", Vatablus, Drusius, Piscator. (a) Torat Cohanim apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 197. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 26:36. The sound of a shaken leaf shall…
Lev 26:36. The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them — A very significant phrase, importing that they should sink into a state of the most slavish fear and despicable cowardice.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Fear. Septuagint, "timidity, or slavishness." Hebrew morec, "softness and…
Fear. Septuagint, "timidity, or slavishness." Hebrew morec, "softness and inactivity." (Calmet) --- Their haughty temper shall be broken; and though they have dared to rebel against their God, the fall of a leaf shall now terrify them. (Haydock)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 36. The sound of a shaken leaf — The…
36. The sound of a shaken leaf — The Hebrew is more poetical, the voice of a driven leaf. “So wrong doing is never blessed. Even when men appear to succeed and to save themselves alive, their success is partial, and may only create an opportunity for further divine judgment. Do not suppose that men are successful simply because they are living. A man may have escaped the sea only to die a more terrible death on land. Marvellous are the judicial resources of God. We have an indication here of a law to whose subtle force many men can testify. Fear takes away all power, and turns the most dauntless soldier into a coward.” — Joseph Parker. No expression could more vividly portray the perpetual terror, the distressing alarm, of the poor captives.
In the lands of their enemies — In the Orient, outside of the Hebrew theocracy, slaves had no civil rights. Even under Roman law the master with impunity could chop up his slaves into mince meat for his fish ponds if he should choose. After the return from Babylon four different dynasties obtained the supremacy of the land of Canaan. The dominion of Persia was from 536 to 333 B.C.; of Greece, from 333 to 167 B.C.; of the Asmoneans, from 167 to 63 B.C.; of the Herods under Rome, from 40 B.C., to 70 A.D.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 36. the sound of driven leaf] Cp. Lev_26:17; Pro_28:1.
36. the sound of driven leaf] Cp. Lev_26:17; Pro_28:1.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (36, 37) And upon them that are left alive…
(36, 37) And upon them that are left alive of you.—Better, And as to those that remain of you, as the Authorised Version generally renders this expression. This obviates the insertion of the expression “alive,” which is not in the original, and is not put in the Authorised Version in Lev_26:39, where the same phrase occurs. Where these will remain is explained in the next clause.
I will send a faintness into their hearts.—That is, He will implant in them such timidity and cowardice that they will be frightened at the faintest sound. He will make life a misery to them. (Comp. Deu_28:65-67.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 36-39. The final punishment.
Vers. 36-39. The final punishment.
Upon them that are left, that is, the surviving captives and exiles, I will send a faintness into their hearts, so Eze_21:7, "And every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water ... and the sound of a shaken (or driven) leaf shall chase them; ... and they shall fall,... and ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies" lands. This is the concluding threat. It is conditional in its nature, and the condition having been fulfilled, we may say with reverence that it has been accomplished. Those of the ten tribes who did not find their way to Babylon, and so became absorbed in the body which returned to Jerusalem, have been eaten up by the land of their enemies, and have pined away in their enemies" lands. Neither they nor their descendants are to be found in any part of the globe, however much investigation may employ itself in searching for them. They have been absorbed by the populations among which they were scattered.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 26:36-39 Disastrous defeat and captivity would later be the…
26:36-39 Disastrous defeat and captivity would later be the fate of both Israel and Judah (see study notes on 18:28; 26:14-39).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.