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.
Parallel Translations
-
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.
-
And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
-
And 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.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Leviticus 26:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 23:10 One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.
- Deuteronomy 28:7 Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.
- Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up?
- Numbers 14:9 Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”
- Judges 7:19-21 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch. Then they blew the trumpets and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets, broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they shouted, “The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon!” They each stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran; and they shouted, and put them to flight.
- 1 Chronicles 11:20 Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.
- 1 Samuel 14:6-16 Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.” His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them. If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. But if they say this, ‘Come up to us!’ then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us.” Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!” The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him. That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the raiders, also trembled; and the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling. The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away and scattered.
- 1 Chronicles 11:11 This is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.
- Psalms 81:14-15 I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their adversaries. The haters of Yahweh would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
- 1 Samuel 17:45-52 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.” When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 26:8 And five of you shall chase an…
Lev 26:8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
Ver. 8. And five of you.] God strengthens or weakens the arm of either party, {Eze 30:24} strikes a panic terror oft, as into those Aramites that heard a hurry noise in the air, made by the angels likely, and fled.
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 Five of you, i.e. a small number; a certain…
Five of you, i.e. a small number; a certain number for an uncertain.
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 For I will have respect unto you,.... Look at…
For I will have respect unto you,.... Look at them with delight and pleasure, and with a careful eye on them, watch over them to do them good, and protect them from all evil; or turn himself to them from all others, having a particular regard for them and special care of them:
and make you fruitful and multiply you; increase their number, as he did in Egypt, even amidst all their afflictions; and much more might they expect this blessing in the land of Canaan, when settled there, which is the original blessing of mankind, see Gen 1:28,
Read full note →
and establish my covenant with you; not the new covenant spoken of in Jer 31:31; as Jarchi and other Jewish writers (l) suggest; for that was not to take place but in future time, under the Gospel dispensation; but rather the covenant made with them at Sinai, though perhaps it chiefly respects the covenant made with their ancestors concerning multiplication of their seed as the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea, Gen 15:5, since it follows upon the promise of an increase of them.
(l) Torat Cohenim, apud Yalkut, par. 1. fol. 196. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Five - A small number; a certain number for…
Five - A small number; a certain number for an uncertain.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 26:8-9. Five of you shall chase a hundred…
Lev 26:8-9. Five of you shall chase a hundred — A proverbial expression, signifying that a small number of them should be an over-match for many of their enemies. I will establish my covenant — Will actually perform all that I have promised in my covenant made with you.
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 Five. Thus Gedeon’s 300 men put to flight the…
Five. Thus Gedeon’s 300 men put to flight the great army of the Madianites; (Judges vii. 22,) and the Machabees destroyed vast numbers with a small force.
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 8. Five… shall chase a hundred — So great…
8. Five… shall chase a hundred — So great would be the prestige of the Hebrew name that a panic would seize the myriads of their foes on the battle field when confronted by a household of Israelites. This was true of the Canaanites when the spies visited Jericho, (see Jos_2:9-11, note,) and of the hosts of Midian who decamped in confusion before Gideon and his select band of three hundred men. See also 2Sa_23:8; 2Sa_23:18; 1Ch_11:18. Many are the parallel instances in Christian history in which hosts of foes to Christ have been overcome by simple faith in him exercised by a few believers.
A hundred… ten thousand — The ratio of efficiency increases with the number. Of five, each one routs twenty; of a hundred, each puts to flight a hundred. At this rate an aggressive Christianity would soon conquer the whole world.
Read full note →
By the sword — They would not be delivered from foreign wars, but they would conquer the enemy in his own country, since the sword should not go through their land.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) And five of you shall chase an hundred.—This…
(8) And five of you shall chase an hundred.—This is a proverbial saying, corresponding to our phrase “A very small number, or a mere handful, shall be more than a match for a whole regiment.” The same phrase, with different proportions to the numbers, occurs in other parts of the Bible (Deu_32:30; Jos_23:10; Isa_30:17).
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 And five of you shall chase a hundred. Cf.…
And five of you shall chase a hundred. Cf. Jos_23:10, "One man of you shall chase a thousand." For examples, see Jud_1:3:31 15:15 1Sa_14:6-16 2Sa_23:8.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And five of you shall chase an hundred.
Lev_26:8
And five of you shall chase an hundred.
Read full note →
Panic among soldiers
During the Italian war a panic occurred in a whole reserve corps darmee of the French forces, and the account is given us by the Hen. Mr. R-- , the editor of a prominent American journal, who was there, partook of the fright, and ran himself with the fugitives. Five Austrians, whose retreat was cut off, rode rapidly into the village where the reserve forces were stationed, with the design of giving themselves up. The frightened inhabitants cried out, The Austrians are coming! and ran for their lives. The soldiers followed suit--horse, foot, and dragoons, pell-mell, without waiting to take care of the wounded, ran fifteen miles without stopping. One wounded French general offered a large reward to be carried to a place of safety. Mr. R--confesses to have run ten miles on foot before he stopped. A panic among the loyal troops in the first battle of Bulls Run in the American civil conflict, if not the cause of their defeat, greatly aggravated the disasters of the battle. (Lowrie.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.