Copyright
© 1999 by William D. Barrick. Cited with permission.
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26
William D. Barrick, Th. D.
Professor
of OT
The
Master's Seminary
At the outset
of this paper I wish to draw attention to its incompleteness and imperfections.
Many factors
have contributed to this condition, not the
least of which was the flooding of our household in the week
prior to ETS. The reader will note that there
is no formal conclusion. This paper is presented as a work in
progress intended to incite its author and its
readers to a more extensive study of Leviticus 26 and its
eschatological significance.
The Book of Leviticus is not noted for its
eschatological content. Its theological
focus is on holiness.1 As the people of
God, the Israelites were called to holiness in their
worship and in their daily living. Chapters 1--7
present the elements of a sacrificial
system providing for an outward manifestation of
individual and corporate covenant
communion. The chief purpose of the sacrificial
system was to exhibit continual
fellowship between the people of the covenant and
the God of the covenant.
Chapters 8-10 define the priestly ministry. The
priests were the caretakers of the
covenant relationship exhibited in the
sacrificial system. Chapters 11-15 describe the
purity Yahweh required of His people in order that
surrounding nations might recognize
distinct from neighboring nations. Chapter 16
reveals that the Day of Atonement
provided the community with an annual renewal of
the covenant. That day highlighted
the sovereign rule of Yahweh over the nation of
covenanted people by granting them His continued
presence among them (16:16; cf. vv.
1-2).
Chapters 17-24 prescribe in detail the
ordinances by which the covenant
community was bound. This legislation affected
their diet, social relationships, religious
leadership, calendar, and center of worship. The
calendar (chapter 23) focused on the
seventh month with its three major observances
(vv. 23-43). Eschatological overtones in
the realm of kingship and kingdom were especially
prominent in the New Year
celebration (also known as the Feast of Trumpets,
vv. 23-25).2
Chapters 25 and 26 emphasize the
monotheistic and sabbatical principles that were
the two great supporting pillars of the Sinaitic Covenant (cf. 25:55-26:3 and Exod
20:2-
11).
Gerstenberger admits that Isaiah 61:1-2 together with
Luke 4:16-21 suggests that
Leviticus
25 should be read eschatologically. He himself,
however, found nothing
1 Philip J. Budd, Leviticus, New Century Bible Commentary (
Publishing
Company, 1996), 34.
2 For arguments against connecting the Old
Testament New Year festival to an enthronement festival, cf.
Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 2 vols. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1965), 2:502-6. See,
also, Norman H. Snaith,
The Jewish New Year Festival: Its Origin
and Development (
Promoting
Christian Knowledge, 1947).
1
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 2
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
eschatological in the Levitical instruction concerning the year of Jubilee.3
On the other
hand, Gordon Wenham correctly connected Christ's
quotation of Isaiah 61:1 with
Leviticus 25. rOrD; ("release")
in Isaiah 61:1 is the same term employed in Leviticus
25:10.
It seems quite likely, therefore, that
the prophetic description of the "acceptable year
of the
Lord" was partly inspired by the idea of the jubilee year. The messianic
age
brings liberty
to the oppressed and release to the captives....
... The jubilee, then, not only looks
back to God's first redemption of his people from
heavens and a
new earth in which righteousness dwells" (Acts 3:21; 2 Pet. 3:13).4
The
twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus has been the threefold victim of perpetual
neglect: (1) In the synagogue it has been
avoided because of its unpleasant subject
matter.5
(2) In commentaries (past and present, Jewish and
Christian) it has been given
sketchy treatment. (3) In materials dedicated to
the concept of covenant in the Old
Testament
its covenant affinities are rarely discussed. Occasional references, however,
demonstrate that some biblical scholars are aware of
its significance in the realm of
covenantal studies. Thirty-five years ago Delbert
Hillers placed this section of the Torah
on a par with Deuteronomy 28:
In the first place, the prophets did
employ much traditional material in composing
their threats of
doom. This is not a new idea by any means, but it is worth pointing
out that the
parallels gathered here fully support it. Secondly, this inherited material
in the prophets
is related to the Israelite tradition of curses as preserved in Deut 28
and Lev 26.6
The many similarities between Leviticus 26 and
Deuteronomy 28 catapults the
former pericope into the
same sphere of significance as the latter. Meredith Kline
tantalizingly suggested that the
curses of Deuteronomy 28 were "anticipated in the
promises and threats ... in Leviticus (chap.
26)."7 Assuming Mosaic authorship for both
pericopes, it is perfectly
consistent with the composition of the Pentateuch to assume that
Leviticus
26 was written prior to Deuteronomy 28. It could be argued, therefore, that the
latter passage is an exposition of the former.
Leviticus 26 consists of parenetic
revelation given at Sinai on the threshold of
of the apparent tension with the Abrahamic Covenant created by the promulgation of the
Mosaic
Covenant. After three disturbing apostasies at Sinai, Leviticus 26 explained
the
relationship between the two
covenants and reemphasized the exclusive lordship of
3 Erhard S. Gerstenberger,
Leviticus: A Commentary, The Old Testament Library, trans. Douglas W. Stott
(Louisville,
Ken.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 398.
4
Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus, The New
International Commentary on the Old Testament,
ed. R. K. Harrison (Grand Rapids: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), 324. See, also,
the
extensive discussion of the eschatological
implications of Jubilee in John E. Hartley, Leviticus,
vol. 4 in
Word Biblical
Commentary (Dallas, Tex.: Word Books, Publisher, 1992), 446-48.
5 Bernard J. Bamberger, Leviticus, vol. 3 of The Torah: A Modern
Commentary, 5 vols. (
of American Hebrew Congregations, 1979),
290.
6
Delbert R. Hillers, Treaty-Curses and the
Old Testament Prophets, Biblica et Orientalia 16 (
Pontifical
Biblical Institute, 1964), 78.
7 Meredith G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy:
Studies and
Commentary (
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 3
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
Yahweh. The chapter revealed that the Mosaic
Covenant had not nullified the
eschatological promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. Paul's teaching in Galatians 3:17
was anticipated by Leviticus 26 fifteen centuries
earlier.
The blessings and curses in the chapter advance
the respective emphases of the
Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants. The blessings are
directly related to the Abrahamic
Covenant's eschatological promises regarding
land and blessing.
The cursings
represented the Mosaic Covenant's five-stage process
designed to produce confession of
guilt, humility, and restitution--elements that
anticipated the New Covenant and its
eschatological elements. The element
of restitution involved the sabbatical principle so
central to both the Mosaic Covenant and
Leviticus 26. Indeed, the sabbatical principle is
itself eschatologically
significant. The Land-Giver and Exodus-Causer will always be
loyal to His covenants and to His covenanted people.
He is Lord of both space (the land)
and time (the sabbaths).
Yahweh's future loyalty and work on behalf of
described by the Old Testament prophets. Along
with Deuteronomy 27-28, Leviticus 26
anchored prophetic revelation's concepts of
covenant.
Yahweh
continues to be presented as the only deity, the sole Lord of all that exists.
In
particular the
Lord remains the God who has created, blessed, sustained and judged
The covenant principles found in the Law lead
the prophets to approve or
denounce the chosen nation's activities during
their own lifetimes. The covenant
blessings and consequences announced in Leviticus
26 and Deuteronomy 27-28
help the prophets assess
the Lord has not finished with sinful
so again, as Deuteronomy 30:1-10 indicates.8
An Outline of Leviticus 26
The following outline represents the contents of
this significant chapter. The bulk
of this paper's discussion will be in the third
major division regarding penalty (26:14-45),
especially the consequence of deportation or exile
(vv. 27-38) and the contingency for
repentance (vv. 39-45).
I. Precept (26:1-2)
A. Prohibition
of Idols (v. 1)
B. Preservation
of Sabbaths and Sanctuary (v. 2)
1. The Sabbath Observance (v. 2a)
2. The Sanctuary Reverence (v. 2b)
II. Promise (26:3-13)
A. The
Prerequisite: Obedience: (v. 3)
B. The
Product: Blessing (vv. 4-12)
1. Productivity (vv. 4-5)
2. Peace (v. 6)
3. Power (vv. 7-8)
4. Population (v. 9)
8 Paul R. House, Old Testament Theology (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity
Press, 1998), 398.
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 4
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
5. Provision (v. 10)
6. Presence (vv. I1-12)
C. The
Premise: Yahweh's Salvation (v. 13)
III. Penalty (26:14-45)
A. The
Cause: Disobedience (vv. 14-15)
B. The
Consequence: Retribution (vv. 16-38)
1. Debilitation and Defeat (vv. 16-17)
2. Drought (vv. 18-20)
3. Devastation by Wild Beasts (vv. 21-22)
4. Deprivation by Siege (vv. 23-26)
5. Deportation (vv. 27-38)
a. Introduction (vv. 27-28)
b. Dehumanization--Cannibalism (v. 29)
c. Desolation (vv. 30-32)
d. Dispersion -Exile (v. 33)
e. Desertion of the Land (vv. 34-38)
(1) The Sabbath Rest (vv. 34-35)
(2) The Stricken Remnant (vv. 36-38)
C. The
Contingency: Repentance (vv. 39-45)
1. Repentance:
2. Remembrance: Yahweh's Acceptance of
Repentance (v. 42)
3. Repetition: A Summary Concerning
Retribution (v. 43)
4. Reaffirmation: Yahweh's Promise to the
Exiles (vv. 44-45)
Retributive
Dispersion/Exile (Lev 26:33)
The emphatic preverbal position of the direct
object in the disjunctive clause
presents the adversative: "but I shall
disperse (hr,zAx< Piel)
you (Mk,t;x,v;) among the
nations." Dispersion (hrz) is a subject common to this pericope
and key sections in
Ezekiel (e.g., 5:2, 10, 12; 6:8; 12:14, 15;
20:23). hrz is often employed
"in agricultural
contexts of the winnowing process (e.g. Ruth 3:2;
Isa. 30:24; 41:16)."9 Perhaps this
figure points to a remnant by implication (cf. Zech
1:18-21 [Heb. 2:1-4] and 13:8-9).10 At
Sinai
Yahweh warned
in the land. Dispersion would disrupt their
complacency.11 The nation's apathy toward
Yahweh
and His covenants would make them landless again. They would return to the
bondage out of which Yahweh had delivered them.
Return to bondage would eventually
9 Ibid., 373.
10
In his study of the remnant, Hasel only refers to
Leviticus 26 in passing. Summarizing the viewpoint of
Othmar Schilling, he writes: "the origin
of the prophetic remnant motif is grounded in the sanctions of the
law, especially in Lev. 26 and its Deuteronomic parallels." Gerhard F. Hasel, The Remnant: The
History
and Theology of the Remnant
Idea from Genesis to Isaiah,
3rd ed.,
Studies in
Religion, vol. 5 (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 1980), 26;
with reference to
Othmar Schilling, "’Rest’ in der Prophetie des Alten Testaments" (unpublished Th.D.
Inaugural
dissertation, Universitat
ignored early references in Genesis and had
accepted too early a date for Leviticus 26. The author of this
paper would agree that the remnant motif is
earlier than Leviticus 26, but would argue that the chapter had
a significant effect upon the prophetic
development of the theology of remnant.
11 Budd, Leviticus, 372.
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 5
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
cure their selective amnesia. Brueggemann's
poignant observation applies here: “It is
hard enough for landed people to believe land will
be lost. It is harder to imagine
Yahweh
will do it” 12 (cf. Lev 26:32a, 33a).
The goal of the Abrahamic
Covenant was to give an inheritance to the people of the
covenant in accordance with Yahweh's promise (cf.
Gen 12:7; 13:14-17).13 Exile delays
the fulfillment of the Abrahamic
promises. Therefore, it could be said that exile itself has
eschatological implications. Exile and
dispersion indicate that the ultimate fulfillment of
the promise is yet future, or eschatological in
nature.
“Yea, I shall unsheath
(ytiqoyrihEva Hiph’il)
the sword (br,HA) behind you (Mk,yreHExa).” In
all four instances in the Old Testament where the
idiom yrHx
brH qyrh ("unsheath the
sword behind") occurs (here; Ezek 5:2, 12; 12:14)
it is preceded by the employment of
hrz ("disperse")
and it is always a reference to
is employed in three other passages but always in
reference to the judgment of a nation
outside
neither hrz nor yrHx("behind") are employed.14 The idiom in
Leviticus 26:33 is reserved
for Yahweh's dealing with
Yahweh
will place the sword "behind"
and, on the other hand, the path of return would be
blocked by the divine sword. Shades
of
cherubim (Gen 3:24), so
covenant sword of Yahweh.
The summation of deportation's effects
on the land comes next in 33b: "thus your
land shall be (htAy;hAv;) for devastation (hmAmAw;) and your cities shall
be (Uyh;yi) ruins
(hBAr;HA)."15
Yahweh consigns the land and its cities to a state of devastation. This
declaration, in its conceptualization and its
syntax, corresponds to the earlier statement of
divinely confirmed blessing:
:MfAl;
yli-Uyh;
and you yourselves shall be my people so
that I shall be your God
:hBAr;HA Uyh;yi
Mk,yrefAv;
hmAmAw;
Mk,c;r;xa htAy;hAv; -33b
and your cities shall be ruins thus your land shall be for devastation
The
deviations from strict correspondence in these two statements are instructive:
(1) The circumlocutions for the possessives
"your" (Mk,lA) and "my" (yli) in 12b
emphasize mutual identification in the covenant
relationship.
(2) The phrase Mk,c;r;xa htAy;hAv; in 33b may be an allusion to Genesis 1:2
(UhbovA Uhto htAy;hA
Cr,xAhAv;, "and the earth was empty and void").
Such an
allusion potentially serves three purposes:
12 Walter Brueggemann,
The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge
in Biblical Faith (
13 Hartley, Leviticus, 468.
14 Cf. lf in Ezek 28:7 and 30:11, and no
preposition in Exod 15:9. The h A of both substantives is clearly
assonant, drawing attention to the state of the
land.
15 The alternation of the qatal and yiqtol of hyh is characteristic (cf. 12b).
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 6
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
(a) to remind
the earth--not just the Giver of the promised land;
(b) to emphasize the
totality of the dispersion: the land would be without
inhabitants; and,
(c) to imply that the
dispersion was but the commencement of something new
which Yahweh would do.
The possibility of an allusion to Genesis 1:2 in
Leviticus 26:33b is noteworthy for
several reasons:
(1) The re-creation or new creation of the earth
is a key eschatological theme in
apocalyptic Scripture (cf. Isa
65:17; 2 Pet 3:10-12; Rev 21:1).
Eschatologically, judgment precedes emptying or emptiness
followed by
renewal and restoration (cf. Isa
24-26). Eichrodt recognized that "the thought
of God's activity as Creator and Giver in the berit.
. . with the prophets--
and even in P [including Leviticus 26] as well--was
definitely primary.16
(2) Jeremiah 4:23 employs the very terms of
Genesis 1:2 (UhbovA
Uhto, "empty
and void") to describe the
(3) It is recognized also that removal from the
land or "exile is the way to new life
in new land."18
The Sabbath Rest (Lev
26:34-35).
The following pattern of correspondences and
emphatic logical development
occurs in these verses:
Main
clauses (a):
hAyt,toB;wa -tx, Cr,xAhA hc,r;Ti zxA -a1
then the land shall enjoy the restitution of its sabbaths
:hAyt,toB;wa
-tx, tcAr;hiv; Cr,xAhA tBaw;Ti zxA - a2
then the land shall rest, yea, it shall enjoy the restitution of its sabbaths
Mk,ytetoB;waB;
htAb;wA-xlo rw,xE txe tBow;Ti - a3
it shall rest
on account of your sabbaths in which it did not rest
16 Walter Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament,:2 vols., trans.
J. A. Baker, Old Testament Library
(Philadelphia,
Penn.: Westminster Press, 1961), 1:63. The liberal theologians' ascription of the creation
narratives to "P" cannot be accepted but
their association of the two bodies of literature is important to
recognize and the reason for the biblical
association must be sought in order not to miss the intended
message therein. Cf
Ralph W.
Fortress
Press, 1979), 125-48.
17 A significant reference to the
"presence" of Yahweh in judgment may be seen in Jer
4:26b if hvAhy; yneP;mi
("from the presence of Yahweh") can be interpreted thus
(in spite of the bound form yneP;mi cf the next
phrase in that context.
18 Brueggemann, The Land, 122. Cf. Jer
24:4-10.
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 7
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
Temporal
clauses (b):
hm.Awa.hI
ymey; lKo - b1
all the days of its
devastation
Mk,ybey;xo Cr,x,B; MT,xav; -
b2
while you are in the land of
your enemies
hm.Aw.ahA
ymey;-lKA - b1
all the days of its
devastation
hAyl,fA
Mk,T;b;wiB; - b3
while you were dwelling upon
it
The
schematization of the two verses helps to demonstrate the following points:
1. The triple chiasm and the repetition of b1
keep the temporal clauses together
in order to emphasize the time factor in these verses--it is
about the time of
2. The repetition of tbw emphasizes the
sabbatical principle.
3. Making Crx the subject of all
three main clauses emphasizes the centrality
of the land and its relationship to the sovereign decrees of
Yahweh.
4. The juxtaposition of hcr and tbw
demonstrates
their theological
equivalence. Verse 34b is transitional, employing the epexegetical waw to
join these two terms in the middle member of the
construction. While 34a
employs hcr, 35 utilizes only tbw, having made the full transition.
The initial zxA
("then")
of v. 34 sets that verse apart from the preceding context. It
serves, as it does sometimes in poetry, "to throw
emphasis on a particular feature of the
description."19 The emphasis is upon
the land's hcr. hcr is variously translated
"enjoy"20 and "make or obtain
restitution,21 "Making restitution" could imply that the
land shared in the guilt of
since the context appears to make hcr practically equivalent to tbw. The more positive
concept of "obtaining restitution"
might indicate the basis for the land being able to enjoy
rest. The land might be depicted as being
"pleased" at receiving "its due portion."22 The
"due portion" is defined as "its sabbaths." When will this take place? According to the
immediate context, "all the days of its
devastation" (v. 35). Devastation will bring about
a forced sabbatical rest--a rest the land had
been denied under
Then
the land shall enjoy the restitution of (hcr, Qal
yqtl)23 its sabbaths all
the days
of its devastation while you are in the land of
your enemies. Then the land shall
rest;
19 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A.
Briggs, eds., A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old
Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968 reprint),
23. Hereinafter cited as BDB.
20 Cf. ASV, NASB, NIV, Septuagint, Targurn Onqelos, Syriac, Latin.
21 Cf. BDB, 953 (the land makes the
restitution); Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, eds., Lexicon
in Veteris
Testamentwn Libros, 2nd ed. (Leiden:
E. J. Brill, 1958), 906 (Qal = "obtain
restitution," Hiphil =
"make restitution"); Karl Elliger,
Leviticus, Handbuch
zum Alten Testament 1/4 (Tiibingen: J. C. B.
Mohr/Paul Siebeck, 1966), 377; NASB margin: "make
restitution," "satisfy."
22
"Ihm gebtihrenden Anteil annehmen"G. Gerlentan, "hcr," Theologisches Handworterbuch
zum Alten
Testament, ed. Ernst Jenni
and Claus Westermann (Miinchen:
Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1976),
2:811.
23 The italicized words are supplied in
order to bring out the full scope of hcr.
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 8
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
yea, it shall enjoy the restitution of (hcr, Hiphil
qtl)24
its sabbaths. It shall rest all the
days of its devastation on account of your sabbaths in which it did not rest while you
were residing upon it (vv. 34-35).
The expulsion of
appears to focus on
ultimate collapse and deportation. The book shares
this viewpoint with Deuteronomy,
Jeremiah,
and Ezekiel.26 Idolatry and violation of the sabbath (Lev 26:2, 34-35) are
specified here as the key areas of disobedience.
Of these two, the sabbatical matter
receives the greater emphasis in the context of
this chapter. Second Chronicles 36:20-21
makes the same observation regarding the cause for
the Babylonian exile:
The remnant surviving the sword were
deported to
servants for him
[the king of
until the land
enjoyed the restitution of (hcr, Qal qtl) its sabbaths.
All the days of its
devastation it
rested, so that seventy years might be completed.27
The
association made by the Chronicler is between the chronological extent of the exile
(seventy years) and the theological nature of the exile (the
enjoyment of restitution for
non-observed sabbatical periods).
Any attempt to account for exactly seventy years of
violated sabbatical years and/or jubilees would
be an exercise in futility. The Scripture is
silent about such figuring and there are too many
unknown factors28 to make an exact
accounting feasible.
The Stricken Remnant
(Lev 26:36-38).
This section may be divided into two
parts: (1) vv. 36-37a, indicated by the third
person plural referring to the remnant, and (2) vv.
37b-38, identified by the second
person plural referring to the exiles. The disjunctive
waw with
the accusative casus
pendens serves to separate this
section from the previous verses. "Those who are left
from among you" are the prominent topic:
As for those who are left from among you,
I shall bring timidity into their heart in the
lands of their
enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall pursue them; yea, they shall
flee as though
in flight from before the sword and they shall fall without a pursuer--
indeed, they
shall stumble over each other as though in flight from before the sword
except there
will be no one pursuing them (vv. 36-37a).
The exiles will be sent into a panic
by the mere rustling of leaves. In their paranoia
they will strain their ears to catch the slightest
sound that might indicate the presence of
24 The alternation of the forms of hcr is characteristic of the elevated style
of the pericope.
25 Cf. Hans Eberhard
von Waldow, "
Unto My Path: Old Testament Studies in
Honor ofJacob M. Myers, ed. Howard N. Bream, et al.
(Philadelphia,
Penn.: Temple University Press, 1974), 506.
26 Jacob Milgrom,
"Leviticus, Book of," Encyclopedia
Judaica, ed. Cecil Roth (Jerusalem: Keter, 1971),
11:147.
27
The author's own translation. For a discussion of the problem of source and
dependency in relationship
to Leviticus and Jeremiah, see William D.
Barrick, "Leviticus 26: Its Relationship to Covenant Contexts
and Concepts" (unpublished Th.D. dissertation, Grace Theological Seminary,
1981),133-34.
28 E.g., the number of times
Babylonian
exile itself.
The
Eschatological Significance of Leviticus 26 9
Barrick,
National ETS, November 19, 1999
their enemies. With shattered nerves they will give
place to their fears and cowardice.
They
will flee, only to fall over one another.29 Not only will this
wreak havoc with the
trampling of the fallen, it will also add to their
unbearable humiliation. Defeated by a
non-existent enemy, they fall over
their own soldiers in a stampede initiated by a stirring
leaf.
Verses 36-37a are marked by the following forms of assonanc