Lev 26:16, Deu 28:22 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 16. I will even appoint over you terror, &c. ] How dreadful is this curse! A whole train of evils are here personified and appointed to be the governors of a disobedient people. Terror is to be one of their keepers. How awful a state! to be continually under the influence of dismay, feeling indescribable evils, and fearing worse! Consumption , shachepheth , generally allowed to be some kind of atrophy or marasmus , by which the flesh was consumed, and the whole body dried up by raging fever through lack of sustenance. . How circumstantially were all these threatenings fulfilled in this disobedient and rebellious people! Let a deist read over this chapter and compare it with the state of the Jews since the days of Vespasian, and then let him doubt the authenticity of this word if he can.

‏ Leviticus 26:16

Verse 16. I will even appoint over you terror, &c.] How dreadful is this curse! A whole train of evils are here personified and appointed to be the governors of a disobedient people. Terror is to be one of their keepers. How awful a state! to be continually under the influence of dismay, feeling indescribable evils, and fearing worse! Consumption, shachepheth, generally allowed to be some kind of atrophy or marasmus, by which the flesh was consumed, and the whole body dried up by raging fever through lack of sustenance. See Clarke on Le 11:16. How circumstantially were all these threatenings fulfilled in this disobedient and rebellious people! Let a deist read over this chapter and compare it with the state of the Jews since the days of Vespasian, and then let him doubt the authenticity of this word if he can.

‏ Deuteronomy 28:22

Verse 22. Consumption] shachepheth, atrophy through lack of food; from shacaph, to be in want.

Fever] kaddachath, from kadach, to be kindled, burn, sparkle; a burning inflammatory fever.

Inflammation] dalleketh, from dalak, to pursue eagerly, to burn after; probably a rapidly consuming cancer.

Extreme burning] charchur, burning upon burning, scald upon scald; from char, to be heated, enraged, &c. This probably refers, not only to excruciating inflammations on the body, but also to the irritation and agony of a mind utterly abandoned by God, and lost to hope. What an accumulation of misery! how formidable! and especially in a land where great heat was prevalent and dreadful.

Sword] War in general, enemies without, and civil broils within. This was remarkably the case in the last siege of Jerusalem.

Blasting] shiddaphon, probably either the blighting east wind that ruined vegetation, or those awful pestilential winds which suffocate both man and beast wherever they come. These often prevail in different parts of the East, and several examples have already been given. See Clarke on Ge 41:6.

Mildew] yerakon, an exudation of the vegetative juice from different parts of the stalk, by which the maturity and perfection of the plant are utterly prevented. It comes from yarak, to throw out moisture.

Of these seven plagues, the five former were to fall on their bodies, the two latter upon their substance. What a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God!