Leviticus 26:8

Complete Jewish Bible

Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand — your enemies will fall before your sword.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
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.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue a myriad; and your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

New Century Version
Five of you will chase a hundred men; a hundred of you will chase ten thousand men. You will defeat your enemies and kill them with your sword.

New English Translation
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

Amplified Bible
'Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will put ten thousand to flight; your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

New American Standard Bible
five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And fiue of you shall chase an hundreth, and an hundreth of you shall put ten thousande to flight, and your enemies shall fall before you vpon the sworde.

Legacy Standard Bible
and five of you will pursue one hundred, and one hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

Contemporary English Version
even if there are only five of you and a hundred of them, or only a hundred of you and ten thousand of them.

Darby Translation
and five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall beside you by the sword.

Easy-to-Read Version
Five of you will chase 100 men, and 100 of you will chase 10,000 men. You will defeat your enemies and kill them with your sword.

English Standard Version
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.

George Lamsa Translation
And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Good News Translation
five of you will be able to defeat a hundred, and a hundred will be able to defeat ten thousand.

Christian Standard Bible®
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand; your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

Literal Translation
And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue a myriad; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Fyue of you shal chace an hundreth: and an hundreth of you shal chace ten thousande. For youre enemies shall fall in to the swerde before you.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
Then five of you will put to flight a hundred, and a hundred of you will put to flight ten thousand, and all who are against you will be put to death by your swords.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And fiue of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousande to flight: & your enemies shall fall before you vpon the sworde.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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.

King James Version (1611)
And fiue of you shal chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase tens of thousands; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

English Revised Version
And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall chase ten thousand: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Berean Standard Bible
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
fyue of youre men schulen pursue an hundrid aliens, and an hundrid of you schulen pursue ten thousande; youre enemyes schulen falle bi swerd in youre siyt.

Young's Literal Translation
and five of you have pursued a hundred, and a hundred of you do pursue a myriad; and your enemies have fallen before you by the sword.

Update Bible Version
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

World English Bible
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.

New King James Version
Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

New Living Translation
Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.

New Life Bible
Five of you will go after a hundred. A hundred of you will go after ten thousand. And those who hate you will fall in front of you by the sword.

New Revised Standard
Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, five, of you shall chase, a hundred, And, a hundred, of you shall put ten thousand to flight, - So shall your foes fall before you, by the sword.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others: and a hundred of you ten thousand. Your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

Revised Standard Version
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.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

Contextual Overview

¹ "‘You are not to make yourselves any idols, erect a carved statue or a standing-stone, or place any carved stone anywhere in your land in order to bow down to it. I am Adonai your God. ² "‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai . Haftarah B'har: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 32:6–27 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B'har: Luke 4:16–21; 1 Corinthians 7:21–24; Galatians 6:7–10 [In regular years read with Parashah 32, in leap years read separately] "‘If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit. Your threshing time will extend until the grape harvest, and your grape harvesting will extend until the time for sowing seed. You will eat as much food as you want and live securely in your land. (LY: ii) "‘I will give shalom in the land — you will lie down to sleep unafraid of anyone. I will rid the land of wild animals. The sword will not go through your land. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before your sword. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand — your enemies will fall before your sword. "‘I will turn toward you, make you productive, increase your numbers and uphold my covenant with you. (RY: v, LY: iii) You will eat all you want from last year's harvest and throw out what remains of the old to make room for the new. I will put my tabernacle among you, and I will not reject you, but I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, so that you can walk upright. "‘But if you will not listen to me and obey all these mitzvot, if you loathe my regulations and reject my rulings, in order not to obey all my mitzvot but cancel my covenant; then I, for my part, will do this to you: I will bring terror upon you — wasting disease and chronic fever to dim your sight and sap your strength. You will sow your seed for nothing, because your enemies will eat the crops. I will set my face against you — your enemies will defeat you, those who hate you will hound you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you. If these things don't make you listen to me, then I will discipline you seven times over for your sins. I will break the pride you have in your own power. I will make your sky like iron, your soil like bronze — you will spend your strength in vain, because the land will not yield its produce or the trees in the field their fruit. "‘Yes, if you go against me and don't listen to me, I will increase your calamities sevenfold, according to your sins. I will send wild animals among you; they will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock and reduce your numbers, until your roads are deserted. "‘If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins. I will bring a sword against you which will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be huddled inside your cities, I will send sickness among you, and you will be handed over to the power of the enemy. I will cut off your supply of bread, so that ten women will bake your bread in one oven and dole out your bread by weight, and you will eat but not be satisfied. "‘And if, for all this, you still will not listen to me, but go against me; then I will go against you furiously, and I also will chastise you yet seven times more for your sins. You will eat the flesh of your own sons, you will eat the flesh of your own daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your pillars for sun-worship, and throw your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols; and I will detest you. I will lay waste to your cities and make your sanctuaries desolate, so as not to smell your fragrant aromas. I will desolate the land, so that your enemies living in it will be astounded by it. You I will disperse among the nations, and I will draw out the sword in pursuit after you; your land will be a desolation and your cities a wasteland. Then, at last, the land will be paid its Shabbats. As long as it lies desolate and you are in the lands of your enemies, the land will rest and be repaid its Shabbats. Yes, as long as it lies desolate it will have rest, the rest it did not have during your Shabbats, when you lived there. As for those of you who are left, I will fill their hearts with anxiety in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will frighten them, so that they will flee as one flees from the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. Yes, with no one pursuing they will stumble over each other as if fleeing the sword — you will have no power to stand before your enemies. And among the nations you will perish; the land of your enemies will devour you. Those of you who remain will pine away in the lands of your enemies from guilt over your misdeeds and those of your ancestors. Then they will confess their misdeeds and those of their ancestors which they committed against me in their rebellion; they will admit that they went against me. At that time I will be going against them, bringing them into the lands of their enemies. But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds; then I will remember my covenant with Ya‘akov, also my covenant with Yitz'chak and my covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land. For the land will lie abandoned without them, and it will be paid its Shabbats while it lies desolate without them; and they will be paid the punishment for their misdeeds, because they rejected my rulings and loathed my regulations. Yet, in spite of all that, I will not reject them when they are in the lands of their enemies, nor will I loathe them to the point of utterly destroying them and thus break my covenant with them, because I am Adonai their God. Rather, for their sakes, I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt — with the nations watching — so that I might be their God; I am Adonai .'" These are the laws, rulings and teachings that Adonai himself gave to the people of Isra'el on Mount Sinai through Moshe. ³ "‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai . Haftarah B'har: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 32:6–27 B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B'har: Luke 4:16–21; 1 Corinthians 7:21–24; Galatians 6:7–10 [In regular years read with Parashah 32, in leap years read separately] "‘If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; ⁴ then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing time will extend until the grape harvest, and your grape harvesting will extend until the time for sowing seed. You will eat as much food as you want and live securely in your land. ⁶ (LY: ii) "‘I will give shalom in the land — you will lie down to sleep unafraid of anyone. I will rid the land of wild animals. The sword will not go through your land. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before your sword. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand — your enemies will fall before your sword. ⁹ "‘I will turn toward you, make you productive, increase your numbers and uphold my covenant with you. ¹⁰ (RY: v, LY: iii) You will eat all you want from last year's harvest and throw out what remains of the old to make room for the new.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Numbers 14:9, Deuteronomy 28:7, Deuteronomy 32:30, Joshua 23:10, Judges 7:19-21, 1 Samuel 14:6-16, 1 Samuel 17:45-52, 1 Chronicles 11:11, 1 Chronicles 11:20, Psalms 81:14, Psalms 81:15

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:36 - and the Numbers 31:4 - a thousand Judges 4:16 - pursued Judges 15:15 - slew 1 Samuel 14:13 - fell 1 Kings 20:20 - the Syrians 2 Kings 19:6 - Be not afraid 1 Chronicles 12:14 - General 2 Chronicles 14:11 - nothing 2 Chronicles 24:24 - came Esther 9:16 - stood Isaiah 30:17 - thousand Isaiah 37:6 - Be not

Cross-References

Genesis 26:18
Yitz'chak reopened the wells which had been dug during the lifetime of Avraham his father, the ones the P'lishtim had stopped up after Avraham died, and called them by the names his father had used for them.

Genesis 26:19
Yitz'chak's servants dug in the vadi and uncovered a spring of running water.

Judges 5:28
"Sisra's mother looks out the window; peering out through the lattice she wonders, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why are his horses so slow to return?'

Proverbs 7:6
For I was at the window of my house, glancing out through the lattice,

Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with the wife you have loved throughout your meaningless life that he has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for that is your allotted portion in life and in your labor that you work at under the sun.

Song of Solomon 2:9
My darling is like a gazelle or young stag. There he is, standing outside our wall, looking in through the windows, peering in through the lattice.

Isaiah 62:5
as a young man marries a young woman, your sons will marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride, your God will rejoice over you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And five of you shall chase an hundred,.... One man chase twenty;

and an hundred of you put ten thousand to flight; which, had it been in proportion to the other number, should have been two thousand, as in

Deuteronomy 32:30; where there is a proportion observed; and Abendana observes, there are some that give the sense of it thus, an hundred of you, an hundred times five, that is, five hundred, and so it comes up to a right computation; but here it seems to be a certain number for an uncertain, and only a proverbial expression, signifying that a very few, under the blessing of divine Providence, should get the advantage over a large number, and oblige them to retire, and pursue them closely: instances we have of large bodies of the enemy being defeated by a small number of Israelites, Judges 7:21; and even many by a single person or two, 1 Samuel 14:13;

and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword;

1 Samuel 14:13- :.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As “the book of the covenant” Exodus 20:22-33 concludes with promises and warnings Exodus 23:20-33, so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy Deut. 27–30 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations having immediate reference not only to outward consequences, but to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will.

Leviticus 26:4

Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture the former and the latter rain Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23; Hosea 6:3; James 5:7. The former or Autumn rain falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March the latter or Spring rain comes on, which is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.

Leviticus 26:5

Compare the margin reference; Joel 2:19; Job 11:18.

Leviticus 26:8

Five of you shall chase - A proverbial mode of expression for superiority in warlike prowess Deuteronomy 32:30; Isaiah 30:17.

Leviticus 26:9

Establish my covenant - All material blessings were to be regarded in the light of seals of the “everlasting covenant.” Compare Genesis 17:4-8; Nehemiah 9:23.

Leviticus 26:10

Bring forth the old because of the new - Rather, clear away the old before the new; that is, in order to make room for the latter. Compare the margin reference.

Leviticus 26:16

The first warning for disobedience is disease. “Terror” (literally trembling) is rendered trouble in Psalms 78:33; Isaiah 65:23. It seems here to denote that terrible affliction, an anxious temperament, the mental state ever at war with Faith and Hope. This might well be placed at the head of the visitations on a backslider who had broken the covenant with his God. Compare Deuteronomy 32:25; Jeremiah 15:8; Proverbs 28:1; Job 24:17; Psalms 23:4.

Consumption, and the burning ague - Compare the margin reference. The first of the words in the original comes from a root signifying to waste away; the latter (better, fever), from one signifying to kindle a fire. Consumption is common in Egypt and some parts of Asia Minor, but it is more rare in Syria. Fevers of different kinds are the commonest of all diseases in Syria and all the neighboring countries. The opposite promise to the threat is given in Exodus 15:26; Exodus 23:25.

Leviticus 26:18

For all this - i. e. for all the afflictions in Leviticus 26:16-17.

Seven times - The sabbatical number is here proverbially used to remind the people of the covenant. Compare Genesis 4:15, Genesis 4:24; Psalms 119:164; Proverbs 24:16; Luke 17:4.

Leviticus 26:19, Leviticus 26:20

The second warning is utter sterility of the soil. Compare Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:18; Ezekiel 33:28; Ezekiel 36:34-35.

Leviticus 26:21, Leviticus 26:22

The third warning is the multiplication of destructive animals, etc. Compare Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:15; Judges 5:6-7; Isaiah 33:8.

Leviticus 26:23-26

The fourth warning. Yahweh now places Himself as it were in a hostile position toward His people who “will not be reformed” (rather, brought unto God: Jeremiah 2:30). He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.

Leviticus 26:26

Omit “and.” “To break the staff of bread,” was a proverbial expression for cutting off the supply of bread, the staff of life (Psalms 105:16; Ezekiel 4:16; Ezekiel 5:16; Ezekiel 14:13; compare Isaiah 3:1). The supply was to be so reduced that one oven would suffice for baking the bread maple by ten women for ten families, and when made it was to be dealt out in sparing rations by weight. See 2 Kings 6:25; Jeremiah 14:18; Lamentations 4:9; Ezekiel 5:12; Hosea 4:10; Micah 6:14; Haggai 1:6.

Leviticus 26:27-33

The fifth warning. For Leviticus 26:29 see 2 Kings 6:28-29; Jeremiah 19:8-9; Lamentations 2:20; Lamentations 4:10; Ezekiel 5:10, for Leviticus 26:30 see 2 Chronicles 34:3; Ezekiel 6:4; Jeremiah 14:19, for Leviticus 26:31 see 2 Kings 25:9; Psalms 74:6-7 : for Leviticus 26:32-33 see Deuteronomy 28:37; Psalms 44:11; Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 18:16; Ezekiel 5:1-17; Jeremiah 4:7; Ezekiel 9:6; Ezekiel 12:15; Zechariah 7:14.

Leviticus 26:30

High places - There is no doubt that the word here denotes elevated spots dedicated to false worship (see Deuteronomy 12:2), and especially, it would seem, to that of Baal Numbers 22:41; Joshua 13:17. Such spots were, however, employed and approved for the worship of Yahweh, not only before the building of the temple, but afterward (Judges 6:25-26; Judges 13:16-23; 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 16:5; 1 Kings 3:2; 1 Kings 18:30; 2 Kings 12:3; 1 Chronicles 21:26, etc.). The three altars built by Abraham at Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and at Mamre, appear to have been on heights, and so was the temple.

The high places in the holy land may thus have been divided into those dedicated to the worship of Yahweh, and those which had been dedicated to idols. And it would seem as if there was a constant struggle going on. The high places polluted by idol worship were of course to be wholly condemned. They were probably resorted to only to gratify a degraded superstition. See Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:2-5. The others might have been innocently used for prayer and religious teaching. But the temptation appears to have been too great for the temper of the people. They offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them; and hence, thorough reformers of the national religion, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, removed the high places altogether 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 23:5.

Your images - The original word is rendered in the margin of our Bible sun images (2 Chronicles 14:5; Isaiah 17:8; Ezekiel 6:4, etc.). Phoenician inscriptions prove that the word was commonly applied to images of Baal and Astarte, the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon. This exactly explains 2 Chronicles 34:4 following.

Idols - The Hebrew word here literally means things which could be rolled about, such as a block of wood or a lump of dirt. It was no doubt a name given in derision. Compare Isaiah 40:20; Isa 44:19; 2 Kings 1:2.

Leviticus 26:31

Sanctuaries - The holy places in the tabernacle and the temple (Psalms 68:35. Compare Psalms 74:7).

I will not smell the savor ... - See Leviticus 1:9.

Leviticus 26:35

More literally: All the days of its desolation shall it rest that time which it rested not in your Sabbaths while ye dwelt upon it. That is, the periods of rest of which the land had been deprived would be made up to it. Compare 2 Chronicles 36:20-21.

Leviticus 26:38

The land of your enemies shall eat you up - Compare Numbers 13:32; Ezekiel 36:13.

Leviticus 26:39

Iniquity - The meaning here is, in the punishment of their iniquity, and, in the next clause, in the punishment of the iniquity (as in Leviticus 26:41, Leviticus 26:43) of their fathers. In the next verse the same Hebrew word is properly represented by “iniquity.” Our translators have in several places put one of the English words in the text and the other in the margin (Genesis 4:13; Genesis 19:15; 2 Kings 7:9; Psalms 69:27, etc.). The language of Scripture does not make that trenchant division between sin and punishment which we are accustomed to do. Sin is its own punishment, having in itself, from its very commencement, the germ of death. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” James 1:15; Romans 2:5; Romans 5:12.

Leviticus 26:40

trespass - The Hebrew word signifies an injury inflicted on the rights of a person, as distinguished from a sin or iniquity regarded as an outrage of the divine law. Every wrong act is of course both a sin and a trespass against God. In this place Yahweh takes the breach of the covenant as a personal trespass.

Leviticus 26:41

Uncircumcised hearts - The outward sign of the covenant might be preserved, but the answering grace in the heart would be wanting (Acts 7:51; Romans 2:28-29; Jeremiah 6:10; Jeremiah 9:26; compare Colossians 2:11).

Accept of the punishment of their iniquity - literally, enjoy their iniquity. The word here and in Leviticus 26:43 rendered “accept” in this phrase, is the same as is rendered “enjoy” in the expression “the land shall enjoy her sabbaths” Leviticus 26:34. The antithesis in Leviticus 26:43 is this: The land shall enjoy her sabbaths - and they shall enjoy the punishment of their iniquity. The meaning is, that the land being desolate shall have the blessing of rest, and they having repented shall have the blessing of chastisement. The feelings of a devout captive Israelite are beautifully expressed in Tobit 13:1-18.