What Does Leviticus 26:16 Mean in the King James?
I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The seed carries the future, but here it is planted only to be eaten before that future can feed you.
THE MEANING
The verse’s voice appoints terror, wasting sickness, and burning fever over you; they consume your eyes and bring sorrow to your heart. You sow your seed, yet your enemies eat it before it becomes provision.
THE ROOT
זֶרַע
zeraʿ
GROWS FROM
זרע
z-r-ʿ
To sow; to produce seed.
The Hebrew verb for sowing and the noun for seed share the root זרע, binding the act of planting to what is planted. זֶרַע can also mean offspring or descendants, so the loss reaches beyond a failed crop: the word carries the sense of a future that is cut off before it can sustain you.
ALSO GROWS
zāraʿ: To sow or plant seed.
זָרַע
This is the act in the verse: you put the seed into the ground, but the effort does not secure a harvest.
zeraʿ: Seed, offspring, or descendants.
זֶרַע
The same root names both what is planted and the future it can carry, deepening the loss when enemies eat the yield.
THE PATTERN
Sowing does not secure a harvest when what is planted is consumed before it can sustain life.
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.THE THREAD
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.Both verses use זרע (z-r-ʿ): zāraʿ means “to sow,” and zeraʿ means “seed” or “offspring,” binding the planting to what is planted. Leviticus names enemies as the eaters; Haggai shows the same failure of yield reaching food, clothing, and wages.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us