Bible Strands
Leviticus 26:41
and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai, describing the exile phase of the covenant curses. He declares that He will act in hostility and place them in enemy territory before outlining the conditions for return.
The words — The Hebrew אֵלֵ֤ךְ עִמָּ֙ם בְּקֶ֔רִי ('elekh 'immam beqeri) translates literally as "I will walk with them in hostility." This phrasing denotes active divine opposition rather than passive allowance.
The thread — The sequence of hostility and exile directly follows Leviticus 26:40's description of walking in hostility against God. The condition of humbled hearts appears in the immediate context of Leviticus 26:42, while the phrase uncircumcised heart is applied to resistant leadership in Ezekiel 44:7 and Acts 7:51.
Why it lands — The text requires confession of iniquity and the humbling of resistant hearts as explicit prerequisites for covenant restoration. It establishes a fixed order where divine faithfulness follows human acknowledgment and amends, not preceding it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 12:6 So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.”
- Ezekiel 44:7 In addition to all your other abominations, you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in both heart and flesh to occupy My sanctuary; you defiled My temple when you offered My food—the fat and the blood; you broke My covenant.
- Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- 1 Kings 21:29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity during his days, but I will bring it upon his house in the days of his son.”
- Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”
- Jeremiah 9:25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—
- Deuteronomy 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
- 2 Chronicles 32:26 Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.
- Jeremiah 6:10 To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
- Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—