Leviticus 26:37 (DBY)

Passage

and they shall stumble one over another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth; and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 26:35 All the days of the desolation it shall rest, [the days in] which it did not rest on your sabbaths, when ye dwelt therein.

Leviticus 26:36 And as to those that remain of you I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, that the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth;

Leviticus 26:37 and they shall stumble one over another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth; and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

Leviticus 26:38 And ye shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

Leviticus 26:39 And they that remain of you shall waste away through their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also through the iniquities of their fathers shall they waste away with them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "stumble", "over", "another", "before", "sword", "none", and "pursueth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "stumble", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 36's "And as to those that remain of..." into verse 38's "And ye shall perish among the nations...", so "shall" and "stumble" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "stumble" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.