Leviticus 26:5

Summary

The verse describes an overlap of agricultural seasons: threshing will extend until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will extend until sowing time. As a result, the people will eat their bread to satiety and dwell securely in their land.

Key words

• hiSig ("it will reach/overtake", H5381) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect; the causative stem implies one activity actively "catching up to" or overtaking the next, not merely following it in time.
• dayish ("threshing", H1786) — masculine singular noun functioning as the grammatical subject of the first clause: the threshing itself is personified as the agent that reaches the grape harvest.
• batzir ("grape harvest", H1210) — appears twice: first as object (marked by 'et, H0853) of dayish's action, then as subject of the second clause, creating a chain where each season becomes agent for the next.
• zera' ("seed", H2233) — object of yaSig (H5381, imperfect form), marking sowing time as the final point the grape harvest reaches.
• betach ("security", H0983) — noun following the preposition la ("to/for", H9005), forming the idiomatic expression "to dwell in security," describing the resulting state of the people.

What the text says

The Hebrew builds two parallel clauses using the same verb root nasag (H5381) in different forms: first as a sequential perfect (hiSig), continuing the narrative sequence, then as an imperfect (yaSig), indicating ongoing or repeated action. In both clauses, the direct object marker 'et (H0853) signals the object of "reaching," while the subjects shift — dayish ("threshing") reaches batzir ("grape harvest"), and batzir in turn reaches zera' ("seed/sowing"). This creates a chain construction where each stage of the agricultural year overtakes the next, implying an unbroken cycle of abundance.

The following two clauses use sequential perfects ('akhalTem, "you will eat," H0398; yashavTem, "you will dwell," H3427) to continue the sequence begun by the first verb. The construct form lachme-khem ("bread of-you," H3899/H9026) ties "bread" directly to the possessive suffix "your," while la-Soba' ("to/for abundance," H7648) uses the preposition la to express the resulting state — eating "unto abundance." Similarly, la-Vetach ("to/for security," H0983) expresses dwelling "unto security," a construction the grammar itself marks as a purpose or resulting condition rather than merely descriptive.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint (LXX) adds a clause not present in the Hebrew data given: "καὶ πόλεμος οὐ διελεύσεται διὰ τῆς γῆς ὑμῶν" ("and war will not pass through your land"). This phrase has no corresponding Hebrew word-by-word entry in the source list provided.

The Vulgate renders hiSig (H5381) as "apprehendet" ("it will seize/grasp"), a more forceful image than "reach," while keeping the same subject-object structure (threshing seizing the vintage, vintage occupying the sowing).