This continues the image of the people of Israel, who will be so frightened that they panic and cause injury to each other even though no one is chasing them.

You: the Hebrew shifts suddenly back to the second person plural (see verse 36). But in most languages it will be better to use the second person plural pronoun consistently throughout this passage, as has been done by Good News Translation. If this suggestion has been followed, then the abrupt shift of pronoun here will cause no problem for the receptor language.

No power to stand before your enemies: the verb used here continues the image of a people unable to maintain their footing (compare “fall” in verse 36 and stumble earlier in this verse). Another way of saying this is “you will be helpless to stand up to your enemies.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .