Leviticus19
New King James Version
1And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
3‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
4‘Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God.
5‘And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it of your own free will.
6It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire.
7And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted.
8Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.
9‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
11‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.
12And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
13‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.
14You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
15‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
16You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
18You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
19‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
20‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering.
22The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
23‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten.
24But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord.
25And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.
26‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.
27You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.
28You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.
29‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.
30‘You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
32‘You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.
33‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.
34The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume.
36You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’ ”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Laws. (1-37).
vv1-37
There are some ceremonial precepts in this chapter, but most of these precepts are binding on us, for they are explanations of the ten commandments. It is required that Israel be a holy people, because the God of Israel is a holy God, verse 2. To teach real separation from the world and the flesh, and entire devotedness to God. This is now the law of Christ; may the Lord bring every thought within us into obedience to it! Children are to be obedient to their parents, verse 3. The fear here required includes inward reverence and esteem, outward respect and obedience, care to please them and to make them easy. God only is to be worshipped, verse 4. Turn not from the true God to false ones, from the God who will make you holy and happy, to those that will deceive you, and make you for ever miserable. Turn not your eyes to them, much less your heart. They should leave the gleanings of their harvest and vintage for the poor, verse 9. Works of piety must be always attended with works of charity, according to our ability. We must not be covetous, griping, and greedy of every thing we can lay claim to, nor insist upon our right in all things. We are to be honest and true in all our dealings, verse 11. Whatever we have in the world, we must see that we get it honestly, for we cannot be truly rich, or long rich, with that which is not so. Reverence to the sacred name of God must be shown, verse 12. We must not detain what belongs to another, particularly the wages of the hireling, verse 13. We must be tender of the credit and safety of those that cannot help themselves, verse 14. Do no hurt to any, because they are unwilling or unable to avenge themselves. We ought to take heed of doing any thing which may occasion our weak brother to fall. The fear of God should keep us from doing wrong things, though they will not expose us to men's anger. Judges, and all in authority, are commanded to give judgment without partiality, verse 15. To be a tale-bearer, and to sow discord among neighbours, is as bad an office as a man can put himself into. We are to rebuke our neighbour in love, verse 17. Rather rebuke him than hate him, for an injury done to thyself. We incur guilt by not reproving; it is hating our brother. We should say, I will do him the kindness to tell him of his faults. We are to put off all malice, and to put on brotherly love, verse 18. We often wrong ourselves, but we soon forgive ourselves those wrongs, and they do not at all lessen our love to ourselves; in like manner we should love our neighbour. We must in many cases deny ourselves for the good of our neighbour. Verse 31: For Christians to have their fortunes told, to use spells and charms, or the like, is a sad affront to God. They must be grossly ignorant who ask, “What harm is there in these things?” Here is a charge to young people to show respect to the aged, verse 32. Religion teaches good manners, and obliges us to honour those to whom honour is due. A charge was given to the Israelites to be very tender of strangers, verse 33. Strangers, and the widows and fatherless, are God's particular care. It is at our peril, if we do them any wrong. Strangers shall be welcome to God's grace; we should do what we can to recommend religion to them. Justice in weights and measures is commanded, verse 35. We must make conscience of obeying God's precepts. We are not to pick and choose our duty, but must aim at standing complete in all the will of God. And the nearer our lives and tempers are to the precepts of God's law, the happier shall we be, and the happier shall we make all around us, and the better shall we adorn the gospel.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
עֵדָה: a stated assemblage (specifically, a concourse, or generally, a family or crowd)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
קָדוֹשׁ: sacred (ceremonially or morally); (as noun) God (by eminence), an angel, a saint, a sanctuary
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
יָרֵא: to fear; morally, to revere; caus. to frighten
Cross References
Leviticus 19Peter quotes this passage directly to command holiness in all manner of conversation.
Supported by JFB
Our Lord's parable of the Good Samaritan defines 'neighbour' in contrast to narrow Jewish interpretations.
Supported by JFB
Establishes the time limits for eating peace offerings based on vow and voluntary classifications.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Expands on the gleaning laws for fields, olive trees, and vineyards to sustain the needy.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Condemns withholding hirelings' wages as an injustice crying out to the Lord of Sabaoth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels prohibitions against mingling seeds, diverse draft animals, and garments of mixed materials.
Supported by JFB
Reiterates the severe prohibition and defilement of turning after familiar spirits.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Parallels the prohibition against having divers weights and measures in your bag.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The Fifth Commandment requiring honor to parents, joined with Sabbath observance in Leviticus.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Decalogue prohibitions against having other gods and making graven or molten images.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Repeats the command to leave corners and gleanings of harvests for the poor.
Supported by JFB
Christ's practical instruction on how to privately rebuke an offending brother in love.
Supported by JFB
Comprehensive prohibition of witchcraft, enchantment, and observing times as heathen practices.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Provides the foundational sacrificial and theological reason for not eating blood.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prohibits making baldness or cutting oneself for the dead as God's holy people.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Repeats verbatim the command to keep the Sabbaths and reverence the sanctuary.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Command not to vex a stranger, grounded in Israel's experience in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Declares that a false balance is an abomination to the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Reiterates the prohibition against turning to idols, graven images, or standing pillars.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Pronounces a curse on anyone who makes the blind wander out of the way.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Paul forbids personal vengeance, urging believers to yield wrath to God's judgment.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Applies the prohibition of shaving corners of heads and marring beards to priests.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical account of Saul putting away those with familiar spirits and wizards.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Extends the command 'love thy neighbour as thyself' specifically to the stranger.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Command to love the stranger, reminding Israel they were strangers in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophetic call for just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Defines the trespass offering of a ram/lamb brought to the priest.
Supported by Matthew Poole