Leviticus 19

The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

2"Speak to the whole community of the people of Israel and say to them: You must be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

2Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

Note"Holy" in Hebrew (qadosh) means set apart, belonging to God and kept distinct from ordinary use. It carries the idea of separateness first, and moral purity as a consequence of that; the same word is used of objects, days and places, not only of people.

3Each of you must show respect to his mother and his father, and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

3Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

NoteThe Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, on which all work stopped. The plural "my Sabbaths" covers the weekly day and the other appointed rest days of the year.

4Do not turn to idols, and do not make gods of melted metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.

4Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "idols" here (elilim) sounds like the word for "god" (el) but means something worthless or good for nothing, a deliberate play on words. "Molten" gods were images cast from metal melted and poured into a mold.

5When you offer a peace offering to the LORD, you must offer it in a way that will make it accepted for you.

5And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.

NoteA peace offering (Hebrew shelamim) was a sacrifice mostly eaten by the worshiper, his family and guests, with only certain fat portions burned on the altar and a share given to the priest. It was a shared meal, usually brought voluntarily to mark a vow, a thanksgiving or a celebration.

6It must be eaten on the same day you offer it, or the next day. Anything left until the third day must be burned in the fire.

6It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.

7If any of it is eaten at all on the third day, it is disgusting, and it will not be accepted.

7And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.

Note"Abominable" translates piggul, a technical term for sacrificial meat that has become unfit because it was kept too long. It is a ritual classification, not a comment on taste or hygiene.

8So anyone who eats it will carry the guilt for his own wrong, because he has treated as common what was set apart for the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.

8Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Note"Cut off from among his people" is a set legal formula in these laws. Ancient and modern interpreters disagree over exactly what it meant: expulsion from the community, loss of descendants, death at God's hand, or execution by the community.

9When you harvest the crops of your land, you must not harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and you must not go back for what your harvesters dropped.

9And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.

NoteLeaving the field edges unharvested and not going back over the ground was a standing provision for people with no land of their own, who were entitled to come in and take what was left. The practice is called gleaning; the book of Ruth shows it in operation.

10Do not go back over your vineyard for what is left, and do not pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

10And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.

NoteThe word translated "stranger" (Hebrew ger) means a foreigner settled among the Israelites for the long term, a resident outsider without inherited land, not a passing traveler. Landless, such a person depended on gleaning rights like these.

11You must not steal. You must not cheat. You must not lie to one another.

11Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

12You must not make a false promise in my name. You must not treat the name of your God as if it were nothing. I am the LORD.

12And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

NoteIn a society with few written records, a sworn oath in God's name was the ordinary way of settling a dispute when there was no evidence: the oath itself decided the case. Swearing falsely by that name was therefore both perjury and an abuse of the name invoked.

13You must not cheat your neighbor, and you must not rob him. Do not hold back a hired worker's pay overnight until morning.

13Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

NoteHired laborers were paid at the end of each day and had no savings to fall back on; holding the wage overnight meant the worker's household went without food that evening.

14You must not curse a person who cannot hear, and you must not put something in the path of a person who cannot see that will make him fall. Instead you must fear your God. I am the LORD.

14Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

NoteBoth examples name a victim who cannot detect the wrong or defend against it: the deaf person does not hear the curse, the blind person does not see the obstacle. Hence the closing line, no human witness will catch the offender, so the restraint has to come from fear of God.

15You must not judge unfairly. Do not take the side of a poor person, and do not give special favor to a powerful person. Judge your neighbor fairly.

15Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

Note"Respect the person" is a 1611 legal idiom, not a compliment. It translates a Hebrew phrase meaning to lift up someone's face, to show partiality. The verse forbids tilting a verdict either way: toward the poor out of sympathy, or toward the powerful out of deference.

16You must not go around among your people spreading talk about others. You must not do anything that puts your neighbor's life in danger. I am the LORD.

16Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.

Note"Talebearer" means someone who circulates damaging reports about others. The second phrase, literally "do not stand against the blood of your neighbour," is genuinely obscure in Hebrew and has been read both as standing by while a neighbor's life is threatened and as testifying against a neighbor in a case that carries the death penalty.

17You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely correct your neighbor, and not let sin stay on him.

17Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Note"Suffer" in 1611 English means allow. The Hebrew of the last clause is ambiguous: it can mean rebuke your neighbor so that you do not share in his guilt by silence, or rebuke him so that you do not incur guilt on his account by hating him privately instead of speaking.

18You must not take revenge, and you must not hold a grudge against any of your own people. Instead, love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

18Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

19You must keep my rules. Do not let your animals breed with a different kind. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not put on a garment woven from two kinds of material, linen and wool.

19Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

Note"Gender" in 1611 English means to breed. The three bans all concern mixing categories that were kept separate; notably, the blend of linen and wool that is forbidden here for ordinary clothing was exactly the fabric used for the priests' garments and the sanctuary hangings.

20If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave and is promised to another man, and she has not been bought back or set free, she is to be punished. But they are not to be put to death, because she was not free.

20And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.

NoteThe woman is a slave who has been designated for another man but whose transfer is not complete: she has not been bought out of slavery ("redeemed") or released. Because she is not legally free, the case is not treated as adultery, which carried the death penalty. The Hebrew word behind "she shall be scourged" (biqqoret) occurs only here and is disputed; it may mean an official inquiry, compensation, or a beating, and it is unclear whether the punishment falls on her, on him, or on both.

21The man must bring his guilt offering to the LORD, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, where the people gather before God. The offering is a ram.

21And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.

NoteA trespass or guilt offering (Hebrew asham) was the sacrifice required when someone had wronged another party or misused something holy; it usually went together with compensation. The tabernacle, or tent of meeting, was the portable sanctuary carried through the wilderness, a tent housing the ark, with a courtyard and altar, where Israel assembled before God.

22With the ram of the guilt offering the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, for the sin he has done, and the sin he has done will be forgiven him.

22And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.

Note"Make an atonement" translates a verb (kipper) whose root sense is to wipe clean or to cover over. It describes a ritual act performed by the priest that removes the effect of the offense, after which the offender is declared forgiven.

23When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you must treat its fruit as off limits. For three years it is off limits to you, and it must not be eaten.

23And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

Note"Uncircumcised" is used here as a figure of speech for something not yet available for use, off limits, as an uncircumcised male was outside the covenant community. The rule keeps the first three harvests of any newly planted fruit tree from being eaten at all.

24In the fourth year all its fruit is holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.

24But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.

NoteFourth-year fruit was handed over as a praise offering: brought to the sanctuary and eaten there or given to the priests, rather than kept by the grower. Only in the fifth year does the crop become ordinary food.

25In the fifth year you may eat its fruit, so that it may yield its increase to you. I am the LORD your God.

25And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.

NoteThe closing clause can be read as a promise that the tree will then yield abundantly, or simply as a statement that from this point the owner takes the increase for himself; the Hebrew allows both.

26You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. You must not use magic spells, and you must not look for signs to tell the future.

26Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

NoteBlood was to be drained from an animal before eating, on the principle stated elsewhere in Leviticus that the life is in the blood and belongs to God. "Use enchantment" and "observe times" translate two Hebrew terms for divination, reading omens, and identifying which days were favorable or unfavourable for action.

27You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head, and you must not trim off the edges of your beard.

27Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

NoteThis forbids a particular haircut and beard trim, shaving the hairline round the head and clipping the beard's edges. Both were mourning customs and grooming styles associated with neighboring peoples; later Jewish practice derives sidelocks (peyot) from this verse.

28You must not cut your skin for the dead, and you must not mark your body with tattoos. I am the LORD.

28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

NoteGashing the skin and shaving were standard mourning rites in the ancient Near East, performed at a death. The word rendered "print any marks" (Hebrew qa'aqa) occurs only here; it is generally taken to mean a permanent mark pricked into the skin, hence "tattoo."

29Do not shame your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land itself will turn to prostitution and the land will be filled with evil.

29Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

NoteThe concern is a father selling or hiring out his daughter for sex, in that society a real economic option for a household in debt. "The land fall to whoredom" uses prostitution figuratively, as the prophets often do, for a whole community's corruption.

30You must keep my Sabbaths and treat my holy place with respect. I am the LORD.

30Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

Note"Sanctuary" is the tabernacle, the tent sanctuary described in Exodus, and its precincts.

31Do not turn to people who talk with spirits, and do not go looking for those who use magic, because they will make you unclean. I am the LORD your God.

31Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Note"Them that have familiar spirits" and "wizards" translate two Hebrew terms (ov and yidde'oni) for practitioners who consulted the dead on a client's behalf. "Wizard" in 1611 English means one who has arcane knowledge, not a magician of the storybook kind. The consultation of the dead is what is in view; 1 Samuel 28 describes such a session.

32You must stand up in the presence of a gray-haired person, and show honor to an old man, and fear your God. I am the LORD.

32Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Note"Hoary" means white or gray with age. Standing up as an elderly person approached was the recognized physical gesture of respect, the ancient equivalent of rising when someone enters a room.

33If a foreigner lives in your land with you, you must not treat him badly.

33And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

Note"Vex" in 1611 English is much stronger than the modern word: it means to oppress or mistreat, not to annoy.

34The foreigner who lives with you must be treated like someone born among you, and you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

34But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

35You must not be dishonest when you judge, or when you measure length, or weight, or amount.

35Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

Note"Meteyard" is an old word for a measuring rod or yardstick, a measure of length. The three terms cover the three kinds of cheating available to a trader: short length, light weight, and small volume.

36You must use 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.

36Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

NoteAn ephah was a dry measure of roughly twenty-two liters, about two-thirds of a bushel; a hin was a liquid measure of roughly four liters, about a gallon. Since standard weights and measures were the merchant's own physical stones and jars, keeping honest ones was a deliberate choice.

37So you must keep all my rules and all my decisions, and do them. I am the LORD."

37Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.

Note"Statutes" and "judgments" render two different Hebrew words: fixed decrees on the one hand, and on the other the rulings handed down in particular cases, which then served as precedent.