15 “‘Do not pervert justice;(A) do not show partiality(B) to the poor or favoritism to the great,(C) but judge your neighbor fairly.(D)

16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander(E) among your people.

“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life.(F) I am the Lord.

17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart.(G) Rebuke your neighbor frankly(H) so you will not share in their guilt.

18 “‘Do not seek revenge(I) or bear a grudge(J) against anyone among your people,(K) but love your neighbor(L) as yourself.(M) I am the Lord.

19 “‘Keep my decrees.(N)

“‘Do not mate different kinds of animals.

“‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.(O)

“‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.(P)

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Justice, Love, and Propriety

15 “‘You[a] must not deal unjustly in judgment:[b] You must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich.[c] You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.[d] 16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people.[e] You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake.[f] I am the Lord. 17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him.[g] 18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against[h] any of your people,[i] but you must love your neighbor as yourself.[j] I am the Lord. 19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed together,[k] you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear[l] a garment made of two different kinds of material.[m]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:15 tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.
  2. Leviticus 19:15 tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”
  3. Leviticus 19:15 tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”
  4. Leviticus 19:15 tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”
  5. Leviticus 19:16 tn The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 304, 316), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (rakhal, “to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; BDB 940 s.v. רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious (HALOT 1237 s.v. II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”
  6. Leviticus 19:16 tn Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129).
  7. Leviticus 19:17 tn Heb “and you will not lift up on him sin.” The meaning of the line is somewhat obscure. It means either (1) that one should rebuke one’s neighbor when he sins lest one also becomes guilty, which is the way it is rendered here (see NIV, NRSV, NEB, JB; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129-30, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 303, and the discussion on pp. 316-17), or (2) one may rebuke one’s neighbor without incurring sin just as long as he does not hate him in his heart (see the first part of the verse; cf. NASB, NAB).
  8. Leviticus 19:18 tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).
  9. Leviticus 19:18 tn Heb “the sons of your people.”
  10. Leviticus 19:18 sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition ל (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).
  11. Leviticus 19:19 tn Heb “Your animals, you shall not cross-breed two different kinds.”
  12. Leviticus 19:19 tn Heb “you shall not cause to go up on you.”
  13. Leviticus 19:19 sn Cf. Deut 22:11 where the Hebrew term translated “two different kinds” (כִּלְאַיִם, kilʾayim) refers to a mixture of linen and wool woven together in a garment.