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15 “‘You[a] shall not do injustice in judgment; you[b] shall not show partiality to the powerless;[c] you[d] shall not give preference to the powerful;[e] you[f] shall judge your[g] fellow citizen with justice. 16 You[h] shall not go about with slander among your[i] people; you[j] shall not endanger your[k] neighbor’s life;[l] I am Yahweh.

17 “‘You[m] shall not hate your[n] brother in your[o] heart; you[p] shall surely rebuke your[q] fellow citizen, so that you[r] do not incur sin along with[s] him. 18 You[t] shall not seek vengeance, and you[u] shall not harbor a grudge against your[v] fellow citizens;[w] and you[x] shall love your[y] neighbor like yourself; [z] I am Yahweh.

You Shall Keep My Statutes

19 “‘You[aa] must keep my statutes: as for your[ab] domestic animals, you[ac] shall not cause two differing kinds to breed; as for your[ad] field, you[ae] shall not sow two differing kinds of seed; and, a garment of two differing kinds of woven material should not be worn on you.[af]

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 19:15 Plural
  2. Leviticus 19:15 Singular
  3. Leviticus 19:15 Literally “you shall not lift up the faces of the poor/powerless”
  4. Leviticus 19:15 Singular
  5. Leviticus 19:15 Literally “faces of the great”
  6. Leviticus 19:15 Singular
  7. Leviticus 19:15 Singular
  8. Leviticus 19:16 Singular
  9. Leviticus 19:16 Singular
  10. Leviticus 19:16 Singular
  11. Leviticus 19:16 Singular
  12. Leviticus 19:16 Literally “you shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor”
  13. Leviticus 19:17 Singular
  14. Leviticus 19:17 Singular
  15. Leviticus 19:17 Singular
  16. Leviticus 19:17 Singular
  17. Leviticus 19:17 Singular
  18. Leviticus 19:17 Singular
  19. Leviticus 19:17 Or “in addition to him”; literally “upon him”
  20. Leviticus 19:18 Singular
  21. Leviticus 19:18 Singular
  22. Leviticus 19:18 Singular
  23. Leviticus 19:18 Literally “the sons of your people”
  24. Leviticus 19:18 Singular
  25. Leviticus 19:18 Singular
  26. Leviticus 19:18 Singular
  27. Leviticus 19:19 Plural
  28. Leviticus 19:19 Singular
  29. Leviticus 19:19 Singular
  30. Leviticus 19:19 Singular
  31. Leviticus 19:19 Singular
  32. Leviticus 19:19 Singular

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.