Leviticus 19:26-29
New English Translation
Blood, Hair, Body, and Prostitution
26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it.[a] You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.[b] 27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard.[c] 28 You must not slash your body for a dead person[d] or incise a tattoo on yourself.[e] I am the Lord. 29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute,[f] so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.[g]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 19:26 tn Heb “You shall not eat on the blood.” See the extensive remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 319-20, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132-33. The LXX has “on the mountains,” suggesting that this is a prohibition against illegitimate places and occasions of worship, not the eating of blood.
- Leviticus 19:26 tn Heb “You shall not practice divination and you shall not practice soothsaying”; cf. NRSV “practice augury or witchcraft.” For suggestions regarding the practices involved see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 133, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 320.
- Leviticus 19:27 tc Heb “and you [singular] shall not ruin the corner of your [singular] beard.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural pronouns (i.e., “you” and “your” plural) rather than the singular of the MT.
- Leviticus 19:28 tn Heb “And slash for the soul you shall not give.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 21:1, 5; 22:5). See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 306, 320-21.
- Leviticus 19:28 tn Heb “and a writing of incision you shall not give in you.”
- Leviticus 19:29 tn Heb “to make her practice harlotry.” Some recent English versions regard this as religious or temple prostitution (cf. TEV, CEV).
- Leviticus 19:29 tn Heb “and the land become full of lewdness.” Regarding the term “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
Leviticus 19:26-29
English Standard Version
26 (A)“You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. (B)You shall not interpret omens or (C)tell fortunes. 27 (D)You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any (E)cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.
29 (F)“Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
