The Torah · Old Testament
Leviticus 19
Holiness in worship, work and the treatment of neighbors
General context
The call to holiness addresses Israel's whole congregation. Commands about parents, sabbaths, idols and peace offerings stand beside instructions to leave gleanings for the poor and foreign resident, pay workers without keeping wages overnight and judge fairly. Israel must not steal, deceive, exploit the deaf or blind, hate a brother or take revenge; the text commands love of one's neighbor as oneself. Further laws concern mixed kinds, a sexual offense involving an enslaved woman pledged to another man, fruit trees, divination and mourning practices. The chapter also forbids prostituting a daughter, requires honor for the elderly and commands love for the foreign resident. Honest weights and measures close the collection, with another reminder of deliverance from Egypt.
Cited passages: Leviticus 19:1, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 19:3, Leviticus 19:4, Leviticus 19:5, Leviticus 19:6, Leviticus 19:7, Leviticus 19:8, Leviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10, Leviticus 19:11, Leviticus 19:12, Leviticus 19:13, Leviticus 19:14, Leviticus 19:15, Leviticus 19:16, Leviticus 19:17, Leviticus 19:18, Leviticus 19:19, Leviticus 19:20, Leviticus 19:21, Leviticus 19:22, Leviticus 19:23, Leviticus 19:24, Leviticus 19:25, Leviticus 19:26, Leviticus 19:27, Leviticus 19:28, Leviticus 19:29, Leviticus 19:30, Leviticus 19:31, Leviticus 19:32, Leviticus 19:33, Leviticus 19:34, Leviticus 19:35, Leviticus 19:36, Leviticus 19:37
Leviticus 19 (KJV)
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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.
3Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
4Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.
5And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will.
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.
7And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
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.
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.
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.
11Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
12And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.
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.
14Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.
15Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
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.
17Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
24But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the Lord withal.
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.
26Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
27Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
28Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.
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.
30Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
32Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.
33And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
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.
35Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
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.
37Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.
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Historical context
The gleaning rules assume fields and vineyards, and the fruit-tree rule looks ahead to planting in the land. A foreign resident is to be treated as native-born and loved as oneself because Israel was once foreign in Egypt. The case in verses 20-22 concerns an enslaved woman not yet freed and a man who has sex with her. The KJV says 'she shall be scourged'; the ASV says 'they shall be punished'. The BBE says 'the thing will be looked into'. The passage excludes death because she was not free and requires a ram offering from the man. It does not supply an account of consent; the wording about punishment differs among these translations.
Cited passages: Leviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10, Leviticus 19:20, Leviticus 19:21, Leviticus 19:22, Leviticus 19:23, Leviticus 19:24, Leviticus 19:25, Leviticus 19:33, Leviticus 19:34, Leviticus 19:35, Leviticus 19:36
Literary context
The refrain 'I am the Lord' links worship commands with duties toward other people. Love of the neighbor in verse 18 is followed later by love of the foreign resident in verse 34. The varied instructions make holiness the organizing word for the chapter's legal collection, without turning every rule into the same kind of requirement.
Cited passages: Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 19:3, Leviticus 19:4, Leviticus 19:9, Leviticus 19:10, Leviticus 19:11, Leviticus 19:12, Leviticus 19:13, Leviticus 19:14, Leviticus 19:15, Leviticus 19:16, Leviticus 19:17, Leviticus 19:18, Leviticus 19:30, Leviticus 19:31, Leviticus 19:32, Leviticus 19:33, Leviticus 19:34, Leviticus 19:35, Leviticus 19:36, Leviticus 19:37
Key moments
- Gleanings for the poor and foreign resident (Leviticus 19:10). Part of the vineyard's produce is to be left for people who need it.
- Love of the neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). The command to love one's neighbor follows prohibitions on revenge and grudges.
- Love of the foreign resident (Leviticus 19:34). Israel is told to love the resident foreigner as oneself, remembering its own life in Egypt.
For reflection
What changes when the commands about wages, judgment and foreign residents are read alongside the opening call to holiness?