Leviticus Nineteen

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

Leviticus 19:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Leviticus 19:2 Speak 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.

Ye shall be holy. This is probably the key verse of Leviticus. The verse lists many rules that were specifically for the purpose of maintaining true holiness (that is, separation as a peculiar people unto God) in the earthly nation of Israel. The same principle is applied to the people of Christ's church in the New Testament (see 1 Peter 1:15, 16; 2:9).

Leviticus 19:3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.

the Lord your God. This assertion—“I am the LORD your God”—occurs at least 22 times in Leviticus.

Leviticus 19:4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

not unto idols. Note the references in this chapter to the Ten Commandments: the first two (Leviticus 19:4); the third (Leviticus 19:12); the fourth and fifth (Leviticus 19:3); the sixth (Leviticus 19:16); the seventh (Leviticus 19:29); the eighth and ninth (Leviticus 19:11); the tenth (Leviticus 19:18).

Leviticus 19:5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.

Leviticus 19:6 It 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.

Leviticus 19:7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.

Leviticus 19:8 Therefore 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.

cut off. The penalty prescribed for numerous types of sins was to be “cut off” from his people. That this did not necessarily mean “put to death” is evident from the fact that many other crimes were explicitly commanded to be punishable by death (note Leviticus 20:2, 9-11, 15, 27, etc.). Presumably to be cut off meant some form of excommunication, or possibly banishment and exile, including being “cut off from my presence” (Leviticus 22:3).

Leviticus 19:9 And 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.

Leviticus 19:10 And 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.

for the poor. Note the illustration of this provision in the case of Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz (Ruth 2:2).

Leviticus 19:11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

Leviticus 19:12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:13 Thou 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.

Leviticus 19:14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:15 Ye 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.

Leviticus 19:16 Thou 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.

Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Leviticus 19:18 Thou 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.

love thy neighbour. The Lord Jesus combined this command with that of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and called them the two greatest commandments (see Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:27). Note also Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8.

Leviticus 19:19 Ye 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.

mingled seed. Agricultural scientists generally agree that cross-pollination detracts from the production of the best crops.

Leviticus 19:20 And 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.

Leviticus 19:21 And 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.

Leviticus 19:22 And 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.

Leviticus 19:23 And 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.

Leviticus 19:24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.

Leviticus 19:25 And 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.

Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

Leviticus 19:27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.

Leviticus 19:30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.

Leviticus 19:34 But 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.

Leviticus 19:35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

meteyard. An archaic word meaning “standard of linear measurement.” The Hebrew word is a more general term for any standard of measure.

Leviticus 19:36 Just 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.

Leviticus 19:37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.