x³ W¹ 1-8. Sundry commands and prohibitions.
X 9,10. Gleanings.
W² 11-22. Sundry commands and prohibitions.
X 23-25. First-fruits.
W³ 26-37. Sundry commands and prohibitions.1490 B.C.
Leviticus 19)
1: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (see 5:14)
2: "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel (only here in Leviticus, and once more in Ex. 12:3), and say to them, 'You all shall be holy (= set apart, see Ex. 3:5): for I the Lord your God am holy. (There are 15 groups in this body of laws, ch.19, 7 ending with the longer formula "I am Yehovah your Elohim" [4,10,23,25,31,34,36], and 8 with the shorter formula "I am Yehovah" [12,14,16,18,28,30,32,37].)
3: You all shall fear (= revere or love) every man his mother, and his father, and keep My sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
4: Turn you all not to idols (see 26:1), nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.
5: And if you all slay for a sacrifice a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you all shall offer it at
your own will. (Heb. ="for your acceptance", or "that you all may be accepted".)
6: It shall be eaten the same day you all offer it, and on the next day: and if any remain until the third day, it shall be burnt (down) in the fire.
7: And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
8: Therefore every one that eats it shall bear his perverseness, because he has profaned the set apart thing
of the Lord: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. (See 7:20)
9: And when you all reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither
shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10: And you shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God.
23: And when you all shall come into the land (the second of 4 prospective laws. See 14:34. Cp. 19:23; 23:10; 25), and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then you shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised (or uncovenented): three years shall it be as uncircumcised to you: it shall not be eaten of.
24: But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal. (= for a sacred and great praise to Yehovah)
25: And in the fifth year shall you all eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield to you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God.
26: You all shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall you all use enchantment, nor observe
times. (i.e.watch clouds, or days, for good or ill luck, e.g. not commencing a journey on a Friday. See v.31.)
27: You all shall not round the corners of your heads (i.e. to round cut, so as to have a tuft of hair, like the Canaanitish priests. Cp. Jer. 9:26; 25:23; 49:32), neither shall you mar the corners of your beard. (As Egyptians did. See Gen. 41:14.)
28: You all shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am
the Lord. (A practice of Canaanitish heathen worship. Cp.21:5. Deut. 14:1. 1 Kings 18:28. Jer. 48:37. Thus there is such a thing as a "dead soul" as well as a "living soul" [Gen. 2:2]; so also in 21:1; 22:4. Num. 5:2; 6:11. Nephesh is incorrectly rendered "body" in 21:11. Num. 6:6; 19:11,13; and "dead body" in Num. 9:6,7,10. Hag. 2:13. In all these passages the Heb. nephesh, soul, is rendered thus, and yet it is rendered "life" in 17:14 and elsewhere.)
29: Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. (The common practice, as a religious act, by the Canaanite and other ancient forms of idolatry.)
30: You all shall keep My sabbaths (not man's), and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31: Regard not them that have familiar spirits (these are evil spirits impersonating dead human beings, and attaching themselves only to "mediums" and those who give up their own will to them. A dread reality is provided against these enactments. Cp. 20:27. Deut. 18:10-12. 1 Chron. 10:13-14. Isa.8:19. The Heb. 'ob, borrowed from an Akkadian word, ubi = a charm, used of one who was mistress of the spell, or spirit. Isa. 29:4. See Acts 16:16, where it is defined as "a spirit of Python" = Pythius Apollo, i.e. the devil), neither seek after wizards (= knowing ones, those having occult knowledge), to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
32: You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and love your God (perhaps an ellipsis, "love a visitation from your Elohim"): I am the Lord.
33: And if a stranger sojourn with you in your land, you all shall not vex him. (= oppress.)
34: But the stranger that dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself (cp. v.18); for you all were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35: You all shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length and dimension, in measures of weight, or in measure of capacity.
36: Just balances (= balance of justice, genitive of character. So with other measures in this verse. Cp. Deut. 25:13-16. Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:10,23), just weights, a just ephah (about 3 pecks), and a just hin (about 1 gal.), shall you all have: I am the Lord your God, Which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37: Therefore shall you all observe all My statutes, and all My regulations, and do them: I am the Lord.' "