1Jehovah habló a Moisés diciendo: 2"Habla a toda la congregación de los hijos de Israel y diles: ‘Sed santos, porque yo, Jehovah vuestro Dios, soy santo. 3"‘Cada uno de vosotros respete a su madre y a su padre. "‘Guardad mis sábados. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios. 4"‘No recurráis a los ídolos, ni os hagáis dioses de fundición. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios. 5"‘Cuando ofrezcáis sacrificios de paz a Jehovah, hacedlo de tal manera que seáis aceptados. 6Será comido el día que lo sacrifiquéis y al día siguiente. Lo que quede para el tercer día será quemado en el fuego. 7Si se come algo de ello en el tercer día, eso será considerado inmundo y no será aceptado. 8El que lo coma cargará con su culpa, porque profanó lo que ha sido consagrado a Jehovah. Tal persona será excluida de su pueblo. 9"‘Cuando seguéis la mies de vuestra tierra, no segarás hasta el último rincón de tu campo, ni recogerás las espigas en tu campo segado. 10Tampoco rebuscarás tu viña ni recogerás las uvas caídas de tu viña. Las dejarás para el pobre y para el extranjero. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios. 11"‘No robaréis, ni mentiréis ni os engañaréis el uno al otro. 12"‘No juraréis falsamente por mi nombre, profanando el nombre de tu Dios. Yo, Jehovah. 13"‘No oprimirás a tu prójimo, ni le robarás. El salario del jornalero no será retenido contigo en tu casa hasta la mañana siguiente. 14"‘No maldecirás al sordo, ni pondrás tropiezo delante del ciego; sino que tendrás temor de tu Dios. Yo, Jehovah. 15"‘No harás injusticia en el juicio. No favorecerás al pobre, ni tratarás con deferencia al poderoso. Juzgarás a tu prójimo con justicia. 16"‘No andarás calumniando en medio de tu pueblo. "‘No atentarás contra la vida de tu prójimo. Yo, Jehovah. 17"‘No aborrecerás en tu corazón a tu hermano. Ciertamente amonestarás a tu prójimo, para que no cargues con pecado a causa de él. 18"‘No te vengarás ni guardarás rencor a los hijos de tu pueblo. Más bien, amarás a tu prójimo como a ti mismo. Yo, Jehovah. 19"‘Guardaréis mis estatutos. "‘No harás copular dos animales de especies diferentes. No sembrarás tu campo con una mezcla de dos clases de semillas. Tampoco te pondrás un vestido tejido con hilos de dos materiales distintos. 20"‘Cuando un hombre tenga relaciones sexuales con una mujer, y ella sea una esclava comprometida con otro pero no rescatada, ni se le haya dado libertad, habrá una severa reprensión; pero no se les dará muerte, por no ser ella libre. 21El traerá a Jehovah su ofrenda por la culpa a la entrada del tabernáculo de reunión: un carnero como sacrificio por la culpa. 22El sacerdote hará expiación por él delante de Jehovah, con el carnero del sacrificio por la culpa, por el pecado que cometió; y el pecado cometido le será perdonado. 23"‘Cuando hayáis entrado en la tierra y plantado toda clase de árboles frutales, dejaréis sus primeros frutos sin cosechar. Por tres años no serán cosechados, y su fruto no se comerá. 24El cuarto año todo su fruto será santo, una ofrenda de alabanza a Jehovah. 25El quinto año podréis comer de su fruto, para que os aumente su producción. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios. 26"‘No comeréis cosa alguna con sangre. "‘No practicaréis la adivinación ni la brujería. 27"‘No cortaréis los extremos de vuestro cabello, y no estropearéis la punta de vuestra barba. 28No haréis incisiones en vuestros cuerpos a causa de algún difunto, ni grabaréis tatuajes sobre vosotros. Yo, Jehovah. 29"‘No profanarás a tu hija, haciendo que ella se prostituya, para que no se prostituya la tierra y se llene de maldad. 30"‘Guardaréis mis sábados y tendréis en reverencia mi santuario. Yo, Jehovah. 31"‘No recurráis a los que evocan a los muertos ni busquéis a los adivinos para contaminaros con ellos. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios. 32"‘Ante las canas te pondrás de pie. Darás honor al anciano y tendrás temor de tu Dios. Yo, Jehovah. 33"‘Cuando un extranjero resida con vosotros en vuestra tierra, no lo oprimiréis. 34Como a un natural de vosotros consideraréis al extranjero que resida entre vosotros. Lo amarás como a ti mismo, porque extranjeros fuisteis vosotros en la tierra de Egipto. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios. 35"‘No haréis injusticia en el juicio, ni en la medida de longitud, ni en la de peso, ni en la de capacidad. 36Tendréis balanzas justas, pesas justas, un efa justo y un hin justo. Yo, Jehovah, vuestro Dios que os saqué de la tierra de Egipto. 37"‘Guardad, pues, todos mis estatutos y todos mis decretos, y ponedlos por obra. Yo, Jehovah.’"
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 A REPETITION OF SUNDRY LAWS. (Lev. 19:1-37)
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel--Many of the laws enumerated in this chapter had been previously announced. As they were, however, of a general application, not suited to particular classes, but to the nation at large, so Moses seems, according to divine instructions, to have rehearsed them, perhaps on different occasions and to successive divisions of the people, till "all the congregation of the children of Israel" were taught to know them. The will of God in the Old as well as the New Testament Church was not locked up in the repositories of an unknown tongue, but communicated plainly and openly to the people.
Ye shall be holy: for I . . . am holy--Separated from the world, the people of God were required to be holy, for His character, His laws, and service were holy. (See
1Pet 1:15).
3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths--The duty of obedience to parents is placed in connection with the proper observance of the Sabbaths, both of them lying at the foundation of practical religion.
5 if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will--Those which included thank offerings, or offerings made for vows, were always freewill offerings. Except the portions which, being waved and heaved, became the property of the priests (see Lev. 3:1-17), the rest of the victim was eaten by the offerer and his friend, under the following regulations, however, that, if thank offerings, they were to be eaten on the day of their presentation; and if a freewill offering, although it might be eaten on the second day, yet if any remained of it till the third day, it was to be burnt, or deep criminality was incurred by the person who then ventured to partake of it. The reason of this strict prohibition seems to have been to prevent any mysterious virtue being superstitiously attached to meat offered on the altar.
9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field--The right of the poor in Israel to glean after reapers, as well as to the unreaped corners of the field, was secured by a positive statute; and this, in addition to other enactments connected with the ceremonial law, formed a beneficial provision for their support. At the same time, proprietors were not obliged to admit them into the field until the grain had been carried off the field; and they seem also to have been left at liberty to choose the poor whom they deemed the most deserving or needful (
Ruth 2:2,
Ruth 2:8). This was the earliest law for the benefit of the poor that we read of in the code of any people; and it combined in admirable union the obligation of a public duty with the exercise of private and voluntary benevolence at a time when the hearts of the rich would be strongly inclined to liberality.
11 Ye shall not steal--A variety of social duties are inculcated in this passage, chiefly in reference to common and little-thought-of vices to which mankind are exceedingly prone; such as committing petty frauds, or not scrupling to violate truth in transactions of business, ridiculing bodily infirmities, or circulating stories to the prejudice of others. In opposition to these bad habits, a spirit of humanity and brotherly kindness is strongly enforced.
17 thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour--Instead of cherishing latent feelings of malice or meditating purposes of revenge against a person who has committed an insult or injury against them, God's people were taught to remonstrate with the offender and endeavor, by calm and kindly reason, to bring him to a sense of his fault.
not suffer sin upon him--literally, "that ye may not participate in his sin."
18 thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself--The word "neighbour" is used as synonymous with "fellow creature." The Israelites in a later age restricted its meaning as applicable only to their own countrymen. This narrow interpretation was refuted by our Lord in a beautiful parable (
Luke 10:30-
Luke 10:37).
19 Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind--This prohibition was probably intended to discourage a practice which seemed to infringe upon the economy which God has established in the animal kingdom.
thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed--This also was directed against an idolatrous practice, namely, that of the ancient Zabians, or fire-worshippers, who sowed different seeds, accompanying the act with magical rites and invocations; and commentators have generally thought the design of this and the preceding law was to put an end to the unnatural lusts and foolish superstitions which were prevalent among the heathen. But the reason of the prohibition was probably deeper: for those who have studied the diseases of land and vegetables tell us, that the practice of mingling seeds is injurious both to flowers and to grains. "If the various genera of the natural order Gramineć, which includes the grains and the grasses, should be sown in the same field, and flower at the same time, so that the pollen of the two flowers mix, a spurious seed will be the consequence, called by the farmers chess. It is always inferior and unlike either of the two grains that produced it, in size, flavor, and nutritious principles. Independently of contributing to disease the soil, they never fail to produce the same in animals and men that feed on them" [WHITLAW].
neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee--Although this precept, like the other two with which it is associated, was in all probability designed to root out some superstition, it seems to have had a further meaning. The law, it is to be observed, did not prohibit the Israelites wearing many different kinds of cloths together, but only the two specified; and the observations and researches of modern science have proved that "wool, when combined with linen, increases its power of passing off the electricity from the body. In hot climates, it brings on malignant fevers and exhausts the strength; and when passing off from the body, it meets with the heated air, inflames and excoriates like a blister" [WHITLAW]. (See
Ezek 44:17-
Ezek 44:18).
23 ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised; three years . . . it shall not be eaten of--"The wisdom of this law is very striking. Every gardener will teach us not to let fruit trees bear in their earliest years, but to pluck off the blossoms: and for this reason, that they will thus thrive the better, and bear more abundantly afterwards. The very expression, 'to regard them as uncircumcised,' suggests the propriety of pinching them off; I do not say cutting them off, because it is generally the hand, and not a knife, that is employed in this operation" [MICHAELIS].
26 shall not eat any thing with the blood--(See on
Lev 17:10).
neither . . . use enchantment, nor observe times--The former refers to divination by serpents--one of the earliest forms of enchantment, and the other means the observation, literally, of clouds, as a study of the appearance and motion of clouds was a common way of foretelling good or bad fortune. Such absurd but deep-rooted superstitions often put a stop to the prosecution of serious and important transactions, but they were forbidden especially as implying a want of faith in the being, or of reliance on the providence of God.
27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, &c.--It seems probable that this fashion had been learned by the Israelites in Egypt, for the ancient Egyptians had their dark locks cropped short or shaved with great nicety, so that what remained on the crown appeared in the form of a circle surrounding the head, while the beard was dressed into a square form. This kind of coiffure had a highly idolatrous meaning; and it was adopted, with some slight variations, by almost all idolaters in ancient times. (
Jer 9:25-
Jer 9:26;
Jer 25:23, where "in the utmost corners" means having the corners of their hair cut.) Frequently a lock or tuft of hair was left on the hinder part of the head, the rest being cut round in the form of a ring, as the Turks, Chinese, and Hindus do at the present day.
neither shalt thou mar, &c.--The Egyptians used to cut or shave off their whiskers, as may be seen in the coffins of mummies, and the representations of divinities on the monuments. But the Hebrews, in order to separate them from the neighboring nations, or perhaps to put a stop to some existing superstition, were forbidden to imitate this practice. It may appear surprising that Moses should condescend to such minutić as that of regulating the fashion of the hair and the beard--matters which do not usually occupy the attention of a legislator--and which appear widely remote from the province either of government or of a religion. A strong presumption, therefore, arises that he had in mind by these regulations to combat some superstitious practices of the Egyptians.
28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead--The practice of making deep gashes on the face and arms and legs, in time of bereavement, was universal among the heathen, and it was deemed a becoming mark of respect for the dead, as well as a sort of propitiatory offering to the deities who presided over death and the grave. The Jews learned this custom in Egypt, and though weaned from it, relapsed in a later and degenerate age into this old superstition (
Isa 15:2;
Jer 16:6;
Jer 41:5).
nor print any marks upon you--by tattooing, imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars, and other fanciful devices on various parts of their person. The impression was made sometimes by means of a hot iron, sometimes by ink or paint, as is done by the Arab females of the present day and the different castes of the Hindus. It is probable that a strong propensity to adopt such marks in honor of some idol gave occasion to the prohibition in this verse; and they were wisely forbidden, for they were signs of apostasy; and, when once made, they were insuperable obstacles to a return. (See allusions to the practice,
Isa 44:5;
Rev 13:17;
Rev 14:1).
30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary--This precept is frequently repeated along with the prohibition of idolatrous practices, and here it stands closely connected with the superstitions forbidden in the previous verses.
31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits--The Hebrew word, rendered "familiar spirit," signifies the belly, and sometimes a leathern bottle, from its similarity to the belly. It was applied in the sense of this passage to ventriloquists, who pretended to have communication with the invisible world. The Hebrews were strictly forbidden to consult them as the vain but high pretensions of those impostors were derogatory to the honor of God and subversive of their covenant relations with Him as His people.
neither seek after wizards--fortunetellers, who pretended, as the Hebrew word indicates, to prognosticate by palmistry (or an inspection of the lines of the hand) the future fate of those who applied to them.
33 if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him--The Israelites were to hold out encouragement to strangers to settle among them, that they might be brought to the knowledge and worship of the true God; and with this in view, they were enjoined to treat them not as aliens, but as friends, on the ground that they themselves, who were strangers in Egypt, were at first kindly and hospitably received in that country.
37 I am the Lord--This solemn admonition, by which these various precepts are repeatedly sanctioned, is equivalent to "I, your Creator--your Deliverer from bondage, and your Sovereign, who have wisdom to establish laws, have power also to punish the violation of them." It was well fitted to impress the minds of the Israelites with a sense of their duty and God's claims to obedience.