Leviticus 19 Study Notes

19:1-37 All commandments from the Decalogue are reasserted here. The covenant community must live a holy life demonstrated through worship, integrity, justice, and love.

19:2 This is the only time when God tells Moses to speak directly to the entire Israelite community. The imperative be holy (11:44; 20:7,26) and the reason for the people’s holiness—because I, the Lord your God, am holy—are the main message of this chapter as well as the theme of the entire book of Leviticus. This idea was repeated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when he told his disciples to “be perfect . . . as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

19:3 The placement of the mother before the father is unusual in the male-oriented Israelite society. Greek, Syriac, and Aramaic translations reverse the order to harmonize it with the Decalogue.

19:4 The expressions “I am the Lord” and I am the Lord your God (vv. 2-4,10-12,14,16,18,25,28,31-32,34,36-37) emphasize that God is the author of these holiness laws as well as the rationale for them.

19:9-10 God in his grace made provision for the poor and the resident alien. Boaz obeyed this commandment when Ruth was allowed to glean after the reapers (Ru 2:8-9). Jesus repeatedly taught his disciples to care for the poor (Mt 19:21; Mk 12:42-43; Lk 4:18; 6:20; 11:41; 12:33; 14:13).

19:14 The command against abusing the deaf and the blind can be applied concerning any handicapped or disadvantaged people. The imperative you are to fear your God serves as the rationale for the law because, unlike the deaf and the blind, God can see and hear everything. Outside the Bible, laws protecting disabled people were conspicuously absent in the ancient Near East.

19:15 The law against acting unjustly is directed not at judges (Dt 1:16; 16:18) but at the people in general, since any Israelite could be a juror and stand in judgment of his neighbor (Ru 4).

19:17 One way to show love for a neighbor is to rebuke him when he does wrong. New Testament leaders were commanded to rebuke those whom they served (1Tm 5:20; 2Tm 4:2; Ti 1:9,13; 2:15).

19:18 The importance of the command to love your neighbor as yourself was affirmed by Jesus and the apostle Paul; it also shows continuity between the OT and the NT (Mt 22:39-40; Rm 13:9).

19:20-22 Having sexual intercourse with a woman who is a slave was a sin, and this is why a guilt offering had to be made, though the death penalty was not required. The man alone was guilty since the female slave was not required to bring the guilt offering. This law protected vulnerable female slaves who did not have the social power and economic clout that free men had.

19:23-25 This law dealing with horticultural holiness was intended for the benefit of the Israelites. The prohibition from eating the fruit of a newly planted fruit tree may have had to do with the fact that the fruit did not taste good in the first three years. Because the firstfruits belonged to God (Nm 18:12-17), the fruit of the fourth year was consecrated to God as a praise offering in which the covenant community recognized that God was the one who gave them the good things the earth produced. Following this law would result in an increase of production.

19:26 Divination involved trying to determine the future by such devices as casting lots, using arrows, or looking at liquids or entrails. Witchcraft involved interpreting natural phenomena such as clouds or stars, or communicating with the spirits of the dead. Both of these practices were common in the ancient Near East, but they were denounced in the Bible because they were an attempt to undermine God’s sovereignty. God, when he chose to, revealed the future through his servants, the prophets.

19:27 In Israel hair was the sign of a person’s strength and beauty. To this day orthodox Jews keep this law because the beard was a symbol of manhood. To mar the edge of the beard may have been a pagan practice that Israel was forbidden to emulate. In later Israelite culture, shaving was considered disgraceful (2Sm 10:4-5; Is 7:20).

19:28 Because the body is God’s creation, it was to be kept whole (1Co 6:8-20). The pagan custom of gashing the body as a sign of mourning was prohibited (Dt 14:1; Jr 16:6; 41:5; 47:5; 48:37). This is what the pagan priests of Baal did in the contest with Elijah on Mount Carmel (1Kg 18:28). Painting one’s body (tattoo marks) was also a custom that denoted belonging to a pagan cult, or it was done to ward off spirits of the dead.

19:31 In the ancient Near East, necromancy, or communication with the dead, was sought through mediums or spiritists, but God’s law ruled against such pagan practice (1Sm 28).

19:32 Respect for the elderly is God’s rule not just in the Jewish culture but universally (Pr 16:31; 20:29).

19:35-36 The holiness laws must also permeate business dealings. The way a person buys and sells is an indication of his obedience to God. Honesty was a sign of wise living (Pr 11:1; 16:11; 20:10,23).