Leviticus 19, I am LORD Your God

We continue to read expectations for the Covenant people of Israel.

Leviticus 19:1-2, Be holy

The LORD said to Moses,"Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: `Be  holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

The chapter begins with a thematic call to holiness, to a righteous distinctiveness, separate from the culture of other nations.

Leviticus 19:3-4, Parents, idols

"`Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.  

"`Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. 

I am the LORD your God. 

We repeat part of the Ten Commandments, especially commandments five and two. (See Exodus 20:4-6,12.) The theme, "I am your God YHWH", will repeat throughout this chapter.

Leviticus 19:5-8. Sacrifices

"`When you sacrifice a fellowship offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day; anything left over until the third day must be burned  up. If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is impure and will not be accepted. Whoever eats it will be held responsible because he has desecrated what is holy to the LORD; that person must be cut off from his people. 

Sacrifices are to be done with care and respect. The sacrificed animal should be eaten in a timely manner.

Leviticus 19:9-10, Gleaning

"`When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. 

I am the LORD your God.

The Israelites are to set up a simple safety net for the poor, leaving margins of their crops and vines for the poor and the alien, those who have no other resources.

Leviticus 19:11-12,

"`Do not steal. 

"`Do not lie. 

"`Do not deceive one another.

"`Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God.

I am the LORD.

More of the Ten Commandments reappear here -- commandments 8 and 9. (See Exodus 20:15-16.)

Leviticus 19:13-14, Honest dealings

"`Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. 

"`Do not hold  back the wages of a hired man overnight. 

"`Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. 

I am the LORD.  

The Israelites are to be examples of honesty in dealing with each other. Notable here is the need to respect the deaf and blind.

Leviticus 19:15-16, No partiality

"`Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. 

"`Do not go about spreading slander among your people. 

"`Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. 

I am the LORD. 

Honesty in relationships is stressed again, with examples. One is to be impartial in judgments, giving no favoritism to the rich nor prejudice against the poor.

Leviticus 19:17-18, In your heart

 "`Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.

"`Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. 

I am the LORD. 

One's dealings with others is to go deeper than outward actions. An Israelite is not to harbor hatred against his neighbor. These commands echo the one commandment of the Ten that speaks to one's thoughts, the Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17.)

Leviticus 19:19, Purity even in agriculture

 "`Keep my decrees. 

"`Do not mate different kinds of animals.  

"`Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. 

"`Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. 

The emphasis on honesty and purity even extends to agriculture! The Israelites are not to blend different kinds of animals, grain or cloth!

Leviticus 19:20-22, Sleeping with a slave girl

"`If a man sleeps with a woman who is a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for a guilt offering to the LORD. With the ram of the guilt offering the priest is to make  atonement for him before the LORD for the sin he has committed, and his sin will be forgiven. 

A person who takes advantage of a slave girl is guilty of sin and must (publicly) make a sacrifice. Notice how little say the woman has in the culture of ANE.

Leviticus 19:23-25, Patience in harvesting

"`When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. 

I am the LORD your God. 

As the Israelites take over the land of Canaan, they are to let newly planted crops grow to fruition.

Leviticus 19:26-28, Other issues

"`Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. 

"`Do not practice divination or sorcery.

"`Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off  the edges of your beard.

"`Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.  

The Israelites are not to eat meat with blood (a prohibition that lasts into New Testament times), nor or they to practice sorcery or divination (practices which assume the gods can be manipulated.) Cutting one's beard, cutting one's body or marking it with tattoos -- all apparently pagan practices of the people around them -- are prohibited.

Leviticus 18:29

"`Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.  

Prostitution, particularly selling one's daughter, is prohibited.

Leviticus 19:30,

"`Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. 

I  am the LORD.  

Of course, the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11), honoring the Sabbath, is mentioned.

Leviticus 19:31, No mediums

"`Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them.

 I am the LORD your God. 

Once more a prohibition against sorcery and spiritualism. People are not to attempt to communicate with the dead.

Leviticus 19:32, Respect the elderly

 "`Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. 

I am the LORD. 

Respect for the elderly includes standing in their presence. (A variety of Asian cultures still emphasize this respect.)

Leviticus 18:33-34, Treat the alien as a brother.

"`When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat  him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in  Egypt. 

I am the LORD your God.  

The alien in the land is to be treated as a comrade and neighbor. As in other places (eg. Exodus 22:21), the motive is remembrance of the centuries in which the Israelites were aliens in Egypt.

Leviticus 19:35-37, Honest scales

"`Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. 

"`Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am  the LORD.'"   

Honesty in relations with others includes transparency in measuring produce and trade. (The hin was a liquid measure, probably between 1 and 1.5 gallons. The ephah was a dry measure, maybe about 30 pounds.)

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is really a phrase, appearing eight times in this chapter: ani YHWH elohim, "I am the LORD your God",

אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם

(See, for example, the Hebrew sentence at the end of verse 2.)

First published August 21, 2025; updated August 21, 2025