EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries
Leviticus 19:1-37
Leviticus
*Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness
Leviticus
Gordon Churchyard
This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.Words in boxes are from the Bible, except for the words in brackets (…).
Chapter 19
God’s *commandments
v1 The *LORD said (this) to Moses.
v2 ‘Say this to all the *Israelites. Tell them (this). “Be holy, because I am holy. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v3 Every one of you must respect his mother and his father. You must do the right things on my *Sabbath Days. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v4 Do not turn (from me) to images (of false gods). Do not make gods out of metal for yourselves. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v5 Sometimes you will *sacrifice a *peace offering to the *LORD. You must do it in the right way, so that (the *LORD) will accept it on behalf of you.
v6 You must eat it on the day that you *sacrifice it, or on the next day. You must burn anything that remains on the third day.
v7 Some may remain on the third day. Do not eat it, because it is not *clean. (God) will not accept it.
v8 Whoever eats it will be responsible. (This is) because he has made something holy to the *LORD as not holy. (I will) *cut off that person from his people.
v9 When you gather the harvest from your fields, do not gather from the edges of your fields. Do not gather the *gleanings of your harvest.
v10 Do not gather *grapes from your *vineyard a second time. Do not pick up the *grapes that fell (to the ground). Leave them for poor people (to gather) and for foreigners (to gather). I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v11 Do not steal (things). Do not lie (to people). Do not make people believe what is not true.
v12 Do not promise to do something falsely in my name. This will make the name of your God *unclean (to people). I am the *LORD.
v13 Do not cheat your neighbour. Do not steal from him. Do not keep the wages of a man until the next day.
v14 Do not say bad things against deaf people. Do not put things in front of blind people so that they fall over. Be afraid of your God. I am the *LORD.
v15 Do not allow your judges to make unfair judgements. Do not give an (unfair) advantage to poor people. Do not allow a great person to impress you. Be fair when you act as a judge of (other) people.
v16 Do not tell people bad things about (other) people. Do not do anything that is dangerous to your neighbour’s life. I am the *LORD.
v17 Do not hate your brother in your heart (mind). If your neighbour has done bad things, then tell him. Then you will not be guilty with him.
v18 Do not think bad things about one of your people. Do not try to hurt them (because they have hurt you). Love your neighbour as (you love) yourself. I am the *LORD.
v19 Obey my laws. Do not cause different kinds of animals to have sex with each other. Do not put two different kinds of seeds in your field. Do not wear clothes that people make from two kinds of material.
v20 Perhaps a man will have sex with a girl who is a slave. She may be engaged to marry another man, but she is not yet a free (woman). Nobody has paid any money for her. So there must be a proper punishment. But neither the man nor the woman should die, because she is not a free woman.
v21 The man, however, must bring a male sheep to the entrance of the *meeting tent. It will be a *guilt offering to the *LORD.
v22 The priest must offer the male sheep as a *guilt offering. He will make *atonement for the man in front of the *LORD. This is because he has *sinned. Then, (the *LORD) will forgive his *sin.
v23 After you enter the land (the country called *Canaan), you may plant any kind of tree for food. But will not allow you to eat its fruit. You must not eat the fruit from it for 3 years.
v24 In the 4th year, all its fruit will be holy. You must offer it to praise the *LORD.
v25 But in the 5th year, you may eat its fruit. If you do this, you will get a better harvest. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v26 Do not eat any meat that still has the blood in it. Do not use signs to try to work out what will happen in the future. Do not do any magic.
v27 Do not cut your hair at the sides of your head. Do not cut off the edges of your beard.
v28 Do not cut your bodies (because you are so sad) about someone’s death. Do not *tattoo your bodies. I am the *LORD.
v29 Do not cause your daughter to have sex with men (except her husband). Such behaviour will make her really *unclean and it will ruin your country. This wicked behaviour will spread through your country and girls will be having wrong sex with men everywhere.
v30 Obey my rules about the *Sabbath Days. Respect my house. I am the *LORD.
v31 Do not ask for help from people who do magic of any kind. They will make you really *unclean. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v32 Stand up when old people are present. Respect old people. Also, respect your God. I am the *LORD.
v33 Do not be cruel to the foreigner who lives in your country.
v34 You must behave towards him as towards one of your own people. Love him as (you love) yourself. Remember, you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v35 Do not use standards that are not honest, either for length, weight, or quantity.
v36 Be honest when you weigh things. Be honest when you measure things. Be accurate about measurements of both dry substances and liquids. I am the *LORD (who is) your God. I brought you out of the country called Egypt.
v37 Obey all my rules and follow all my laws. I am the *LORD.” ’
Notes
Verse 2 ‘Be holy, because I am holy’. This is the most important thing that the Book of Leviticus teaches. Jesus also teaches this in Matthew 5:48. God’s people cannot do whatever things they themselves want to do. They must do the things that God wants them to do. They must be separate because they are God’s people. They belong to him. So they cannot behave as other people behave.
Deuteronomy 6:5 tells us to love God. But Leviticus does not tell us to love God. That is because Leviticus tells us to obey God. Jesus said this: ‘If you love me, you will obey me’, John 14:15. So they are both the same thing. We show our love for God when we obey his laws.
Verse 3 Some *Jewish experts think that the Ten *Commandments are in this chapter. ‘*Commandment’ is a special word for God’s ‘laws’. The Ten *Commandments are in Exodus 20:1-17. In Leviticus chapter 19 they appear in these verses:
*Commandments 1 and 2 are in verse 4.
*Commandment 3 is in verse 12.
*Commandments 4 and 5 are in verse 3.
*Commandment 6 is in verse 16.
*Commandment 7 is in verse 29.
*Commandments 8 and 9 are in verses 11 to 16.
*Commandment 10 is in verse 18.
Verse 3 contains a brief explanation of the *Commandments. It says that we have a relationship both with other people, and with God. So we cannot do whatever things we desire. Our duties, both to God and to other people, are more important than our own desires. We should respect our parents’ authority; by that means, we will learn to respect God’s authority too.
On the *Sabbath, everyone must rest. That includes employees, servants and slaves. Even the animals on the farms would rest then (Deuteronomy 5:14). It is a holy day each week, for the *Lord. The *Gospels change the *Sabbath Day (Saturday) to Sunday for Christians, Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1-2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1 and Revelation 1:10.
Verse 4 The *Hebrew word for ‘images of false gods’ is similar to the *Hebrew word for God. But it does not mean the same. It means ‘something that is empty’, as in Isaiah 44:10.
Verses 5-8 The rules for the *peace offering are in Leviticus chapter 3 and 7:15-18. People brought this type of *offering when they wanted to have *fellowship with God and with other people. They did not have to make these *sacrifices. But if they did, they had to obey the rules. And the rules said that they had to eat the meat immediately. Otherwise, they had to share it with other people. They could not dry it or use salt to store it for a future occasion. They had to eat it that day, or the next day. God would ‘*cut off’ the person who did not obey these rules. This probably means that that person will die.
Verses 9-10 God wants his people to care about poor people. He told them that they must leave part of the harvest for poor people to gather. This part is called the ‘*gleanings’. You can read more about this in Ruth chapter 2. Poor people still had to work to gather this food.
Christians must also care about poor people, Galatians 2:10. And God still wants people who can work for their food to do that, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12.
Verse 11 God’s people should not steal. They should not try to get things by any unfair method. They should not say things that are false. They should not cheat people.
Verse 12 ‘In my name’ means that God would agree. So the person is asking God to agree with something false. People would think that God is a bad god. And that is what is means to make God’s name *unclean.
Verse 13 There is a similar law in Deuteronomy 24:14. There the neighbour becomes a servant. As in Matthew 20:8, employers had to pay wages the same day. Ephesians 6:9 and Colossians 4:1 tell us that Christians too must act fairly towards servants.
Verse 14 We must not try to get an advantage because of someone else’s weakness. We must not be cruel to someone who cannot defend himself. Instead, God wants us to help people who have problems. We must support them because God cares about those people too, James 1:27.
Verse 15 God is a fair judge. Even the greatest person cannot persuade him to do something that is not proper. When God’s people act as judges, they make their judgements on his behalf. So they must be fair to everyone, whether that person is rich or poor.
Verse 16 God’s people have a duty to protect other people. They must protect those people from dangers. And also, God’s people should not gossip. They should be careful not to hurt people, either by their actions or by their words.
Verses 17-18 Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19 tell us that God will punish people. We must not do it.
Leviticus 19:18 contains the rule that Jesus considered the second most important of all God’s laws. See the verses in Something to do number 3, at the end of this chapter.
Verse 19 God wanted his people to be different from the people in other nations. And he wanted his people to be separate from them. So he told the *Israelites not to marry people from other nations (Deuteronomy 7:3).
God emphasised these instructions by the rules in this verse. He did not want the *Israelites to mix different kinds of animals, plants or even materials together. People in other nations did these things. For example, they mated horses and *donkeys to produce a strong animal called the mule. But God’s people, the *Israelites, would live in a different manner from other people. They should live by God’s law.
Verses 20-22 The slave girl was engaged to marry another man. Usually, if a man had sex with an engaged woman, they were guilty of *adultery (Deuteronomy 22:23-27). The punishments were the same as if she were already married to another man. But there is a different rule here, because the woman was a slave. She was not yet free to marry the man to whom she was engaged.
There would still be a punishment. Someone would whip a person who was guilty of this *sin. But they would not die, because God accepts the man’s *guilt offering in such circumstances. The section called ‘the 5 *sacrifices’ near the beginning of this commentary explains ‘*guilt offering’.
Verses 23-25 God’s people must learn to control their own desires. A greedy person would want to eat the first fruits that his tree produces. But a person does not do that if he obeys God. Instead, that person waits until the right time. God does not want him to eat the fruit for the first three years. And he must give the fruit in the 4th year to God. It is holy.
Until recently, it was good advice not to eat the first three years’ fruit. Fruit trees are weaker if people allow the fruits to become ripe during the first few years. Now, with special roots, things are different. But perhaps we should still offer the *first fruits to the *LORD! That is the lesson to learn here. God deserves the first and most important place in our lives. And we should give to him the best things that we have.
Verse 26 The animal’s blood was important. It represented (stood for) the animal’s life. People had to drain it away. It was an *atonement for the animal’s life. See my notes on chapter 17.
The things that were magic included these:
Divination. This means that you use something to tell people about the future. For example, people might watch a snake’s movements. They thought that this was a sign. It would show them what would happen in the future.
Witchcraft. Here, it means this. You tell people what would be the best time to do something. People might watch the sky to try to work this out.
These things are wicked because people use spirits to try to do them. So they pray to spirits instead of the real God. God does not even allow us to *worship or to pray to the holy angels (his special servants in heaven), Revelation 22:8-9. We certainly must never ask evil spirits for help!
Verses 27-28 People did these things when people died. Many ancient religions used these things as part of what they did. People would cut themselves to show how sad they were after a death. A *tattoo is a picture on the body that people cut into the skin. They are difficult to remove.
Verse 29 Parents have a duty to control their daughters’ behaviour. They must teach their children that sex is only for a husband and wife. Young men need to know this too!
Verse 30 The *Sabbath Day was the 7th day of the week. It is our Saturday. The house of the *LORD was originally the *meeting tent. Later, it was the *temple in Jerusalem. Solomon built that *temple about 500 years after Moses’ life.
Verse 31 People who do ‘magic of any kind’ here contact the spirits of dead people. Saul did this in 1 Samuel 28:8-25, but God did not want his people to do this. In fact, that was one reason for Saul’s death (1 Chronicles 10:13-14). Any special knowledge that these people may have comes from the devil. God’s people must pray to God alone. It is God whom they must ask for help.
Verse 32 An old person deserves special honour. People should respect that person’s age. We also respect old people because they may have learned much during their long lives. If we listen to them, perhaps we too will become wiser.
Many old people are weak and ill. But we should still respect them. We should respect them because God tells us to do it.
Verses 33-34 Sometimes foreigners would come to live in Israel. Perhaps they wanted to learn about God. Or perhaps they just wanted to live and to work there.
God’s people must not be cruel to those foreigners. The judges must deal fairly with foreigners, as well as *Israelites. And the *Israelites must show love to foreigners, even as they had to show love to their neighbours (verse 18). The *Israelites should always remember that they too were foreigners in Egypt.
The *Israelites are God’s special people. But God cares about the people from every nation. Christians believe that God sent Jesus to save people from every nation (John 3:16; Matthew 28:19). So Christians must be kind to foreigners too.
Verses 35-36 Traders must be fair and honest. They must not use measurements that are not correct in order to make more profits. Everything that God does is right and proper. So his people should only do things that are right and proper, too.
Verse 37 Moses did not make up these laws. They are God’s laws. They teach his people how they must behave. And they show that God’s standards are perfect.
Something to do
1. Read the Ten *Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17.
2. Read Ephesians 4:28. Of which verse in Leviticus chapter 19 does it remind you?
3. Read these verses. They tell us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves:
Leviticus 19:18 also tells us to do that.
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
holiness ~ the quality of somebody who is holy, or very, very good.
holy ~ very, very good; only God is really holy. Or, a description of something that belongs to God.
commandment ~ another word for a command or a law. The ‘Ten Commandments’ is a name for God’s laws in Exodus chapter 20.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
peace ~ absence of war. Or, the calm and content attitude that one receives because of a right relationship with God and with other people.
clean ~ suitable for God or for God’s people. A clean person could go to God’s house to worship him.
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
'cut off ~ to give someone a punishment that separates that person from his family or nation. That punishment may be death. But it may be to force that person to live abroad.gleanings ~ a part of the harvest that people left for poorer people to gather.
grapes ~ fruits that people use to make wine.
vineyard ~ a garden or field where people produce grapes.
grapes ~ fruits that people use to make wine.
unclean ~ unsuitable for God or for God’s people. When someone was unclean, that person was unable to worship at God’s house.
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
'meeting tent ~ the special tent where God met with Moses. The priests could enter it to worship; they burnt sacrifices on the altar in front of it.worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
'guilt offering ~ an offering by someone who is responsible for certain wrong acts. See the explanation in the note called ‘The 5 sacrifices’ near the beginning of this commentary.offering ~ gift.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
atonement ~ another word for what happens when God forgives us. After God forgives us, we are ‘at one’ with him. In other words, we are united as friends (or have friendly relations) with him.
sin ~ to do wrong things; not to obey God’s rules. Or, the things we do when we sin. Evil thoughts, words and deeds are all sin, whether we do them on purpose or not.
Canaan ~ the old name for the countries afterwards called Israel and Judah.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
tattoo ~ a picture on your body under the skin; or, to put a tattoo on your body.
Jewish ~ a word that describes Jews and what they do.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
commandment ~ another word for a command or a law. The ‘Ten Commandments’ is a name for God’s laws in Exodus chapter 20.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Gospels ~ the books that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
offering ~ gift.
fellowship ~ a special type of friendship between God and his people. Or, the special type of friendship that God’s people have with each other.
donkey ~ an animal that is like a small horse.
adultery ~ the sin when a man has sex with someone else’s wife; or a woman has sex with someone else’s husband.
sin ~ to do wrong things; not to obey God’s rules. Or, the things we do when we sin. Evil thoughts, words and deeds are all sin, whether we do them on purpose or not.
'first fruits ~ the first fruits or grains that you pick each year.worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
temple ~ God’s house in Jerusalem.