Exegetical Paper – Annotated Translation, Literary and Historical Character

Henry Paris All rights reserved, copyright 2009. The right for a single instance of noncommercial
use is granted under the condition the attribution to the author is prominently included on first page.
Lev 19:9 When you1 reap2 the harvest of your land you3 shall not reap4 to the edge
of the field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. v10 And you3 shall not strip your
vineyard bare5 or gather all the fallen grapes: you3 shall leave them for the poor
and sojourner5a I am The Lord your God.
v11
You1 shall not steal6; you1 shall not deal deceitfully or falsely with another of
your fellows7; v12 You8 shall not swear falsely by my name, and thus profane9 the
name of your God: I am The Lord10. v13 You3 shall not exploit11 your friend12 and
you3 shall not rob him;13 the wages of a hireling shall not stay with you over night.
v14
You3 shall not curse14 the deaf and you3 shall not put a stumbling block before the
blind;14 you shall fear your God: I am The Lord.
v15
You1 shall not make an unjust judgment: you3 shall not favor the poor or defer to
the rich15; with righteousness you shall judge your fellow16. v16 You3 shall not go
about as a slanderer among your people and17 you shall not seek the life of your
friend18: I am The Lord. v17 You3 shall not hate your kindred19 in your heart: you3
shall surely20 reprove your fellow openly20 lest you incur guilt on account of him.21
v18
You shall not take vengeance and you shall not nurse a grudge against your
fellow countrymen22 but you shall love your friend as yourself:23 I am The Lord.
Notes
1. 2mp
2. A double accusative infinitive construct (Q2mp) in which ‘with’ as ‘when’ directs subject of reap to “you(p):” “when you reap”
3. 2ms
4. the infinitive + lamed usage l h¢R;lAkVt is the object of h¢R;lAkVt and identifies the direction of action.
5. direct object at the beginning for emphasis in HB; l$ElwøoVt pual imperf 2ms to glean or strip a second time, BDB p 760
5a. In v34, rights of sojourner are as those of your fellow countrymen (home-born), BDB 158
6. HB places atnach at “steal.” I adopted the JPS translation combining ‘to deceive” and “to lie” with the verb “to deal” that
seems to emphasize the use of the atnach setting “to steal” against them.
7. literally: “a man with his fellow” or “with one another” (wáøtyImSoA;b with his fellow)
8. HB uses 2mp here followed by 2ms.
9. The HB apparatus indicates LXX uses 2mp, JPS uses participle, profaning.
10. LXX inserts “your God, as in v10
11. qñOvSoAt Qal imperf, 2ms, oppress by extortion BDB p798
12. hor as “friend” throughout passage, BDB p945
13. note missing waw and atnach suggest reading the following clause in apposition to the first part, however, HB apparatus
indicates many ms (sam. Pent. LXX, Targumj and Targumm) use aáøl◊w.
14. llq (piel 2ms) means “to curse” BDB p886
15. note atnach at end of this clause.
16. tyma is translated as “fellow” throughout passage, BDB p945
17. The waw is missing here, HB apparatus indicates several mss add it ( Sam. Pent., Versio Syrica consensus SA and SB). I
add it because the atnach after ÔK¡Roér suggests the sense of apposition of “I am The Lord” to the first two clauses.
18. Levine discusses the idiom “_lAo däOmSoAt añøl” at length, literally, “do not stand over”. He cites three
suggestions: to stand by” in the sense of inaction when neighbor is endanger; or he needs your testimony in court ; “to conspire
against (as with murderers);” and “to rely on” at your neighbor’s expense. BDB entry 763 also suggests “seek one’s life”.
Thus, using the sense of malicious slander in the previous clause, I bring in the sense of Levine’s second suggestion.
19. BDB entry 252 uses “of the same people” or “kindred” and notes v34 extends the meaning to include the sojourner among
you.
20. The infinitive absolute in hifil 2ms strengthens the verb by adding weight to its antithesis: you shall surely reprove openly
(vs. in your heart). The use of “surely” and “openly” emphasizes the public nature of the verb “reprove.”
21. Hartley translates the last part as “lest you be held responsible for sin because of him,” Milgrom, uses “so that you will not
bear punishment because of him,” and Levine (JPS, p129) uses a less cumbersome but direct translation, “but incur no guilt
because of him” that I have adopted.
22. I translate as fellow countryman throughout passage, BDB p766.
23. Hartley summarizes criticism of translations of this last clause. He states use of ÔKwóømD;k äÔKSoérVl
¶D;tVbAh`Da with the lamed rather than the direct object marker begs us to make some kind of mild distinction in action
of love, perhaps the use of the lamed implies more of a collegial “treating kindly” rather than “love.” Levine is not sympathetic to
a relaxed interpretation, nor is Milgrom. Milgrom proposes to read ÔKwóømD;k as an adverbial use, carrying the sense of

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Exegetical Paper – Annotated Translation, Literary and Historical Character
Henry Paris All rights reserved, copyright 2009. The right for a single instance of noncommercial
use is granted under the condition the attribution to the author is prominently included on first page.
“love the good for your fellow that you love the good for yourself.” Given the holiness emphasis of this chapter demonstrated
by 19:2, I followed Milgrom’s ordering. “love fellow…love self “to capture his sense.

I. The Language of the Text

Vocabulary/semantics. Several elements of grammar and text usage stand out. The ten
verses are set in pairs by a concluding divine command “I am The Lord,” or “I am The Lord
Your God.” Besides demarking the verses this divine declaration attaches the highest
importance to the textual units. The verses contain a number of verbs with legal or ethical
force, for example, bng (to steal); lzg (to rob), obv (to swear) and fñOÚpVv (to
judge) that point towards a legal, moral or ethical context.
Grammar and syntax. Each verse begins or contains the sequence of “imperfect + añøl”.
Alt notes this is the structure of apodictic commands (Alt).
Text Criticism. The HB apparatus addresses the particular recurring use of the negative
particle conjunctively joining clauses in the imperfect without a waw. Lambdin (p276)
maintains this type of conditional usage is often seen in legal style of writing. He notes that
when multiple clauses are concatenated this way it, the translator’s judgment identifies the
meaning (the point of conditional separation of clauses). For example, a conditional reading
of v13 sets keeping wages over night as equivalent to stealing or defrauding. Several
textural authorities in the apparatus interpret these clauses by inserting a waw or deleting it
(see v13 and v15 for examples). I have adopted this change only in v16.
The apparatus notes LXX adds “your God” to v12, v14, v16 to keep a consistent “I am The
Lord Your God .” I did not adopt this change. Another recurring usage is mixed subject
number in clauses of a sentence. Several verses begin with the 2mp subject “You” and the
following clause use 2ms (see v15 and 17). Some texts noted in the apparatus bring the
verb number into agreement. I did not incorporate these for literary reasons. (See next
section.)
II. The Literary Character of the Text
Location/boundaries. This discussion works on the hypothesis that vv9-18 comprise a
single unit with no internal boundaries and argues against an internal boundary within vv9-
10 or after v10. First from a broad perspective the book of Leviticus opens immediately after
the completion of the Tabernacle in the Sinai and its occupation by the Glory of the Lord
(Ex. 40:38). It concludes with the benediction of a sermon after the presentation of the cultic
and ethical regulations for ordinary and priestly life(Lev 19:36b-37). The body of Leviticus
has internal boundaries that group ritual laws for sacrifices (Lev 1-7), laws for ordination of
priests (Lev 8-10), laws for purity for food, illness, bodily discharge and atonement of sin
(Lev 11-16) and instructions and laws for ritual and ethical holiness (Lev17-27). Leviticus is
the set of ritual instructions for Tabernacle and ethical instructions for the daily life of
Hebrews to maintain their holiness as the people of God in whose presence they now live
(Ross, p19-21).
All ritual and ethical laws on holiness are placed within chapters 17 through 27. They deal
with matters of holiness in all activities of living, see for example, 17:5-8, 18:4-5, 20:7-8,
21:6,7b-8 , 22:31-33, 23:2, 21, 24,27,35; 24:9; 25:17-18,55; 26:2; 27:21, 30. Lev 19 is a
distinct sermon demarked by v1, “The Lord spoke to Moses, and by v 37, “You shall keep all
my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, I am The Lord.” (Milgrom, p1596)
notes this chapter does not have a unifying them, save 19:2: “Speak to the whole
congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, “You shall be holy, because I the Lord
your God am holy.”
The variety of instructions on ritual, ethical and ordinary life in Chapter 19 recall the

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Exegetical Paper – Annotated Translation, Literary and Historical Character
Henry Paris All rights reserved, copyright 2009. The right for a single instance of noncommercial
use is granted under the condition the attribution to the author is prominently included on first page.
commandments of the Decalogue. Hartley and Balentine discuss the correlation (of) the
verses to reflect the Decalogue concluding the correlation is inexact and requires require
disrupting and reordering of verses that are already well balanced in their current
construction. The chapter and its surrounding chapters may be better thought of as a
reflection on the application of teaching of the Decalogue in ordinary and ritual life.
In that context, boundaries can be found according to the type of commands contained in
Chapter 19. Milgrom(p1596) and Hartley(p307-308) present schemes for chapter 19 that
differ only by placement of vv9-10. Milgrom places these two verses in the section of
apodictic commands for ritual duties, while Hartley includes then as “five sets of commands
and instructions (see table below). Milgrom identifies Verse 9-10 as ritual practice ( v9,10a:
harvesting crops of the field and vine). Milgrom observes that vv9-10 belongs to both units
and forms a bridge between religious duties and ethical duties. Hartley divides the text with
an emphasis on hortatory and Milgrom on the type of duty (or command). The HB groups
vv5-8; vv9-10, vv11-14, vv15-18. Hartley follows this scheme, only combining vv9-18. This
discussion treats vv9-18 as a distinct unit of ethical commands using the boundaries
described by Hartley:
Hartley’s Boundaries (Lev 19)
vv1: Introduction
vv2-37: Speech
v2: Commission and thesis
vv3-18: First set of laws
vv3-4: parents, Sabbath, idolatry
vv5-8: offering of well being (ritual)
vv9-18: five sets of commands and instructions
vv19-29: Second set of laws
vv30-36: Third set of laws
v37: Conclusion/benediction
Structure, flow, movement. The text expounds a series of apodictic laws and describes an
agricultural/rural environment. Commands refer to leaving grain and grapes behind in
harvests of field and vineyards for the disadvantaged (vv9-10); business dealings by
employment, commerce (vv11-13), robbery, misrepresentation, testimony in judgments of
legal proceedings, public behavior towards people and compassion for them (vv15-18). The
verses are broken into couplets whose rhetorical intensity grows with increasing classes of
affected persons and ethical altruism. (See following Table 1. )
These progression of the themes of these couplets punctuated by the divine declaration “I
am the Lord” or “I am the Lord your God” are crescendos of rhetorical power. Verse 9-10
command Israel to provide of the harvest for virtually every needy or economically
disadvantaged person in the land. (V34 in fact extends the privileges of the sojourner to the
standing of fellow countryman.) Hartley(p309) describes Wenham’s scheme for this growth (
shown in Table 1). Note along with this progression of class of people the focus of ethical
action changes. V9-10 call for the ethical obligation of compassion for the needs of all
disadvantaged and resident aliens. The next four couplets move to classes of people in
society that can be considered “insiders.” The number of these classes grows with each
couplet and the ethical focus moves from commanded external physical behavior towards
others to an internalized ethical value of others that commands external actions in v17-18.
Vv17-18 include virtually all of Israel society except transient aliens. Vv17-18 and vv9-10 are
an ethical mirror of a sort. While vv9-10 includes only all disadvantaged and resident aliens
and vv17-18 everyone except perhaps transient foreigners, the ethical standard in both ia
(is) s an internally motivated ethical focus on compassion for people. This internally
motivated ethical focus binds the ten verses together.

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Exegetical Paper – Annotated Translation, Literary and Historical Character
Henry Paris All rights reserved, copyright 2009. The right for a single instance of noncommercial
use is granted under the condition the attribution to the author is prominently included on first page.
In a speech the rhetorical structure of 2mp/2ms address enabled by the availability of
Hebrew word forms for them (see next section) and the growing groups and change in
ethical focus creates anticipation in the listeners’ mind as the progression unfolds.
Table 1.
couplet Class of Class of people Ethical problem
people
V9-10 y§InDo, r poor, sojourner (all disadvantaged and Compassion for
resident aliens) disadvantaged
´…g
V11-12 I fellow Stealing, deceit, false
swearing by the Lord
`RtyImSo
R` :
hSoáér:
I V13-14 hSoáér,, Friend, hireling, blind, deaf Exploitation, robbery,
mockery, ill treatment
¢IkDc, rY of disabled
´…wIo &
v$érEj
V15-16 RtyImSo fellow, fellow-countrymen, friend Biased judgment,
favoritism, slander,
R`, murder,
MImSo,
hSoáér
V17-18 RtyImSo Fellow, brother, fellow-countryman, members Hate, compassionate
of your people, friends upbraiding, vengeance,
R, jDa, resentment/envy, love
MImSo, of fellow
ÔK$R;mA
o
y∞EnV;b,
hSoáér
Key: y§InDo: poor (BDB p776) , r´…g: sojourner (BDB, p158), `RtyImSoR`: fellow (BDB 765), hSoáér: friend (in
weaker sense, fellow, fellow-citizen, even another person) (BDB p945), ¢IkDc: hireling/laborer (BDB 969), rY´…wIo
blind (adj) (BDB p361) , v$érEj:deaf (adj) (BDB 361), MImSo: fellow-countrymen (BDB p766), hSoáér: friend (BDB
p945), jDa: brother (extended to sojourner in v34) (BDB p26),
ÔK$R;mAo y∞EnV;b: members of your people, fellow-countrymen (BDB p766)
Form and Genre. This passage is a series of speeches or sermons on law codes. Formally it
is divine sermon for Moses to use to call the Israelite to obedience of laws and ethical duty
in order to maintain holiness with the Lord (Lev.19:2). The passage, vv9-18, is a set of
apodictic commands that addresses ethical norms opposed to cultic norms. The text points
towards the Tabernacle and Israel in the Sinai. The varying verb agreement (2mp, 2ms)
and conditional structure of clauses suggest an oral form rather than a written study. Hartley
and Milgrom describe the 2mp/2ms usage as a rhetorical device used in oration or
preaching, first calling on the congregation then directing commands at the individual. The
commands pertain most (to) Israel’s society (disabled, marginalized, resident alien, citizens)
and define the ethical character of a holy people (eschew deceit, stealing, slander, hate,
resentment and place the love for friend on the same level as your own regard). It is an
exhortation and an invitation. Because its content echoes the Decalogue it is calling the

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Exegetical Paper – Annotated Translation, Literary and Historical Character
Henry Paris All rights reserved, copyright 2009. The right for a single instance of noncommercial
use is granted under the condition the attribution to the author is prominently included on first page.
listener to contemplate the force of those divine commandments of the Sinai Covenant.
The use of the protasis/apodosis clause structure with missing waw is also an effective
rhetorical device. Consider the auditory effect of vv14-15: “You shall not curse the deaf and
you shall not put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God.” Recalling the
creation story that humankind is in God’s image, the clear message from an effective
speaker is that when one mistreats a human one is in the most unholy position of abusing
the image of God.
The setting described by Chapter 19 is exilic or post-exilic religious activity (See “The
historical character of the text”). i.e., the worship service or instructional setting where the
text was read. In the absence of the Temple this was a method to preserve the tradition of
worship and Holiness the Lord demands of his people.
Literary Context. As noted earlier, the organization of Chapter 19 has a single theme:
Holiness. Vv9-18 (ethical Holiness) are bound on one side by the rules and rituals of 17:1-
19:8 (slaughter of animals for sacrifice, eating blood, sexual relations, Sabbath and parents,
sacrifice of well being. and rituals, penalties) and on the other by 19:19-27:34 (a mis-
cellaneous mix of cultic prescriptions for animal husbandry, sexual practices, shaving, body
marking, eating and business practices, priestly holiness, offerings, festivals Sabbath year
and Jubilee).

III. The historical character of the text

The world in the text reflects a setting of the assembly of the Israelites at the Tabernacle,
perhaps immediately after its completion at Sinai. It does not presuppose the existence of
the Temple, In fact, chapter 8 provides instructions for ordination of Aaron and his sons, and
13:46 describes the setting as living in “the camp” (hÎnDj)” which carries the sense of to
settle at, or of goal of day’s march, especially in the Wilderness.(BDB p333) The presence
of agriculture, suggestions of formal legal systems by the legal words such as fpvm (can
mean plain judgment, or litigation in a court seat, an act of judgment (BDB 1048)) leaves
one with at least a little pause whether the world of the text occurs later in a time, at least in
a pastoral setting with well established agricultural and perhaps legal system. If this is the
case, Leviticus presumes a simpler society than the Leviticus presents. Perhaps Leviticus
reflects a late text.
Hartley presents a detailed analysis of the hypotheses of the history of the text that tilts one
towards a late date but notes that with more precise exegesis of the Leviticus the less
confident one is in any specific hypothesis (p260). Ska ( p46-48) presents a convincing case
that the Holiness Code represented by vv17-18 is the latest redaction of the three codes
(Covenant and Deuteronomic). Ska notes the Covenant analogue of vv17-18 is Ex23:4-5
that reflects ethical action towards an adversary involving property is justified on communal
self-interest. Deut. 22:1-4, the Deuteronomic analogue bases ethical action involving
property on a more altruistic recognition of the obligation to one’s fellow human. Lev19:17-
18 has transformed this concept of ethical action not towards another’s property but to
ethical action towards a person, one’s relative or fellow citizen.
This sequence of change suggests a temporal sequence Covenant to Deuteronomic to
Holiness Code. Ska points out de Wette’s work gives us some basis to hold the
Deuteronmic code evolved no later than King Josiah (622 BCE) (Ska, p105-107) which
supports his earlier hypothesis based on analogues to Lev 19:17-18. Finally Ska suggests
much of the compilation of the Pentateuch comes from the school that wrote the Holiness
Code. Considering Hartley and Ska’s analyses we can say that the Holiness Code likely
represents the effort in the exile or early post-exile period to preserve the world of Israel in
the text to for the people of Israel.

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Exegetical Paper – Annotated Translation, Literary and Historical Character
Henry Paris All rights reserved, copyright 2009. The right for a single instance of noncommercial
use is granted under the condition the attribution to the author is prominently included on first page.
Tradition history. Relying on the previous analysis by Ska and Hartley, the Holiness Code
reflects the interpretation of the tradition of the Covenant Code in the period of exile or early
post-exile. Its purpose is to maintain cultic Holiness in the absence of the Temple, but likely
with the new Temple in mind. The redaction history is so complex and fluid that I rest on the
summary of Hartley (p 251-260).
Canonical context. The canonical context of the passage relies on its surrounding rituals and
laws in chapters 1-10:8 and 19:19-27:34. Aidan Kavanaugh and Margret Mead observe that
ritual exceeds ecclesiastical ceremony, it is a basic human language rooted in social nature
and environment and it is the essence of ritual that those who participate in it have
participated before (p7, 90). To the Israelite society and religion began as a unity. In the
absence of the Temple, the liturgy and attendant ritual of the HC of Leviticus to preserves
the tradition. In the exilic or early post-exilic era the practice of the ritual and ethical laws
represented the essence of maintaining the Holiness that is required for the presence of the
Glory of the Lord first enjoyed at Mt. Sinai. The preservation of relationship defined by the
two commands: “You shall be Holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy,” and ““You shall keep
all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, I am The Lord” (19:2, 27:34) can
only be assured by knowing and living the Holiness Code. As a whole the preservation of its
rituals, laws and subliminal reminder of the Decalogue define and defend Israel.
Bibliography
Alt, Albrecht, “The Origins of Israelite Law” in Essays on Old Testament Religion,
Doubleday, trans. R.A. Wilson, Garden City (1967) p101-71
Balentine, Samuel E., Leviticus, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching, John Knox Press, Louisville (2002) p161.
Hartley, John E., Word Biblical Commentary, Leviticus, vol.4, Word Boobs, Dallas,TX (1992)
p311);
HB: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, edited by Hans Peter Rüger, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft,
Stuttgart, (1997) apparatus Cp2,2a p 3.
Kavanaugh, Aidan, , in The Roots of Ritual, James D. Shaughnessy, d. William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids (1973).
Lambdin, Thomas O., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, Prentice Hall, Upper SaddleRiver, NJ
(1971)
Levine, Baruch A., TheJPS Torah Commentary – Leviticus The Jewish{Publication Society,
New YUork, (1989) p129-130.
Mead, Margret, in The Roots of Ritual, James D. Shaughnessy, d. William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., Grand Rapids (1973).
Milgrom, Jacob, “Leviticus 17-22, A new Translation and Commentary,” The Anchor Bible,
Doubleday, New York (2000) p1596
Ross, A.P, Holiness to the Lord, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, (2002) p19-21.
These are the laws, rules, and instructions that the LORD established, through Moses on
Mount Sinai, between Himself and the Israelite people.
Ska, John-Louis, Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch, Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, IN

((2006