You shall be holy, for i the lord your god am holy a. Every page contains the complete traditional hebrew text, with cantillation notes, the jps translation of the holy scriptures, aliyot breaks, masoretic notes, and commentary by a distinguished hebrew. Leviticus 19 commentary old testament matthew henry st. Leviticus 19 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, filling six volumes, provides an exhaustive look at every verse in the bible. Learning to love leviticus is a lesson in learning to listen to gods call. The hebrew scriptures have much to say about the treatment of neighbor. Israels ethics and morality were to be distinctly better than the nations around them, even to the point of treating immigrants from other nations the same way they.
We turn in fact to this very topic of neighborly love below. On reading leviticus 19 one is struck both by the precision of the var. Similarly, the following verses illustrate how is employed in connection with slander, just as is in our verse. Rooks at the temple, congregation adath israel brith sholom, in louisville, kentucky. All of the commentary found here can be purchased, consolidated in hardcopy format as individual softcover books, one for each book. Leviticus 1920 complete jewish bible cjb parashah 30. Leviticus 19 commentary old testament matthew henry. The lord plainly, clearly, strongly, and without a doubt condemns the tattoo. This certainly includes all the instructions in leviticus 16. It was not only the custom for mourners to let their hair grow long and wear it in a disorderly manner see leviticus 10. Relating to the levites, is the third book of moses and the old testament. In leviticus, those commandments are elaborated on in detail.
And the lord spoke to moses, saying, speak to all the congregation of the children of israel, and say to them. The jps torah commentary series guides readers through the words and ideas of the torah. Now it was the day of preparation for the passover. Vayikra leviticus chapter 19 parshah kedoshim torah bible. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks upon you. The book of leviticus is gods picture book for the children of israel to help them in their religious training. Leviticus used to be the first book that jewish children studied in the synagogue. Leviticus 19 commentary matthew henrys complete commentary. Produced and recorded for jps by the jewish braille institute. After camping out with the book of leviticus for about 3 monthsreading the scripture and wenhams commentary along the way, i must say i agree 100%. In practice then, though not in theory, leviticus is treated as though it does not really belong to the canon of scripture.
Separate yourselves from sexual immorality and from sin, for wherever one finds a barrier against sexual immorality, one finds holiness, for example. Jesus is clearly drawing this portion of the saying from the jewish torah. John has the jewish passover being prepared on good fridayand he adds this poignant detail in 19. This book explores how the sacrificial rituals and purity practices cleared the way for morally corrupt israelites to become gods covenant partners. Every picture pointed forward to the work of jesus christ. Sermon on the mount, or the practical phase of living the holy life as outlined by paul in the rom.
May 06, 2015 milgrom, a leading jewish scholar specializing in the levitical law, correctly understands the instruction to ban a ritual act of shaving part of the head bald. The command to love your neighbor is indeed found in leviticus 19. The jewish doctors ask, what is this fear that is owing to a father. Ours was a tiny nation inhabiting a small country, and there have been many tiny nations and many small countries, but ours was a tiny. Coffmans commentaries on the old and new testament, leviticus 19. This is the third book of the old testament immediately following the book of exodus wherein the hebrews have escaped the control and influence of the egyptians. Within its instructions are a few rituals that make it even more extraordinary. The absence of narrative and the monotony of the priestly style combine with our present attitudes about the contents to make the book heavy and dull for the presentday reader. This surely includes fellow members of israels community. Whilest the book addresses issues of the levites responsibilities, much more significantly, all the priests are. May 06, 2015 this book explores how the sacrificial rituals and purity practices cleared the way for morally corrupt israelites to become gods covenant partners. You shall be holy, for i the lord your god am holy. Leviticus 19 niv bible the lord said to moses, speak to.
Ours was a tiny nation inhabiting a small country, and there have been many tiny nations and many small countries. The custom of tattooing was forbidden, while among all the nations of antiquity it was common. The wild and frantic demonstrations of grief so common among eastern dud southern nations, included cuts and incisions in the body, among the hebrews, the philistines, and the moabites, the arabs and ethiopians, the babylonians and armenians. Therefore contextually i would argue that the reference to tattooing is also so as not to be like those who do these things as part of their idolatry. Book of exodus chapter 282 bible illustrations by sweet media. For instance, the sexual sins listed in leviticus 18 are an elaboration. Jewish people revered these laws even though they often disobeyed them, because they understood that. Christian and jewish tradition holds that god dictated the book of leviticus to moses as he did the other books of the law. Leviticus judaism, torah and jewish info chabad lubavitch. All of the commentary found here can be purchased, consolidated in hardcopy format as individual softcover books, one for each book of the torah, or. Leviticus chapter 19 parallel hebrew old testament.
Leviticus 19 bible commentary matthew henry concise. Rabbi joe rooks rapport is cosenior rabbi with his wife rabbi gaylia r. Enduring word bible commentary leviticus chapter 19. Telushkin, a widely respected author of popular books on jewish literacy and jewish ethics. Most of what happened with the first goat and its blood was out of view of the congregation, as it was used to make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins. Vayikra leviticus chapter 19 parshah kedoshim tanakh. The english title, leviticus, comes from the latin vulgate version of the greek ot septuagint, lxx leuticon meaning matters of the levites 25. Leviticus and work bible commentary theology of work. Understanding the book of leviticus for today by ralph.
Leviticus 19 nkjv moral and ceremonial laws bible gateway. The authorship and date issues are resolved in the verse. These are the commandments which the lord commanded moses for the children of israel on mount sinai 27. Leviticus chapter 19 coffmans commentary of the new.
Purchase information for the jps audio bible can be found here. The day of atonement yom kippur is a sabbath of solemn rest, set apart by its unique requirements to afflict ones soul and do absolutely no work leviticus 23. The book of leviticus is a book of lawslaws given by god to the jewish people, gods chosen peoplea holy peoplethe covenant people. The opening chapters of leviticus 110 are concerned with ancient israels cultic system, and particularly with the practice of sacrificial worship. Jewish holidays video audio classes news kabbalah online the jewish woman jewish kids. Levine ably brings modern scholarship as well as rabbinic commentary to bear when discussing the text. The prime emphasis of the holiness described in leviticus 19 is ethical. In the modern church it tends to be the last part of the bible anyone looks at seriously. Jewish children once commenced their biblical studies with the book of leviticus. In addition to his commentaries on each verse, levine includes an extensive threedozen page introduction that addresses the scriptural text, the books content, when it was written, the priesthood, the sanctuary and its cult, among other matters. April 28, 2007by marc wolf commentary aharei mot kedoshim. Jesus of nazareth, hillels younger contemporary, declared that the commandment of leviticus 19.
Leviticus 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the book of leviticus in the hebrew bible or the old testament of the christian bible. Mathison says this commentary is not only the best commentary on the book of leviticus, it is one of the best commentaries on any book of the bible that i have read. The book of leviticus new international commentary on the. Leviticus 19 new king james version nkjv moral and ceremonial laws. Download a three year torah reading schedule three year torah reading cycle commentary on genesis commentary on exodus commentary on leviticus commentary on numbers commentary on deuteronomy purchase a hardcopy. Leviticus is called the book of atonement leviticus 16. But i cant help thinking that if the central message is the search for. May 1, 2020by joshua rabin commentary aharei mot kedoshim. The israelite, however, who is created in the image of god, and who is to be as holy as the lord is holy, must not thus. However, no command to hate your enemy exists in leviticus. Some of these same concerns are also reflected in leviticus 19. Much of leviticus 1116 is concerned with the messiness of human bodies. Its main subject matteranimal offerings and ritual impurityseems remote from contemporary concerns. Leviticus 19 is also given much attention in the nt.
Many of the verses in chapter 19 are quoted in the nt. The entire sacrificial system pointed to jesus christ in some way. Leviticus is a difficult book for a modern person to read with reverence and appreciation. Jun 01, 2003 baruch levines commentary on leviticus vayikra is commendable. Leviticus 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the book of leviticus in the hebrew bible or the old. In the following century, rabbi akiba declared it to be the great principle of the torah sifra. The jewish study bible leviticus chapter 19 oxford biblical. Yet almost half of the 6 mitzvot of the torah are found in this book, the text with which young children traditionally began their jewish education. In a speech given in 1944 to a gathering of youth groups in haifa, prime minister david ben gurion referred to these words as an example of how judaism serves as a paradigm of a society built on morality, peace and love. This is a valiant attempt to redeem leviticus for the modern reader. Jewish community, especially in terms of recognizing the role of leviticus 19 in h, the. There is a pitfall, however, in trying to make the sequence of the ritual precisely fit the timing of jesus ministry, death, and resurrection. Milgrom, a leading jewish scholar specializing in the levitical law, correctly understands the instruction to ban a ritual act of shaving part of the head bald. A recorded version of the jps tanakh, the most widely read english translation of the hebrew the jewish bible.
The composition of the book of leviticus apparently becomes more easily explainable. The hebrew text is easy to read with the english translation set out alongside it and the commentary appearing below. Leviticus 19 provides instructions for the way israelites should understand the meaning of worship, economic rules, and social laws, so they can be holy before god. Rabbi rapport ends his dvar torah by noting the title of thebook and the parashah are taken from the opening word, vayikra, and god called, which he interprets to mean that god calls us to holiness, to a life of meaning, to a path of harmony. There are many exhortations in leviticus 19, but only two of them conclude with you shall. This complete, unabridged audio version features over 60 hours of readings by narrators. Genesis is the book of beginnings, exodus the book of redemption, and leviticus the book of atonement and a holy walk. Study leviticus 19 using matthew henrys bible commentary concise to better understand scripture with full outline and verse meaning. Either with their nails, tearing their cheeks and other parts, or with any instrument, knife, razor jarchi says, it was the custom of the amorites, when anyone died, to cut their flesh, as it was of the scythians, as herodotus f4 relates, even those of the royal family.
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