Leviticus 19:15-16

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You ¹  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ²  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ³  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁴  19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. ⁵  You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. ⁶  I am the Lord.

[19:15]  ¹ tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.

[19:15]  ² tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

[19:15]  ³ tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”

[19:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”

[19:16]  ⁵ tn The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 304, 316), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (“to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; BDB 940 s.v. רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious (HALOT 1237 s.v. II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”

[19:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129).