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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:1-37
Social morality. cf. Matthew 22:35-40; Romans 12:1-21; James, passim. From the primary principle of unworldliness, we now have to proceed to sundry details about social morality. Although these details are given indiscr…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:1
Morality has a basis of its own. The moral philosopher, if asked, "Why should I act morally?" replies, "Because it is right for you to do so." If asked further, "Why is it right for me to do so?" he replies, "Because yo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:1-8
Purity in worship. The laws set out in this chapter were before communicated to Aaron and his sons; now they are given to the people (Leviticus 19:1, Leviticus 19:2). It is the privilege and duty of God's people to acqu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:2
Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy. The religious motive is put forward here, as in the previous chapter, as the foundation of all morality. It is God's will that we should be holy, and by being holy we.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:3-37
The holy Law in the holy life. I. REVERENCE FOR PARENTS. True religion is seen in common, everyday life. If we love God, we love man. Family peace and order is best preserved by appeal to deep, religious motives. Natura…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:3
Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father. The words fear and reverence are in this connection interchangeable. So Ephesians 5:33, "Let the wife see that she reverence her husband," where the word "reverence" w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:3
The laws of submission 1. The family is an institution of God's appointment (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 2:24). The command to children to honour their father and mother is distinguished in the Decalogue by a blessing attache…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:4
This verse contains the laws of piety and of faith. "Turn ye not unto idols" forbids the worship of false gods; "nor make to yourselves molten gods" forbids in addition the sin of worshipping the true God under the form…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:4
Turn ye not unto idols. The word used for idols, elilim, meaning nothings, is contrasted with Elohim, God. Psalms 115:1-18 exhibits this contrast in several of its particulars. Cf. St. Paul's statement, "We know that an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:5-8
The unsystematic character of this chapter is indicated by prohibitions under the fifth, fourth, first, and second commandments (Leviticus 19:3, Leviticus 19:4) being succeeded by a ceremonial instruction respecting the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:9-14
Kindliness. In the earlier portion of this chapter purity of worship, with its associated reverence for the authority of God, in his representatives, viz. natural parents, and his institutions, as the sabbath, are enjoi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:11
Stealing, cheating, and lying are classed together as kindred sins (see Leviticus 6:2, where an example is given of theft performed by means of lying; cf. Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9).
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:12
Name of thy God, contains three injunctions: First, a command that on due occasions we are to make appeal to God by solemn oath; secondly, a prohibition of perjury; thirdly, a command to reverence God's Name. I. TO SWEA…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:12
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely. These words contain a positive permission to swear, or take a solemn oath, by the Name of God, and a prohibition to swear falsely by it (see Matthew 5:33).
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:13
Cheating and stealing are again forbidden, and, together with these, other forms of oppression although legal. The command to pay labourers their hire promptly—which covers also the case of paying tradesmen promptly—is…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:14
Thou shalt not curse the deaf. The sin of cursing another is in itself complete, whether the curse be heard by that other or not, because it is the outcome of sin in the speaker's heart. The suffering caused to one who…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:15-18
Justice. As charity is sister to piety, so is justice related to both. This virtue is enjoined upon us— I. IN RESPECT TO CONDUCT. 1. In judgment justice should be impartial. 2. In dealings justice should be strict. 3. T…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:15
Justice is to be done to all. The less danger of respecting the person of the poor has to be guarded against, as well as the greater and more obvious peril of honouring the person of the mighty. The scales of Justice mu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:16
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people. For the evil done by mere idle talebearing, see Bishop Butler's sermon, 'Upon the Government of the Tongue,' and four sermons by Bishop Jeremy Taylor, on '…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:17
On the one side we are not to hate our brother in our heart, whatever wrongs he may commit; but on the other side, we are in any wise to rebuke our neighbour for his wrong doing. So our Lord teaches, "if thy brother tre…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:18
Revenge and malice are forbidden as well as hatred, and the negative precepts culminate in the positive law. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, which sums up in itself one half of the Decalogue (Matthew 22:40). "…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:19
Ye shall keep my statutes. Having arrived at the general conclusion, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, in the previous verse, the legislator pauses, and then presents a collection of further laws, arranged as b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:19
Aids to purity. We shall first consider— I. WHAT WAS THE PRIMARY PURPORT OF THIS TRIPLE LAW. We need not be surprised if we find here another aid to purity of heart and life, another fence thrown up against immorality.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:19
Mingled Seed The moral meaning of the command, "Thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed," receives an illustration from the parable of the "man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy c…