Leviticus 19:13-15

19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. 1  You must not withhold 2  the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. 19:14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. 3  You must fear 4  your God; I am the Lord.

Justice, Love, and Propriety

19:15 “‘You 5  must not deal unjustly in judgment: 6  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. 7  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. 8 

1 tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”

2 tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).

3 tn Heb “You shall not curse a deaf [person] and before a blind [person] you shall not put a stumbling block.”

4 tn Heb “And you shall fear.” Many English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV) regard the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) as adversative in force here (“but”).

5 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.

6 tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”

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

8 tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”