Leviticus 18:3-4
Context18:3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, 1 and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; 2 you must not 3 walk in their statutes. 18:4 You must observe my regulations 4 and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. 5 I am the Lord your God.
1 tn Heb “As the work [or “deed”] of the land of Egypt, which you were dwelling in it, you must not do.”
2 tn Heb “and as the work [or “deed”] of the land of Canaan which I am bringing you to there, you must not do.” The participle “I am bringing” is inceptive; the
3 tn Heb “and you shall not walk.”
4 tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”
sn The Hebrew term translated “regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) refers to the set of regulations about to be set forth in the following chapters (cf. Lev 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:46). Note especially the thematic and formulaic relationships between the introduction here in Lev 18:1-5 and the paraenesis in Lev 20:22-26, both of which refer explicitly to the corrupt nations and the need to separate from them by keeping the
5 tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”