Leviticus 19:16

_YE SHALL NOT STEAL, NEITHER DEAL FALSELY, NEITHER LIE ONE TO ANOTHER._ Ye shall not steal ... neither lie one to another, х_ 'IYSH_ (H376) _ BA`ªMIYTOW_ (H5997)] - a man by his neighbour. A variety of social duties are inculcated in this passage, chiefly in reference to common and little-thought-of vices to which mankind are exceedingly prone-such as committing petty frauds, or not scrupling to violate truth in transactions of business, ridiculing bodily infirmities, or circulating stories to the prejudice of others. In opposition to these bad habits, a spirit of humanity and brotherly kindness is strongly enforced. Verse 12. YE SHALL NOT SWEAR BY MY NAME FALSELY. Since this prohibition occurs frequently in this and the two following chapters, it may be observed that the section relates principally to the sanctification of God. Verse 13....

16._Thou shalt not go up and down_. The principle of the second clause is the same as that of the foregoing verse, for it is added to a general precept, whereby detraction is condemned: and much more ought we to be deterred from it, whilst we acknowledge that our tongue is thus armed cruelly to shed innocent blood. Some suppose that the word רכיל, _racil_, is metaphorically taken from merchants, because the tale-bearer or whisperer (169) is no less busy in hunting for false reports, which he may afterwards circulate, than the merchant is diligently bent on buying and selling. Others think that there is a change of the letter ג into כ; and that thus the word is derived from the _feet_; because calumniators are always wandering about to hunt for grounds of detraction; and therefore is always joined

Verse Leviticus 19:16. _THOU SHALT NOT GO UP AND DOWN AS A TALE-BEARER_] רכיל _rachil_ signifies a _trader_, a _pedlar_, and is here applied to the person who travels about dealing in scandal and calumny, getting the secrets of every person and family, and _retailing_ them wherever he goes. A more despicable character exists not: such a person is a pest to society, and should be exiled from the habitations of men. _NEITHER SHALT THOU STAND AGAINST THE BLOOD, C._] Thou shalt not be as a false witness, because by such testimony the _blood_-the _life_ of an innocent man may be endangered....

STAND AGAINST THE BLOOD OF THY NEIGHBOR - Either, to put his life in danger by standing up as his accuser (compare Matthew 26:60); or, to stand by idly when thy neighbor’s life is in danger. Whichever interpretation we adopt, the clause prohibits that which might interfere with the course of justice....

EXPOSITION From the prohibition of moral uncleanness exhibiting itself in the form of incest and licentiousness, the legislator proceeds to a series of laws and commandments against other kinds of immorality, inculcating piety, righteousness, and kindness. Leviticus 19:1 may be regarded as an extension of the previous chapter in this direction, after which the subject of Leviticus 18:1, is again taken up in Leviticus 20:1. The precepts now given are not arranged systematically, though, as Keil has remarked, "while_ _grouped together rather according to a loose association of ideas than according to any logical arrangement, they are all linked together by the common purpose expressed in th

THOU SHALL NOT GO UP AND DOWN [AS] A TALEBEARER AMONG THY PEOPLE,.... The word used signifies a merchant, and particularly one that deals in drugs and spices, and especially a peddler in those things, that goes about from place to place to sell them; and such having an opportunity and making use of it to carry stories of others, and report them to their disadvantage, hence it came to be used for one that carries tales from house to house, in order to curry favour for himself, and to the injury of others; and such a man is a detestable person, and ought not to be encouraged, see 1 Timothy 5:13; NEITHER SHALL THOU STAND AGAINST THE BLOOD OF THY NEIGHBOUR; either by bearing a false testimony, whereby his blood is in danger of being shed when innocent; or by being silent, and not hearing a testimony for him, whereby the shedding of his innocent blood might have been preven

2. DIFFERENT DUTIES CHAPTER 19 _ 1. Honoring parents and fearing God (Leviticus 19:1)_ 2. The care of the poor (Leviticus 19:9) 3. Against stealing and lying (Leviticus 19:11) 4. Against oppression (Leviticus 19:13) 5. Against unrighteousness in judgment (Leviticus 19:15) 6. Thou shalt love thy neighbor (Leviticus 19:17) 7. Different commands and prohibitions ...

HUMANITY AND UPRIGHTNESS. Gleaning is to be encouraged, both in field and vineyard. It may well be that the corners of the field were originally left so as to avoid driving out the vegetation spirit. [See article _Corners_ by Barton in ERE, and Frazer, _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 234f. Frazer suggests that the original intention may have been to leave some of the corn for the nourishment of the corn spirits on whom the coming of next year's harvest depended, who might starve and die if the field was completely stripped. Similarly with the regulation of Deuteronomy 24:21. A. S. P.]. That motive is now forgotten; the practice remains, and a new motive, characteristic of the codifier and the period, is found. Honesty in word and deed is to be maintained, and swearing falsely is prohibited; it is noteworthy that here, though not in the Decalogue, this prohibition

TALEBEARER.. solemn warning here. Rendered "slandering" in Jeremiah 6:28; Jeremiah 9:4.Ezekiel 22:9 (margin). (Compare 1 Samuel 22:9.)...

Against unrighteousness in judgement, and slander. Cp. Exodus 23:1-3; Exodus 23:6-7; Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 16:19; Deuteronomy 27:19; Psalms 82:2; Proverbs 24:23....