Leviticus 19:11-18

"11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. 12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. 14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." — Leviticus 19:11-18 KJV.

11. Not steal — Property, one of the great natural rights of man, is sacredly guarded by the eighth commandment. See Exodus 20:15. “Here is a marvellous distinction of classes. That distinction is carefully preserved throughout the whole record of Scripture. At first sight, it is not only a marvelous, but an incredible thing that one man should be rich and another poor. Poverty is more than a merely incidental condition of life. There is a moral mystery about poverty, relating alike to the poor man and to the rich man. It may seem heartless to speak in this way, and it would be heartless but for the consistent record of time and testimony of experience. Here is a distinct recognition of the right of prosperity. We read of ‘thy field,’ and ‘thy vineyard,’ and ‘thy harvest.’ Yet though property is distinctly recognised, beneficence is also made matter of law. The Bible is the book of the poor. From no other book in the world could so many injunctions be culled as bearing upon the rich in relation to the claims of poverty.” — Joseph Parker. Neither deal falsely — All fraud, which is not included in stealing, is forbidden. See Leviticus 6:2-4, notes.

12. Not swear by my name falsely — The principle of the oath is incidentally laid down in Hebrews 6:16, as an ultimate appeal to divine authority to ratify the assertion. The forms of appeal are various, as, “The God of Abraham judge;” “As the Lord liveth;” “God knoweth,” and the like. See Exodus 20:7; Matthew 5:33, 34, notes.

13. Not defraud thy neighbour — This prohibition of fraud is not practically neutralized, as some assent, by the spoiling of the Egyptians by borrowing their jewels, since the borrowing was simply asking for a parting gift. See Exodus 3:22, note. The wages… all night — This is a merciful protection of the labouring class, many of whom had so narrow a margin between themselves and starvation, that the detention of their wages for even a few hours might produce great suffering. According to the Mishna, the proper time for demanding wages is, for the day labourer, the whole of the night, for the night labourer, the whole of the following day. In a suit for wages the plaintiff must prove that his demand was made at the right time. There was in Mosaism no servant without wages, either paid beforehand, for a term of years, or paid daily, if hired by the day, or annually, as the case might be. Exodus 21:2; Leviticus 25:53; Malachi 3:5; James 5. 4. It is evident that God is not favourably disposed toward the modern credit system, with its periodical earthquakes engulfing labour in ruin.

14. Not curse the deaf — This prohibits the cowardly practice of reviling and vilifying persons who cannot hear or reply or defend themselves against such abuse. Stumblingblock before the blind — The fact that acts so dastardly are expressly forbidden demonstrates the fiendish dispositions of depraved men, and the exceeding compassion of God for those who are deprived of any special sense. He will avenge them together with the stranger, the poor, the widow, and the fatherless.

15. Not respect the person of the poor — From no unmanly and unjust pity shall the poor man go unwhipped of justice. To “respect the person” is to give sentence not in view of proved guilt, but in view of other considerations. The person of the mighty is honoured in the court of justice, when the verdict is so influenced by the rank, power, or the money of the accused, as to secure impunity. The scales of justice should be held evenly between all classes of men.

16. A talebearer — Literally, a peddler whose wares are slanders and detractions. Such a person, possessing himself of the secrets of individuals and of families and then whispering them abroad, falsely colouring motives and distorting facts, is a social pest worthy to be banished from the haunts of men. A significant lesson respecting the character of the calumniator is taught in the curious fact that the Greek slanderer, διάβολος, has become the English devil. Neither… stand against the blood — That is, maliciously seek the life. This does not debar a person from giving testimony against a criminal. Such testimony is positively enjoined in Leviticus 5:1. See note.

17. Not hate thy brother — As in our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, the evil of human action is traced back to the heart, the state of the will and the affections, and the command is laid upon the very dispositions and thoughts. Hence it is not correct to say that the law of Moses demands only the opus operatum, an outward conformity to the law, not an inward principle; legality and not morality. It enjoins right dispositions of heart, Deuteronomy 6:5, and forbids wrong ones, Exodus 20:17. Rebuke — Admonish frankly, telling him what he had against him, according to the gospel rule. Matthew 18:15-17. Not suffer sin upon him — Knobel interprets this as atoning or suffering for a sin on his account. Keil says, “Not to load a sin upon himself.” Both may be combined in the idea that the injured party is not to incur sin, either by bearing secret ill-will or by encouraging the wrong-doer by his silence. See Numbers 9:13, note.

18. Love thy neighbour — See Matthew 5:43, note. “The traditional division of the law of Moses into moral, ceremonial, and juristic laws may serve to facilitate a general view of theocratic ordinances; but it is incorrect if it seeks to express a distinction within the law, and to claim various dignity for various parts. For the most inward commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” stands beside “Thou shalt not sow thy field with two kinds of seed.” — Oehler.