Leviticus 18:4

4 My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 18:4 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 18:4

Ye shall do my judgments
Which are just and right, and according to the rules of justice and equity; these are things, as Jarchi observes, which are said in the law with judgment, or are laws framed with the highest reason, even by the judgment of God himself, whose judgment is always according to truth: Aben Ezra thinks, these are the judicial laws in ( Exodus 21:1-23:33 ) ; but though they may include them, they have more particular respect to the following laws: and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein:
which he had ordained and appointed of his own will and pleasure, which Jarchi calls the decree of the king, or which he decreed and determined as a king, having absolute power over his subjects to enact and enjoin what he pleased; wherefore some think these refer to ceremonial laws, which depended upon the will of the lawgiver, and were not founded in any natural sense or reason, wherefore it follows: I [am] the Lord your God:
who had a right to make what laws he pleased, being their Sovereign, and which they in gratitude as well as in justice ought to obey, he being their God, their covenant God, who had done great and good things for them.

Leviticus 18:4 In-Context

2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God.
3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not follow their statutes.
4 My ordinances you shall observe and my statutes you shall keep, following them: I am the Lord your God.
5 You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.
6 None of you shall approach anyone near of kin to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.