Leviticus 19:18

18 “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:18 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
New Living Translation (NLT)
18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD .
The Message Bible (MSG)
18 "Don't seek revenge or carry a grudge against any of your people. "Love your neighbor as yourself. I am God.
American Standard Version (ASV)
18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
18 Never get revenge. Never hold a grudge against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the LORD.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
18 " 'Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against one of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:18 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 19:18

Thou shalt not avenge
That is, not avenge ourselves on him that has done us an ill thing, but leave it to him to whom vengeance belongs, see ( Romans 12:19 ) ; which is done when a man does an ill thing for another, or denies to grant a favour which he has been denied by another; Jarchi thus illustrates it, one says to him (his neighbour) lend me thy sickle; he answers, no (I will not); on the morrow (the neighbour comes, who had refused, and) says to him, lend me thy hatchet; he replies, I will not lend thee, even as thou wouldest not lend me; this is vengeance: this was reckoned mean and little, a piece of weakness with the very Heathens F2: nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people;
those of the same place, city, or kingdom; or "not observe" F3 the injury done, take no notice of it, nor lay it up in the mind and memory, but forget it; or "not keep" F4 or retain enmity, as the Targum of Jonathan supplies it; and so do an ill turn, or refuse to do a good one; or if that is done, yet upbraids with the former unkindness; for upbraiding with unkindness shows that a grudge is retained, though the suit is not denied: but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;
sincerely and heartily, as a man loves himself, doing all the good to him as a man does to himself, or would have done to himself, and hindering all the mischief done to him he would have himself preserved from: Jarchi observes, that it was a saying of R. Akiba, that this is

``the great universal in the law,''
and it does indeed comprehend the whole of the second table of the law, and is the summary of it, and is pretty much the same our Lord says of it, that it is the second and great commandment, and like unto the first, on which two all the law and the prophets hang, ( Matthew 22:37-40 ) ; and so the Apostle Paul makes all the laws of the second table to be comprehended in this, ( Romans 13:9 ) ; I [am] the Lord;
the Creator of all men, and who has commanded them to love one another, and to whom alone vengeance belongs, and who expects obedience to the above laws of his.
FOOTNOTES:

F2 -----quippe minuti Juvenal. Satyr. 13.
F3 (rjt alw) "et non observabis", Montanus.
F4 "Non servabis", Pagninus, Drusius; "neque iram asservato"; Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Leviticus 19:18 In-Context

16 “ ‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “ ‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD.
17 “ ‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.
18 “ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
19 “ ‘Keep my decrees. “ ‘Do not mate different kinds of animals. “ ‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. “ ‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.
20 “ ‘If a man sleeps with a female slave who is promised to another man but who has not been ransomed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. Yet they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.

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Cross References 5

  • 1. S Genesis 4:23; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30
  • 2. Psalms 103:9
  • 3. S Exodus 12:48
  • 4. S Exodus 20:16
  • 5. ver 34; S Matthew 5:43*; Matthew 19:16*; Matthew 22:39*; Mark 12:31*; Luke 10:27*; John 13:34; Romans 13:9*; Galatians 5:14*; James 2:8*
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