Leviticus 19:11 - Meaning and Application

We are taught here to be honest and truthful in all our dealings (Leviticus 19:11). God has ordered each person’s property by his providence, and his law forbids us to break that order, whether by open theft or by cheating and false dealing. Whatever we have in this world, we must make sure it was honestly gained, because we cannot truly be rich, or stay rich for long, with what is not ours.

The God of truth, who wants truth in the heart (Psalm 51:6), also wants truth in the tongue. So we must not lie to one another, whether in buying and selling or in ordinary conversation (Colossians 3:9). Those who do not speak truth do not deserve to be told truth. When people sin by lying, they rightly suffer for it, because if we lie to others, we teach them to lie to us.

We are also told to treat the holy name of God with deep respect, and not call on him as a witness for lies or empty things (Leviticus 19:12). It is bad to tell a lie, but it is much worse to swear to it. We must not profane God’s name by using it for anything other than its holy purpose.

We are also forbidden to take or keep what belongs to our neighbor (Leviticus 19:13). That includes taking what is not ours by fraud or robbery, and it includes holding back what we owe. In particular, the wages of a hired worker must not remain with us overnight. The day laborer should receive his pay as soon as he has finished his day’s work, if he wants it, because it is a great sin to refuse payment or even delay it to his harm, and such a sin cries out to heaven for judgment (James 5:4).

We must be especially careful with the reputation and safety of people who cannot protect themselves (Leviticus 19:14). We must not curse the deaf, meaning not only those who cannot hear at all, but also those who are absent and cannot hear the insult, and those who are patient and do not answer back, like David (Psalm 38:13). We must not injure anyone because they cannot or will not defend themselves, because God sees and hears even when they do not.

We must also be tender toward the blind and not put a stumbling block before them. That would add pain to the hurting and make God’s providence serve our evil purpose. This command also implies that we should help the blind and remove obstacles from their path. The Jewish writers understood this as a warning against giving harmful advice to simple people who are easily misled, since that can lead them into harm. We must be careful not to do anything that could cause our weaker brother to fall (Romans 14:13; 1 Corinthians 8:9). The reason given is, “but fear your God,” because though the deaf and blind cannot defend themselves, God will defend them. The fear of God will keep us from doing what people may not be able to punish.

Judges and all in authority are also commanded to give judgments without partiality (Leviticus 19:15). Whether they were official judges or arbiters chosen for a particular case, they were to do no wrong to either side, but decide according to justice and the true merits of the case. They must not show favor to a poor man just because he is poor, or deny him justice because of his poverty (Exodus 23:3). Alms may be given to the poor, but in court they must receive only what the law allows, and their poverty must not excuse them from rightful punishment. Nor must judges fear the powerful, since that is where bias most often appears. The Jews said this law required such fairness that one side could not be allowed to sit while the other stood, or to speak freely while the other was cut short (James 2:1-4).

We are also forbidden to do anything that harms our neighbor’s good name (Leviticus 19:16). In ordinary talk, we must not go around as tale-bearers. It is a shameful office to spread people’s faults, repeat what should have stayed secret, make offenses look worse than they are, and try to ruin reputations and stir up strife. The word used here points to a pedler, someone who moves from house to house trading goods, because tale-bearers gather gossip in one place and pass it on in another, often trading slanders back and forth. This sin is condemned elsewhere too (Proverbs 11:13; Proverbs 20:19; Jeremiah 9:4-5; Ezekiel 22:9).

The command may also mean that we must not stand against our neighbor in a case involving his life or blood, if he is innocent, or join with violent men like those described in (Proverbs 1:11-12). Jewish teachers also took it to mean that we must not stand by while our brother is in danger, but must come to his rescue and help him, even at risk to ourselves. They also said that anyone who can clear an accused person by truthful testimony is bound by this law to do it (Proverbs 24:11-12).

We are then commanded to rebuke our neighbor in love (Leviticus 19:17). If we think our neighbor has wronged us, we must not quietly nurse a grudge and cut ourselves off from him, neither speaking well nor ill, as some do until they can get revenge (2 Samuel 13:22). Instead, we should speak plainly but meekly, try to show him the wrong, reason the matter fairly, and so end the offense. This matches our Savior’s instruction in such cases (Luke 17:3).

We should also rebuke him for sin against God, because we love him and want him to repent. We should seek his restoration, so that his sin may be forgiven and not remain upon him. Friendly correction is a duty we owe one another, and it should be given and received in love. “Let the righteous strike me,” says the psalmist, “and it will be kindness” (Psalm 141:5). “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:5-6).

It is commanded here in very strong terms: you must do it, and you must not leave it undone for any excuse. Think about the guilt we take on when we refuse to correct someone’s sin. Scripture treats that refusal as a kind of hatred toward our brother. We may say, “I love this person, so I will not make him uncomfortable by pointing out his fault,” but we should rather say, “Because I love him, I should do him the kindness of warning him.”

Love may cover a sin from other people, but it should not hide it from the sinner himself. Think also about the harm done when we do not reprove sin. In that case, we are letting sin remain on him. If we must help an enemy’s donkey after it falls under its load (Exodus 23:5), should we not help a friend’s soul? By letting sin stay there, we may also become guilty of sharing in it, as the margin reads.

If we do not speak against the unfruitful works of darkness, we have fellowship with them and become partners in them after the fact (Ephesians 5:11). It is your brother, your neighbor, who is at stake here. The man who asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” was like Cain, who had a hardened and guilty heart.

VIII. We are also told here to put away all malice and to put on brotherly love (Leviticus 19:18). We must not harbor ill will toward anyone. “You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge” says the same thing as “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17), because malice is murder beginning in the heart. If our brother has wronged us, we must not pay him back. That is revenge. We must not keep bringing up the injury whenever we get the chance. That is bearing a grudge. Instead, we should forgive and forget, because God has forgiven us.

It is a very mean and harmful thing to hold on to resentment over insults and injuries. It destroys friendship, and it keeps old wounds alive. We must also be well disposed toward everyone: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We often wrong ourselves, but we quickly forgive ourselves, and those wrongs do not make us stop loving ourselves. In the same way, we should love our neighbor.

Our Savior made this the second great commandment of the law (Matthew 22:39). The apostle Paul shows that it sums up the duties of the second table of the law, the commands about our duty to other people (Romans 13:9, 10; Galatians 5:14). We must love our neighbor as truly as we love ourselves, and without pretending. We should show that love by the same kind of actions we use for our own good, by keeping harm from him and seeking his good as far as we can.

We should treat our neighbor as we would want to be treated ourselves (Matthew 7:12), putting ourselves in his place (Job 16:4, 5). In many cases, we must even deny ourselves for his good, as Paul did (1 Corinthians 9:19 and following). The gospel goes beyond this good law, because Christ laid down his life for us, and in some cases he teaches us to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters in faith (1 John 3:16). In that way, we are called to love our neighbor even above ourselves.