Leviticus19:19–37

Where the English smooths the original

• כִּלְאַ֔יִם BSB's “two different kinds” renders one Hebrew word, kil·ʼa·yim (H3610), a dual-form noun meaning literally “two-of-separateness,” heterogeneous things forced together. Keil glosses it duae res diversi generis — and it is so rare it occurs in only two verses of the whole Bible (here and Deut 22:9). The English “different kinds” is accurate but flattens a near-technical legal term into a phrase.
• שַֽׁעַטְנֵ֔ז BSB ends on the bland “two kinds of material,” dropping the word the Hebrew actually keeps: ša·ʻaṭ·nêz (H8162). It is in apposition to “a garment of kilʼayim,” a foreign loan-word (Keil: “probably derived from the Egyptian”) so obscure the Septuagint could only guess. Like kilʼayim it appears in just two verses. The original names the mixed fabric with a proper, almost ritual term; English gives only its definition.
• תַרְבִּ֣יעַ BSB's “crossbreed” renders ṯar·bî·a‘ (H7250), a Hifil — a causative: “you shall not cause to breed.” Gill catches the force: “cattle do not usually of themselves gender with a diverse kind, unless directed,” so the law forbids not an animal's act but a man's contrivance. The same root râbaʻ describes the bestiality of Lev 18:23. The English verb hides the causative grammar that locates the sin in human will.

Where the English smooths the original

• נֶחֱרֶ֣פֶת BSB's “promised to another man” renders ne·ḥĕ·re·p̄eṯ (H2778), a Nifal participle. Keil derives it from chereph, carpere, literally “plucked, i.e., set apart, betrothed.” It is not the usual betrothal verb (ʼâras); the rarer word marks this as an irregular, half-legal espousal — the very point of the case. “Promised” is a fair gloss but loses the word's strangeness.
• בִּקֹּ֧רֶת BSB's “there must be due punishment” renders biq·qō·reṯ (H1244), which Keil flags as a hapax legomenon (ἁπ. λεγ.) “from bâqar to examine… lit., investigation, then punishment.” The word's root is inquiry, not punishment. The Pulpit Commentary corrects the older versions: “there shall be investigation, followed, presumably, by the punishment.” BSB leaps to the verdict and drops the trial.
• שִׁכְבַת־זֶ֗רַע The Hebrew is graphic and clinical — šiḵ·ḇaṯ ze·ra‘ (H7902 + H2233), “a lying-down of seed,” an emission. BSB's decorous “lies carnally” is honest interpretation but smooths a deliberately physical idiom into a euphemism.

Where the English smooths the original

• אֲשָׁמוֹ֙ BSB's “his guilt offering” renders ʼă·šā·mōw (H817), the technical ʼāšām — the trespass or reparation offering, distinct from the sin offering. The Pulpit Commentary explains the choice: “As the offense has been a wrong as well as a sin, his offering is to be a trespass offering.” English “guilt offering” is right, but the reader cannot see that the very word names a specific altar-rite tied to injury, not mere defilement.
• וְהֵבִ֤יא The verb wə·hê·ḇî (H935) is Hifil — “he shall cause to come, bring.” Ellicott marks the asymmetry the verb carries: “Unlike the woman, the man had to bring this sacrifice under any circumstances.” The offering falls on him alone; the slave-woman, owning nothing, brings nothing.

Where the English smooths the original

• וְכִפֶּר֩ BSB's “make atonement” renders wə·ḵip·per (H3722), Piel of kâphar — to cover, wipe, ransom. It is the great priestly verb of Leviticus. Gill reads the rite as figure: the offering is “typical of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.” English “atonement” (at-one-ment) is itself a coined gloss; the Hebrew picture is of guilt covered and wiped away by blood.
• וְנִסְלַ֣ח BSB's “he will be forgiven” renders wə·nis·laḥ (H5545), a Nifal — a passive, “it shall be forgiven.” The man does not procure his own pardon; it is granted to him. Hebrew sâlach is used only of God's forgiving, never of one man pardoning another — a reservation the English verb cannot show.

Where the English smooths the original

• וַעֲרַלְתֶּ֥ם BSB's tame “you shall regard the fruit as forbidden” buries the most startling word in the verse. The Hebrew verb is wa·‘ă·ral·tem (H6188) — a denominative from ʻorlâh, foreskin: literally “you shall fore-skin its fruit,” treat it as uncircumcised. Ellicott renders it flatly: “then shall ye circumcise its uncircumcision.” The metaphor brands the young fruit as Gentile, unconsecrated, unfit — a vivid figure English erases entirely.
• עָרְלָת֖וֹ The noun ‘ā·rə·lā·ṯōw (H6190), “its foreskin,” stands in apposition — the text glosses its own metaphor: “you shall treat-as-uncircumcised its fruit, [namely] its foreskin.” BSB's “as forbidden” states the conclusion and discards the bodily image of circumcision that makes the law's logic of consecration legible.
• עֲרֵלִ֖ים A third member of the same root, the adjective ‘ă·rê·lîm (H6189), “uncircumcised [things],” piles up in one verse. The rare verb ʻârêl (H6188) occurs in only two verses of Scripture — here and, devastatingly, of a drunkard in Habakkuk 2:16. The English flattens the threefold drumbeat of the circumcision-figure to a single colourless “forbidden.”

Where the English smooths the original

• הִלּוּלִ֖ים BSB's “a praise offering” renders hil·lū·lîm (H1974), a plural noun from hâlal, “praises, jubilation.” It is a rare festal word — found in only two verses of Scripture, here and Judges 9:27, where it names the grape-harvest revel of Shechem. The English “praise offering” imports the sacrificial sense (defensible, via the firstfruits context) but smooths the word's native flavour of vintage celebration.
• קֹ֥דֶשׁ qō·ḏeš (H6944) is “holiness,” a substantive, not the adjective “consecrated.” The Hebrew construction is stark — the fourth-year fruit is holiness, qōḏeš hillūlîm, “a holiness of praises.” Keil: “In the fourth year the whole of the fruit was to be a holiness of praise for Jehovah.” BSB's verb-phrase loses the noun's absoluteness.

Where the English smooths the original

• לְהוֹסִ֥יף BSB's “your harvest will be increased” renders an infinitive of purpose, lə·hō·w·sîp̄ (H3254), “to add, to increase.” The Hebrew states a divine intent — the four years' restraint exists in order to add to them. Keil: “to add (increase) its produce to you… by the blessing of God, not by breaking off the fruits.” The English passive (“will be increased”) loses the agent: it is God who adds.
• תְּבוּאָת֑וֹ tə·ḇū·’ā·ṯōw (H8393), “its produce, its income,” is a richer word than “harvest” — it is the incoming, the yield that comes in. The promise is not merely a good crop but a returning increase, the reward of patience that withheld the first fruits.

Where the English smooths the original

• עַל־הַדָּ֑ם BSB's “eat anything with blood still in it” renders ʻal had·dām — literally “eat upon/over the blood.” Keil insists this is not the ordinary blood-prohibition repeated but something stronger or other: “no flesh to which any blood adhered.” Gill and Ellicott record the ancient reading of a pagan blood-rite — sitting around the gathered blood to commune with demons. The little preposition ʻal opens onto a contested, possibly idolatrous, scene that “with the blood” closes off.
• תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּ BSB's “practice divination” renders ṯə·na·ḥă·šū (H5172), from nâchash. Keil: “to whisper… or a denom. verb from nâchash a serpent; literally, to prophesy from observing snakes.” The word may hide a serpent inside it. English “divination” is correct but generic; the Hebrew may carry the hiss of augury-by-serpent.
• תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ BSB's “sorcery” renders ṯə·‘ō·w·nê·nū (H6049), ʻânan. Its etymology is disputed: Keil rejects “cloud” (cloud-reading) and follows the rabbis — “from ʻayin an eye… to bewitch with an evil eye.” Barnes leaves it open between lucky-days, cloud-omens, and the evil eye. “Sorcery” picks one sense and hides a genuine ambiguity.

Where the English smooths the original

• תַקִּ֔פוּ BSB's “cut off the hair at the sides” renders ṯaq·qi·p̄ū (H5362), “you shall not make round, encircle.” Keil: “not cut the hair in a circle from one temple to the other, as some of the Arab tribes did… in honour of their god.” The sin is a specific pagan tonsure — a ring shaved round the head. “Cut off the hair” loses the circular shape that made it idolatrous.
• פְּאַ֖ת pə·’aṯ (H6285), “corner, edge, side,” governs both head and beard. It is the same word used for the “corners” of the harvest-field left for the poor (Lev 19:9) — a quiet verbal thread within the chapter itself. BSB renders it “sides” then “edges,” obscuring the single recurring noun.
• תַשְׁחִ֔ית BSB's “clip off” renders ṯaš·ḥîṯ (H7843), a strong verb — “destroy, ruin, mar, spoil.” The beard is not merely trimmed but defaced. Ellicott: the beard was “as dear to them as life itself… the mutilation of it was looked upon as the greatest disgrace.” “Clip” is far too mild for a verb of ruin.

Where the English smooths the original

• לָנֶ֗פֶשׁ BSB's “for the dead” renders lā·ne·p̄eš (H5315) — literally “for a soul.” Poole spells out the idiom: “Heb. for a soul, i.e. for a dead body.” Keil confirms nep̄eš here equals nep̄eš mêṯ, a dead person. BSB's “for the dead” is the right sense but hides the haunting Hebrew word-choice — the cutting is made for a soul.
• וּכְתֹ֣בֶת קַֽעֲקַ֔ע BSB's “tattoo marks” renders kə·ṯō·ḇeṯ qa·‘ă·qa‘ (H3793 + H7085) — literally a “writing of incision/branding,” scriptio stigmatis (Keil). The first word is writing; a tattoo in Hebrew is engraved script on the body. Gill records the rabbinic reading that the offence was specifically branding the name of an idol. “Marks” loses the sense of inscribed text.

Where the English smooths the original

• תְּחַלֵּ֥ל BSB's “defile” renders tə·ḥal·lêl (H2490), Piel of châlal — “to profane, make common, treat as unholy.” It is the exact opposite of qâdash, to sanctify. To prostitute a daughter is to de-consecrate her, to drag the holy into the common. “Defile” catches the result but not the temple-language of profanation that the verb carries.
• זִמָּֽה BSB's “depravity” renders zim·māh (H2154), a heavy word for premeditated wickedness, lewd scheming. Keil notes it is reserved: the verb here is “not… spiritual whoredom or idolatry… but to fleshly whoredom, the word zimmah being only used in this connection.” The same word brands the incest of Lev 18:17. “Depravity” is apt but loses the term's specific charge of sexual outrage.

Where the English smooths the original

• תִּירָ֑אוּ BSB's “have reverence for My sanctuary” renders tî·rā·’ū (H3372) — the verb yârêʼ, “to fear.” It is the same root as “fear thy God” two verses on (v. 32). The sanctuary is not merely respected but feared. BSB's softer “reverence” is defensible — fear here is awe, not terror — but it severs the verbal link to the fear of God that binds this whole section.
• וּמִקְדָּשִׁ֖י ū·miq·dā·šî (H4720), “My sanctuary,” from qâdash — literally “My holy place.” The word that named the profaning of the daughter in v. 29 (châlal, the opposite of qâdash) is answered here by the holy place. The placement is deliberate: against the de-sanctifying of the land stands reverence for God's sanctuary.

Where the English smooths the original

• הָאֹבֹת֙ BSB's “mediums” renders hā·’ō·ḇōṯ (H178), ʼôḇ — a word Barnes notes “literally, ‘bottles.’” Keil: “a departed spirit, who was called up to make disclosures.” It names first the ghost conjured, then by extension the conjurer. The witch of Endor is a baʻalath ʼôḇ, “mistress of an ʼôḇ.” “Mediums” modernizes but hides the bottle-like, ventriloquial spirit the Hebrew pictures.
• הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים BSB's “spiritists” renders hay·yid·də·‘ō·nîm (H3049), yiddᵉʻônî — from yâdaʻ, “to know”: the “knowing one.” Cambridge: “lit. knowing.” Ellicott notes the pair is fixed — yiddᵉʻônî “occurs eleven times in the Bible, and always together with the word translated ‘familiar spirit.’” The English “spiritists” loses the irony: these claim knowledge, which belongs to God alone.
• תִּפְנ֤וּ BSB's “turn to” renders tip̄·nū (H6437), pânâh — “to turn, face toward.” It is the same verb as “turn not unto idols” in Lev 19:4. Ellicott: “Better, Turn ye not unto, as the Authorised Version renders this very phrase in Leviticus 19:4.” Consulting the dead is a turning of the face — the posture of worship — away from God.

Where the English smooths the original

• שֵׂיבָה֙ BSB's “the elderly” renders śê·ḇāh (H7872) — concretely “grey hair, hoariness.” The Hebrew honours not an abstract age-group but the visible token of years, the hoary head. Gill: “before old age, which may be discerned by the hoary or grey hairs upon the head.” BSB's “elderly” is smooth but loses the picture of standing before grey hair itself.
• וְהָדַרְתָּ֖ BSB's “honor” renders wə·hā·ḏar·tā (H1921), hâḏar — “to adorn, glorify, show splendour to.” It is a weightier verb than mere honour; the same root names the majesty of God. To “honour the face of the old man” is to treat him as glorious. The plain “honor” undersells the verb's grandeur.
• מִפְּנֵ֤י mip·pə·nê — “before the face of.” The verse pivots on faces: rise before the face of grey hair, honour the face of the old man. The bodily act of standing when an elder's face appears is the law's concrete demand — Poole notes one was to “sit down again when they were past, that it might be manifest they arose out of respect to them.”

Where the English smooths the original

• גֵּ֖ר BSB's “foreigner” renders gêr (H1616) — the gêr, the resident alien who has cast in his lot with Israel, not a passing stranger. Ellicott: “one of non-Jewish origin, but who had joined the Jewish faith.” The word carries covenant overtones “foreigner” cannot. He is the protected sojourner, the subject of dozens of Mosaic mercies.
• תוֹנ֖וּ BSB's “oppress” renders ṯō·w·nū (H3238), yânâh — “to wrong, vex, maltreat,” especially by word. Benson and Poole gloss it precisely: “either with opprobrious expressions, or grievous exactions.” The sin includes the cruel taunt as much as the unjust deal — throwing his foreignness in his face. “Oppress” narrows it to material wrong.

Where the English smooths the original

• כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח BSB's “as native-born” renders kə·’ez·rāḥ (H249), ʼezrâch — the home-born citizen, literally a “sprung-from-the-soil” one. The alien is to be reckoned as if soil-born. Ellicott: he is “to be put on a perfect equality with the ordinary Israelite.” The single word levels the legal distance between convert and citizen.
• וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ BSB's “love him” renders wə·’ā·haḇ·tā lōw (H157) — and the Hebrew is the verbatim phrase of Lev 19:18, “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” now spoken of the foreigner. The Pulpit Commentary: “The royal law of verse 18 is expressly extended to the stranger.” The English cannot show that v. 34 quotes v. 18 word for word — the same command, its circle widened to the alien.

Where the English smooths the original

• עָ֖וֶל BSB's “dishonest measures” collapses the Hebrew's striking move. The text says literally “you shall not do ʻā·wel (H5766) — injustice — in mišpâṭ — judgment.” The very phrase of the courtroom (v. 15, “no unrighteousness in judgment”) is now turned on the marketplace. Ellicott: he who falsifies a measure “is, according to this law, as much a corrupt judge… as he who in the court of justice wilfully passes a wrong sentence.” BSB's “dishonest” hides that the merchant is being called a crooked judge.
• בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט BSB renders bam·miš·pāṭ (H4941) as “measures,” but mišpâṭ is justice, judgment — the same word translated “ordinances” at v. 37. Rabbinic reading (via Gill) makes the point explicit: “a measurer is a judge.” Every weighing is a verdict. The bland “measures” severs the verse from the justice-vocabulary the Hebrew shares with v. 15.

Where the English smooths the original

• צֶ֣דֶק BSB's “honest” (four times) renders the same word four times — ṣe·ḏeq (H6664), righteousness, rightness. The Hebrew hammers it: scales of ṣeḏeq, weights of ṣeḏeq, an ephah of ṣeḏeq, a hin of ṣeḏeq. The measures are not merely honest but righteous — the same word used of God's own justice. “Honest” is true but secular; the Hebrew puts the marketplace under the banner of righteousness itself.
• אֲשֶׁר־הוֹצֵ֥אתִי The verse ends not with a rule but with the Exodus: ʼă·šer hō·w·ṣê·ṯî (H3318), “who brought you out.” Barnes marks the structural weight: these words “introduce the formal conclusion to the whole string of precepts in this chapter, which are all enforced upon the ground of the election of the nation by Yahweh who had delivered them from… Egypt.” A just balance is grounded in redemption.

Where the English smooths the original

• וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤ם BSB's “you must keep” renders ū·šə·mar·tem (H8104) — the same verb shâmar that opened the unit at v. 19 (“My statutes you shall keep”). The chapter is bracketed by keeping; the closing summons echoes the first. English uses “keep” both times, so the inclusio survives — but the Hebrew's deliberate return to the opening verb is worth marking.
• וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם BSB's “and follow them” renders wa·‘ă·śî·ṯem (H6213) — “and you shall do them.” Hebrew pairs keeping (guarding in the heart) with doing (performing in the life). Gill: “act according to them, in civil, moral, and religious life.” The colourless “follow” loses the demand for performance — not assent merely, but deed.