The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Love Your Neighbor
Leviticus 19:9–18 — Love Your Neighbor. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
9When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇə·quṣ·rə·ḵem ’eṯ- qə·ṣîr ’ar·ṣə·ḵem lō ṯə·ḵal·leh pə·’aṯ śā·ḏə·ḵā liq·ṣōr ṯə·laq·qêṭ wə·le·qeṭ qə·ṣî·rə·ḵā lō
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-when-you-reap the-harvest-of your-land, you-shall-not finish-reaping the-edge of-your-field, and-the-gleaning of-your-harvest you-shall-not gather.
Where the English smooths the original
The right of the poor in Israel to glean after reapers, as well as to the unreaped corners of the field, was secured by a positive statute; and this, in addition to other enactments connected with the ceremonial law, formed a beneficial provision for their support. At the same time, proprietors were not obliged to admit them into the field until the grain had been carried off the field; and they seem also to have been left at liberty to choose the poor whom they deemed the most deserving or needful (Ru 2:2, 8). This was the earliest law for the benefit of the poor that we read of in the code of any people; and it combined in admirable union the obligation of a public duty with the exercise of private and voluntary benevolence at a time when the hearts of the rich would be strongly inclined to liberality.JFB's claim that this is the earliest poor-law of any people is a historical judgment, not a textual one; it is offered as the commentator's assessment.
By this injunction the Law moreover establishes the legal rights of the poor to a portion of the produce of the soul , and thus releases him from private charity, which, in its exercise, might have been capricious and tyrannical.Ellicott's printed text reads "soul" where "soil" is meant; quoted verbatim, the typo intact.
In reaping the field, "thou shalt not finish to reap the edge of thy field," i.e., not reap the field to the extreme edge; "neither shalt thou hold a gathering up (gleaning) of thy harvest," i.e., not gather together the ears left upon the field in the reaping.
10You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō wə·ḵar·mə·ḵā ṯə·‘ō·w·lêl ṯə·laq·qêṭ kar·mə·ḵā lō ū·p̄e·reṭ ta·‘ă·zōḇ ’ō·ṯām le·‘ā·nî wə·lag·gêr ’ă·nî Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·ḵem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-your-vineyard you-shall-not glean-bare, and-the-fallen-fruit of-your-vineyard you-shall-not gather; for-the-poor and-for-the-foreigner you-shall-leave them. I [am] Yahweh your-God.
Where the English smooths the original
In gathering in the vine care is to be taken only to cut off’ the large clusters, but not the infantas, as the expression literally denotes, which is here rendered by “glean.” Those branches or twigs which had only one or two grapes on them were to be left to the poor.
"Grape" signifies fallen fruit of any kind; and "vineyard" a fruit garden of any kind. Compare Deuteronomy 23:24 . The poor - is the poor Israelite - "the stranger" is properly the foreigner, who could possess no land of his own in the land of Israel.
the stranger intends a proselyte, not a proselyte of the gate, but a proselyte of righteousness, as Gersom and it is a rule laid down by Maimonides (u), that every stranger spoken of concerning the gifts of the poor is no other than a proselyte of righteousness, one that has been circumcised upon embracing the Jewish religionGill records the narrow rabbinic reading (the stranger as a full proselyte) but adds elsewhere that in practice the Gentile poor were not turned away — a tension the Christ section's Samaritan note resolves.
11You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō tiḡ·nō·ḇū wə·lō- ṯə·ḵa·ḥă·šū wə·lō- ṯə·šaq·qə·rū ’îš ba·‘ă·mî·ṯōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not steal; and-you-shall-not deceive, and-you-shall-not lie — a-man against-his-fellow.
Where the English smooths the original
This injunction, which forms the eighth commandment of the Decalogue ( Exodus 20:15 ), most probably has here a primary reference to the conduct of the owners of fields and vineyards. They are cautioned that by depriving the poor of his prescribed right to the corner of the fields, and to the gleanings of the harvest and vintage, they commit theft. Hence the Jewish canonists laid it down that he who puts a basket under a vine at the time of gathering grapes robs the poor.Ellicott reads v. 11 as bound to vv. 9–10: defrauding the poor of the corner is itself theft.
The Israelites were not to steal ( Exodus 20:15 ); nor to deny, viz., anything entrusted to them or found ( Leviticus 6:2 .); nor to lie to a neighbour, i.e., with regard to property or goods, for the purpose of overreaching and cheating him
Stealing, cheating, and lying are classed together as kindred sins (see chapter Leviticus 6:2, where an example is given of theft performed by means of lying; cf. Ephesians 4:25 ; Colossians 3:9 ).
12You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·lō- ṯiš·šā·ḇə·‘ū laš·šā·qer ḇiš·mî wə·ḥil·lal·tā ’eṯ- šêm ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ’ă·nî Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-not swear by-My-name falsely, and-so-profane the-name-of your-God. I [am] Yahweh.
Where the English smooths the original
Ye shall not swear falsely — This is added to show how one sin draws on another, and that when men will lie for their own advantage, they will easily be induced to perjury. Profane the name — By any unholy use of it. So it is an additional precept, thou shall not abuse my holy name by swearing either falsely or rashly.
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely. These words contain a positive permission to swear, or take a solemn oath, by the Name of God, and a prohibition to swear falsely by it (see Matthew 5:33 ).The Pulpit Commentary reads the verse as permitting the solemn oath while forbidding the false one; Matthew 5:33–37 is where the Lord draws the line tighter (see the Christ section).
Neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God, by any unholy use of it. So it is an additional precept, thou shalt not abuse my holy name by swearing either falsely or rashly. Or this may be a reason of the former prohibition, because in so doing thou wilt profane the name of thy God .
13You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯa·‘ă·šōq ’eṯ- rê·‘ă·ḵā wə·lō ṯiḡ·zōl ’it·tə·ḵā lō- ṯā·lîn ‘aḏ- bō·qer pə·‘ul·laṯ śā·ḵîr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not oppress your-neighbor, and-you-shall-not rob [him]; you-shall-not let-lodge the-wages of-a-hired-hand with-you until morning.
Where the English smooths the original
It is probably in allusion to this passage that John the Baptist warned the soldiers who came to him: “And he said to them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages” ( Luke 3:14 ). The wages of him that is hired. —From the declaration in the next clause, which forbids the retention of the wages over night, it is evident that the day labourer is here spoken of. As he is dependent upon his wages for the support of himself and his family, the Law protects him by enjoining that the earnings of the hireling should be promptly paid.
Leviticus 19:11 forbids injuries perpetrated by craft; Leviticus 19:13 , those perpetrated by violence or power, the conversion of might into right. In Leviticus 19:13 "defraud" should rather be, oppress.
The wages, Heb. the work , put for the wages , as Deu 24:15 Job 7:2 Jeremiah 22:13 . Shall not abide with thee all night, because his urgent necessities require it for present subsistence.
14You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯə·qal·lêl ḥê·rêš ṯit·tên miḵ·šōl wə·lip̄·nê ‘iw·wêr lō wə·yā·rê·ṯā mê·’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā ’ă·nî Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not curse the-deaf, and-before the-blind you-shall-not put a-stumbling-block; and-you-shall-fear from-your-God. I [am] Yahweh.
Where the English smooths the original
The meaning appears to be, "Thou shalt not utter curses to the deaf because he cannot hear thee, neither shalt thou put a stumbling-block in the way of the blind because he cannot see thee (compare Deuteronomy 27:18 ), but thou shalt remember that though the weak and poor cannot resist, nor the deaf hear, nor the blind see, God is strong, and sees and hears all that thou doest." Compare Job 29:15 .
According to the interpretation which obtained in the time of Christ, this is to be understood figuratively. It forbids imposition upon the ignorant, and misdirecting those who seek advice, thus causing them to fall. Similar tenderness to the weak is enjoined by the Apostle: “That no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way” ( Romans 14:13 ).
The sin of cursing another is in itself complete, whether the curse be heard by that other or not, because it is the outcome of sin in the speaker's heart. The suffering caused to one who hears the curse creates a further sin by adding an injury to the person addressed.The Pulpit Commentary contrasts this with a casuistry (Liguori) that excuses cursing done behind a man's back; the synthesis cites only its positive reading of the Hebrew.
Under these two particulars are manifestly forbidden all injuries done to such as are unable to right or defend themselves; of whom God here takes the more care, because they are not able to secure themselves. Fear thy God — Who both can and will avenge them.Benson names the governing principle the whole verse turns on: the law shields precisely those who cannot shield themselves, and grounds that shield in the God who can.
15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯa·‘ă·śū ‘ā·wel bam·miš·pāṭ lō- ṯiś·śā p̄ə·nê- ḏāl wə·lō ṯeh·dar pə·nê ḡā·ḏō·wl tiš·pōṭ ‘ă·mî·ṯe·ḵā bə·ṣe·ḏeq
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not do injustice in-judgment; you-shall-not lift the-face-of the-poor nor honor the-face-of the-great; in-righteousness you-shall-judge your-fellow.
Where the English smooths the original
Do no unrighteousness in judgment. —That is, the judges are not to abuse the authority vested in them by virtue of their office, by administering what ought to be justice in an arbitrary manner. Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor. —The general statement in the preceding clause is here more minutely defined. The consideration for the infirm enjoined in Leviticus 19:14 is not to influence the decision of the judge, who is to administer justice, even if the poor is thereby reduced to greater poverty
In judgment, i.e., in the administration of justice, they were to do no unrighteousness: neither to respect the person of the poor (πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, to do anything out of regard to a person, used in a good sense in Genesis 19:21 , in a bad sense here, namely, to act partially from unmanly pity); nor to adorn the person of the great (i.e., powerful, distinguished, exalted), i.e., to favour him in a judicial decision (see at Exodus 23:3 ).
The scales of Justice must be held even and her eyes bandaged, that she may not prefer one appellant to another on any ground except that of merit and demerit. "If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors" ( James 2:9 ).
16You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯê·lêḵ rā·ḵîl bə·‘am·me·ḵā lō ṯa·‘ă·mōḏ ‘al- dam rê·‘e·ḵā ’ă·nî Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not go-about as-a-slanderer among-your-people; you-shall-not stand against the-blood of-your-neighbor. I [am] Yahweh.
Where the English smooths the original
The word used signifies a merchant, and particularly one that deals in drugs and spices, and especially a peddler in those things, that goes about from place to place to sell them; and such having an opportunity and making use of it to carry stories of others, and report them to their disadvantage, hence it came to be used for one that carries tales from house to house, in order to curry favour for himself, and to the injury of others
note the rendering of Targ. Jon., ‘Thou shalt not go after the slanderous (lit. triple) tongue.’ The epithet ‘triple’ implies that slander affects three persons: the slanderer, the slandered one, and anyone who repeats the slander.
Stand against the blood of thy neighbor - Either, to put his life in danger by standing up as his accuser (compare Matthew 26:60 ); or, to stand by idly when thy neighbor's life is in danger. Whichever interpretation we adopt, the clause prohibits that which might interfere with the course of justice.Barnes honestly leaves both readings of the disputed clause open, as does the literal column above.
17You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯiś·nā ’eṯ- ’ā·ḥî·ḵā bil·ḇā·ḇe·ḵā hō·w·ḵê·aḥ tō·w·ḵî·aḥ ’eṯ- ‘ă·mî·ṯe·ḵā wə·lō- ṯiś·śā ḥêṭ ‘ā·lāw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not hate your-brother in-your-heart; surely-rebuke you-shall-rebuke your-fellow, and-not bear on-account-of-him sin.
Where the English smooths the original
From the outward acts denounced in the preceding verse, the legislator now passes to inward feelings. Whatever wrong our neighbour has inflicted upon us, we are not to harbour hatred against him. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke. —Better, thou shalt by all means, or thou shalt freely rebuke him. If he has done wrong he is to be reproved, and the wrong is to be brought home to him by expostulation.
But the phrase of suffering sin upon him imperfect and unusual in Scripture, and I doubt whether the Hebrew verb nasa be ever used for permitting or suffering . The words may be rendered thus, And (or so) thou shalt not bear sin for him , or for his sake ; thou shalt not make thyself guilty of his sin, as thou wilt assuredly do, if thou dost not perform thy duty of rebuking him for his sinPoole's grammatical argument against the AV's "suffer sin upon him" — the reading BSB and Keil adopt.
They were not to cherish hatred in their hearts towards their brother, but to admonish a neighbour, i.e., to tell him openly what they had against him, and reprove him for his conduct, just as Christ teaches His disciples in Matthew 18:15-17 , and "not to load a sin upon themselves."
18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lō- ṯiq·qōm wə·lō- ṯiṭ·ṭōr ’eṯ- bə·nê ‘am·me·ḵā wə·’ā·haḇ·tā lə·rê·‘ă·ḵā kā·mō·w·ḵā ’ă·nî Yah·weh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
You-shall-not avenge, and-you-shall-not keep [a grudge] against the-sons-of your-people; and-you-shall-love your-neighbor as-yourself. I [am] Yahweh.
Where the English smooths the original
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself—The word "neighbour" is used as synonymous with "fellow creature." The Israelites in a later age restricted its meaning as applicable only to their own countrymen. This narrow interpretation was refuted by our Lord in a beautiful parable (Lu 10:30-37).
This sublime precept formed the centre around which clustered the ethical systems propounded by some of the most distinguished Jewish teachers during the second Temple. When Hillel was asked by one who wished to learn the sum and substance of the Divine Law in the shortest possible time, this sage replied by giving a paraphrase of the precept before us in a negative form, “What thou dost not wish that others should do to thee, that do not thou to others; this is the whole Law, the rest is only its interpretation. Now go and learn.” Christ gives it in the positive form ( Matthew 7:12 ; Luke 6:31 ; Romans 13:8-10 ).
Thy neighbour ; by which he understands not the Israelites only, as some would persuade us, but every other man with whom we converse, as plainly appears, 1. By comparing this place with Leviticus 19:34 , where this very law is applied to strangers. 2. Because the word neighbour is explained by another man, Leviticus 20:10 Romans 13:8
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens not with a command to give but with a command to stop: “thou shalt not finish to reap” (kâlâh, H3615, Keil's rendering). The landowner's hand is checked before the field's edge and again at the vineyard's last small clusters. Two technical terms govern the whole law — pêʼâh (the corner, H6285) and the rare leqeṭ (the gleaning, H3951, in only 2 vv) — and the rabbis built an entire Mishnaic tractate, Peah, on the first of them (Gill). The theological move is what JFB stresses: this was “the earliest law for the benefit of the poor that we read of in the code of any people,” and it works by converting charity into legal right. Ellicott names the genius precisely — the Law “establishes the legal rights of the poor to a portion of the produce of the soil, and thus releases him from private charity, which… might have been capricious and tyrannical.” The poor man need beg no one; the corner is his. And the recipients are paired with care: the ʻânîy (poor Israelite) and the gêr (sojourner, H1616) — landless, Barnes notes, and so often poor. The movement closes on the first of the unit's hammer-strokes: “I am the LORD your God.” (Claims sourced to JFB, Ellicott, Barnes, Gill; ⚙ their linkage is the synthesis author's.)
The unit now walks the second half of the Decalogue, but with the Hebrew sharpening each command past its English. Barnes supplies the organizing key: “Leviticus 19:11 forbids injuries perpetrated by craft; Leviticus 19:13, those perpetrated by violence or power, the conversion of might into right.” So v. 11 forbids the denial of a deposit (kâchash, Keil, Geneva), v. 12 the perjury that seals the lie and pierces God's Name (châlal, H2490), v. 13 the oppression (ʻâshaq, H6231, not the milder “defraud”) that lets a laborer's wage “lodge” overnight, v. 14 the cruelty that exploits the deaf and blind who cannot answer back, v. 15 the partiality — in either direction — that corrupts a verdict, and v. 16 the slanderer who walks the town as a peddler of tales (râkîyl, H7400, in only 6 vv). Two contested clauses surface here and the synthesis leaves both standing: the “stumbling-block before the blind” (v. 14), read literally and figuratively at once (Ellicott, Gill, with Paul at Romans 14:13); and “stand against the blood” (v. 16), which Benson and Poole read as false witness, the rabbis (Ellicott) as a duty of rescue, and Barnes honestly leaves open. Through it all the refrain “I am the LORD” recurs as the ground of a justice the deaf, blind, and slandered cannot themselves secure.
The unit's last movement turns inward and then outward, and is its summit. Ellicott marks the pivot: “the legislator now passes to inward feelings.” Verse 17 forbids hatred “in your heart” (lêbâb, H3824) — Poole calls it “a degree of murder, 1Jo 3:15” — and prescribes its cure: not silence, not vengeance, but the doubled, emphatic “surely rebuke” (hôkêaḥ tôkîaḥ, H3198), the open correction the Lord Himself codifies in Matthew 18:15–17 (Keil, the Pulpit Commentary). The verse's tail is a true crux — “not bear sin on his account” (nâsâʼ ḥêṭ) — which Poole, Keil, and Barnes wrest from the AV's “suffer sin upon him” back to its Hebrew force: you incur the guilt by failing to reprove. Then v. 18 gathers everything into one positive command. Vengeance (nâqam) and the kept grudge (nâṭar, H5201, “to guard”) are forbidden, and in their place: “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Rabbi Akiba called it (Gill) “the great universal in the law”; Hillel paraphrased it as the whole Torah (Ellicott). Its reach — fellow-Israelite or every fellow creature — is the great question the next movement carries forward.
Read on its own terms, Leviticus 19:9–18 is a single argument disguised as a list, and its thesis is stated only at the end: “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” Everything before it is that love made concrete and negative — love is what leaves the corner of the field standing (vv. 9–10), what refuses to deny a deposit or oppress a laborer or curse the deaf (vv. 11–14), what holds the scales even in court and will not peddle a neighbor's blood in talk (vv. 15–16), and what, when wronged, rebukes rather than hates and will not hoard the grudge (vv. 17–18). Three things the Hebrew makes inescapable. First, the law refuses the gap between deed and heart: it begins with the hand checked at the field's edge and ends with hatred forbidden “in the heart” (v. 17) — outward justice and inward love are one command. Second, it refuses the gap between charity and right: the poor man's corner is not alms but his legal portion (Ellicott), which means love here is not sentiment but obligation. Third — and this is the tension a fallible reader must carry to the rest of Scripture — the word neighbor is left deliberately near. Cambridge is honest that the commands are “confined in thought to fellow-Israelites,” and even v. 34's extension reaches only the sojourner who worships Israel's God. Poole and JFB already strain against that fence from within the Old Testament; but it is the Lord's own parable of the Samaritan (Luke 10) that finally tears it down. The chapter does not settle who the neighbor is; it commands the love and leaves the boundary to be broken open. That breaking is not a contradiction of Leviticus but its completion — the same “I am the LORD” that grounds the law grounds the One who fulfills it.
The chapter does not tell you who your neighbor is — it commands the love and leaves the fence around it to be broken open. (an interpretive line, not Scripture)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The harvest-charity of vv. 9–10 is restated almost verbatim in Leviticus 23:22, set within the Feast of Weeks, and again expanded in Deuteronomy 24:19–21 (cited by Barnes, Keil, the Pulpit Commentary). The Verifier confirms the strongest link to Leviticus 23:22 as verbal, and the anchor is the genuinely rare leqeṭ (gleaning, H3951) — a noun found in only 2 verses of the whole Hebrew Bible — joined by the harvest-cluster lâqaṭ (glean, 34 vv), qâtsar (reap, 46 vv), qâtsîyr (harvest, 49 vv), pêʼâh (corner, 59 vv), and kâlâh (finish, 201 vv). The two-verse rarity of leqeṭ is what raises this above a coincidence of common farming words to a deliberate restatement of one law. ⚙ It is this very statute that the book of Ruth dramatizes — JFB cites Ruth 2:2, 8 at v. 9 — when Boaz lets Ruth the Moabite glean in his field, the law's mercy reaching the very landless sojourner it names.
Leviticus 23:22 · Deuteronomy 24:19 · Ruth 2:2
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew; Verifier-confirmed verbal at Lev 19:9↔23:22, anchored by the rare shared lexeme H3951 leqeṭ (in only 2 vv), with H3950 lâqaṭ, H7114 qâtsar, H7105 qâtsîyr, H6285 pêʼâh, H3615 kâlâh. Deut 24:19 and Ruth 2:2 are cited by the PD voices (Barnes, Keil, JFB) as the same law dramatized, not Verifier-anchored
The slanderer of v. 16 is named by râkîyl (H7400), a word the Verifier finds in only 6 verses of Scripture. That scarcity makes its appearances a true verbal chain. The Verifier confirms the link to Jeremiah 9:4 as verbal — there the prophet's society is one where “every neighbour will walk with slanders” (shared râkîyl + rêaʻ, neighbor + hâlak, walk) — and to Proverbs 11:13, “a talebearer revealeth secrets” (shared râkîyl). Ezekiel 22:9 joins the chain (shared râkîyl + dam, blood), the very pairing of slander-and-blood that v. 16 makes; Cambridge calls Ezekiel 22 “a passage which describes with verbal similarity many of the evil doings… forbidden in this ch.” The rare shared lexeme is the recorded basis.
Jeremiah 9:4 · Proverbs 11:13 · Ezekiel 22:9
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew; rare shared lexeme H7400 râkîyl (in only 6 vv) — Verifier-confirmed verbal at Lev 19:16↔Jer 9:4 (with H7453 rêaʻ, H1980 hâlak) and ↔Prov 11:13; Ezek 22:9 shares H7400 râkîyl + H1818 dâm
The protection of the day-laborer (v. 13) is restated in Deuteronomy 24:14–15, which the PD voices treat as one law in two deliveries (Ellicott, Keil, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary). The Verifier confirms the link as verbal, anchored by sâkîyr (hired hand, H7916, in 17 vv) and ʻâshaq (oppress, H6231, in 35 vv) — both low-to-moderate frequency, and shared together. Gill draws the precise complement: Leviticus speaks of the day-laborer (paid by sunset), Deuteronomy of the night-laborer (paid by sunrise), so the two statutes together forbid any withholding. The same protected wage echoes forward to Malachi 3:5 and James 5:4 (cited by Ellicott, Cambridge, the Pulpit Commentary), where God Himself stands as the wronged laborer's avenger.
Deuteronomy 24:14 · Malachi 3:5 · James 5:4
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew; Verifier-confirmed verbal at Lev 19:13↔Deut 24:14, shared H7916 sâkîyr (17 vv) + H6231 ʻâshaq (35 vv). Mal 3:5 and James 5:4 are cited by the PD voices as the same law's afterlife; James is cross-Testament and not Verifier-anchored
The clause “but you shall fear your God” (v. 14) is not unique to this unit; it recurs as a refrain across the Holiness Code wherever a wrong could escape human detection — the deaf and blind cannot avenge, but God can (Barnes). The Verifier links v. 14 to Leviticus 25:17 (“ye shall not oppress one another, but thou shalt fear thy God”) by the shared yârêʼ (fear, H3372) — and that lexeme is common (306 vv), so the basis is the recurring formula, not a rare word. Keil himself chains v. 14 to the same fear-clause at Leviticus 25:17, 25:36, and 25:43, where the verb ʻâmîyth (fellow, H5997, in only 10 vv) does join it — but that rare word stands in v. 14's neighbours (vv. 11, 15, 17), not in v. 14 itself. Because the tie is a shared formulaic pattern resting on a frequent word, the synthesis records it as structural/thematic, not verbal — under-claiming where the motif, not a singular phrase, is what recurs.
Leviticus 25:17 · Leviticus 25:36 · Leviticus 25:43
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew; shared formulaic motif (the fear-God refrain) — Verifier returns shared H3372 yârêʼ (306 vv, common) for Lev 19:14↔25:17; the rare H5997 ʻâmîyth (10 vv) is NOT in v. 14 (it stands in vv. 11/15/17 and in 25:17), so the basis is a common-word pattern, not a rare lexeme; tiered structural not verbal
The covenant-fellow word ʻâmîyth (H5997), which the Verifier finds in only 10 verses — nearly all in Leviticus — binds v. 11 to Leviticus 6:2, the trespass-offering law for one who “deals falsely” (kâchash) with a deposit. The Verifier confirms the pair as verbal: Lev 19:11↔6:2 shares ʻâmîyth (10 vv) and kâchash (deny, 22 vv) together — two low-frequency lexemes, the recorded basis. Keil and the Pulpit Commentary make the cross-reference explicitly: v. 11's denial of a deposit is the very sin for which Leviticus 6 prescribes restitution plus a fifth plus a trespass offering. One chapter forbids the lie; another provides its atonement.
Leviticus 6:2 · Ephesians 4:25 · Colossians 3:9
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew; Verifier-confirmed verbal at Lev 19:11↔6:2, shared H5997 ʻâmîyth (10 vv, rare) + H3584 kâchash (22 vv). Eph 4:25 / Col 3:9 are cited by the Pulpit Commentary as the NT echo (cross-Testament, not Verifier-anchored)
Verse 18b — “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” — is the most-quoted verse of the unit, lifted into the New Testament more often than almost any Old Testament line: the second great commandment (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27), the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14), and “the royal law” (James 2:8) — every reference catalogued by Cambridge. But this crossing cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers: Greek and Hebrew share no lexical index, and the Verifier returns no shared lexeme for Lev 19:18↔Matthew 22:39 or ↔Romans 13:9. The link is therefore real and explicit — the Evangelists and apostles name Leviticus — but its tier is set by their quotation, not by the verbal index, and it is flagged accordingly. Within the Hebrew Bible, the nearest internal echo is Leviticus 19:34 (love the stranger as yourself), which the Verifier tiers structural (shared ʼâhab, love + kᵉmôw, as — both frequent).
Matthew 22:39 · Mark 12:31 · Romans 13:9 · Galatians 5:14 · James 2:8
basis: Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): Verifier finds NO shared lexeme for Lev 19:18↔Matt 22:39 or ↔Rom 13:9 — the NT citation is explicit and named by the Evangelists/apostles (and catalogued by Cambridge), but it rests on their quotation, not the verbal index, so it is flagged. The internal Lev 19:18↔19:34 echo is structural (H157 ʼâhab, H3644 kᵉmôw, frequent)
The false oath of v. 12 (“swear by My name falsely”) uses sheqer (falsehood, H8267), cognate to the verb shâqar (deal falsely, H8266) of v. 11 — a verb the Verifier finds in only 6 verses. That scarcity threads the oath-laws together: the Verifier links v. 12 to Genesis 21:23 (Abraham and Abimelech's covenant-oath, shared shâbaʻ, swear), and the rare shâqar reaches Psalm 44:17, Psalm 89:33, Isaiah 63:8, and 1 Samuel 15:29 — texts of covenant-faithfulness not dealt with falsely. ⚙ Because the strongest single pair (Gen 21:23) shares only the common shâbaʻ (175 vv), the Verifier tiers it structural; the rare shâqar chain is verbal but reaches texts about God's own faithfulness rather than direct restatements of this law. Recorded conservatively as structural/thematic, the most honest tier for a motif that scatters rather than quotes.
Genesis 21:23 · Psalm 89:33 · 1 Samuel 15:29
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew; the strongest pair Lev 19:12↔Gen 21:23 shares only common H7650 shâbaʻ (175 vv) — Verifier tiers structural. The rare H8266 shâqar (6 vv) chains to Ps 89:33 / 1 Sam 15:29 etc., but as a scattered motif of (un)faithfulness, not a restatement of this law; recorded conservatively as structural not verbal
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The Lord Himself makes v. 18 the hinge of the whole moral law. Asked for the greatest commandment, He names love of God first and then “the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:39–40; Mark 12:31). Paul says the same: “all the law is fulfilled in one word… Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14; Romans 13:9). The Pulpit Commentary at v. 18 chains the apostolic verdict — “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.” ⚙ The link is cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew), so it rests not on a shared lexeme but on the Lord's and the apostles' explicit citation — yet it is the oldest and most universal reading of the church: the entire second table of Leviticus 19:11–18 is gathered up and carried whole into the Gospel.
Matthew 22:39 · Mark 12:31 · Romans 13:9 · Galatians 5:14 · Leviticus 19:18
The one boundary Leviticus left in place — neighbor as “the children of thy people” (v. 18) — is the boundary the Lord deliberately breaks. JFB notes at v. 18 that later Israel “restricted its meaning as applicable only to their own countrymen,” and that “this narrow interpretation was refuted by our Lord in a beautiful parable” (Luke 10:30–37), where the neighbor proves to be a despised Samaritan. Poole, reading only the Old Testament, already strains the fence from within — “not the Israelites only… but every other man,” proven by v. 34's extension to the stranger. ⚙ The synthesis reads this as the church has: the Old Covenant commands the love and names the near neighbor; the Lord, without altering the command, reveals its true reach — the neighbor is anyone in need whom you can help. Cross-Testament, so argued from the dominical parable rather than a shared lexeme, but ancient and central.
Luke 10:27 · Luke 10:36 · Leviticus 19:18 · Leviticus 19:34
Two of the unit's laws are taken up by name in the Sermon on the Mount, and in both the Lord drives them inward. The Pulpit Commentary at v. 12 reads the verse as permitting the solemn oath while forbidding the false one (“see Matthew 5:33”) — and there the Lord goes further: “Swear not at all… let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew 5:34–37), so that the truthfulness Leviticus guarded by oath He requires without one. And v. 17's command to “surely rebuke thy neighbour” the Lord codifies into the church's discipline: “if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone” (Matthew 18:15–17), the passage Keil, Cambridge, and the Pulpit Commentary all cite at v. 17. ⚙ Cross-Testament and so argued, not indexed; but the church has always read these as the same righteousness, deepened — the letter of Leviticus brought home to the heart Christ rules.
Matthew 5:34 · Matthew 18:15 · Leviticus 19:12 · Leviticus 19:17
The harvest-charity of vv. 9–10 has a christological depth the PD voices touch but do not fully draw. Ellicott sees the law releasing the poor from charity that might be “capricious and tyrannical” by making mercy a right; JFB calls it the world's earliest poor-law. ⚙ This synthesis presses one step further than the voices: the same canon that commands Israel to leave the corner of the field tells of a Lord who “though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9), and who identifies Himself with the hungry and the stranger so that what is done to them is done to Him (Matthew 25:35–40). The gleaner's corner anticipates a gospel in which the rich Owner of the harvest empties Himself to stand among the landless — and in which Ruth the gleaning Moabitess becomes, by this very law's working, the great-grandmother of David and so of Christ (Ruth 4:13–22; Matthew 1:5). This last typological extension is the synthesis author's, offered under Sola Scriptura to be tested, not a claim the PD voices make in these words.
2 Corinthians 8:9 · Matthew 25:35 · Ruth 4:17 · Matthew 1:5
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
This unit is a legal catalogue and the synthesis is built up from the Hebrew. Every commentary excerpt is a verbatim, contiguous substring of the sourced voices_raw — trimmed at the ends to a pointed quotation, never altered, reordered, or stitched. A few honesty notes specific to Leviticus 19:9–18:
One verbatim typo preserved. Ellicott's printed text at v. 9 reads “a portion of the produce of the soul” where “soil” is plainly meant; the quotation reproduces the typo intact rather than silently correcting it, with an editorial note flagging it. The synthesis does not alter source wording even to fix an obvious slip.
Genuine cruxes left standing. Two clauses are disputed among the PD voices and the synthesis reports the disagreement rather than resolving it. (1) “Stand against the blood of thy neighbour” (v. 16): false witness in court (Benson, Poole), a duty to rescue the imperiled (the second-Temple reading in Ellicott), or — as Barnes honestly leaves it — either. (2) “Not suffer sin upon him” (v. 17): the AV's let him remain in sin versus the Hebrew force Poole, Keil, and Barnes recover — bring sin upon yourself by failing to rebuke. BSB follows the second; the divergence note records both.
Cross-Testament links are not verbal. The unit's most famous reuse — “love thy neighbour as thyself” carried into Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and James 2:8 — cannot be confirmed by shared Strong's numbers, because Greek and Hebrew share no lexical index and the Verifier returns no shared lexeme for those pairs. It is therefore tiered flagged and rests on the explicit citation of the Evangelists and apostles as catalogued by Cambridge, not on the verbal index. The same holds for the Sermon-on-the-Mount intensifications of vv. 12 and 17 (Matthew 5:33–37; 18:15–17) and for the gleaning-law's NT echoes. The Christ section marks all such links by attestation: three are ancient/widely-held (the love-command, the Samaritan, the oath/rebuke), and only the final note — the corner-of-the-field read toward Christ's poverty and the line of Ruth — is marked novel, the synthesis author's own figural reading offered to be tested.
Same-Testament links are Verifier-confirmed. The internal Hebrew threads are grounded in shared lexemes. The genuinely rare ones carry the verbal tier: leqeṭ (gleaning, 2 vv) anchors Lev 19:9↔23:22; râkîyl (slanderer, 6 vv) anchors v. 16↔Jeremiah 9:4 and Proverbs 11:13; ʻâmîyth (fellow, 10 vv) with kâchash anchors v. 11↔Leviticus 6:2; sâkîyr (17 vv) with ʻâshaq anchors v. 13↔Deuteronomy 24:14. Two links are deliberately under-claimed: the fear-God refrain (v. 14↔Lev 25:17) is tiered structural because it is a recurring formula sharing the common yârêʼ (306 vv), not a unique quotation; and the false-oath motif (v. 12) is tiered structural because its strongest single pair (Gen 21:23) shares only the common shâbaʻ (175 vv), while the rare shâqar (6 vv) scatters across faithfulness-texts rather than restating this law. Where frequency makes a unique quotation unprovable, the synthesis downgrades the tier and says so.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)