Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Leviticus » Chapter 19 » Verse 31

Leviticus 19:31 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

31 Regard H6437 not them that have familiar spirits, H178 neither seek H1245 after wizards, H3049 to be defiled H2930 by them: I am the LORD H3068 your God. H430

Cross Reference

Deuteronomy 18:10-14 STRONG

There shall not be found H4672 among you any one that maketh his son H1121 or his daughter H1323 to pass H5674 through the fire, H784 or that useth H7080 divination, H7081 or an observer of times, H6049 or an enchanter, H5172 or a witch, H3784 Or a charmer, H2266 H2267 or a consulter H7592 with familiar spirits, H178 or a wizard, H3049 or a necromancer. H1875 H4191 For all that do H6213 these things are an abomination H8441 unto the LORD: H3068 and because H1558 of these abominations H8441 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 doth drive them out H3423 from before H6440 thee. Thou shalt be perfect H8549 with the LORD H3068 thy God. H430 For these nations, H1471 which thou shalt possess, H3423 hearkened H8085 unto observers of times, H6049 and unto diviners: H7080 but as for thee, the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath not suffered H5414 thee so to do.

Leviticus 20:6-7 STRONG

And the soul H5315 that turneth H6437 after H413 such as have familiar spirits, H178 and after H310 wizards, H3049 to go a whoring H2181 after H310 them, I will even set H5414 my face H6440 against that soul, H5315 and will cut him off H3772 from among H7130 his people. H5971 Sanctify H6942 yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: H6918 for I am the LORD H3068 your God. H430

1 Samuel 28:7-9 STRONG

Then said H559 Saul H7586 unto his servants, H5650 Seek H1245 me a woman H802 that hath H1172 a familiar spirit, H178 that I may go H3212 to her, and enquire H1875 of her. And his servants H5650 said H559 to him, Behold, there is a woman H802 that hath H1172 a familiar spirit H178 at Endor. H5874 And Saul H7586 disguised H2664 himself, and put on H3847 other H312 raiment, H899 and he went, H3212 and two H8147 men H582 with him, and they came H935 to the woman H802 by night: H3915 and he said, H559 I pray thee, divine H7080 unto me by the familiar spirit, H178 and bring me him up, H5927 whom I shall name H559 unto thee. And the woman H802 said H559 unto him, Behold, thou knowest H3045 what Saul H7586 hath done, H6213 how he hath cut off H3772 those that have familiar spirits, H178 and the wizards, H3049 out of the land: H776 wherefore then layest thou a snare H5367 for my life, H5315 to cause me to die? H4191

Acts 19:19-20 STRONG

Many G2425 of them also G1161 which used G4238 curious arts G4021 brought G4851 their books G976 together, G4851 and burned them G2618 before G1799 all G3956 men: and G2532 they counted G4860 the price G5092 of them, G846 and G2532 found G2147 it fifty G4002 thousand G3461 pieces of silver. G694 So G3779 mightily G2596 G2904 grew G837 the word G3056 of God G2962 and G2532 prevailed. G2480

Acts 16:16-18 STRONG

And G1161 it came to pass, G1096 as we G2257 went G4198 to G1519 prayer, G4335 a certain G5100 damsel G3814 possessed G2192 with a spirit G4151 of divination G4436 met G528 us, G2254 which G3748 brought G3930 her G846 masters G2962 much G4183 gain G2039 by soothsaying: G3132 The same G3778 followed G2628 Paul G3972 and G2532 us, G2254 and cried, G2896 saying, G3004 These G3778 men G444 are G1526 the servants G1401 of the most high G5310 God, G2316 which G3748 shew G2605 unto us G2254 the way G3598 of salvation. G4991 And G1161 this G5124 did she G4160 G1909 many G4183 days. G2250 But G1161 Paul, G3972 being grieved, G1278 turned G1994 and G2532 said G2036 to the spirit, G4151 I command G3853 thee G4671 in G1722 the name G3686 of Jesus G2424 Christ G5547 to come G1831 out of G575 her. G846 And G2532 he came out G1831 the same G846 hour. G5610

Acts 13:6-8 STRONG

And G1161 when they had gone through G1330 the isle G3520 unto G891 Paphos, G3974 they found G2147 a certain G5100 sorcerer, G3097 a false prophet, G5578 a Jew, G2453 whose G3739 name G3686 was Barjesus: G919 Which G3739 was G2258 with G4862 the deputy of the country, G446 Sergius G4588 Paulus, G3972 a prudent G4908 man; G435 who G3778 called G4341 for Barnabas G921 and G2532 Saul, G4569 and desired G1934 to hear G191 the word G3056 of God. G2316 But G1161 Elymas G1681 the sorcerer G3097 (for G1063 so G3779 is his G846 name G3686 by interpretation G3177 ) withstood G436 them, G846 seeking G2212 to turn away G1294 the deputy G446 from G575 the faith. G4102

Commentary on Leviticus 19 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 19

Le 19:1-37. A Repetition of Sundry Laws.

2. Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel—Many of the laws enumerated in this chapter had been previously announced. As they were, however, of a general application, not suited to particular classes, but to the nation at large, so Moses seems, according to divine instructions, to have rehearsed them, perhaps on different occasions and to successive divisions of the people, till "all the congregation of the children of Israel" were taught to know them. The will of God in the Old as well as the New Testament Church was not locked up in the repositories of an unknown tongue, but communicated plainly and openly to the people.

Ye shall be holy: for I … am holy—Separated from the world, the people of God were required to be holy, for His character, His laws, and service were holy. (See 1Pe 1:15).

3. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths—The duty of obedience to parents is placed in connection with the proper observance of the Sabbaths, both of them lying at the foundation of practical religion.

5-8. if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will—Those which included thank offerings, or offerings made for vows, were always freewill offerings. Except the portions which, being waved and heaved, became the property of the priests (see Le 3:1-17), the rest of the victim was eaten by the offerer and his friend, under the following regulations, however, that, if thank offerings, they were to be eaten on the day of their presentation; and if a freewill offering, although it might be eaten on the second day, yet if any remained of it till the third day, it was to be burnt, or deep criminality was incurred by the person who then ventured to partake of it. The reason of this strict prohibition seems to have been to prevent any mysterious virtue being superstitiously attached to meat offered on the altar.

9, 10. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field—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.

11-16. Ye shall not steal—A variety of social duties are inculcated in this passage, chiefly in reference to common and little-thought-of vices to which mankind are exceedingly prone; such as committing petty frauds, or not scrupling to violate truth in transactions of business, ridiculing bodily infirmities, or circulating stories to the prejudice of others. In opposition to these bad habits, a spirit of humanity and brotherly kindness is strongly enforced.

17. thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour—Instead of cherishing latent feelings of malice or meditating purposes of revenge against a person who has committed an insult or injury against them, God's people were taught to remonstrate with the offender and endeavor, by calm and kindly reason, to bring him to a sense of his fault.

not suffer sin upon him—literally, "that ye may not participate in his sin."

18. 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).

19. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind—This prohibition was probably intended to discourage a practice which seemed to infringe upon the economy which God has established in the animal kingdom.

thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed—This also was directed against an idolatrous practice, namely, that of the ancient Zabians, or fire-worshippers, who sowed different seeds, accompanying the act with magical rites and invocations; and commentators have generally thought the design of this and the preceding law was to put an end to the unnatural lusts and foolish superstitions which were prevalent among the heathen. But the reason of the prohibition was probably deeper: for those who have studied the diseases of land and vegetables tell us, that the practice of mingling seeds is injurious both to flowers and to grains. "If the various genera of the natural order Gramineæ, which includes the grains and the grasses, should be sown in the same field, and flower at the same time, so that the pollen of the two flowers mix, a spurious seed will be the consequence, called by the farmers chess. It is always inferior and unlike either of the two grains that produced it, in size, flavor, and nutritious principles. Independently of contributing to disease the soil, they never fail to produce the same in animals and men that feed on them" [Whitlaw].

neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee—Although this precept, like the other two with which it is associated, was in all probability designed to root out some superstition, it seems to have had a further meaning. The law, it is to be observed, did not prohibit the Israelites wearing many different kinds of cloths together, but only the two specified; and the observations and researches of modern science have proved that "wool, when combined with linen, increases its power of passing off the electricity from the body. In hot climates, it brings on malignant fevers and exhausts the strength; and when passing off from the body, it meets with the heated air, inflames and excoriates like a blister" [Whitlaw]. (See Eze 44:17, 18).

23-25. ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised; three years … it shall not be eaten of—"The wisdom of this law is very striking. Every gardener will teach us not to let fruit trees bear in their earliest years, but to pluck off the blossoms: and for this reason, that they will thus thrive the better, and bear more abundantly afterwards. The very expression, 'to regard them as uncircumcised,' suggests the propriety of pinching them off; I do not say cutting them off, because it is generally the hand, and not a knife, that is employed in this operation" [Michaelis].

26. shall not eat any thing with the blood—(See on Le 17:10).

neither … use enchantment, nor observe times—The former refers to divination by serpents—one of the earliest forms of enchantment, and the other means the observation, literally, of clouds, as a study of the appearance and motion of clouds was a common way of foretelling good or bad fortune. Such absurd but deep-rooted superstitions often put a stop to the prosecution of serious and important transactions, but they were forbidden especially as implying a want of faith in the being, or of reliance on the providence of God.

27. Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, &c.—It seems probable that this fashion had been learned by the Israelites in Egypt, for the ancient Egyptians had their dark locks cropped short or shaved with great nicety, so that what remained on the crown appeared in the form of a circle surrounding the head, while the beard was dressed into a square form. This kind of coiffure had a highly idolatrous meaning; and it was adopted, with some slight variations, by almost all idolaters in ancient times. (Jer 9:25, 26; 25:23, where "in the utmost corners" means having the corners of their hair cut.) Frequently a lock or tuft of hair was left on the hinder part of the head, the rest being cut round in the form of a ring, as the Turks, Chinese, and Hindus do at the present day.

neither shalt thou mar, &c.—The Egyptians used to cut or shave off their whiskers, as may be seen in the coffins of mummies, and the representations of divinities on the monuments. But the Hebrews, in order to separate them from the neighboring nations, or perhaps to put a stop to some existing superstition, were forbidden to imitate this practice. It may appear surprising that Moses should condescend to such minutiæ as that of regulating the fashion of the hair and the beard—matters which do not usually occupy the attention of a legislator—and which appear widely remote from the province either of government or of a religion. A strong presumption, therefore, arises that he had in mind by these regulations to combat some superstitious practices of the Egyptians.

28. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead—The practice of making deep gashes on the face and arms and legs, in time of bereavement, was universal among the heathen, and it was deemed a becoming mark of respect for the dead, as well as a sort of propitiatory offering to the deities who presided over death and the grave. The Jews learned this custom in Egypt, and though weaned from it, relapsed in a later and degenerate age into this old superstition (Isa 15:2; Jer 16:6; 41:5).

nor print any marks upon you—by tattooing, imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars, and other fanciful devices on various parts of their person. The impression was made sometimes by means of a hot iron, sometimes by ink or paint, as is done by the Arab females of the present day and the different castes of the Hindus. It is probable that a strong propensity to adopt such marks in honor of some idol gave occasion to the prohibition in this verse; and they were wisely forbidden, for they were signs of apostasy; and, when once made, they were insuperable obstacles to a return. (See allusions to the practice, Isa 44:5; Re 13:17; 14:1).

30. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary—This precept is frequently repeated along with the prohibition of idolatrous practices, and here it stands closely connected with the superstitions forbidden in the previous verses.

31. Regard not them that have familiar spirits—The Hebrew word, rendered "familiar spirit," signifies the belly, and sometimes a leathern bottle, from its similarity to the belly. It was applied in the sense of this passage to ventriloquists, who pretended to have communication with the invisible world. The Hebrews were strictly forbidden to consult them as the vain but high pretensions of those impostors were derogatory to the honor of God and subversive of their covenant relations with Him as His people.

neither seek after wizards—fortunetellers, who pretended, as the Hebrew word indicates, to prognosticate by palmistry (or an inspection of the lines of the hand) the future fate of those who applied to them.

33, 34. if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him—The Israelites were to hold out encouragement to strangers to settle among them, that they might be brought to the knowledge and worship of the true God; and with this in view, they were enjoined to treat them not as aliens, but as friends, on the ground that they themselves, who were strangers in Egypt, were at first kindly and hospitably received in that country.

37. I am the Lord—This solemn admonition, by which these various precepts are repeatedly sanctioned, is equivalent to "I, your Creator—your Deliverer from bondage, and your Sovereign, who have wisdom to establish laws, have power also to punish the violation of them." It was well fitted to impress the minds of the Israelites with a sense of their duty and God's claims to obedience.