Leviticus 19:18 (YLT)

Passage

`Thou dost not take vengeance, nor watch the sons of thy people; and thou hast had love to thy neighbour as thyself; I <FI>am<Fi> Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 19:16 `Thou dost not go slandering among thy people; thou dost not stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I <FI>am<Fi> Jehovah.

Leviticus 19:17 `Thou dost not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou dost certainly reprove thy fellow, and not suffer sin on him.

Leviticus 19:18 `Thou dost not take vengeance, nor watch the sons of thy people; and thou hast had love to thy neighbour as thyself; I <FI>am<Fi> Jehovah.

Leviticus 19:19 `My statutes ye do keep: thy cattle thou dost not cause to gender <FI>with<Fi> diverse kinds; thy field thou dost not sow with diverse kinds, and a garment of diverse kinds, shaatnez, doth not go up upon thee.

Leviticus 19:20 `And when a man lieth with a woman with seed of copulation, and she a maid-servant, betrothed to a man, and not really ransomed, or freedom hath not been given to her, an investigation there is; they are not put to death, for she <FI> is<Fi> not free.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "dost", "take", "vengeance", "watch", "sons", and "people". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "dost", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "Thou dost not hate thy brother in..." into verse 19's "My statutes ye do keep thy cattle...", so "thou" and "dost" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "dost" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.