Imamat 18:2

18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God!

Imamat 18:4

18:4 You must observe my regulations ¹  and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. ²  I am the Lord your God.

Imamat 18:21

18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, ³  so that you do not profane ⁴  the name of your God. I am the Lord!

Imamat 18:30

18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes ⁵  that have been done before you, so that you do not ⁶  defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”

[18:4]  ¹ tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”

[18:4]  sn The Hebrew term translated “regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) refers to the set of regulations about to be set forth in the following chapters (cf. Lev 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:46). Note especially the thematic and formulaic relationships between the introduction here in Lev 18:1-5 and the paraenesis in Lev 20:22-26, both of which refer explicitly to the corrupt nations and the need to separate from them by keeping the Lord’s regulations.

[18:4]  ² tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”

[18:21]  ³ tn Heb “And from your seed you shall not give to cause to pass over to Molech.” Smr (cf. also the LXX) has “to cause to serve” rather than “to cause to pass over.” For detailed remarks on Molech and Molech worship see N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCBC), 87-88; P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 259-60; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 333-37, and the literature cited there. It could refer to either human sacrifice or a devotion of children to some sort of service of Molech, perhaps of a sexual sort (cf. Lev 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 23:10, etc.). The inclusion of this prohibition against Molech worship here may be due to some sexual connection of this kind, or perhaps simply to the lexical link between זֶרַע (zera’) meaning “seed, semen” in v. 20 but “offspring” in v. 21.

[18:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[18:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “to not do from the statutes of the detestable acts.”

[18:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “and you will not.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.