Imamat 18:4-5

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. 18:5 So you must keep ³  my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. ⁴  I am the Lord.

Imamat 18:26

18:26 You yourselves must obey ⁵  my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, ⁶ 

Imamat 19:37

19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. ⁷  I am the Lord.’”

Mazmur 19:8-11

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair ⁸ 

and make one joyful. ⁹ 

The Lord’s commands ¹⁰  are pure ¹¹ 

and give insight for life. ¹² 

19:9 The commands to fear the Lord are right ¹³ 

and endure forever. ¹⁴ 

The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy

and absolutely just. ¹⁵ 

19:10 They are of greater value ¹⁶  than gold,

than even a great amount of pure gold;

they bring greater delight ¹⁷  than honey,

than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.

19:11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; ¹⁸ 

those who obey them receive a rich reward. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 105:45

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey ²⁰  his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 119:80

119:80 May I be fully committed to your statutes, ²¹ 

so that I might not be ashamed.

Mazmur 119:145

ק (Qof)

119:145 I cried out with all my heart, “Answer me, O Lord!

I will observe your statutes.”

Mazmur 119:171

119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,

for you teach me your statutes.

Yehezkiel 36:27

36:27 I will put my Spirit within you; ²²  I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes ²³  and carefully observe my regulations. ²⁴ 

[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.”

[18:5]  ³ tn Heb “And you shall keep.”

[18:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vÿkhayah) in Smr, but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).

[18:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “And you shall keep, you.” The latter emphatic personal pronoun “you” is left out of a few medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate.

[18:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “the native and the sojourner”; NIV “The native-born and the aliens”; NAB “whether natives or resident aliens.”

[19:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31).

[19:8]  ⁸ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

[19:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.

[19:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.

[19:8]  ¹¹ tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.

[19:8]  ¹² tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.

[19:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord is clean.” The phrase “fear of the Lord” probably refers here to the law, which teaches one how to demonstrate proper reverence for the Lord. See Ps 111:10 for another possible use of the phrase in this sense.

[19:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[it] stands permanently.”

[19:9]  ¹⁵ sn Trustworthy and absolutely just. The Lord’s commands accurately reflect God’s moral will for his people and are an expression of his just character.

[19:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “more desirable.”

[19:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).

[19:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “moreover your servant is warned by them.”

[19:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the keeping of them [there is] a great reward.”

[105:45]  ²⁰ tn Heb “guard.”

[119:80]  ²¹ tn Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”

[36:27]  ²² tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.

[36:27]  ²³ tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.

[36:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.