Leviticus 18:30

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Therefore you shall keep my charge, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs, which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them: I am Yahweh your God.'"

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗י

mishmereth

H4931

“guard · my”

Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Singular

Appears 78× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 26:5

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H4929

TWOT: 2414g

guard, charge, function, obligation, service, watch - guard, watch, house of detention or confinement - keeping, preserving - charge, injunction - office, function (ceremonial)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

16: words
14: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

4 verbs
6 nouns
1 pronoun
1 preposition
1 conjunction
3 particles

Verb forms

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣ם Qal · Sequential Perfect
עֲשׂ֜וֹת Qal · Infinitive Construct
נַעֲשׂ֣וּ Niphal · Perfect
תִֽטַּמְּא֖וּ Hithpael · Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

עֲשׂ֜וֹת to do H6213 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 35 words from the Hebrew and 38 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 16 Hebrew tokens and 30 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Leviticus 18:30 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Leviticus 20:23 You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
Deuteronomy 18:9–12 When you are come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
Leviticus 22:9 "'They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
Leviticus 18:2–4 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'I am Yahweh your God.
Leviticus 18:26–27 You therefore shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the native-born, nor the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you;
Deuteronomy 11:1 Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Leviticus 18:30 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣ם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗י לְבִלְתִּ֨י עֲשׂ֜וֹת מֵחֻקּ֤וֹת הַתּֽוֹעֵבֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲשׂ֣וּ לִפְנֵיכֶ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תִֽטַּמְּא֖וּ בָּהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם

Therefore you shall keep my charge, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs, which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them: I am Yahweh your God.'"

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Leviticus 18:30 Septuagint · lemma form

καί φυλάσσω ὁ πρόσταγμα ἐγώ ὅπως μή ποιέω ἀπό πᾶς ὁ νόμιμος ὁ βδελύσσω ὅς γίγνομαι πρό ὁ σύ καί οὐ μιαίνω ἐν αὐτός ὅτι ἐγώ κύριος ὁ θεός σύ

And you⌃ shall keep my ordinances, that you⌃ may not do any of the abominable practices, which have taken place before your time: and you⌃ shall not be polluted in them; for I am the Lord your God.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְתִטְרוּן יָת מַטְרַת מֵימְרִי בְּדִיל דְלָא לְמֶעְבַּד מִנִימוֹסֵי תוֹעֶבְתָּא דְאִתְעֲבָדָא קֳדָמֵיכוֹן וְלָא תִסְתַּאֲבוּן בְּהוֹן אֲנָא יְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְתִטְרוּן יַת מַטְרַת מֵימְרִי לְאִזְדַהֲרָא מְטוֹל לְמֶעֱבַד מִנִימוּסֵי תּוֹעֵבְתָּא דְאִיתְעַבִידוּ בְּאַרְעָא קֳדָמֵיכוֹן וְלָא תִסְתַּאֲבוּן בְּהוֹן אֲנָא הוּא יְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן

Observe you (then) the keeping of My Word, in being careful to avoid the practice of these abominable rites, which have been practised in the land before you, and the defilement of yourselves by them: I am the Lord.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Leviticus 18:30 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Lev 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that [ye] commit not [any one] of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I [am] the LORD your God.

Ver. 30. These abominable customs.] Heb., Statutes of abominations. Their evil customs became as laws: that tyrant of three letters, Mos, had made them so.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs--In giving the Israelites these particular institutions, God was only re-delivering the law imprinted on the natural heart of man; for there is every reason to believe that the incestuous alliances and unnatural crimes prohibited in this chapter were forbidden to all men by a law expressed or understood from the beginning of the world, or at least from the era of the flood, since God threatens to condemn and punish, in a manner so sternly severe, these atrocities in the practice of the Canaanites and their neighbors, who were not subject to the laws of the Hebrew nation.

Next: Leviticus Chapter 19

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 30. Shall ye keep mine ordinance] The only way to be preserved from all false worship is seriously to consider and devoutly to observe the ordinances of the true religion. He who in the things of God goes no farther than he can say, Thus it is written, and thus it behoves me to do, is never likely to receive a false creed, nor perform a superstitious act of worship.

1. How true is that word, The law of the Lord is PERFECT! In a small compass, and in a most minute detail, it comprises every thing that is calculated to instruct, direct, convince, correct, and fortify the mind of man. Whatever has a tendency to corrupt or injure man, that it forbids; whatever is calculated to comfort him, promote and secure his best interests, that it commands. It takes him in all possible states, views him in all connections, and provides for his present and eternal happiness.

2. As the human soul is polluted and tends to pollution, the great doctrine of the law is holiness to the Lord: this it keeps invariably in view in all its commands, precepts, ordinances, rites, and ceremonies. And how forcibly in all these does it say, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbour as thyself! This is the prominent doctrine of the preceding chapter; and this shall be fulfilled in all them who believe, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe.

Reader, magnify God for his law, for by it is the knowledge of sin; and magnify him for his Gospel, for by this is the cure of sin. Let the law be thy schoolmaster to bring thee to Christ, that thou mayest be justified by faith; and that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in thee, and that thou mayest walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(30) Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance. As God is no respecter of persons, and as He will assuredly visit His own people with the same punishment which He inflicted upon the former occupants of the laud, the Israelites are to take special care to keep inviolate His ordinances.

Commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you. Better, Do not any one of these abominable statutes which were done, as the Authorised Version translates the word in Deu_6:24; Deu_16:12; Deu_26:16. These abominations were not practised simply as customs, but were legally enacted as statutes of the land, and formed part of their religious institutions (see Lev_18:3). A similar state of degeneracy is described by Isaiah, who tells us that the Divine statutes, which is the same word used in the passage before us, were changed. By deviating here from the usual rendering of this phrase the Authorised Version mars the import of the passage.

I am the Lord your God.—This is the declaration with which this group of laws was introduced. Its repetition at the end imparts peculiar solemnity to these enactments. (See Lev_18:1.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance,.... Whatever the Lord appointed them and commanded, whether contained in this chapter, or elsewhere:

that ye commit not anyone of these abominable customs; for attending to the ordinances of God, and a close in them, they would be preserved from the commission of such abominable things, and giving in to such detestable customs as before warned against:

which were committed before you; by the inhabitants of Canaan; and by the punishment on them for them they might be deterred from doing the same:

and that ye defile not yourselves therein; for though the land is so often said to be defiled, yet, properly speaking, and chiefly, it was the inhabitants that were defiled by their abominable customs; and so would the Israelites also, should they observe the same, and thereby become abominable in the sight of God, and incur his displeasure, and be liable to his vengeance:

I am the Lord your God; who had a sovereign authority over them, and a right to give out what commands he pleased, both negative and affirmative; and to whom they were under obligations to obey, as the God of nature and providence, from whom they had their beings, and were supported in them, and as their covenant God, who had bestowed special and spiritual favours on them.

Next: Leviticus Chapter 19

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

ושמרתם את משמרתי THEREFORE SHALL YE KEEP (OR, WATCH OVER) MY CHARGE — This is intended to caution the court regarding this (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 13 22).

ולא תטמאו בהם אני ה' אלהיכם AND IF YE DEFILE NOT YOURSELVES THEREIN, I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD — If, however, you do defile yourselves I shall no longer be your God (אלהיכם) since you have cut yourselves off from following after Me. What use then can I have of you? Consequently you deserve annihilation! That is why Scripture states: I am the Lord your God (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 13 22).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Leviticus, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 16 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mishmereth (“guard”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word mishmereth carries the sense “guard.” How does it shape the verse?
Leviticus 20:23 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to do” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
The verb «וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣ם» is Qal Sequential Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 16 Hebrew ↔ 30 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 27 words in this verse.
“to do” occurs 2× in this single verse.
14 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 16 words in this verse.