Leviticus 18:4

Lev 18:4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I [am] the LORD your God.

Ver. 4. To walk therein.] Not to halt therein, nor to take a turn or two, or for a while, as Samson went with his parents till he met with a honeycomb; but indesinenter ambulabo, as David saith, {Psa 116:9} "Walk, and not be weary; run, and not faint," as those in Isa 40:31. "So run, that ye may obtain," saith the apostle. {1Co 9:24}

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.

Lev 18:4. My judgments — Though you do not see the particular reason of some of them, and though they be contrary to the laws and usages of the other nations.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18:4-5 regulations . . . decrees: The Bible anticipated that the courts would need to interpret the laws that God had provided to apply them to different circumstances. Such interpretations became case laws; the body of these court decisions was called mishpatim in Hebrew (cp. “decrees” in 10:11). • Paul alludes to these verses in Rom 10:5 and Gal 3:12, where he contrasts the “way of faith” with the “way of law.”

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(4) Ye shall do my judgments.—The expression “my judgments and mine ordinances” is here used emphatically, in opposition to “their ordinances,” and has here the force of Mine only; just as the phrase “Him shalt thou serve” (Deu_6:13) is explained by Christ “Him only shalt thou serve” (Mat_4:10).

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

Ye shall do my judgments,.... Which are just and right, and according to the rules of justice and equity; these are things, as Jarchi observes, which are said in the law with judgment, or are laws framed with the highest reason, even by the judgment of God himself, whose judgment is always according to truth: Aben Ezra thinks, these are the judicial laws in Exo 21:1; but though they may include them, they have more particular respect to the following laws:

and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: which he had ordained and appointed of his own will and pleasure, which Jarchi calls the decree of the king, or which he decreed and determined as a king, having absolute power over his subjects to enact and enjoin what he pleased; wherefore some think these refer to ceremonial laws, which depended upon the will of the lawgiver, and were not founded in any natural sense or reason, wherefore it follows:

I am the Lord your God: who had a right to make what laws he pleased, being their Sovereign, and which they in gratitude as well as in justice ought to obey, he being their God, their covenant God, who had done great and good things for them.

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

My judgments and mine ordinances; mine universally, Deu 27:26; Gal 3:10; for though the words be indefinite, the matter is necessary; and mine solely, Deu 6:13, compared with Mat 4:10, and therefore those that here follow, though you do not see the particular reason of some of them, and though they be contrary to the laws and usages of the nations.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Judgments — Judicial utterances or legal precepts.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My judgments - Though you do not see the particular reason of some of them, and though they be contrary to the laws and usages of the other nations.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

My laws are what you must do, and my commandments are what you must keep

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize that the people must obey everything that Yahweh has commanded them to do. You can translate this parallelism into one statement that conveys the requirement to keep all of Yahweh's commands. AT: "You must obey all of my laws and commandments" (See: Parallelism)

so that you walk in them

Obeying Yahweh's commandments is spoken of as if the commandments were a path on which the person walks. AT: "so that you conduct your behavior according to them" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

law

command

walk

decree

obey

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

את משפטי תעשו YE SHALL DO MY JUDGMENTS — Matters prescribed in the Torah which are in conformity with the human feeling of justice such as one feels ought to be ordained if they had not been already ordained by the Torah.

ואת חקתי תשמרו AND KEEP MINE ORDINANCES — matters which are decrees of the King (promulgated without any reason being stated) against which the evil inclination raises objections: "Why should we observe them and against which also the nations of the world raise objections, as e. g., the prohibition of eating swine’s flesh, of wearing clothes of a mixture of wool and linen, the purgatory power of "water mingled with the ashes of the Red Heifer" (טהרת מי חטאת) — therefore it is stated: "I", the Lord, have enacted this for you — you are not at liberty to evade the obligation (Yoma 67b).

ללכת בהם TO WALK IN THEM — do not free yourselves from their environment, i.e. that you must not say, I have acquired Jewish wisdom, now I will go and acquire the wisdom of the other peoples of the world in order to walk in their ways.

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.

MINE ORDINANCES SHALL YE DO. “These are matters prescribed in the Torah which, even if they were not prescribed, one would know that they ought to be prescribed.” Thus the language of Rashi. And in the Torath Kohanim it is stated: 13:10. “These are matters written in the Torah which, even if they were not written, would deserve to have been written, such as robberies, forbidden sexual relationships, idolatry, bloodshed and blasphemy.”Now by way of the simple meaning of Scripture, the term mishpatai (Mine ordinances) is to be understood in its simple sense. It is a reference to the laws stated in the section of V’eileh Hamishpatim (And these are the ordinances) and in the whole Torah. Therefore He states here, which if a man do, he shall live by them, as these laws were given so that man should live, and for the development of countries, and peace among men, so that no one should cause harm to his fellowman or kill him. The prophet Ezekiel likewise mentioned many times with reference to these mishpatim (ordinances), which if a man do, he shall live by them, while of the Sabbath he says, to be a sign between Me and them., Verse 12. Similarly in the Book of Nehemiah it says, Thine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them. But our Rabbis have said: “He shall live by them — but not die by them. This teaches that danger to life overrides the Sabbath laws and [all] the commandments.” And according to the Midrashic interpretation it means: 9:10. It is also mentioned here in Rashi. “He shall live by them — in the World to Come. Should you say it means that he shall live in this world, will he not in the end die!” must refer to eternal life. And if so, the expression which if a man do, he shall live by them refers back [not only to the mishpatim (ordinances), as we explained before, but] also to chukothai [“My statutes,” those laws for which no reason is given, but the observance of which also assures one eternal life].Know that man’s [reward in] life for the observance of the commandments is in accordance with his preparation for them. For he who fulfills the commandments not for their own sake, but in order to receive a reward, will be rewarded on account of them in this world with longevity, riches, possessions, and honor. It is concerning this [kind of observance of the laws of the Torah] that it is said, in her left hand are riches and honor, which the Rabbis interpreted to mean: “to those that stand on the left of it [i.e., to those who engage in the observance of the Torah not for its own sake], there are material riches and honor.” Similarly, those who engage in the observance of the commandments so as to merit by them reward in the World to Come, these being the people who serve G-d out of fear [of punishment], will be found worthy on account of their intention to be saved from the judgments that will come upon the wicked, and their souls shall abide in joyfulness [in life eternal]. But those who engage in the observance of the commandments out of love, as is right and proper, together with worldly occupation, similar to what is mentioned in the Torah in the section of Im Bechukothai,. Further, 26:3. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, Verse 5. they will merit good life in this world according to the usual nature of things, and in life eternal, in the World to Come, their merits will still be complete before them [since the reward they received in their lifetime will not reduce that which is to come to them in the hereafter]. But those who abandon altogether the concerns of this world and pay no attention to it, acting as if they themselves were not creatures of physical being, and all their thoughts and intentions are directed only to their Creator, just as was the case with Elijah, [these people] on account of their soul cleaving to the Glorious Name will live forever in body and soul, as is evidenced in Scripture concerning Elijah. and as is known of him in tradition, and as the Midrashim speak of Enoch. Many Midrashim describe his activity after his ascencion into heaven. See, however, Rashi ibid. and of those belonging to the World to Come who will rise at the resurrection. It is for this reason that on the subject of reward for observance of the commandments the verses speak [in various ways, such as]: that thy days may be long; that thou mayest live; and that thou mayest prolong thy days., 22:7. For these expressions include all kinds of life, each according to his due.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.