Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 18

And the Lord spake unto Moses. —Unlike the preceding Divine communications, which dealt with ritual and ceremonial pollutions, the enactments which Moses is here commanded to communicate directly to the children of Israel, or their representatives, the elders, affect their moral life—precepts which form the basis of domestic purity and are the foundation of human happiness.

I am the Lord your God. — The Lord is their recognized and sole sovereign. Therefore, the children of Israel are bound to obey His precepts and not be led astray by the customs or statutes that prevailed among the people whose country they are to possess.

Moreover, because He is holy, the Israelites, by faithfully obeying His sacred laws, will attain that holiness that will bring them into communion with Him, in whose image they were created.

This phrase, which is so emphatically repeated twice more in this chapter (Leviticus 18:4; Leviticus 18:30), has only been used once before in this book .

After the doings of the land of Egypt. —During their stay in Egypt, the Israelites became familiar with the practices that prevailed in the land of their bondage. Since they adopted some of them , they are here solemnly warned to avoid those that are especially forbidden in what follows.

And after the doings of the land of Canaan. The danger of imitating the customs they had witnessed for centuries in the land they left was greatly increased because these licentious practices existed in worse forms in the land they were to inherit. It is therefore against the past and the future that they are warned here.

Neither shall you walk in their ordinances. Since some of “the doings” referred to may have been simple custom, not based upon the law of the country where they prevailed, the Lawgiver here emphatically condemns the acts that were legalized, declaring them to have no authority whatever. (See Leviticus 18:30.)

You shall do my judgments. —The expression “my judgments and my ordinances” is here used emphatically, in opposition to “their ordinances,” and has here the force of Mine only; just as the phrase Him you shall serve (Deuteronomy 6:13) is explained by Christ Him only you shall serve (Matthew 4:10).

You shall therefore keep my statutes. Better, and you shall keep my ordinances. The word here rendered as “statutes” is the same that the Authorized Version translates as ordinances in Leviticus 18:3-4.

He shall live in them. —Better, he shall live by or through them; that is, by observing them, the law-abiding will live a happy and prosperous life, since disobedience will expose the offender to the penalty of death.

The spiritual authorities in the time of the Second Temple interpreted this clause to mean that he who obeys these laws shall have eternal life. Hence, the ancient Chaldee Versions translate it, “Shall have life eternal.” This passage is quoted both in the Prophets (Ezekiel 20:11; Ezekiel 20:13; Ezekiel 20:21; Nehemiah 9:29) and by St. Paul (Romans 10:5; Galatians 3:12), who contrasts this promise made to works with the promise of the Gospel made to faith.