Leviticus 19:26–31

Blood, Hair, and Body

19:26 “ ‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it.45 You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.46 19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard.47 19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person48 or incise a tattoo on yourself.49 I am the Lord. 19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute,50 so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness.51

Purity, Honor, Respect, and Honesty

19:30 “ ‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits52 to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God.

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45	tn Heb “You shall not eat on the blood.” See the extensive remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 319–20, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132–33. The LXX has “on the mountains,” suggesting that this is a prohibition against illegitimate places and occasions of worship, not the eating of blood.
46	tn Heb “You shall not practice divination and you shall not practice soothsaying”; cf. NRSV “practice augury or witchcraft.” For suggestions regarding the practices involved see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 133, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 320.
47	tc Heb “and you [singular] shall not ruin the corner of your [singular] beard.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural pronouns (i.e., “you” and “your” plural) rather than the singular of the MT.
48	tn Heb “And slash for the soul you shall not give.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 21:1, 5; 22:5). See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 306, 320–21.
49	tn Heb “and a writing of incision you shall not give in you.”
50	tn Heb “to make her practice harlotry.” Some recent English versions regard this as religious or temple prostitution (cf. TEV, CEV).
51	tn Heb “and the land become full of lewdness.” Regarding the term “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
52	sn The prohibition here concerns those who would seek special knowledge through the spirits of the dead, whether the dead in general or dead relatives in particular (i.e., familiar spirits; see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 321, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 134). Cf. Lev 20:6 below.