Leviticus 18:3
in Leviticus 18You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you. You must not walk in their customs.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes.
KJV
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
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This verse in Leviticus 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe doings of the land of Egypt - the land of Canaan - The worshipping of demons, beasts, etc., as mentioned in the preceding chapter, Lev 17:7, and the abominations mentioned in this chapter from Lev 18:21-23.
This site's exposition
And the LORD spake unto Moses
on Leviticus 18:1-3
The chapter sets Israel between two countries. Egypt is behind them and Canaan is in front of them, and verse 3 forbids the doings of both by name before a single rule is given. It calls the practices of those nations their ordinances, the same word the book uses for what God appoints, so custom is met on the ground custom claims.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Of this danger they are here warned, You shall not walk in their ordinances. Such a tyrant is custom that their practices are called ordinances, and they became rivals even with God's ordinances, and God's professing people were in danger of receiving law from them. A solemn charge to them to keep God's judgments, statutes, and ordinances,
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do,....
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֧ה | kemaaseh | according to [the] deed[s] of | H4639 → | |
| אֶֽרֶץ־ | ʾeretz- | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרַ֛יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְשַׁבְתֶּם־ | yeshavtem- | you dwelt | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָּ֖הּ | bah | in <the> it | ||
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשׂ֑וּ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה | ukhemaaseh | and according to [the] deed[s] of | H4639 → | |
| אֶֽרֶץ־ | ʾeretz- | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כְּנַ֡עַן | kenaan | Canaan | H3667 → | 94 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנִי֩ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| מֵבִ֨יא | mevi' | [am] about to bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֥ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שָׁ֙מָּה֙ | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲשׂ֔וּ | taasu | you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וּבְחֻקֹּתֵיהֶ֖ם | uvechukoteihem | and in statutes their | H2708 → | 104 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵלֵֽכוּ׃ | telekhu | you will walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֧הaccording to [the] deed[s] of
kemaasehH4639 →
אֶֽרֶץ־[the] land of
ʾeretz-H776 →2504 times
מִצְרַ֛יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְשַׁבְתֶּם־you dwelt
yeshavtem-H3427 →1079 times
בָּ֖הּin <the> it
bah
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשׂ֑וּyou will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֣הand according to [the] deed[s] of
ukhemaasehH4639 →
אֶֽרֶץ־[the] land of
ʾeretz-H776 →2504 times
כְּנַ֡עַןCanaan
kenaanH3667 →94 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲנִי֩I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
מֵבִ֨יא[am] about to bring
mevi'H935 →2568 times
אֶתְכֶ֥ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
שָׁ֙מָּה֙there towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲשׂ֔וּyou will do
taasuH6213 →2628 times
וּבְחֻקֹּתֵיהֶ֖םand in statutes their
uvechukoteihemH2708 →104 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֵלֵֽכוּ׃you will walk
telekhuH1980 →1546 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 23:24You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 12:30–31
be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth…
- Numbers 33:52
you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
- Deuteronomy 12:30–31
Through
Leviticus 20:23You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:24
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.
- Deuteronomy 9:5
It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving…
- Leviticus 18:30
You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”
- Leviticus 18:27
For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.
- Leviticus 18:24
Through
Ezekiel 23:8She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:19
Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt
- Ezekiel 23:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Leviticus

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
- PlaceThe LevantCanaanThe land God promised to Abraham's seed, walked and marked with altars by the patriarchs and possessed under Joshua four centuries…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
