Leviticus 18:5
in Leviticus 18Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and mine ordinances; which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am Jehovah.
KJV
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.
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This verse in Leviticus 18
Commentary
12 notes on this verse"The man who carries out the law will find life through it." Scripture did not say he will find life through it, in the sense that through the law he will live in heaven, but he will find life through it to the extent that what he merits, he reaps in the present world.
This site's exposition
You are to practice My judgments
on Leviticus 18:4-5
The promise attached to obedience in verse 5 is life. Paul quotes it at Romans 10:5 for the righteousness that is by the law. At Galatians 3:12 he quotes it to show the law is not based on faith.
This site's exposition
the man who does these things will live by them
Jerome takes the life promised as what a man reaps in the present world. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see temporal good first and a spiritual reference as well. Augustine holds that only one justified by faith can do the law and live.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For the law promises those who practice it not the rewards of the heavenly kingdom but the consolations of this life when it says, "The one who does these things shall live in them." But the Lord says to his disciples, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
The righteousness of the law is proposed in these terms,-that whosoever shall do it shall live in it; and the purpose is, that when each has discovered his own weakness, he may not by his own strength, nor by the letter of the law (which cannot be done), but by faith, conciliating the Justifier, attain, and do, and live in it. For the work in which he who does it shall live, is not done except by one who is justified. His justification, however, is obtained by faith; and concerning faith it is written, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring down Christ therefrom;) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is (says he), the word of faith which we preach: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." As far as he is saved, so far is he righteous.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureDisputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine statute, Leviticus 18. For the Lord established laws according to which legitimacy is observed in the persons who contract marriage. For He says: I am the Lord your God: keep my laws and …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And though in strictness, and according to the covenant of works they could not challenge life for so doing, except their obedience was universal, perfect, constant and perpetual, and therefore no man since the fall could be justified by the law, yet by the covenant of grace this life is promised to all that obey God's commands sincerely.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"The Lord, who has a right to rule all; your God, who has a peculiar right to rule you." Jehovah is the fountain of being, and therefore the fountain of power, whose we are, whom we are bound to serve, and who is able to punish all disobedience.
The apostle quotes this twice as opposite to the faith which the gospel reveals. It is the description of the righteousness which is by the law, the man that doeth them shall live en autois -- in them ( Rom. x. 5 ), and is urged to prove that the law is not of faith, Gal. iii.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If a man keeps the “statutes” (i. e. the ordinances of Lev 18:4) and “judgments” of the divine law, he shall not be “cut off from his people” (compare Lev 18:29), he shall gain true life, the life which connects him with Yahweh through his obedience. See the margin reference and Luk 10:28; Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Obedience to the divine law always, indeed, ensures temporal advantages; and this, doubtless, was the primary meaning of the words, "which if a man do, he shall live in them." But that they had a higher reference to spiritual life is evident from the application made of them by our Lord (Lu 10:28) and the apostle (Ro 10:2).
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤ם | ushemartem | and you will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֻקֹּתַי֙ | chukotai | statutes my | H2708 → | 104 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטַ֔י | mishpatai | judgments my | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה | yaaseh | he will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹתָ֛ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָדָ֖ם | haadam | <the> humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| וָחַ֣י | vachai | and he will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| בָּהֶ֑ם | bahem | by <the> them | ||
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֤םand you will keep
ushemartemH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חֻקֹּתַי֙statutes my
chukotaiH2708 →104 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
מִשְׁפָּטַ֔יjudgments my
mishpataiH4941 →422 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֥הhe will do
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
אֹתָ֛ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
הָאָדָ֖ם<the> humankind
haadamH120 →551 times
וָחַ֣יand he will live
vachaiH2421 →282 times
בָּהֶ֑םby <the> them
bahem
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָֽה׃ ס[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Romans 10:5For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:13
Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:11
And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 9:29
You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:21
But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Galatians 3:12
The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:13
Through
Ezekiel 20:13Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 20:8
Through
Galatians 3:12The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
it leads to
- Romans 10:5–6
For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
- Romans 4:14
For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,
- Romans 10:5–6
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Obedience35 verses
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 29.50; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILY 76; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 21.5.2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.