Leviticus 19:16
in Leviticus 19You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am Jehovah.
KJV
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer - רכיל rachil signifies a trader, a peddler, and is here applied to the person who travels about dealing in scandal and calumny, getting the secrets of every person and family, and retailing them wherever he goes. A more despicable character exists not: such a person is a pest to society, and should be exiled from the habitations of men.
This site's exposition
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment
on Leviticus 19:15-16
Partiality is forbidden in both directions, toward the poor man and toward the mighty one, so pity is named as a way of judging wrongly alongside fear. The word talebearer occurs here for the first time in Scripture. Verse 16 sets the man who carries stories beside the man who stands against the blood of his neighbour, which the older commentators read as conspiring against a life or bearing false witness where a life is at stake.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Or, 2, In witness-bearing: Neither shalt thou stand as a witness against the blood of thy neighbour, if his blood be innocent, nor join in confederacy with such bloody men as those described," Prov. i.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Thou shall not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Ye shall not steal--A variety of social duties are inculcated in this passage, chiefly in reference to common and little-thought-of vices to which mankind are exceedingly prone; such as committing petty frauds, or not scrupling to violate truth in transactions of business, ridiculing bodily infirmities, or circulating stories to the prejudice of others.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Stand against the blood of thy neighbor - Either, to put his life in danger by standing up as his accuser (compare Mat 26:60); or, to stand by idly when thy neighbor’s life is in danger. Whichever interpretation we adopt, the clause prohibits that which might interfere with the course of justice.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵלֵ֤ךְ | telekh | you will go about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| רָכִיל֙ | rakhil | a slanderer | H7400 → | |
| בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ | beameikha | among kinspeople<s> your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲמֹ֖ד | taamod | you will stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דַּ֣ם | dam | [the] blood of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| רֵעֶ֑ךָ | reekha | neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תֵלֵ֤ךְyou will go about
telekhH1980 →1546 times
רָכִיל֙a slanderer
rakhilH7400 →
בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָamong kinspeople<s> your
beameikhaH5971 →1873 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲמֹ֖דyou will stand
taamodH5975 →521 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
דַּ֣ם[the] blood of
damH1818 →360 times
רֵעֶ֑ךָneighbor your
reekhaH7453 →188 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָֽה׃[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
Exodus 23:1“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
it leads to
- Psalms 101:5
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
- Proverbs 19:5
A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
- Deuteronomy 19:16–21
If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,
- Psalms 101:5
Through
Proverbs 11:13A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:19
He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
- Proverbs 25:9
Argue your case with your neighbor without betraying another’s confidence,
- 1 Timothy 5:13
At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.
- Proverbs 20:19
Through
Exodus 23:7Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Ephesians 4:25
Through
Proverbs 20:19He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:13
A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
- Proverbs 11:13
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.