Lev 19:15-18 | KD | STEP | In judgment, i.e., in the administration of justice, they were to do no unrighteousness: neither to respect the person of the poor (πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, to do anything out of regard to a person, used in a good sense in , in a bad sense here, namely, to act partially from unmanly pity); nor to adorn the person of the great (i.e., powerful, distinguished, exalted), i.e., to favour him in a judicial decision (see at ).

‏ Leviticus 19:15-18

In judgment, i.e., in the administration of justice, they were to do no unrighteousness: neither to respect the person of the poor (πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, to do anything out of regard to a person, used in a good sense in Gen 19:21, in a bad sense here, namely, to act partially from unmanly pity); nor to adorn the person of the great (i.e., powerful, distinguished, exalted), i.e., to favour him in a judicial decision (see at Exo 23:3). Lev 19:16

They were not to go about as calumniators among their countrymen, to bring their neighbour to destruction (Eze 22:9); nor to set themselves against the blood of a neighbour, i.e., to seek his life. רכיל does not mean calumny, but, according to its formation, a calumniator (Ewald, §149 e). Lev 19:17

They were not to cherish hatred in their hearts towards their brother, but to admonish a neighbour, i.e., to tell him openly what they had against him, and reprove him for his conduct, just as Christ teaches His disciples in Mat 18:15-17, and “not to load a sin upon themselves.” חטא עליו נשׁא does not mean to have to bear, or atone for a sin on his account (Onkelos, Knobel, etc.), but, as in Lev 22:9; Num 18:32, to bring sin upon one’s self, which one then has to bear, or atone for; so also in Num 18:22, חטא שׂאת, from which the meaning “to bear,” i.e., atone for sin, or suffer its consequences, was first derived. Lev 19:18

Lastly, they were not to avenge themselves, or bear malice against the sons of their nation (their countrymen), but to love their neighbour as themselves. נטר to watch for (Sol 1:6; Sol 8:11, Sol 8:12), hence (= τηρεῖν) to cherish a design upon a person, or bear him malice (Psa 103:9; Jer 3:5, Jer 3:12; Nah 1:2).