Commandment

Verse

241   You shall not enclose the top of your head.

             This commandment and the next are alternative ways of translating the first part of this verse.

             The second part of the verse is expressed in Commandment 243 below.  The Hebrew word

             in question in this verse can be translated as either enclosing the top or as rounding off the

             extremity.  The above translation implies that the top of the head may not be covered (such as

             by a turban?).

Levi. 19:27

242   Nor shall you round off the extremity of your head.

             This translation means you may not trim the hair on your head.

Levi. 19:27

243   You shall not mar your beard.

            The Hebrew word I translate as mar has a number of other meanings, one of which is destroy.

            Now this may be too extreme for this verse.  Nevertheless, it seems obvious that we may not

            modify our beard in any serious way.  We should not trim, cut, or shave it.  However, we may

            pluck stray hairs if we so desire.

Levi. 19:27

244   You shall not mutilate your flesh for one who died.

Levi. 19:28

245   You shall not have a tattoo on yourself.

Levi. 19:28

246   You shall not allow your daughter to become a harlot.

            There is no advice to be found in the Torah on how to prevent this.  May a father have his

            daughter killed if she refuses to obey his orders?  Presumably, not.  Most likely he would

            appeal to the priest or to a judge as a last resort.

Levi. 19:29

247   You shall revere the sanctuary of the Lord.

Levi. 19:30

248   You shall not inquire of ghosts or conjurers.

Levi. 19:31

249   You shall honor and revere your elders.

Levi. 19:32

250   You shall rise in the presence of a gray head.

Levi. 19:32

251   The stranger sojourning with you shall be as the home-born to you.

            Thje meaning of this commandment refers to just treatment, as with any Jew.

Levi. 19:34

252   You shall not be unjust in judgment, size, weight, or measure.

            In other words, be an honest businessperson in everything you do..

Levi. 19:35

253   You shall employ accurate balances and weights and an accurate ephah

          and hin.

Levi. 19:36

254   The punishments for the various sinful acts described in Leviticus

          Chapter 20 shall be seen to by the priests, judges, and elders.

Levi. 20

255   A priest shall not defile himself for a death except for an immediate blood

          relative.

Levi. 21:1-3

256   In mourning for an immediate blood relative, a priest shall not make his

          head totally bald, or shave the edge of his beard, or make cuts in his flesh.

Levi. 21:5

257   A priest shall not marry a harlot or a divorcee.

Levi. 21:7

258   The daughter of a priest who becomes a harlot shall be burned to death.

Levi. 21:9

259   The High Priest shall not bare his head or rend his clothing in mourning.

Levi. 21:10

260   The High Priest shall not enter a house in which there is someone dead,

          even for his father or mother.

Levi. 21:11

261   The High Priest shall not leave the sanctuary during his mourning.

Levi. 21:12

262   The High Priest shall marry a virgin.

Levi. 21:13

263   The statutes pertaining to a priest or High Priest with a blemish shall be

          obeyed.

Levi. 21:17-23

264   The soul of a priest who approaches any sacrifice when he is unclean

          shall be cut off from before the Lord.

            Exactly what this verse means is uncertain.  The consensus seems to be that the priest is

            to be excluded from the Tabernacle/Temple.  But I have my doubts about that because the Lord

            refers to the soul of the priest, not the priest.  Thus for me the verse carries a spiritual message.

            I believe it means that the priest’s soul will not reside in the presence of the Lord in heaven.

Levi. 22:3

265   A priest who is unclean may not eat of any sacrifice.

Levi. 22:4-6

266   When an unclean priest has bathed himself and the sun is gone, he will be

          clean and may eat from the sacrifices.

Levi. 22:7

267   No stranger or a tenant or hired hand of a priest may eat of a sacrifice.

Levi. 22:10

268   The slave of a priest, as well as the slave’s family, may eat of a sacrifice.

            The slave and the males in his family will have been circumcised.

Levi. 22:11

269   If the daughter of a priest were to marry a stranger, she could not eat of a

         sacrifice.

Levi. 22:12

270   If the daughter of a priest who becomes divorced or widowed and who

         has no children returns to the priest's house, she may eat of the sacrifice.

            The presumption is that this applies even to the daughter who married a stranger.

Levi. 22:13

271   Someone who eats of a sacrifice in error shall give it to the priest and add

          a fifth to it.

Levi. 22:14

272   You shall not offer a blemished animal to the Lord and you shall not make

          a fire offering of any of them.

            The two second-person pronouns are both plural.  So this commandment is addressed to every

            child of Israel.  In this era of no Temple, we have to read this commandment as applying to our

            monetary or material contributions.  They shall be given in such a way as to not imply any

            blemish (that is, no misgivings).  But see next two commandments.

Levi. 22:21,22

273   A bullock or a lamb that has an appendage too long or too short may be

          offered as a freewill offering.

Levi. 22:23

274   A bullock or a lamb that has an appendage too long or too short may not

          be offered for a vow.

Levi. 22:23

275   No sacrifice from a foreigner shall be acceptable.

Levi. 22:25

276   An animal that is eight days old or older may be offered as a burnt offering.

            May be offered.  It doesn’t mean they were offered that young.

Levi. 22:27

277   You shall not slaughter an animal and its offspring on the same day.

            The “you” is plural.  No one may slaughter an animal and its offspring in one day.

Levi. 22:28

278   You shall not profane the name of the Lord.

            The second-person pronoun is plural.  None of us may profane His holy name.  He will be

            hallowed among us.

Levi. 22:32

279   On the first and seventh days of Passove you shall do no servile work.

            The second-person pronoun is plural.  Definitions for servile are menial, degrading, humble, slave,

            and obedient.  So the kind of work referred to is anything that is demeaning or laborious.

                                                                                [Return to Commandment 9]

Levi. 23:7

280   During Passover, you shall bring a fire offering to the Lord on each of the

          seven days.

            The “you” is plural.  So each of us is to bring a fire offering to the Temple.

Levi. 23:8

281   In your land, you shall bring a sheaf of your first fruits of your harvest to

          the priest for a wave offering.

            The two second-person pronouns are both plural.  The commandment is for each of us.  The

            first fruits came from the harvest that occurred just before Passover.  Thus the presumption is

            that it was brought during (or on the first day of) Passover.  The Hebrew word meaning sheaf is

            omer, thus the counting of the omer (see Commandment 285 below).

Levi. 23:10

282   The sheaf is to be waved on the day after the Sabbath.

            That is, the first day of the week during the seven days of Passover.

Levi. 23:11

283   On the day of your wave offering, you shall bring a yearling ram and a

          meal offering for a burnt offering.

            The two second-person pronouns are both plural.  Note:  The day referred to here is not the day

            you bring the wave offering, but the day of the waving.

Levi. 23:12

284   From the time of your harvest until the day of the wave offering you shall

          not eat bread or parched corn or fresh ear.

             The two second-person pronouns are both plural.  This time period could be almost a week.

Levi. 23:14

285   From the day of the wave offering, you shall count seven weeks.

            The “you” is plural.  This is the counting of the omer.

Levi. 23:15

286   On the fiftieth day you shall offer a new meal offering to the Lord.

            The “you” is plural.  This is the festival of Shavuoth.

Levi. 23:16

287   The new meal offering shall be a wave offering baked of leaven.

            This is intriguing.  This commandment seems to contradict Levi. 2:11 in Rubinspace.org

           which is included in Commandment 118.  But there it was specifically for a fire offering.

            Here it accompanies a variety of offerings (see next commandment).  Furthermore, Shavuoth

            seems to be the only exception when leaven can be brought for an offering.

Levi. 23:17

288   The new meal offering shall be accompanied by seven yearling lambs, one

          bullock, and two rams for a fire offering to the Lord, and one he-goat for a

          sin offering and two yearling he-lambs for peace offerings.

Levi. 23:18,19

289   On that day you shall hold a holy convocation.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 23:21

290   On that day you shall do no servile work.

            The “you” is plural.  See Commandment 279 above for an explanation of servile work.

Levi. 23:21

291   On the first day of the seventh month, you shall rest, hold a holy

          convocation, and blow the shofar.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 23:24

292   On that day you shall bring a fire offering to the Lord.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 23:25

293   The tenth day of the seventh month shall be a day of atonement.

Levi. 23:27

294   On that day you shall hold a holy convocation and bring a fire offering

          to the Lord.

            The second-person pronoun is plural.    [Return to Commandment 187]

Levi. 23:27

295   On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the feast of Tabernacles is to be

          observed for seven days.

            This is the holiday of Sukkoth.

Levi. 23:34

296   On the first day there shall be a holy convocation.

Levi. 23:35

297   On that day you shall do no servile work.

            The “you” is plural.  See Commandment 279 above for an explanation of servile work.

Levi. 23:35

298   You shall bring a fire offering to the Lord for seven days.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 23:36

299   On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation, a solemn assembly.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 23:36

300   On that day you shall bring a fire offering to the Lord.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 23:36

301   On that day you shall do no servile work.

            The “you” is plural.  See Commandment 280 above for an explanation of servile work.

Levi. 23:36

302   On the first day of the feast of Tabernacles you shall gather the branches

          of the lulav.

            The “you” is plural.  According to tradition, the lulav consists of a closed date palm frond, three

            myrtle branches, two willow branches all bound together, and an ethrog (a citrus lemon-like fruit).

Levi. 23:40

303   All the home born in Israel shall dwell in huts seven days.

            In the diaspora, the home born are all Jews, natural and converted.

Levi. 23:42

304   The High Priest shall follow the procedures for the showbread.

Levi. 24:6-8

305   The show bread shall be for the priests to eat in the courtyard.

Levi. 24:9

306   A blasphemer of the Lord's name shall be put to death by stoning.

Levi. 24:16

307   In Israel you shall sow your land and prune your vineyards and reap your

          harvest for six years, and in the seventh year you shall observe a Sabbath

          of the land.

            The second-person pronouns are all singular.

Levi. 25:3,4

308   In the seventh year you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

            The second-person pronouns are all is singular.

Levi. 25:4

309   You shall not reap what grows by itself of your harvest.

            The second-person pronouns are singular.

Levi. 25:5

310   You shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine.

            The second-person pronouns are singular.

Levi. 25:5

311   What grows by itself shall be your food in the seventh year.

            The second-person pronouns are singular.

Levi. 25:6,7

312   On the tenth day of the seventh month of the forty-ninth year you shall

          signal a jubilee year to begin at the start of the fiftieth year.

            The “you” is singular.

Levi. 25:8

313   On that day you shall sound a shofar throughout the land.

            The “your” is plural.  Although the Jubilee year is proclaimed in the seventh month of the 49th

            year, it does not start until the month of Aviv (Nisan) of the 50th year.

Levi. 25:9

314   In the fiftieth year every possession shall be restored to its original owner,

         and every person shall be restored to his family.

            The only possession an Israelite has is his land.

Levi. 25:10

315   In the jubilee year you shall not sow your field, prune your vineyard, or

          reap the wild growth.

            The “you” and “your” are plural.

Levi. 25:11

316   The jubilee year shall be holy to you.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 25:12

317   In the jubilee year you shall eat from the increase of the field.

            The “you” is plural.

Levi. 25:12

318   In the jubilee year you shall restore everyone to his possession.

            The “you” is plural.  The words “his possession” refers to his land.

Levi. 25:13

319   You shall not oppress one another in buying or selling.

            The “you” is plural.  This may be a general rule, but in this context it is for the Jubilee year.

Levi. 25:14

320    In buying or selling, the price shall be according to the years since the last

          jubilee and until the next jubilee.

Levi. 25:15