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.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses the Israelites through Moses, issuing statutes for the community to observe before they enter Canaan. The directive functions as a boundary marker separating the covenant people from surrounding nations.

The words — מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗י (mish.mar.Ti) translates as "my charge" or "my duty," establishing a binding obligation. תֹּועֵבֹת (to'e.Vot) denotes "abominations," marking specific practices as ritually and morally repulsive.

The thread — This command recurs in Leviticus 20:23 regarding the nations being driven out, Deuteronomy 18:9 regarding the conquest of the land, and Leviticus 22:9 regarding priestly obedience. Each instance ties communal holiness to the rejection of foreign religious and cultural practices.

Why it lands — It demands active preservation of divine boundaries to avoid ritual defilement, grounded in God's identity as their sovereign God. The text requires concrete obedience rather than abstract assent.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣םu./she.mar.Temand/ you will keep אֶת־'et-<obj.>מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗יmish.mar.T/iduty/ my לְבִלְתִּ֨יle./vil.Tito/ not עֲשׂ֜וֹתa.Sotto do מֵחֻקּ֤וֹתme./chu.Kotany of/ [the] customs of הַתּֽוֹעֵבֹת֙ha./to.'e.Votthe/ abominations אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhich נַעֲשׂ֣וּna.'a.Suthey have been done לִפְנֵיכֶ֔םli/f.nei./Khem<to>/ before/ you וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not תִֽטַּמְּא֖וּti.ta.me.'Uyou will make yourselves uncleanבָּהֶ֑םba./Hemby <the>/ themאֲנִ֖י'a.NiI יְהוָ֥הYah.weh[am] Yahweh אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ פ'e.lo.hei./KhemGod/ your

King James Version

Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.

Cross-references

Leviticus 20:23 You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
Deuteronomy 18:9 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
Leviticus 22:9 The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
Leviticus 18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 18:26 But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you.
Deuteronomy 11:1 You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.