Leviticus 18 · Verse 30

Leviticus 18:30

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.

Leviticus 18:30, King James Version

Leviticus 18:30 in other translations

BSB	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.”
WEB	Therefore you shall keep my requirements, that you do not practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and that you do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.’”
ASV	Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye practise not any of these abominable customs, which were practised before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am Jehovah your God.
YLT	and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not defile yourselves with them; I am Jehovah your God.'
DARBY	And ye shall observe my charge, that ye commit not any of the abominable customs which were committed before you; and ye shall not make yourselves unclean therein: I am Jehovah your God.
BBE	So then, keep my orders, so that you may not do any of these disgusting things which were done before you, or make yourselves unclean through them: I am the Lord your God.
Webster	Therefore shall ye keep my ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves in them; I am the LORD your God.

What does Leviticus 18:30 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

30. Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs--In giving the Israelites these particular institutions, God was only re-delivering the law imprinted on the natural heart of man; for there is every reason to believe that the incestuous alliances and unnatural crimes prohibited in this chapter were forbidden to all men by a law expressed or understood from the beginning of the world, or at least from the era of the flood, since God threatens to condemn and punish, in a manner so sternly severe, these atrocities in the practice of the Canaanites and their neighbors, who were not subject to the laws of the Hebrew nation.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 30 Shall ye keep mine ordinance - The only way to be preserved from all false worship is seriously to consider and devoutly to observe the ordinances of the true religion. He who in the things of God goes no farther than he can say, Thus it is written, and thus it behoves me to do, is never likely to receive a false creed, nor perform a superstitious act of worship. 1. How true is that word, The law of the Lord is Perfect! In a small compass, and in a most minute detail, it comprises every thing that is calculated to instruct, direct, convince, correct, and fortify the mind of man. Whatever has a tendency to corrupt or injure man, that it forbids; whatever is calculated to comfort him, promote and secure his best interests, that it commands. It takes him in all possible states, views him in all connections, and provides for his present and eternal happiness. 2. As the human soul is polluted and tends to pollution, the great doctrine of the law is holiness to the Lord: this it keeps invariably in view in all its commands, precepts, ordinances, rites, and ceremonies. And how forcibly in all these does it say, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself! This is the prominent doctrine of the preceding chapter; and this shall be fulfilled in all them who believe, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe. Reader, magnify God for his law, for by it is the knowledge of sin; and magnify him for his Gospel, for by this is the cure of sin. Let the law be thy schoolmaster to bring thee to Christ, that thou mayest be justified by faith; and that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in thee, and that thou mayest walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Leviticus 18:30 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣םu.she.mar.Temand you will keepH8104

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗יmish.mar.Tiduty myH4931

לְבִלְתִּ֨יle.vil.Tito notH1115

עֲשׂ֜וֹתa.Sotto doH6213

מֵחֻקּ֤וֹתme.chu.Kotany of [the] customs ofH2708

הַתּֽוֹעֵבֹת֙ha.to.'e.Votthe abominationsH8441

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834

נַעֲשׂ֣וּna.'a.Suthey have been doneH6213

לִפְנֵיכֶ֔םlif.nei.Khem<to> before youH6440

וְלֹ֥אve.Lo'and notH3808

תִֽטַּמְּא֖וּti.ta.me.'Uyou will make yourselves uncleanH2930

בָּהֶ֑םba.Hemby <the> them

אֲנִ֖י'a.NiIH589

יְהוָ֥הYah.weh[am] YahwehH3068

אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם\׃\ \פ'e.lo.hei.KhemGod yourH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 18:30

Leviticus 20:23
And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
Deuteronomy 18:9-12
When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
Leviticus 22:9
They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the Lord do sanctify them.
Leviticus 18:26-27
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
Leviticus 18:2-4
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 11:1
Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

abominable.
3,26,27; 20:23; De 18:9-12
that ye defile.
24
I am.
2,4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Leviticus 18:29
For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
Leviticus 18:30
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.

Read all of Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18:30 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Guardad, pues, mi ordenanza, no haciendo de las prácticas abominables que tuvieron lugar antes de vosotros, y no os ensuciéis en ellas: Yo Jehová vuestro Dios.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et vous garderez ce que j’ai ordonné de garder, en sorte que vous ne pratiquiez pas les coutumes abominables qui se sont pratiquées avant vous; et vous ne vous rendrez point impurs par elles. Moi, je suis l’ Éternel, votre Dieu.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und ihr sollt meine Vorschriften beobachten, daß ihr keine der greulichen Bräuche übet, die vor euch geübt worden sind, und euch nicht durch dieselben verunreiniget. Ich bin Jehova, euer Gott.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Custodite mandata mea. Nolite facere quæ fecerunt hi qui fuerunt ante vos, et ne polluamini in eis. Ego Dominus Deus vester.