Leviticus 19 · Verse 26

Leviticus 19:26

Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
Leviticus 19:26, King James Version

Leviticus 19:26 in other translations

BSBYou must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery.
WEB“‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood still in it. You shall not use enchantments, nor practice sorcery.
ASVYe shall not eat anything with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantments, nor practise augury.
YLT‘Ye do not eat with the blood; ye do not enchant, nor observe clouds.
DARBYYe shall eat nothing with the blood. — Ye shall not practise enchantment, nor use auguries.
BBENothing may be used for food with its blood in it; you may not make use of strange arts, or go in search of signs and wonders.
WebsterYe shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

What does Leviticus 19:26 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
26. shall not eat any thing with the blood--(See on Le 17:10). neither ... use enchantment, nor observe times--The former refers to divination by serpents--one of the earliest forms of enchantment, and the other means the observation, literally, of clouds, as a study of the appearance and motion of clouds was a common way of foretelling good or bad fortune. Such absurd but deep-rooted superstitions often put a stop to the prosecution of serious and important transactions, but they were forbidden especially as implying a want of faith in the being, or of reliance on the providence of God.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 26 Neither shall ye use enchantment - לא תנחשו lo thenachashu. Conjecture itself can do little towards a proper explanation of the terms used in this verse. נחש nachash; See note at Gen 3:1 (note), we translate serpent, and with very little propriety; but though the word may not signify a serpent in that place, it has that signification in others. Possibly, therefore, the superstition here prohibited may be what the Greeks called Ophiomanteia, or divination by serpents. Nor observe times - ולא תעוננו velo teonenu, ye shall not divine by clouds, which was also a superstition much in practice among the heathens, as well as divination by the flight of birds. What these prohibitions may particularly refer to, we know not. See Clarke's note on Gen 41:8.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Leviticus 19:26 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.

לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
תֹאכְל֖וּto.khe.Luyou must eatH398
עַל\־'al-withH5921
הַדָּ֑םha.Damthe bloodH1818
לֹ֥אlo'notH3808
תְנַחֲשׁ֖וּte.na.cha.Shuyou will practice divinationH5172
וְלֹ֥אve.Lo'and notH3808
תְעוֹנֵֽנוּ\׃te.'o.Ne.nuyou will practice soothsayingH6049

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

Cross references for Leviticus 19:26

  • Deuteronomy 18:10-14

    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. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. …

  • 2 Kings 17:17

    And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

  • 2 Chronicles 33:6

    And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

  • Deuteronomy 12:23

    Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.

  • 2 Kings 21:6

    And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

  • Leviticus 7:26

    Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

  • Leviticus 17:10-14

    And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. …

  • Leviticus 3:17

    It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

  • Jeremiah 10:2

    Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

  • Exodus 8:7

    And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

  • Daniel 2:10

    The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king’s matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

  • Malachi 3:5

    And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
with the blood.
3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14; De 12:23
use.
Ex 7:11; 8:7; 1Sa 15:23; Jer 10:2; Da 2:10; Mal 3:5
nor.
De 18:10-14; 2Ki 17:17; 21:6; 2Ch 33:6

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

Context

  • Leviticus 19:25

    And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God.

  • Leviticus 19:26

    Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

  • Leviticus 19:27

    Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

Read all of Leviticus 19

Leviticus 19:26 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No comeréis cosa alguna con sangre. No seréis agoreros, ni adivinaréis.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Vous ne mangerez rien avec le sang. – Vous ne pratiquerez ni enchantements, ni pronostics.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ihr sollt nichts mit Blut essen. Ihr sollt nicht Wahrsagerei noch Zauberei treiben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Non comedetis cum sanguine. Non augurabimini, nec observabitis somnia.