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LXX Leviticus

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 18

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do according to the devices of Egypt, in which you lived: and according to the devices of the land of Canaan, into which I bring you, you shall not do; and you shall not walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall observe my judgments, and shall keep my ordinances, and shall walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep all my ordinances, and all my judgments, and do them; which if a man does, he shall live in them:⁠ I am the Lord your God. 6 No man shall draw near to any of his near kindred to uncover their nakedness; I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, or the nakedness of your mother, for she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. 9 The nakedness of your sister by your father or by your mother, born at home or abroad, her nakedness you shall not uncover. 10 The nakedness of your son's daughter, or your daughter's daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; because it is your nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife; she is your sister by the same father: you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister, for she is near akin to your father. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is near akin to your mother. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, and you shall not go in to his wife; for she is your relation. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law, for she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife: it is your brother's nakedness. 17 The nakedness of a woman and her daughter you will not uncover; her son's daughter, and her daughter's daughter, you will not take, to uncover their nakedness, for they are your kinswomen: it is impiety. 18 You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, as a rival, to uncover her nakedness in opposition to her, while she is yet living. 19 And you shall not go in to a woman under separation for her uncleanness, to uncover her nakedness. 20 And you shall not lie with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her. 21 And you shall not give of your seed to serve a ruler;⁠ and you shall not profane my holy name; I am the Lord. 22 And you shall not lie with a man as with a woman, for it is an abomination. 23 Neither shall you lie with any quadruped for copulation, to be polluted with it: neither shall a woman present herself before any quadruped to have connection with it; for it is an abomination. 24 Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for in all these things the nations are defiled, which I drive out before you, 25 and the land is polluted; and I have repaid their iniquity to them because of it, and the land is aggrieved with those who dwell upon it. 26 And you shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and you shall do none of these abominations; neither the native, nor the stranger that joins himself with you: 27 (for all these abominations the men of the land did who were before you, and the land was defiled,) 28 and for fear that the land might be aggrieved with you in your polluting it, as it was aggrieved with the nations before you. 29 For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the souls that do them shall be destroyed from among their people. 30 And you shall keep my ordinances, that you may not do any of the abominable practices, which have taken place before your time: and you shall not be polluted in them; for I am the Lord your God.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Leviticus 18:5 and Luke 10:28

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

In Luke, Jesus says that life comes through doing the commandments, echoing Leviticus 18, which promises life to those who obey the Torah. The connection is not presented as a direct quotation but as an allusion to the principle.

Passages

LXX Leviticus 18:5

Septuagint
3 You shall not do according to the devices of Egypt, in which you lived: and according to the devices of the land of Canaan, into which I bring you, you shall not do; and you shall not walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall observe my judgments, and shall keep my ordinances, and shall walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep all my ordinances, and all my judgments, and do them; which if a man does, he shall live in them: I am the Lord your God. 6 No man shall draw near to any of his near kindred to uncover their nakedness; I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, or the nakedness of your mother, for she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Leviticus

Luke 10:28

New Testament
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” 27 The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead.
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

References

"... Readings of Leviticus 18:5 possibly underlie two synoptic teachings of Jesus. (Gathercole, “Torah, Life, Salvation,” 140–142 notes that Luke 10:28 has been noticed as relating to Leviticus 18:5 before, but not taken into consideration by Dunn and others) Jesus is approached by an unnamed person, who afterwards appears to be rich (Mark 10:22), with a question as to what to do to earn eternal life ... The combination of doing and future living is reminiscent of LXX Leviticus 18:5 but cannot be qualified as a direct quotation. Nonetheless, Jesus answers by referring to the practice of commandments ... A reference to Leviticus 18:5 gains plausibility since the text stipulates the commandments as a way to life. Remarkably, however, the accent is put on the ethical or social commandments ..."
Eric Ottenheijm, “‘Which If a Man Do Them He Shall Live by Them’: Jewish and Christian Discourse on Lev 18:5,” in The Scriptures of Israel in Jewish and Christian Tradition: Essays in Honour of Maarten J. J. Menken, ed. Bart Koet, Steven Moyise, and Joseph Verheyden, NovTSup 148 (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 303–316.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Leviticus 18:5 and Luke 10:28

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