Leviticus 18:5

Hebrew Bible

3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes. 4 You must observe my regulations, and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the Lord your God. 5 So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the Lord. 6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations with her. I am the Lord. 7 You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

Nehemiah 9:29

Hebrew Bible

27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from their adversaries. 28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances—those by which an individual, if he obeys them, will live. They boldly turned from you; they rebelled and did not obey. 30 You prolonged your kindness with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God.

 Notes and References

"... In verse 5 “keeping” is applied to both laws and decrees. These decrees are to be practiced continually so that they may be ingrained into a person’s way of living, their walk. The keeping of God’s commandments bears the promise of life (compare 26:3–13; Deuteronomy 28:1–14; also see references to this verse in Ezekiel 20:11, 13, 21; Nehemiah 9:29). Since humankind disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), they have been denied access to the tree of life. God has opened a way to life through obedience to the law. What is meant by life here? The text is imprecise. Placed in the context of the parenesis (verses 24–30), it means that Israel will have a secure, healthy life with sufficient goods in the promised land as God’s people. Later interpreters (as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Targum Onkelos and early Jewish commentators like Ramban) have taken “life” to mean eternal life ..."

Hartley, John E. Word Biblical Commentary: Leviticus (pp. 672-673) Zondervan Academic, 2018

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