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"You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the LORD." (Leviticus 22:32-33)
This is a positive commandment to sanctify G-d's name... to set it apart for sacred use; to consecrate it.
"You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the LORD." (Leviticus 22:32-33)
This negative commandment literally tells us not to "profane" G-d's holy name. Profane means "marked by contempt or irreverence for what is sacred".
"You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 12:2-4)
This negative commandment literally says that we should not destroy the places where we serve G-d, tear down G-d's altar, or obliterate G-d's name. These were the things Israel was commanded to do in regards to gods of the nations they dispossessed when they entered the promised land.
"You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:16)
The literal commandment is that we should not be a slanderer. The Hebrew word which is translated as "slanderer" [rakil] comes from a word that means "to travel" and connotes "traveling about spreading gossip or slander".
"You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." (Deuteronomy 6:7)
The literal commandment is that we should teach G-d's commandments diligently to our children. However, in order to be able to teach the commandments we have to learn them first.
"Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God." (Numbers 15:38-40)
The literal commandment is not to follow after our own hearts and our own eyes (which lead us into idolatry).
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6) The literal commandment is that we should not serve idols.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)
The literal commandment is that we should not worship idols.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6) The literal commandment is that we should not make an idol for ourselves.
"If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom you have not known), then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword." (Deuteronomy 13:12-15) The literal commandment is that we should not turn a city to idolatry.
"Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt.(Deuteronomy 13:16) The literal commandment is that we should burn a city that has turned to idol worship and all its "booty" (things of value).
"Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt." (Deuteronomy 13:16) The literal commandment is that we should never rebuild a city that was burned because it turned to idol worship.
"Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers, if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 13:16-18) The literal commandment is that nothing that is destined to be destroyed with the city that has turned to idolatry should "cling to your hand": we should not hold onto anything (even things of great value) that should be destroyed under these circumstances.
"If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom you have not known), then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword." (Deuteronomy 13:12-15) The literal commandment is that we should not seduce or entice others to go and serve other gods.
"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him." (Deuteronomy 13:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should not yield to anyone attempting to entice us into idolatry.
"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him." (Deuteronomy 13:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should not listen a person who attempts to entice us into idolatry.
"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him." (Deuteronomy 13:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should not pity a person who attempts to entice us into idolatry.
"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him." (Deuteronomy 13:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should not spare a person who attempts to entice us into idolatry. We should not spare them from what? From the death penalty proscribed for their offense (see Deuteronomy 13:9).
"If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him." (Deuteronomy 13:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should not conceal a person who attempts to entice us into idolatry.
"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 13:1-3) The literal commandment is that we should not listen to the words of a prophet or dreamer of dreams who tells us to go after other gods and serve them.
"'But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'" (Deuteronomy 18:20) The literal commandment is that the prophet who presumptuously says something in G-d's name which He did not command him to speak should die.
"When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:22) The literal commandment is that we should not be afraid of a false prophet.
"You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 26:1)
The literal commandment is that we should not place a figured stone in our land to bow down to it. The Hebrew text of this verse can alternately be translated and understood to mean that we should not prostrate ourselves on a figured/carved/worked stone.
"You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself." (Deuteronomy 16:21) The literal commandment of this verse tells us that we should not plant an Asherah [pole] of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD our G-d.
"You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place." (Deuteronomy 12:2) The literal commandment is that we should destroy idols and the items associated with them in "all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods".
"The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned." (Deuteronomy 7:25-26) The literal commandment is that we should not bring an abomination (an idol) into our house. Included in the literal meaning of "bringing something into your house" is a Hebrew idiom that means to make something your own: e.g. a man brings his new bride "into his house" when they are married. In this manner a person could "derive benefit" from making an idol his own possession.
"The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned." (Deuteronomy 7:25-26) The literal commandment is that we should not covet the silver or the gold that is on idols or take it for ourselves.
"When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them." (Deuteronomy 7:25-26) The literal commandment is that we should make no covenant with the idolaters.
"When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them." (Deuteronomy 7:1-2) The literal commandment is that we should show no favor to idolaters.
"When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them." (Deuteronomy 7:1-2) The literal commandment is that we should utterly destroy the seven nations that were present in the Land before the Israelites entered during the time of Joshua.
"Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them." (Leviticus 20:23) The literal commandment is that we should not follow the customs of the nation which G-d drove out of the Land before the Israelites.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) The literal commandment is that we should not use divination.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) The literal commandment is that we should not cast a spell.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) The literal commandment is that we should not "call up" the dead.
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) The literal commandment is that we should not be a spiritist (one who calls up spirits or ghosts).
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) The literal commandment is that we should not be a medium (an intermediary between the living and the dead).
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) The literal commandment is that we should not practice witchcraft or cast a spell.
"You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27) The LITV translation says, "You shall not round the edge of your head, nor mar the edge of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27 LITV)
The literal commandment is that we should not round off the side-growth of our heads.
"You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27) The LITV translation says, "You shall not round the edge of your head, nor mar the edge of your beard." (Leviticus 19:27 LITV) The literal commandment is that we should not harm the edges of our beards.
"You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead." (Leviticus 19:28) The literal commandment is that we should not shave our forehead for the sake of the dead. The Hebrew literally reads, "do not make baldness between your eyes for the dead".
"Speak to the sons of Israel, 'When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged." (Numbers 5:6-7) The literal commandment is that we should confess our sins and make restitution.
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
The literal commandment is that we should speak the words of this passage when we lie down and when we rise up.
"You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces. But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days."" (Exodus 23:24-26) The literal commandment is that we should "serve the LORD" our G-d. How we should serve Him is not specified in this passage.
"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.'
So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them." " (Numbers 6:23-27) The literal commandment is that the Aaronic priests should bless the sons of Israel using what is traditionally called "The Aaronic Blessing". How frequently this should be done is not specified in this passage.
"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead." (Deuteronomy 6:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should bind G-d's words as frontals on our foreheads.
"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead." (Deuteronomy 6:6-8) The literal commandment is that we should bind G-d's words upon our hand.
"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
The literal commandment is that we should write G-d's words on the doorposts of our houses.
"Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel." (Deuteronomy 31:19) The literal commandment is that we should write the song of Moses" (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) for ourselves.
"Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests." (Deuteronomy 17:18) The literal commandment is that the king of Israel should write for himself a copy of the law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
"Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue." (Numbers 15:38) The literal commandment is that we should make tassels on the corners of our garments.
"Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves." " (Exodus 23:12) The literal commandment is that we should cease from our labor on the seventh day of the week.
"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:9-11) The literal commandment is that we should not do any work on the seventh day of the week.
"It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath." (Leviticus 23:32) The literal commandment is that the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:28) should be a sabbath of complete rest.
"It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath." (Leviticus 23:32) The literal commandment is that the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:28) should be a sabbath of complete rest.
"This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD." (Leviticus 16:29) The literal commandment is that we should "humble our souls" on the Day of Atonement.
"Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." (Leviticus 23:7) The literal commandment is that we should not do any laborious work on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
"Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." (Leviticus 23:7) The literal commandment is that we should not do any laborious work on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
"But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." (Leviticus 23:8) The literal commandment is that we should not do any laborious work on the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
"But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." (Leviticus 23:8) The literal commandment is that we should not do any laborious work on the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.