Leviticus 19:17

My Notes

What Does Leviticus 19:17 Mean?

God prohibits two things and commands a third — and the three are a single unit. Don't hate your brother in your heart (lo-tisna eth-achikha bilvavekha). Do rebuke your neighbor honestly (hokheach tokhiach eth-amithekha). Don't bear sin because of him (v'lo-thissa alav chet). The hatred, the rebuke, and the sin-bearing are all connected. Unspoken resentment breeds silent hatred. Silent hatred accumulates as sin. And the sin falls on the one who refused to speak.

The Hebrew hokheach tokhiach — rebuking you shall rebuke — uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis. This isn't optional. The honest correction of your neighbor is a command, not a personality preference. And the purpose is protective: "not suffer sin upon him" (or, as the margin reads, "that thou bear not sin for him"). The silence that avoids confrontation doesn't protect anyone. It lets sin accumulate — either on the neighbor who continues in the behavior uncorrected, or on you who allowed it by staying quiet.

The command places the heart (bilvavekha — in your heart) first. The hatred is internal before it's expressed. You can smile at someone while despising them. You can maintain relational peace while the heart seethes. God says: deal with the inside first. Don't hate. Then deal with the outside: rebuke honestly. The sequence prevents both silent resentment and cruel confrontation. The heart must be clean before the mouth opens.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Who are you hating in your heart right now — someone you smile at while the resentment builds underneath?
• 2.Is there a rebuke you've been avoiding because confrontation feels harder than silent resentment?
• 3.God says the sin falls on you if you stay silent. Where has your silence allowed something to continue that honest words could have corrected?
• 4.Can you clear the hatred from your heart before you open your mouth — rebuke from love rather than from anger?

Devotional

Don't hate your brother in your heart. That's the first command — and it targets the one sin nobody can see. The hatred that lives inside, that never makes it to words, that coexists with surface-level politeness and fake smiles. You can hate someone for years without anyone — including yourself, sometimes — recognizing it as hatred. It hides behind "I'm just frustrated" or "I'm setting a boundary" or "I've moved on." But God looks at the heart and calls it what it is: sin'ah. Hatred.

The antidote God prescribes isn't distance. It's rebuke. Honest, direct, face-to-face correction. Hokheach tokhiach — rebuke, really rebuke. Don't let the issue fester. Don't journal about it. Don't vent to a third party. Go to the person and say: this is what you did, and it's wrong. That sounds terrifying — and it is. But God says the alternative is worse. The silence that avoids confrontation doesn't protect the relationship. It poisons it. The hatred grows in the dark. The sin accumulates on someone's head — theirs for continuing, or yours for allowing it.

The order matters: heart first, then mouth. Don't hate, then rebuke. If you reverse them — rebuking from a place of hatred — the rebuke becomes a weapon, not a correction. But if you clear the hatred first, the rebuke comes from a place of love. You confront not to punish but to restore. Not to win but to heal. The command pairs the softest internal work (releasing hatred) with the hardest external work (honest confrontation) because both are required for a relationship to survive. Silence isn't peace. It's a burial ground for unspoken resentment. Speak. Before the hatred has time to take root.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture