◄ Leviticus 19:19 ►
You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
Study Bible
You are to keep My statutes.

This command emphasizes the importance of obedience to God's laws, which were given to the Israelites as part of the covenant relationship established at Mount Sinai. The statutes are divine decrees meant to set Israel apart as a holy nation. This phrase underscores the broader biblical theme of holiness and separation from pagan practices, as seen in Exodus 19:5-6, where God calls Israel to be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation." The call to keep God's statutes is a recurring theme throughout the Pentateuch, highlighting the covenantal relationship between God and His people.

Lev 18:4-5 You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes…
Deu 4:1-2 Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances…

You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock;

This prohibition against crossbreeding animals reflects the broader biblical principle of maintaining the order of creation as established by God. In Genesis 1, God creates each living creature "according to its kind," and this command reinforces the idea of preserving the distinctiveness of each species. The prohibition may also serve as a symbolic reminder of Israel's call to remain distinct and separate from the surrounding nations and their practices. This command can be seen as a type of Christ, who is the fulfillment of the law and the one who perfectly maintains the order and purpose of creation.

Deu 22:10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
Gen 1:24-25 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures”…

you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed;

The instruction against mixing seeds in a field is another example of maintaining purity and order in creation. This command may have practical agricultural implications, as mixing seeds could lead to reduced crop yields or other issues. However, it also carries a symbolic meaning, emphasizing the importance of purity and separation in the life of the Israelites. This principle of separation is echoed in the New Testament, where believers are called to live lives distinct from the world (2 Corinthians 6:17). The command also points to the purity and holiness required in the kingdom of God, which is ultimately fulfilled in Christ.

Deu 22:9 Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed;…
Gen 1:11-12 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation:…

and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.

The prohibition against wearing garments made of mixed materials, such as wool and linen, serves as a daily reminder of the need for purity and separation. This command may have practical reasons, as mixing materials could affect the durability or quality of the clothing. However, it also symbolizes the broader theme of holiness and the distinct identity of God's people. In the New Testament, the concept of spiritual purity and being clothed in righteousness is fulfilled in Christ, who provides believers with garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10). This command, like the others, points to the ultimate fulfillment of the law in Jesus, who embodies perfect holiness and separation from sin.

Deu 22:11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
Ezk 44:17-18 When they enter the gates of the inner court,…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The prophet and leader of the Israelites who received the laws from God on Mount Sinai, including the laws in Leviticus.

2. Israelites
The chosen people of God to whom these laws were given, as they were being formed into a distinct nation set apart for God's purposes.

3. Mount Sinai
The place where God delivered the Law to Moses, including the statutes found in Leviticus.

4. Canaan
The land promised to the Israelites, where they were to live according to God's laws and be a holy nation.

5. Tabernacle
The dwelling place of God among the Israelites, symbolizing His presence and the need for holiness.
Teaching Points
Holiness and Separation
The command to not mix different kinds of livestock, seeds, or fabrics symbolizes the call for the Israelites to be distinct and separate from the surrounding nations. This principle of separation is a call for believers today to live lives that are distinct in purity and holiness.

Obedience to God's Statutes
The verse emphasizes the importance of adhering to God's commands, even in seemingly small or mundane matters. This teaches us that every aspect of our lives should be submitted to God's will.

Symbolism of Purity
The prohibition against mixing different kinds of materials can be seen as a metaphor for spiritual purity. Believers are called to maintain purity in their thoughts, actions, and relationships.

Respect for Divine Order
The laws reflect God's order in creation. Respecting this order is a way of honoring God and acknowledging His sovereignty over all aspects of life.

Practical Holiness
The specific instructions in Leviticus 19:19 remind us that holiness is not just a spiritual concept but involves practical, everyday decisions that reflect our commitment to God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the principle of separation in Leviticus 19:19 apply to our lives today, especially in our relationships and lifestyle choices?

2. In what ways can we ensure that our daily actions reflect obedience to God's statutes, as emphasized in this verse?

3. How can the symbolism of purity in Leviticus 19:19 inspire us to pursue spiritual purity in our thoughts and actions?

4. What are some modern-day examples of respecting God's order in creation, and how can we apply this principle in our stewardship of the environment?

5. How does the call to holiness in Leviticus 19:19 connect with the New Testament teachings on holiness, and how can we live this out practically in our communities?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1:11-12, 24-25
These verses describe God's creation of plants and animals, each according to its kind, establishing a divine order that Leviticus 19:19 seeks to maintain.

Deuteronomy 22:9-11
Similar laws are given, reinforcing the principle of separation and purity in the daily lives of the Israelites.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Paul speaks about not being unequally yoked with unbelievers, drawing a parallel to the principle of separation and holiness found in Leviticus.

Matthew 5:17-20
Jesus speaks about fulfilling the Law, emphasizing the importance of understanding the spirit behind the commandments.

1 Peter 1:15-16
Peter calls believers to be holy as God is holy, echoing the call to holiness found in Leviticus.
Sermons
Aids to PurityW. Clarkson Leviticus 19:19
Unnatural CommixturesS. H. Kellogg, D. D.Leviticus 19:19
Woollen and Flaxen ThreadsC. D. Ginsburg, LL. D.Leviticus 19:19
Religion and SuperstitionW. Clarkson Leviticus 19:1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 26-28, 30-32, 36, 37
Social MoralityR.M. Edgar Leviticus 19:1-37
Honour to Whom HonorW. Clarkson Leviticus 19:3, 32
The Holy Law in the Holy LifeR.A. Redford Leviticus 19:3-37
ConsideratenessW. Clarkson Leviticus 19:9, 10, 13, 14, 33, 34
IntegrityW. Clarkson Leviticus 19:11, 13, 15, 16, 35, 36
Fidelity to GodJ.A. Macdonald Leviticus 19:19-28
People
Ephah, Moses
Places
Egypt, Teman
Topics
Animals, Clothing, Crossbreed, Different, Field, Garment, Kinds, Mate, Material, Plant, Seed, Sow, Statutes, Wear, Woven
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Leviticus 19:19

     4406   agriculture
     4506   seed
     4605   animals, religious role
     5258   cloth

Leviticus 19:18-19

     5376   law, purpose of

Library
February the Thirteenth Grudges
"Thou shalt not bear any grudge." --LEVITICUS xix. 11-18. How searching is that demand upon the soul! My forgiveness of my brother is to be complete. No sullenness is to remain, no sulky temper which so easily gives birth to thunder and lightning. There is to be no painful aloofness, no assumption of a superiority which rains contempt upon the offender. When I forgive, I am not to carry any powder forward on the journey. I am to empty out all my explosives, all my ammunition of anger and revenge. …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Life of a Christian Man. Scriptural Arguments Exhorting to It.
This first chapter consists of two parts,--I. Connection between this treatise on the Christian Life and the doctrine of Regeneration and Repentance. Arrangement of the treatise, sec. 1-3. II. Extremes to be avoided; 1. False Christians denying Christ by their works condemned, sec. 4. 2. Christians should not despair, though they have not attained perfection, provided they make daily progress in piety and righteousness. 1. WE have said that the object of regeneration is to bring the life of believers …
Archpriest John Iliytch Sergieff—On the Christian Life

Commerce
The remarkable change which we have noticed in the views of Jewish authorities, from contempt to almost affectation of manual labour, could certainly not have been arbitrary. But as we fail to discover here any religious motive, we can only account for it on the score of altered political and social circumstances. So long as the people were, at least nominally, independent, and in possession of their own land, constant engagement in a trade would probably mark an inferior social stage, and imply …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Law of Love
'Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Love and the Day
'Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 11. And that, knowing the time, that now …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

List of Abbreviations Used in Reference to Rabbinic Writings Quoted in this Work.
THE Mishnah is always quoted according to Tractate, Chapter (Pereq) and Paragraph (Mishnah), the Chapter being marked in Roman, the paragraph in ordinary Numerals. Thus Ber. ii. 4 means the Mishnic Tractate Berakhoth, second Chapter, fourth Paragraph. The Jerusalem Talmud is distinguished by the abbreviation Jer. before the name of the Tractate. Thus, Jer. Ber. is the Jer. Gemara, or Talmud, of the Tractate Berakhoth. The edition, from which quotations are made, is that commonly used, Krotoschin, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Real Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament
[Sidenote: A large and complex library] Turning from the Jewish and mediaeval traditions and theories which so easily beset us, we ask, What is the real nature of the Old Testament as it is revealed in this new and clearer light? The first conclusion is that it is a library containing a large and complex literature, recording the varied experiences, political, social, ethical, and religious, of the Israelitish race. The fact that it is a library consisting of many different books is recognized …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

How those are to be Admonished who do Bad Things Secretly and Good Things Openly, and those who do Contrariwise.
(Admonition 36.) Differently to be admonished are those who do bad things in secret and good things publicly, and those who hide the good things they do, and yet in some things done publicly allow ill to be thought of them. For those who do bad things in secret and good things publicly are to be admonished to consider with what swiftness human judgments flee away, but with what immobility divine judgments endure. They are to be admonished to fix the eyes of their mind on the end of things; since, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Tables Turned: the Questioners Questioned
'But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. 35. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, 36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Bands of Love; Or, Union to Christ. "I Drew them with Cords of a Man, with Bands of Love: and I was to them as they that Take Off the Yoke on their Jaws, and I Laid Meat unto Them. " --Hosea xi. 4.
BANDS OF LOVE; OR, UNION TO CHRIST. SYSTEMATIC theologians have usually regarded union to Christ under three aspects, natural, mystical and federal, and it may be that these three terms are comprehensive enough to embrace the whole subject, but as our aim is simplicity, let us be pardoned if we appear diffuse when we follow a less concise method. 1. The saints were from the beginning joined to Christ by bands of everlasting love. Before He took on Him their nature, or brought them into a conscious …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

That the Body and Blood of Christ and the Holy Scriptures are Most Necessary to a Faithful Soul
The Voice of the Disciple O most sweet Lord Jesus, how great is the blessedness of the devout soul that feedeth with Thee in Thy banquet, where there is set before it no other food than Thyself its only Beloved, more to be desired than all the desires of the heart? And to me it would verily be sweet to pour forth my tears in Thy presence from the very bottom of my heart, and with the pious Magdalene to water Thy feet with my tears. But where is this devotion? Where the abundant flowing of holy …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Parable of the Good Samaritan.
(Probably Judæa.) ^C Luke X. 25-37. ^c 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? [For the term lawyer see pp. 313, 314, The lawyer wished to make trial of the skill of Jesus in solving the intricate and difficult question as to how to obtain salvation. Jesus was probably teaching in some house or courtyard, and his habit of giving local color to his parables suggests that he was probably in or near Bethany, through …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix xiv. The Law in Messianic Times.
THE question as to the Rabbinic views in regard to the binding character of the Law, and its imposition on the Gentiles, in Messianic times, although, strictly speaking, not forming part of this history, is of such vital importance in connection with recent controversies as to demand special consideration. In the text to which this Appendix refers it has been indicated, that a new legislation was expected in Messianic days. The ultimate basis of this expectancy must be sought in the Old Testament …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Second Series of Parables - the Two Parables of Him who is Neighbour to Us: the First, Concerning the Love That, Unasked, Gives in Our
THE period between Christ's return from the Feast of the Dedication' and His last entry into Jerusalem, may be arranged into two parts, divided by the brief visit to Bethany for the purpose of raising Lazarus from the dead. Even if it were possible, with any certainty, chronologically to arrange the events of each of these periods, the variety and briefness of what is recorded would prevent our closely following them in this narrative. Accordingly, we prefer grouping them together as the Parables …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

But if no Authority for Lying Can be Alleged...
9. But if no authority for lying can be alleged, neither from the ancient Books, be it because that is not a lie which is received to have been done or said in a figurative sense, or be it because good men are not challenged to imitate that which in bad men, beginning to amend, is praised in comparison with the worse; nor yet from the books of the New Testament, because Peter's correction rather than his simulation, even as his tears rather than his denial, is what we must imitate: then, as to those …
St. Augustine—On Lying

The Eclipse and Rediscovery of the Old Testament
[Sidenote: Jesus' study of the Old Testament] The opening chapters of the Gospels record only three or four meagre facts regarding the first thirty years of Jesus' life. The real history of those significant years ran so far beneath the surface of external events that it completely escaped the historian. The history of the mental and spiritual life of the Master is recorded in his mature character and teachings. The fugitive hints, however, vividly illustrate the supreme fact that he ever grew …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Eligius, Bishop of Noyon.
THE life of this pious bishop is so much the more worthy our consideration, on account of his having passed many years in the position of an ordinary citizen, before he entered on the clerical office; because his life may thus afford us a picture of the pious citizens of his time. Eligius was born at Chatelàt, a mile from Limoges, A. D. 588. His family had been Christian for many generations, and he received a pious education, [8] the result of which extended throughout his life. In his youth, …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Secondly, for Thy Words.
1. Remember, that thou must answer for every idle word, that in multiloquy, the wisest man shall overshoot himself. Avoid, therefore, all tedious and idle talk, from which seldom arises comfort, many times repentance: especially beware of rash answers, when the tongue outruns the mind. The word was thine whilst thou didst keep it in; it is another's as soon as it is out. O the shame, when a man's own tongue shall be produced a witness, to the confusion of his own face! Let, then, thy words be few, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Fifth Commandment
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' Exod 20: 12. Having done with the first table, I am next to speak of the duties of the second table. The commandments may be likened to Jacob's ladder: the first table respects God, and is the top of the ladder that reaches to heaven; the second respects superiors and inferiors, and is the foot of the ladder that rests on the earth. By the first table, we walk religiously towards God; by …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Eleventh Day. The Holy one of Israel.
I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. I the Lord which make you holy, am holy.'--Lev. xi. 45, xxi. 8. 'I am the Lord Thy God, the Holy One of Israel, Thy Saviour. Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.'--Isa. xliii. 3, 14, 15. In the book of Exodus we found God making provision for the Holiness of His people. In the holy …
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Mothers, Daughters, and Wives in Israel
In order accurately to understand the position of woman in Israel, it is only necessary carefully to peruse the New Testament. The picture of social life there presented gives a full view of the place which she held in private and in public life. Here we do not find that separation, so common among Orientals at all times, but a woman mingles freely with others both at home and abroad. So far from suffering under social inferiority, she takes influential and often leading part in all movements, specially …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Judas' Betrayal and Peter's Denial Foretold.
(Jerusalem. Evening Before the Crucifixion.) ^A Matt. XXVI. 21-25, 31-35; ^B Mark XIV. 18-21, 27-31; ^C Luke XXII. 21-23, 31-38; ^D John XIII. 21-38. ^b 18 And ^d 21 When Jesus had thus said, ^b as they sat and were eating, ^d he was troubled in the spirit, and ^b Jesus ^d testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. ^b even he that eateth with me. ^c 21 But behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. [The foreknowledge of Judas' crime …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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