What Does Leviticus 19:16 Mean in the King James?

Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse binds a roaming report and a bystander’s stance together: a neighbor can be harmed by what gets carried about and by who remains standing while blood is shed.

THE MEANING

Your words can turn a neighbor into something carried from mouth to mouth, while your refusal to intervene can leave that neighbor exposed to violence. The verse binds speech and physical presence into one account of how a neighbor’s life is treated; “I am the LORD” places both under God’s claim.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that harm only comes from the hand that strikes: a report passed along and a failure to step in can also endanger a neighbor.

THE ROOT

רָכִיל

rākîl

GROWS FROM

רכל

r-k-l

To go about as a trader; to trade or traffic.

The word for a talebearer shares its consonants with words for trading and traffic. That makes gossip a kind of social commerce: a neighbor’s story is carried around and exchanged, placing circulating speech beside the danger of a neighbor’s blood.

ALSO GROWS

rōkhēl: Merchant, trader.

רֹכֵל

The merchant goes about carrying goods; the talebearer carries reports about a neighbor.

rekullāh: Trade, merchandise, traffic.

רְכֻלָּה

This branch makes the movement and exchange in a carried report audible beneath the English word “talebearer.”

תַעֲמֹד

taʿămōd

GROWS FROM

עמד

ʿ-m-d

To stand, remain, or take one’s place.

“stand” in this verse is taʿămōd. The Hebrew phrase pictures standing at or over a neighbor’s blood, giving the prohibition an immediate scene. The question is not only what you say but where you remain when another life is at risk.

ALSO GROWS

ʿāmad: To stand or remain.

עָמַד

The root keeps the verse focused on a person’s actual position beside a neighbor in danger.

maʿămād: A standing, position, or status.

מַעֲמָד

This branch echoes the verse’s concern with the place a person occupies when a neighbor’s life is exposed.

THE PATTERN

A neighbor’s life is endangered both by harmful words carried around and by withholding help when danger is visible.

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Proverbs 11:13 · KJVThe verse pairs the talebearer’s circulating speech with the choice to keep another person’s vulnerability from spreading.

If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;

Proverbs 24:11 · KJVIt names the danger of standing aside while others are being led toward death.

But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

1 John 3:17 · KJVIt makes seeing a neighbor’s need and withholding help part of the same question of how that neighbor is treated.

THE THREAD

A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Proverbs 11:13 · KJV

The same Hebrew word, ⁨רָכִיל⁩ (rākîl), meaning “talebearer,” appears in both verses. Leviticus forbids carrying reports among the people; Proverbs shows how that traffic exposes another person’s secrets.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us