What Does Leviticus 25:17 Mean?
You shall not therefore oppress one another, but stand in awe of your God, for I am the LORD your God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God.THE KEY
The command ties awe of God directly to refusing to exploit another person, placing every use of power under divine regard.
THE MEANING
The person beside you is never outside your relationship with God. Awe of God makes the way you use power answerable to the One who sees the person you could otherwise exploit.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that mistreating someone is acceptable when that person has less power or cannot make you answer for it.
THE ROOT
וְיָרֵאתָ
veyareta
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear, revere, or stand in awe.
“stand in awe of” in this verse is veyareta. The verse’s call to fear God carries the sense of standing in awe of God. That awe is linked directly to how you treat another person: reverence reaches into the use of power.
ALSO GROWS
yare: To fear or revere; one who stands in awe.
יָרֵא
It shows that the verse’s command describes a posture of reverence toward God.
yir'ah: Fear, reverence, or awe.
יִרְאָה
This noun names the reverent regard that the verse connects with refusing to oppress another.
nora: Awesome or fearsome; inspiring awe.
נוֹרָא
This related form shows how the root can describe the quality that evokes awe.
THE PATTERN
Reverence for God makes treatment of vulnerable neighbors a matter of accountability to their Maker.
You shall not curse the deaf, nor set a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall stand in awe of your God. I am the LORD.The one who presses the emptied one taunts his Maker, but the one who gives him weight favors the poor.Honor all people. Love the brothers. Stand in awe of God. Honor the king.THE THREAD
You shall not curse the deaf, nor set a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall stand in awe of your God. I am the LORD.Leviticus 19:14 repeats the same command to fear God and places it beside refusing to harm people whose vulnerability makes them easy to mistreat. The shared yare root carries awe toward God into the treatment of a neighbor.
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