You will love your neighbor as yourself (Levitico 19.1-2.11-18)
Biblical reflections of Alessandro, seminarianist
Levitico is a purely priestly text. The very name of the book speaks volumes: book of the leviti, that is, of those who being of the tribe of Levi are designated to the office of priests. In the ancient people of the alliance there was no priests by call, by vocation, but simply by birth.
Let's go back to the text. The common theme of the whole book is like behaving in the presence of the Lord; He is holy, the people are holy! But how to be holy? What things do and above all what not to do?
A quick and superficial reading highlights the prohibitions, the non and the nor are they practically 99% of the text. The devil could even, as for Adam and Eva in Genesis 3.1, exaggerate and ask ourselves if we really can't do anything because everything is sin. The answer comes from the same text that ends with a "but". From this adversive onwards there is the sense of the whole song. They are not the prohibitions, the key to the reading and the end of every indication are not negations, but you will love your neighbor as yourself.
In light of the last verse we must now review all the part that is first, all the negations and all the prohibitions. Loving others like ourselves requires us to discard any idea of evil, malice, dishonest. Loving the neighbor, on the other hand, invites us to shed light in the bottom of the heart and dissipate every shadow to walk in his presence saints and immaculate in love (see EF 1.4).
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Levitico 19.1-2.11-18
The Lord spoke to Moses and said: «He speaks to the whole community of Israelites saying to them:" Be holy, because I, the Lord, your God, I am holy. (...)
You will not steal or use deception or lie to each other.
You will not swear the false using my name; Because you would deer the name of your God. I am the Lord.
You will not oppress your neighbor, nor will you go up with what is his; The laborer of the laborer to your service does not stay at the night with you until the next morning.
You will not despise the deaf, nor will you stumble before the blind man, but you will fear your God. I am the Lord.
You will not commit injustice in court; You will not partially draw the poor, nor will you use preferences towards the powerful; But you will judge your neighbor with justice. 16 You will not go around to spread slander among your people or you will cooperate on the death of your neighbor. I am the Lord.
You will not hatch in your heart I hate against your brother; Open your neighbor openly, so you won't charge you with a sin for him.
Non ti vendicherai e non serberai rancore contro i figli del tuo popolo, ma amerai il tuo prossimo come te stesso. Io sono il Signore.
