You shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.
Start with the word “neighbor” (rea). Why neighbor? I’m not sure, but there are a few things going on in the structure:
One, each couplet of verses in vv. 11-18 (vv. 11-12, 13-14, 15-16) ends with “I am Yahweh,” so that probably matters.
vv. 11-12 prohibit sins against one’s “fellow citizen” (amit): stealing, dealing falsely, and lying;
vv. 13-14 prohibit sins against one’s “neighbor” (rea): oppression, robbery, and withholding wages;
vv. 15-16 prohibit sins against ones “fellow citizen” (amit), “kin” (am), and “neighbor” (rea): unjust judgment, partiality, and slander. There is also the first positive imperative of the passage: “judge your neighbor fairly”; and
vv. 17-18 prohibit sins against one’s “brother” (ah), “fellow citizen” (amit), and “kin” (ben-am): heart-hatred, vengeance-taking, and grudge-bearing. Then it gives the line, “You shall love your neighbor (rea) as yourself.”
That word, love (ahev), appears twice in Leviticus. The second appearance is later in the chapter, and it involves two more kinds of people.
When a stranger (ger) sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger (ger) who sojourns with you as the native (ezrah) among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers (ger) in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (vv. 33-34)
A few takeaways:
What is the picture of love in Leviticus? Mostly, it’s not impeding fairness. Not in your heart, in your words, or in your judgments. Is there a positive sense? Well, there are only two positive imperatives given, which seems to interpret one another: judge fairly (19:15), and love (19:18).
Who is my neighbor? Taking these sections (vv. 11-18, vv. 33-34) together makes the lawyer’s question at Luke 10:25-29 look like thin reading, and Jesus’ answer fairly obvious. Jesus didn’t change or intensify the law. Leviticus 19, and the whole of the torah, has always been about loving fellow citizen, neighbor, kinsman, brother, stranger, and native. That’s six. And God (Deut. 6:4-9). So that’s seven?