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Leviticus
Chapter Eighteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 18
In
this chapter the Israelites are directed in general not to imitate the customs
and practices of the Egyptians and Canaanites, but to keep the ordinances,
statutes, and judgments of the Lord, Leviticus 18:1; and
they are instructed particularly to avoid incestuous marriages, Leviticus 18:6;
carnal copulation with a menstruous woman, Leviticus 18:19;
adultery, Leviticus 18:20;
letting any of their seed pass through the fire to Molech, Leviticus 18:21;
sodomy, Leviticus 18:22;
and bestiality, Leviticus 18:23;
and they are deterred from these things by observing to them the pollution and
destruction which they brought on the inhabitants of Canaan, and would bring
the same on them should they commit them, Leviticus 18:24.
Leviticus 18:1. Then
the Lord
spoke to Moses, saying,
YLT 1And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... He continued
speaking to him, after he had delivered to him the laws respecting the day of
atonement, and the bringing of the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle,
and particularly concerning the Israelites not worshipping devils, as they had
done in Egypt: the Lord proceeds to deliver out others, the more effectually to
guard against both the immoral and idolatrous practice, of the Egyptians and
Canaanites:
saying, as follows.
Leviticus 18:2.
2 “Speak to the children of
Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God.
YLT 2`Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast
said unto them, I [am] Jehovah your God;
Speak unto the children of Israel,.... To the heads of
their tribes, that they might deliver to them the following laws; or Moses is
bid to publish them among them, either by word of mouth, or by writing, or
both:
and say unto them, I am the Lord your God; with which
they were to be introduced; showing the right he had to enact and enjoin such
laws, since he was Jehovah, the Being of beings, and from whom they received
their beings; their sovereign Lord and King, who had a right to rule over them,
and command what he pleased; and also the obligation they lay under to him to
regard them, and yield a cheerful obedience to them, since he was their God,
not only that had made them, but had redeemed them out of Egypt; and who had
made a covenant with them, and had taken special care of them, and had bestowed
many wonderful favours on them; and for this purpose is this phrase often used
in this chapter, and very frequently in the next. See Leviticus 18:2.
Leviticus 18:3.
3 According to the doings of
the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the
doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor
shall you walk in their ordinances.
YLT 3according to the work of the land of Egypt in
which ye have dwelt ye do not, and according to the work of the land of Canaan
whither I am bringing you in, ye do not, and in their statutes ye walk not.
After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye
not do,.... Where they had dwelt many years, and were just come out from
thence, and where they had learned many of their evil practices; not only their
idolatrous ones referred to in the preceding chapter, which it is certain they
followed, Ezekiel 20:7; but
also their immoral practices, particularly respecting incestuous marriages,
after insisted on, some of which were established by a law among them; so
Diodorus Siculus relatesF17Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 23. , that it passed
into a law with the Egyptians, contrary to the common custom of all others,
that men might marry their own sisters; which is one of the incestuous
marriages taken notice of in this chapter, and forbid:
and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you,
shall ye not do: which land had been promised to their ancestors and to them long
ago, and whither they were now going under divine direction and guidance, to
inherit it, and are here particularly warned of the evil practices among them,
that they might avoid them: MaimonidesF18Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c.
37. says, these are what our Rabbins call "the ways of the Amorites"
(the principal people of the nations of the land of Canaan), and which, he
adds, are as branches of the magic art; namely, such which do not follow from
natural reason, but from magical operation, and depend upon the dispositions
and orders of the stars, and so were necessarily led to worship them: hence,
they say, in whatsoever is anything of medicine, in it is nothing of the way of
the Amorites; by which they mean nothing else than this, that everything is
lawful in which there appears a natural reason for it; and on the contrary, all
others are unlawful: but here respect is had not to magical operations but to
incestuous marriages, which prevailed among that people, and which they might
have received from their ancestor Canaan, who learned them from his father Ham,
of whom BerosusF19Antiqu. l. 3. fol. 25. writes, that even before
the flood he corrupted mankind; asserting and putting it in practice, that men
might lie with their mothers, sisters, daughters, and with males and brutes, or
any other, for which he was cast out by Noah:
neither shall ye walk in their ordinances: which they
ordained, appointed, and settled, for they were such a people the Psalmist
speaks of, which framed mischief or wickedness by a law, Psalm 94:2; so
Diodorus Siculus says of the incestuous marriage before referred to, and which
the above writer, Berosus, derives from Ham their ancestor, that they are said νομοθετησαι, "to pass into a law"; but Aben Ezra puts another sense
on these words, let no man use himself to walk in this way until it becomes an
ordinance or statute unto him; custom is second nature, and in course of time
has the force of a law, wherefore bad customs should be strictly guarded
against.
Leviticus 18:4.
4 You shall observe My
judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.
YLT 4`My judgments ye do, and My statutes ye keep,
to walk in them; I [am] Jehovah your God;
Ye shall do my judgments,.... Which are just and
right, and according to the rules of justice and equity; these are things, as
Jarchi observes, which are said in the law with judgment, or are laws framed
with the highest reason, even by the judgment of God himself, whose judgment is
always according to truth: Aben Ezra thinks, these are the judicial laws in Exodus 21:1; but
though they may include them, they have more particular respect to the
following laws:
and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: which he had
ordained and appointed of his own will and pleasure, which Jarchi calls the
decree of the king, or which he decreed and determined as a king, having
absolute power over his subjects to enact and enjoin what he pleased; wherefore
some think these refer to ceremonial laws, which depended upon the will of the
lawgiver, and were not founded in any natural sense or reason, wherefore it
follows:
I am the Lord your God: who had a right to make
what laws he pleased, being their Sovereign, and which they in gratitude as
well as in justice ought to obey, he being their God, their covenant God, who
had done great and good things for them.
Leviticus 18:5.
5 You shall therefore keep
My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am
the Lord.
YLT 5and ye have kept My statutes and My judgments
which man doth and liveth in them; I [am] Jehovah.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments,.... The same
as before; these they were to keep in their minds and memories, and to observe
them and do them:
which if a man do he shall live in them; live a long
life in the land of Canaan, in great happiness and prosperity, see Deuteronomy 30:20;
for as for eternal life, that was never intended to be had, nor was it possible
it could be had and enjoyed by obedience to the law, which fallen man is unable
to keep; but is what was graciously promised and provided the covenant of
grace, before the world was, to come through Christ, as a free gift to all that
believe in him, see Galatians 3:11;
though some Jewish writers interpret this of eternal life, as Jarchi, Aben
Ezra, and Ben Gersom:
I am the Lord; that has enjoined these
statutes and judgments, and promised life to the doers of them, able and
faithful to perform what is promised.
Leviticus 18:6. 6 ‘None
of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his
nakedness: I am the Lord.
YLT 6`None of you unto any relation of his flesh
doth draw near to uncover nakedness; I [am] Jehovah.
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him,.... Or to all
"the rest of his flesh"F20אל כל שאר בשרו
"ad omnes reliquias carnis suae", Montanus; "ad quascunque
reliquias carnis suae", Tigurine version. , which together with his make
one flesh, who are of the same flesh and blood with him, and are united
together in the bonds of consanguinity; and such, with respect to a man, are
his mother, sister, and daughter; his mother, of whom he was born, his sister,
who lay in and sprung from the same "venter" he did, and his
daughter, who is his own flesh; and with respect to a woman, her father brother,
and son, who are in the same degree of relation, and both sexes are included in
this prohibition; for though in the original text it is "a man, a
man"F21איש איש
"vir, vir", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius. , yet as it takes in every
man, so every woman: hence, as Jarchi observes, it is expressed in the plural
number, "do not ye approach", to caution both male and female; and it
is also understood by the TalmudistsF23T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 57.
2. T. Hieros. Kiddushin, fol. 58. 2, 3. of Gentiles as well as Israelites, for
they ask, what is the meaning of the phrase "a man, a man?" the
design of it is, they say, to comprehend the Gentiles, who are equally cautioned
against incests as the Israelites; and indeed the inhabitants of the land of
Canaan are said to defile the land with the incests and other abominations
hereafter mentioned, and for which they were driven out of it: now when man and
woman are forbidden to "approach" to those of the same flesh and
blood with them, the sense is not that they may not come into each other's
company, or make use of any civil or friendly salutations, or have a free and
familiar conversation with each other, provided that modesty and chastity be
preserved; but they are not so to draw near as to lie with, or have carnal
knowledge of one another, in which sense the phrase is used, Genesis 20:4; or to
tempt to it or solicit it, and as it follows, which explains the meaning of it:
to uncover their nakedness; that is, those parts,
which, by a contrary way of speaking, are so called, which should never be
naked or exposed to view; but should be always covered, as nature teaches to
do, and as our first parents did, when they perceived themselves naked, and
were ashamed, Genesis 3:7, this
phrase signifies the same as to lie with another, or have carnal knowledge of
them, wherefore the following laws are generally understood of incestuous
marriages; for if such an action is not to be done between persons standing in
such a relation, as here in general, and afterwards more particularly
described, then there ought to be no intermarriages between them; and if such
marriages are forbidden, and such actions unlawful in a married state, then
much more in an unmarried one; wherefore the several following instances are so
many breaches of the seventh command, Exodus 20:14, and
so many explications and illustrations of it, and consequently of a moral
nature, and binding upon all men, Jews and Gentiles:
I am the Lord; that gave this caution,
and enjoined this prohibition, and would greatly resent and severely revenge
the neglect of it: the particulars follow.
Leviticus 18:7. 7 The
nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover.
She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.
YLT 7`The nakedness of thy father and the
nakedness of thy mother thou dost not uncover, she [is] thy mother; thou dost
not uncover her nakedness.
The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother,
shall thou not uncover,.... By uncovering a
father's nakedness is not meant anything similar to what befell Noah, which Ham
beheld with pleasure, and the other two sons of Noah studiously and with
reverence to their father covered; nor any sodomitical practice of a son with
his father; as Gersom interprets it; but the same is meant by both phrases, and
the words are by many interpreters thus rendered, "the nakedness of thy
father, that isF24וערות "id est,
nuditatem vel pudenda", Vatablus, Fagius, Piscator. , the nakedness of thy
mother thou shalt not uncover": for what is the mother's is the father's,
and uncovering the one is uncovering the other; wherefore the mother only is
made mention of in the next clause, where the reason of this prohibition is
given:
she is thy mother, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness; that is, not
lie with her, nor marry her, because she is his mother that bore him, of whom
he was born, and therefore ought not to become his wife, or be taken into his
bed; such a marriage must be incestuous and shocking; such were the marriages
of Oedipus with his mother Jocasta, and of Nero with Agrippina; though the
words will bear another sense, that a woman may not marry her father, which may
be meant by the first clause, nor a man his mother, intended in the next; and
where indeed it is not expressed, females in the same degree of relation are
included with the males, and under the same prohibition; and so the Targum of
Jonathan explains this, a woman shall not have to do with her father, nor a man
with his mother; as Lot's two daughters had with him, and the Persians with
their mothers; among whom such incestuous marriages and copulations were
frequent, and especially among their MagiF25Sex. Empir. Pyrrh. l. 3.
c. 24. who might not perform their office unless they had lain with their
mothers, sisters, and daughtersF26Patricides apud Selden. de jure
natur. Gent. l. 5. c. 11. p. 624. , or were begotten in such incestF1"Nam
magus ex matre et gnato nascatur oportet." Catull. Epigr. 91. : a man
guilty of such incestuous copulations was cursed by the law of Moses, Deuteronomy 27:20;
this is contrary to nature, what the brute creation abhors; a camel will not
cover its dam: AristotleF2Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 47. reports of one
who was betrayed into it by his keeper, who, after he had discovered it, fixed
his teeth in him and slew him; and he also relates of a horse after that he had
ignorantly done the same, ran away in great haste and cast himself down from a
precipice headlong.
Leviticus 18:8. 8 The
nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your
father’s nakedness.
YLT 8`The nakedness of the wife of thy father thou
dost not uncover; it [is] the nakedness of thy father.
The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover,.... That is,
who is indeed a man's father's wife, but not his own mother, but a stepmother
or mother-in-law; or otherwise this law would coincide with the former; a man
lying with such an one is accursed by the law, Deuteronomy 27:23;
such an incestuous copulation was that of Reuben with Bilhah, and Absalom with
his father's concubines or secondary wives, and such an incestuous marriage was
that of the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 5:1;
and of Antiochus Soter, king of Syria, with Stratonice his mother-in-lawF3Vid.
Julian. in Misopogon, p. 72, &c. : and even it was criminal to do this
after a father's death, as Jarchi interprets it; and though she was only
betrothed, and not married, and the father dead after such betrothing; as
Gersom; nay, though she was divorced by the father, yet was not lawful for the son
to have, no, not after his death:
it is thy father's nakedness; being espoused to him,
and so one flesh with him; and the son and father being one flesh, such a
mixture must be unlawful; and since then the nakedness of a mother-in-law is
the father's, then surely that of an own mother's must be so likewise, which
confirms a sense given of it in Leviticus 18:7,
CiceroF4Orat. 14. pro A. Cluentio Avito. exclaims against such
marriages as incredible and unheard of, as instances of unbridled lust and
singular impudence.
Leviticus 18:9. 9 The
nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your
mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not
uncover.
YLT 9`The nakedness of thy sister, daughter of thy
father, or daughter of thy mother, born at home or born without; thou dost not
uncover their nakedness.
The nakedness of thy sister,.... To lie with one in
so near a relation is exceeding criminal, and for which the law curses a man, Deuteronomy 27:22;
and to marry her is not lawful; for though it was necessary for the propagation
of mankind that a man should marry his sister, for who else could Cain and Abel
marry? yet afterwards, when there was an increase of mankind, and there were
people enough remote from each other, it became unlawful for persons in such
near ties of consanguinity to marry with each other; though the Egyptians did,
in imitation of Isis and OsirisF5Diodor. Sicul. l. 1. p. 23. , and
so the Persians, following the example of CambysesF6Herodot. Thalia,
sive, l. 3. c. 31. :
the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother; whether she
is a sister both by father and mother's side, or whether only by the fathers
side and not the mother's, as Sarah was to Abraham, Genesis 20:12; or
only by the mother's side and not the father's:
whether she be born at home
or born abroad; not whether born and brought up in his and her father's house,
or born and brought up in another place and province; though there were some,
as Aben Ezra observes, that so interpreted it, according to the sense of the
word in Genesis 50:23; but
rather the sense is, as that writer gives it, whether born according to the law
of the house of Israel, after espousals and marriage, or without it; that is,
whether begotten in lawful marriage or not, whether a legitimate offspring or
spurious, born in adultery and whoredom, whether on the father or mother's
side; so the Targum of Jonathan, whom thy father begat of another woman, or of
thy mother, or whom thy mother bore or brought forth, of thy father, or of
another man; and to the same purpose Onkelos:
even their
nakedness thou shalt not uncover; neither lie with, or
have carnal knowledge of, nor marry one or the other.
Leviticus 18:10. 10 The
nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness
you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness.
YLT 10`The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of
thy daughter's daughter: thou dost not uncover their nakedness; for theirs [is]
thy nakedness.
The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter,.... A man
might not marry his granddaughter, whether a descendant of his son or of his
daughter, nor any further off descending from him in a right line, not his
great-granddaughter, and so on; and if he might not marry his granddaughter,
much less his own daughter, as Jarchi observes, for the relation is still
nearer; therefore that being prohibited, this in course must, though not
mentioned:
even their
nakedness thou shalt not uncover; neither debauch nor
marry such an one:
for theirs is thine own nakedness; which sprung
from his, being the descendants either of his son or daughter; the Targum of
Jonathan is,"for they are as thy nakedness,'his own flesh and blood.
Leviticus 18:11. 11 The nakedness of your
father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you
shall not uncover her nakedness.
YLT 11`The nakedness of a daughter of thy father's
wife, begotten of thy father, she [is] thy sister; thou dost not uncover her
nakedness.
The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter,.... Either
the daughter of his father by another wife, which seems to be countenanced by
what follows:
begotten of thy father, she is thy sister; but then this
coincides with what is prohibited, Leviticus 18:9,
"the daughter of thy father"; that is, by another woman than a man's
mother, only with this difference, that there is added, or "daughter of
thy mother", that is, by another man than a man's own father; so that
there is a prohibition of a sister whether by father or mother's side; here
only as by the father's side, and so is only a part of that law; and, as some
think, is for the confirmation of it, as Aben Ezra observes; or else the sense,
as he thinks, is, that if a man marries a woman, and she has a little daughter
by a former husband, that daughter may not be given in marriage to his son; and
so the Septuagint version finishes this clause first, before it gives the
other, which it considers as distinct from it, thus, "the shame of thy father's,
wife's daughter thou shalt not uncover"; and then makes a distinct law of
the latter; "she that is begotten of thy father is thy sister, thou shalt
not uncover her shame"; but then this last falls in with Leviticus 18:9, the
Sadducees, as Aben Ezra also observes, by whom he means the Karaites, interpret
it not of a mother's daughter, but of one brought up and educated by a man's
father, and so is his adopted daughter, whom his son might not marry; and thus
with the Romans it is saidF7Paulus in Mosaic. & Roman. Leg.
Collat. tit. 6. a Pithaeo. , that adoptive kindred hindered marriage between
parents and children altogether; and among brethren so far forth as the loss of
freedom did not intervene: some understand this law in this light, as De Dieu,
that in Leviticus 18:9; the
son of a second marriage is forbidden to marry with an half sister of the first
marriage, whether she is the father's daughter, that is, which the father had
by his deceased wife, or the mother's daughter, that is, which his mother had
by a deceased husband; but here the son of a first marriage is forbidden with a
half sister of a second marriage, which his mother-in-law has bore to his
father, and is therefore called "the daughter of thy father's wife";
that is, of thy stepmother, but so the same may be said to be "begotten of
thy father"; and therefore one begotten in a former marriage may not be
understood; but then as this forbids the marriage of a brother with a sister,
that is, of the same father, though not of the same mother, it falls in within
the former law; wherefore someF8Bertram. Lucubrat. Franktal. c. 6.
Pool in loc. have been of opinion, that this law forbids a man to marry the
daughter of a woman whom his father has taken to wife, who was his deceased
brother's wife, upon the law in Deuteronomy 25:5;
by which marriage she became the father's daughter, and the son's sister;
wherefore they take the phrase, "begotten of thy father", to signify
"being akin" to thy father; which, if it can be established, makes a
distinct law: Jarchi observes, on this phrase, "the daughter of thy
father's wife","this teaches that a man is not guilty concerning his
sister that is by an handmaid or stranger; therefore it is said, the daughter
of thy father's wife, namely, one that was fit for marriage."
thou shalt not uncover her nakedness; See Gill on Leviticus 18:9.
Leviticus 18:12. 12 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of
kin to your father.
YLT 12`The nakedness of a sister of thy father thou
dost not uncover; she [is] a relation of thy father.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister,.... His aunt
by his father's side, an instance of which we have in Amram, Exodus 6:20; and
Maimonides saysF9Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 2. sect. 5. , an aunt was
forbidden whether she was a father's sister in lawful wedlock or in
fornication:
she is thy father's near kinswoman; or, the rest
of thy fatherF11שאר אביך
"reliquiarum patris tui", Tigurine version. ; the residue of his
flesh, one of the same flesh and blood with him; wherefore, as he could not
marry her himself, so his son likewise was too near akin to enter into such a
relation with her.
Leviticus 18:13. 13 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near
of kin to your mother.
YLT 13`The nakedness of thy mother's sister thou
dost not uncover; for she [is] thy mother's relation.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister,.... Which is
the same relation as before, an aunt by the mother's side; wherefore, if such a
marriage was unlawful, this must also, and for the same reason:
for she is thy mother's near kinswoman; the same
phraseology is used here as in the preceding verse; See Gill on Leviticus 18:12;
and by the same rule a woman might not marry her uncle, whether by father or
mother's side, the relation being the same, and this reaches to great-uncle and
great-aunt; instances of women marrying their uncles, and men their aunts,
among the Heathens, have been given, as among the Persians and Lacedaemonians
by HerodotusF12Erato, sive, l. 6. c. 71. Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c.
224, 239. , and among the Romans by TacitusF13Annal. l. 12. c. 5, 6,
7. , but were, in his time, new things with the latter.
Leviticus 18:14. 14 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not
approach his wife; she is your aunt.
YLT 14`The nakedness of thy father's brother thou
dost not uncover; unto his wife thou dost not draw near; she [is] thine aunt.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother,.... Which
Gersom understands of committing sodomy with him, on which account he was
doubly guilty, partly because of lying with a male, and partly because of
uncovering the nakedness of his father's brother; but it rather seems at first
sight as if the sense was, that a woman should not marry her father's brother,
that is, her uncle, as a man might not marry his aunt, whether by father or
mother's side, as in Leviticus 18:12;
but Jarchi directs to a better sense than either, when he asks, what is his
nakedness? in answer to which he recites the following clause as explanative of
it:
thou shall not approach to his wife; in the use of the bed,
as the Targum of Jonathan adds, that is, to lie with her, her husband being
living, or to marry her, he being dead:
she is thine aunt: even as a father's or
mother's sister, only they are aunts by blood, this by marriage or affinity: in
the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan it is, she is the wife of thy father's
brother; and as Aben Ezra, she is accounted as thine aunt, and so marriage with
her prohibited; and the same holds good of a father's brother's wife, which
being not mentioned, the same writer says, we have need of the tradition which
expresses that and also of a father's sister's husband; for if marriage with a
father's brother's wife is unlawful, then marriage with a father's sister's
husband must be so too; for a father's sister's husband stands in the same
degree or line of affinity as a father's brother's wife; and it is a sure rule,
that in whatsoever degree or line of affinity males are forbid to marry
females, in the same females are forbid to marry males.
Leviticus 18:15. 15 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your
son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness.
YLT 15`The nakedness of thy daughter-in-law thou
dost not uncover; she [is] thy son's wife; thou dost not uncover her nakedness.
Thou shall not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law,.... Shall not
he with her in his son's lifetime, or marry her after his death:
she is that son's wife; and so one flesh with
him, and who is of the same flesh and blood with his father, and therefore the
nearness of the relation forbids such incestuous copulation or marriage:
thou shall not uncover her nakedness; or have
carnal knowledge of her, whether in the life or after the death of his son,
even then marriage with her is not lawful.
Leviticus 18:16. 16 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your
brother’s nakedness.
YLT 16`The nakedness of thy brother's wife thou
dost not uncover; it [is] thy brother's nakedness.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife,.... Neither
debauch her nor after the death of the brother marry her, that is, unless he
dies without issue; and then, by another law, he was obliged to marry her, Deuteronomy 25:5;
hence the Targum of Jonathan adds; by way of explanation."in the life of
thy brother, or after his death, if he has children,'but then that law was but
an exception from this general rule, and so did not make it void in other
respects, but bound it the more strongly; and besides, it was a special and
peculiar law to the Jews, until the Messiah came to make it manifest of what
tribe and family he came; and the reason of it ceasing, the law itself is
ceased, and so neither binding on Jews nor Gentiles: hence John the Baptist
boldly told Herod to his face, that it was not lawful for him to have his
brother's wife Matthew 14:3; and
even such marriages were condemned by the very Heathens: Dionysius
HalicarnassensisF14Hist. l. 4. relates, that Lucius Tarquinius,
Superbus, his brother being removed by poison, took Tullia to wife, whom his
brother Aruntus had before married; but the historian calls it ανοσιον γαμον, "an unholy marriage", and
abominable both among Greeks and Barbarians: Plutarch also reportsF15In
Vita M. Crassi. , that Marcus Crassus married the wife of his deceased brother;
but such marriages are condemned by the same writer, as they are by the ancient
Christians in their councils and canonsF16Canon Apostol. can. 19.
Concil. Neocaesar. can. 2. ; now by this same law, if it is not lawful for a
man to have his brother's wife, then it is not lawful for her to have her
sister's husband; or, in other words, if it is not lawful for a woman to marry
two brothers, then it is not lawful for a man to marry two sisters: the case of
Jacob will not countenance such a marriage, since he was imposed upon and
deceived; and such marriages have also been disapproved of by the Heathens and
Christians: Honorius the emperor married two daughters of Stilico, one after
another, but the unhappy exit of both sisters showed that those marriages were
not approved of by God, for they both died premature deaths, leaving no
childrenF17Zonaras, l. 3. apud Zanchium de Sponsalibus, l. 4. c. 1.
p. 786. :
it is thy brother's nakedness; that is, his
wife is, being by marriage one flesh with him, and his brother being so to him,
the relation is too near to intermarry, and more especially when there is issue
by the first, which connects them strongly.
Leviticus 18:17. 17 You
shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, nor shall you take
her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are
near of kin to her. It is wickedness.
YLT 17`The nakedness of a woman and her daughter
thou dost not uncover; her son's daughter, and her daughter's daughter thou
dost not take to uncover her nakedness; they [are] her relations; it [is]
wickedness.
Thou shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter,.... That is,
if a man marries a woman, and she has a daughter, which is the man's daughter-in-law,
after the death of his wife he may not marry this daughter; for this daughter
is of the same flesh with her mother, who became one flesh with the man she
married, and therefore his relation to her daughter is too near to marry her:
Jarchi says, if he does not marry the woman, but only deflower her, it is free
for him to marry her daughter; but Aben Ezra says, if he has lain with the
mother, the daughter is forbidden; however, if he married either of them, the
other was forbidden; he could not marry them both, neither in the lifetime of
them both, nor after the death of either of them:
neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's
daughter, to uncover her nakedness; not any of her
granddaughters, either in the line of her son or daughter; that is, might not
lie with either of them, or marry them, and much less then marry her own
daughter, these being a further remove from her:
for they are her near
kinswomen; one or other of them, even every one of them, "the
rest" and residue "of her"F18שארה
הנה "reliquiae sunt ipsae", Tigurine
version. , of her flesh, who together made one flesh with her; and therefore
not to be married to her husband, either in her life, or after her death:
it is wickedness: a very great wickedness,
abominable in the sight of God, and to be detested by man as vile and impious;
it is whoredom, as the Targum of Jonathan renders it.
Leviticus 18:18. 18 Nor
shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while
the other is alive.
YLT 18`And a woman unto another thou dost not take,
to be an adversary, to uncover her nakedness beside her, in her life.
Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister,.... Both of
them together, as Jarchi; two sisters at one and the same time; so the Targum
of Jonathan,"a woman in the life of her sister thou shall not take;'that
is, in marriage, that sister being his wife; for the sense of the Targumist can
never be that a man might not take a woman for his wife, she having a sister
living, but not to take one sister to another, or marry his first wife's
sister, whether, as MaimonidesF19Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 2. sect. 9.
says, she was sister by father or mother's side, in marriage or in fornication:
to vex her, to uncover her nakedness; two reasons
are given, why, though polygamy, or having more wives than one, was connived
at, yet it was not allowed that a man should have two sisters; partly, because
they would be more apt to quarrel, and be more jealous and impatient of one
another, if more favour was shown or thought to be shown to one more than
another; and partly, because it was a filthy and unbecoming action to uncover
the nakedness of one, or lie with one so nearly related to his wife:
besides her in her life time; from whence some have
concluded, and so many of the Jewish writersF20Misn. Yebamot, c. 4.
sect. 13. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 22. fol. 164. 1. Peaicta, Ben Gersom in loc. ,
that a man might marry his wife's sister after her death, but not while she was
living; but the phrase, "in her lifetime", is not to be joined to the
phrase "thou shall not take a wife"; but to the phrases more near,
"to vex her in her lifetime", or as long as she lived, and "to
uncover her nakedness by her"F21עליה
"apud vel prope eam"; so על is sometimes
used; see Nold. part. Concord. Ebr. p. 691. , on the side of her, as long as
she lived; for that a wife's sister may be married to her husband, even after
her death, cannot be lawful, as appears from the general prohibition, Leviticus 18:6;
"none of you shall approach to him that is near of kin to him"; and
yet it is certain that a wife's sister is near akin to a man; and from the
prohibition of marriage with an uncle's wife, with the daughter of a
son-in-law, or of a daughter-in-law, Leviticus 18:14;
now a wife's sister is nearer of kin than either of these; and from the
confusion that must follow in case of issue by both, not only of degrees but
appellation of kindred; one and the same man, who as a father of children, and
the husband of their mother's sister, stands in the relation both of a father
and an uncle to his own children; the woman to the children of the deceased
sister stands in the relation both of a stepmother, and of a mother's sister or
aunt, and to the children that were born of her, she stands in the relation
both of a mother and an uncle's wife; and the two sorts of children are both
brethren and own cousins by the mother's side, but of this See Gill on Leviticus 18:16 for
more; some understand this of a prohibition of polygamy, rendering the words,
"thou shall not take one wife to another"; but the former sense is
best; polygamy being not expressly forbidden by the law of Moses, but supposed in
it, and winked at by it; and words of relation being always used in all these
laws of marriage, in a proper and not in an improper sense: there is a pretty
good deal of agreement between these laws of Moses and the Roman laws; by an
edict of Dioclesian and MaximianF23Apud Mosaic. & Roman. Leg.
Collat. ut supra. (tit. 6. a Pithaeo) , it was made unlawful to contract
matrimony with a daughter, with a niece, with a niece's daughter, with a
grandmother, with a great-grandmother, with an aunt by the father's side, with
an aunt by the mother's side, with a sister's daughter, and a niece from her,
with a daughter-in-law to a second husband, with a mother-in-law, with a wife
or husband's mother, and with a son's wife; and several of these laws are
recommended by Phocylydes, an Heathen poet, at least in a poem that hears his
name; and the marriage of a wife's sister after her death has been condemned by
several Christian councilsF24Concil. Illiber. can. 61. Aurat. can.
17. Auxer. can. 30. .
Leviticus 18:19. 19 ‘Also
you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in
her customary impurity.
YLT 19`And unto a woman in the separation of her uncleanness
thou dost not draw near to uncover her nakedness.
Also thou shall not approach unto a woman,.... Not even
a man to his own wife, and much less to another woman:
to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her
uncleanness; in her monthly courses; and the time of her separation from her
husband on that account was seven days, Leviticus 15:19; if
a man lay with a woman when in such circumstances, they were both to be cut off
from their people, Leviticus 20:18;
and such an action is reckoned among sins, and uncleanness of the worst sort, Ezekiel 22:10.
Leviticus 18:20. 20 Moreover
you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with
her.
YLT 20`And unto the wife of thy fellow thou dost
not give thy seed of copulation, for uncleanness with her.
Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife,.... Which is
adultery, and a breach of the seventh command, Exodus 20:14,
to defile thyself with her; not only adultery is a
defiling a man's wife, as it is sometimes called, but the adulterer defiles
himself: all sin is of a defiling nature, but especially this, which defiles a
man both in soul and body, and brings a blot and stain upon his character,
which shall not be wiped off, Proverbs 6:32.
Leviticus 18:21. 21 And you shall not let any
of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you
profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
YLT 21`And of thy seed thou dost not give to pass
over to the Molech; nor dost thou pollute the name of thy God; I [am] Jehovah.
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire
to Molech,.... The name of an image or idol, according to Aben Ezra, who
observes, that their wise men interpret it as a general name for everyone whom
they made to reign over them; and it is right, he says, that it is the
abomination of the children of Ammon, and so the same with Milcom, 1 Kings 11:5; and
with Baal, as appears from Jeremiah 32:35; and
they are both of much the same signification, the one signifies a king, the
other a lord; and perhaps is the same with the Melicarthus of SanchoniathoF25Apud,
Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 38. , who is also Hercules; to whom Pliny
saysF26Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 5. that the Phoenicians offered human
sacrifices every year: of Molech; see Gill on Jeremiah 7:31, Amos 1:13; by
"seed" is meant children and offspring; and because the word
"fire" is not in the original text, some, as Aben Ezra observes,
explain the phrase, "let to pass through", of their causing them to
pass from the law of God to the religion of Molech, or of devoting them to his
service and worship; but the word "fire" is rightly supplied, as it
may be from Deuteronomy 18:10;
and the same writer says, the phrase to pass through is the same as to burn;
but though this they sometimes did, even burn their infants, and sacrificed
them to idols, 2 Chronicles 28:3;
yet this seems to be something short of that, and to be done in the manner, as
Jarchi and other Jewish writersF1Ben Melech in loc. Kimchii Sepher
Shorash. rad. מלך. relate; who say, the father
delivered his son to the priests (of Molech) and they made two great fires, and
caused the son to pass on foot between the two fires, which was a kind of a
lustration, and so of a dedication of them to the idol; though it must be owned
that both were done; yea, that both the phrases of passing through the fire,
and of burning, are used promiscuously of the same, see 2 Kings 16:3;
compared with 2 Chronicles 28:3
and also Ezekiel 16:20; and
they might be both done at different times, or the one previous and in order to
the other; and perhaps they might cause the child so often and so long to pass
through the fire, as that at last it was burnt and destroyed:
neither shall thou profane the name of thy God; who had given
them children, and to whom they ought to have devoted them, and in whose
service they should have trained them up to the honour of his name; but instead
of that profaned it, by the above idolatrous and cruel usages:
I am the Lord; who would avenge such a
profanation of his name.
Leviticus 18:22. 22 You
shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
YLT 22`And with a male thou dost not lie as one
lieth with a woman; abomination it [is].
Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind,.... By carnal
knowledge of them, and carnal copulation with them, and mixing bodies in like
manner: this is the sin commonly called sodomy, from the inhabitants of Sodom,
greatly addicted to it, for which their city was destroyed by fire: those that
are guilty of this sin, are, by the apostle, called "abusers of themselves
with mankind", 1 Corinthians 6:9,
it is abomination; it is so to God, as the
above instance of his vengeance shows, and ought to be abominable to men, as
being not only contrary to the law of God, but even contrary to nature itself,
and what is never to be observed among brute creatures.
Leviticus 18:23. 23 Nor
shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman
stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.
YLT 23`And with any beast thou dost not give thy
copulation, for uncleanness with it; and a woman doth not stand before a beast
to lie down with it; confusion it [is].
Neither shall thou lie with any beast, to defile thyself therewith,.... A female
one, as Aben Ezra notes, as a mare, cow, or ewe, or any other beast, small or
great, as Ben Gersom, or whether tame or wild, as MaimonidesF2Hilchot
Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 16. ; and even fowls are comprehended, as the same
writers observe:
neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: that is,
stand before a beast, and by a lascivious and obscene behaviour solicit the
beast to a congress with her, and then lie down after the manner of four-footed
beasts, as the word signifies, that it may have carnal copulation with her: for
a man to lie with a beast is most shocking and detestable, but for a woman to
solicit such an unnatural mixture is most horrible and astonishing: perhaps
reference may be had to a most shocking practice among the Egyptians, from
among whom the Israelites were lately come, and whose doings they were not to
imitate, Leviticus 18:3; and
which may account for this law, as Bishop Patrick observes: at Mendes, in
Egypt, a goat was worshipped, as has been remarked Leviticus 18:7; and
where the women used to lie with such creatures, as StraboF3Geograph.
l. 17. p. 551. and AelianusF4De Animal. l. 7. c. 19. from Pindar
have related; yea, HerodotusF5Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 46. reports,
of his own knowledge, that a goat had carnal copulation with a woman openly, in
the view of all, in his time; and though that creature is a most lascivious and
lustful one, yet, as BochartF6Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 53. col.
642. from Plutarch has observed, when it is provoked by many and beautiful
women, is not inclined and ready to come into their embraces, but shows some
abhorrence of it: nature in brutes, as that learned man observes, is often more
prevalent in them than in mankind:
it is confusion; a mixing of the seed of
man and beast together, a blending of different kinds of creatures, a
perverting the order of nature, and introducing the utmost confusion of beings,
from whence monsters in nature may arise.
Leviticus 18:24. 24 ‘Do
not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations
are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
YLT 24`Ye are not defiled with all these, for with
all these have the nations been defiled which I am sending away from before
you;
Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things,.... In
incestuous copulations and marriages, in adultery, corporeal and spiritual, and
bestiality:
for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before
you; that is, the seven nations of the land of Canaan, which God was
about to eject out of their land to make room for the Israelites, and that on
account of the above shocking vices which abounded among them; so that in some
sense the land they dwelt upon was defiled by them, and called for vengeance on
them, as even loathing its inhabitants, as afterwards suggested.
Leviticus 18:25. 25 For
the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it,
and the land vomits out its inhabitants.
YLT 25and the land is defiled, and I charge its
iniquity upon it, and the land vomiteth out its inhabitants:
And the land is defiled,.... The inhabitants of
it, with the immoralities and idolatries before mentioned:
therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it; or punish the
inhabitants that are on it for their sins:
and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants; as a stomach
loaded with corrupt and bad food it has taken in, nauseates it, and cannot bear
and retain it, but casts it up, and never receives it again; so the land of
Canaan is represented as loathing its inhabitants, and as having an aversion to
them, and indignation against them, and as not being able to bear them, but
entirely willing to be rid of them and throw them out of their places in it,
never to be admitted more, being as nauseous and as useless as the cast of a
man's stomach; see Revelation 3:16.
Leviticus 18:26. 26 You
shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any
of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who
dwells among you
YLT 26and ye -- ye have kept My statutes and My
judgments, and do not [any] of all these abominations, the native and the
sojourner who is sojourning in your midst,
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments,.... Before
observed to them, whether of a ceremonial nature, and enjoined them according
to his sovereign will and pleasure; or of a moral nature, and founded in justice
and equity, and so worthy of their regard, and obligatory upon them; as well as
in their own nature they recommended themselves to their regard, as being the
reverse of those loathsome and abominable things before dehorted from:
and shall not commit any of these abominations; such as
incest, adultery, idolatry, and bestiality, which are in themselves abominable
things, execrable to God, and to be detested by men:
neither any of your
own nation; that belonged to any of their own tribes, or should be born to
them in the land of Canaan when they came thither, and were properly natives of
it:
nor any stranger that sojourneth among you; any
proselyte, and especially a proselyte of righteousness, who conformed to the
Jewish religion, and had laid himself under obligation to do everything that
was binding upon an Israelite.
Leviticus 18:27. 27 (for
all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before
you, and thus the land is defiled),
YLT 27(for all these abominations have the men of
the land done who [are] before you, and the land is defiled),
For all these abominations have the men of the land done,.... The then
present inhabitants of Canaan, who dwelt in it before the Israelites came into
it; these were guilty of unclean copulations, of incestuous, marriages, of
fornication and adultery, and of bestiality and idolatry:
which were before you; lived in the land before
them, had long dwelt there, but now about to be cast out for their sins; and
therefore they who were going to succeed them should take warning by them,
lest, committing the same sins, they should be cast out likewise:
and the land is defiled; See Gill on Leviticus 18:25.
Leviticus 18:28. 28 lest
the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations
that were before you.
YLT 28and the land doth not vomit you out in your
defiling it, as it hath vomited out the nation which [is] before you;
That the land spew not you out also, when ye defile it,.... By
sinning on it, and so rendering it obnoxious to the curse of God, as the whole
earth originally was for the sin of man; and so be cast out of it, as Adam was
out of paradise, and as the Israelites might expect to be cast out of Canaan,
as the old inhabitants of it had been:
as it spewed out the nations that were before you; which for the
certainty of it is spoken of as done, though it was as yet future; and what the
Lord did is ascribed to the land, the more to aggravate their crying sins and
abominations, for which the land mourned, and which it could not bear.
Leviticus 18:29. 29 For
whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them
shall be cut off from among their people.
YLT 29for any one who doth [any] of all these
abominations -- even the persons who are doing [so], have been cut off from the
midst of their people;
For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations,.... Before
particularly forbid, any of them, be it which it will, they all being very
heinous and vile, and especially these last mentioned:
even the souls that commit them; whether male
or female, as Jarchi observes; for the above things concern them both for the
most part, however some one, and some another; and though most, if not all the
said crimes are committed by the members of the body, yet since under the
influence and direction of the soul, the commission of them is attributed to
that, and the punishment threatened respects both:
shall be cut off from among the people; be removed
from their church state, and deprived of ecclesiastical privileges, and from
their civil state, and reckoned no more of the commonwealth of Israel; and if
known and convicted, to be punished by the civil magistrate, and if not, by the
immediate hand of God.
Leviticus 18:30. 30 ‘Therefore
you shall keep My ordinance, so that you do not commit any of
these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not
defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.’”
YLT 30and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do
[any] of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not
defile yourselves with them; I [am] Jehovah your God.'
Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance,.... Whatever
the Lord appointed them and commanded, whether contained in this chapter, or
elsewhere:
that ye commit not anyone of these abominable
customs; for attending to the ordinances of God, and a close in them,
they would be preserved from the commission of such abominable things, and
giving in to such detestable customs as before warned against:
which were committed before you; by the inhabitants of
Canaan; and by the punishment on them for them they might be deterred from
doing the same:
and that ye defile not yourselves therein; for though
the land is so often said to be defiled, yet, properly speaking, and chiefly,
it was the inhabitants that were defiled by their abominable customs; and so
would the Israelites also, should they observe the same, and thereby become
abominable in the sight of God, and incur his displeasure, and be liable to his
vengeance:
I am the Lord your God; who had a sovereign
authority over them, and a right to give out what commands he pleased, both
negative and affirmative; and to whom they were under obligations to obey, as
the God of nature and providence, from whom they had their beings, and were
supported in them, and as their covenant God, who had bestowed special and
spiritual favours on them.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》