Leviticus20
King James Version · Public Domain
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
4And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
5Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
6And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
7Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.
8And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.
9For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
10And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
14And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
15And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
16And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
17And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
18And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
20And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
21And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
22Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
23And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
24But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.
25Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
26And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
27A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 20.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Law against sacrificing children to Moloch, Of children that curse their parents. (1–9). Laws repeated, Holiness enjoined. (10–27).
vv1-9
Are we shocked at the unnatural cruelty of the ancient idolaters in sacrificing their children? We may justly be so. But are there not very many parents, who, by bad teaching and wicked examples, and by the mysteries of iniquity which they show their children, devote them to the service of Satan, and forward their everlasting ruin, in a manner even more to be lamented? What an account must such parents render to God, and what a meeting will they have with their children at the day of judgment! On the other hand, let children remember that he who cursed father or mother was surely put to death. This law Christ confirmed. Laws which were made before are repeated, and penalties annexed to them. If men will not avoid evil practices, because the law has made these practices sin, and it is right that we go on that principle, surely they should avoid them when the law has made them death, from a principle of self-preservation. In the midst of these laws comes in a general charge, Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy. It is the Lord that sanctifies, and his work will be done, though it be difficult. Yet his grace is so far from doing away our endeavours, that it strongly encourages them. Work out your salvation, for it is God that worketh in you.
vv10-27
These verses repeat what had been said before, but it was needful there should be line upon line. What praises we owe to God that he has taught the evil of sin, and the sure way of deliverance from it! May we have grace to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; may we have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
גֵּר: properly, a guest; by implication, a foreigner
גּוּר: properly, to turn aside from the road (for a lodging or any other purpose), i.e. sojourn (as a guest); also to shrink, fear (as in a strange place); also to gather forhostility (as afraid)
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
זֶרַע: seed; figuratively, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity
Cross References
Leviticus 20Direct parallel forbidding the giving of offspring to the pagan deity Molech.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Explicit law forbidding a man from marrying or uncovering the nakedness of his brother's wife.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jesus explicitly cites and confirms the law of puting to death children who curse parents.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Internal chapter parallel repeating the core mandate to sanctify yourselves and be holy.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
New Testament command quoting the Levitical charge 'Be ye holy; for I am holy.'
Supported by Matthew Henry
Identical phrase of God setting His face against a person and cutting them off.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Explicit covenant parallel declaring Yahweh as the One who sanctifies His covenant people.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
The foundational covenant law declaring that anyone cursing father or mother must be executed.
Supported by John Calvin
John the Baptist rebukes Herod Antipas for taking his brother Philip's wife.
Supported by John Calvin
Warns Israel that the land will vomit or spue them out for committing abominations.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The foundational dietary code defining clean and unclean beasts, birds, and creeping things.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts humanly ignoring or winking at sins with God overlooking times of ignorance.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Direct prohibition against turning to mediums, wizards, and familiar spirits.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The specific judicial penalty of death for both the adulterer and the adulteress.
Supported by John Calvin
Paul references the prohibition of a man sleeping with his father's wife as intolerable.
Illustrates execution by stoning followed by burning with fire as specified in verse 14.
Supported by JFB
The underlying moral prohibition against bestiality, here coupled with the death penalty.
God's presence separates and distinguishes Israel from all other people upon the earth.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Peter's vision of clean and unclean beasts, illustrating the breaking down of national barriers.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical account of Saul seeking out a woman with a familiar spirit at Endor.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel prohibition against turning after those who have familiar spirits or wizards.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Civil law demanding capital punishment for practicing witchcraft.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The direct moral prohibition against uncovering the nakedness of one's father's wife.
The direct moral prohibition against lying with one's daughter-in-law.
The underlying moral prohibition against homosexual practice, labeled an abomination.
The underlying moral prohibition regarding relations during a woman's impurity.
Israel chosen to be a holy, peculiar people, severed from other nations.
Supported by John Calvin