Leviticus 18NASB
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Leviticus18

New American Standard

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God.

3You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

4You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God.

5So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; I am the Lord.

6‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord.

7You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness.

8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.

9As for the nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born in the household or born outside the household, you shall not uncover their nakedness.

10The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours.

11The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.

13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.

14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

17You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is an outrageous sin.

18And you shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a second wife while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

19‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity.

20And you shall not have sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

21You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

22You shall not sleep with a male as one sleeps with a female; it is an abomination.

23Also you shall not have sexual intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

24‘Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these things the nations which I am driving out from you have become defiled.

25For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has vomited out its inhabitants.

26But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments, and you shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the stranger who resides among you

27(for the people of the land who were there before you did all these abominations, and the land has become defiled),

28so that the land will not vomit you out should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which was there before you.

29For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people.

30So you are to keep your commitment to Me not to practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves with them; I am the Lord your God.’”

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 18.

Full AI study →

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Unlawful marriages and fleshly lusts. (1-30).

vv1-30

Here is a law against all conformity to the corrupt usages of the heathen. Also laws against incest, against brutal lusts, and barbarous idolatries; and the enforcement of these laws from the ruin of the Canaanites. God here gives moral precepts. Close and constant adherence to God's ordinances is the most effectual preservative from gross sin. The grace of God only will secure us; that grace is to be expected only in the use of the means of grace. Nor does He ever leave any to their hearts' lusts, till they have left him and his services.

Cross References

Leviticus 18
v5Romans 10:5quotation

Paul explicitly quotes Leviticus 18:5 ('the man which doeth those things shall live in them') regarding legal righteousness.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v5Galatians 3:12quotation

Paul quotes the phrase 'the man that doeth them shall live in them' to contrast law and faith.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v26Leviticus 18:5thematic

Provides the foundational promise of life for keeping the statutes and judgments.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v5Luke 10:28allusion

Jesus echoes the life promise of Leviticus 18:5 to the lawyer: 'this do, and thou shalt live.'

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

Paul condemns a man having 'his father's wife' as incest not even named among the Gentiles.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v21Leviticus 20:2thematic

Specifies the capital penalty for giving seed to Molech, expanding on verse 21.

Supported by John Calvin

v22Leviticus 20:13thematic

Prescribes the capital punishment for the homosexual act forbidden as an abomination in verse 22.

Supported by John Calvin

v23Leviticus 20:15thematic

Establishes the penalty for bestiality, which is prohibited in verse 23.

Supported by John Calvin

v24Leviticus 20:23thematic

Repeats warning against walking in the manners of the nations cast out before them.

Supported by John Calvin, JFB

v5Matthew 19:17allusion

Jesus' statement 'if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments' echoes the promise of verse 5.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v8Genesis 35:22thematic

Reuben's sin with Bilhah, his father's concubine, violates the prohibition against uncovering a father's wife's nakedness.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v8Genesis 49:4thematic

Jacob's dying words denounce Reuben for defiling his couch, referring back to the incest forbidden here.

Supported by Matthew Poole

Prohibits making sons or daughters pass through the fire, parallel to Molech worship.

Supported by John Calvin

Condemns the pagan practice of burning children in the fire to their gods.

Supported by John Calvin

v26Romans 10:5allusion

Apostolic theological application of the 'do and live' principle of Leviticus 18.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v28Leviticus 20:22thematic

Warning that the land will vomit Israel out if they commit these abominations.

Supported by John Calvin

v5Ezekiel 20:11allusion

Ezekiel explicitly cites God's giving of statutes which 'if a man do, he shall even live in them.'

Supported by Matthew Poole

The formal covenant curse pronounced upon anyone who lies with his father's wife, echoing verse 8.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v16Deuteronomy 25:5contrast

The levirate marriage law provides a specific, divinely mandated exception to the general prohibition in verse 16.

v16Matthew 14:4thematic

John the Baptist's rebuke to Herod: 'It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.'

v212 Kings 23:10thematic

Historical fulfillment where Josiah defiled Topheth to stop child sacrifices to Molech.

Supported by JFB

v21Jeremiah 32:35thematic

Prophetic condemnation of Israel building high places to cause children to pass through fire to Molech.

Supported by John Calvin

v22Romans 1:27thematic

New Testament parallel exposing the same unnatural practices as errors worthy of judgment.

Supported by JFB

Pronounces a formal curse upon anyone who lies with any manner of beast.

Supported by John Calvin

v7Ezekiel 22:10thematic

Ezekiel denounces Jerusalem for uncovering their fathers' nakedness and humbling women set apart for pollution.

v8Leviticus 20:11thematic

The penal counterpart to verse 8, prescribing the death penalty for lying with a father's wife.

v92 Samuel 13:12thematic

Tamar appeals to the prohibition of sibling incest, pleading with Amnon not to do such folly.

v16Leviticus 20:21thematic

Prescribes the specific penalty (childlessness) for taking a brother's wife, reinforcing the prohibition of verse 16.

v20Leviticus 20:10thematic

Declares the death penalty for both the adulterer and adulteress, backing the prohibition in verse 20.

v21Leviticus 19:12thematic

Parallels the prohibition against profaning the name of your God.

Supported by John Calvin

v30Leviticus 18:3thematic

Reinforces the command not to do after the customs of Egypt or Canaan.

Supported by Matthew Poole