Leviticus20
New King James Version
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name.
4And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him,
5then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
6‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.
7Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.
8And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
9‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.
10‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.
11The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them.
13If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
14If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.
15If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.
16If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.
17‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his guilt.
18If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.
19‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister nor of your father’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt.
20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
21If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
22‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out.
23And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them.
24But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
25You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
26And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
27‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, 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