Leviticus 18:6-25 – God’s Statutes Regarding Adultery

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 02 Oct 2016

I) Introduction

· In my introductory sermon on Leviticus 18 last week, I focused on the first five and last five verses of the chapter which clearly frame this set of statutes in terms of a covenant contract where God asserts His authority over us as our Creator, Lawgiver, and Judge, offering life and salvation in the judgment to all who will embrace the terms of this covenant and relate to God indeed as our Law-giver and Life-giver.

· Now we’re ready to go through the actual statutes that form the body of Leviticus 18. These statutes unpack the meaning of the 7^th Commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” and they can be grouped into two categories:

o 14 statutes protecting relationships within the home (vs. 6-18)

o 5 statutes protecting the sanctity of marriage in general (vs. 19-22)

II) Protecting Relationships Within The Home.

· Leviticus 18:6-18 emphasizes a particular group of women to be especially careful around, and that is the women in your family and household. These are the women most vulnerable to you. Verse 6 begins with the general principle, and the next twelve verses give the nauseating details.

· This indicates that the sexual customs of Egypt and Canaan were absolutely dreadful.

o Indeed literature of those ancient societies depicts it as indescribably perverse. The commentary by Jameison, Fausset and Brown says, “Very great laxity prevailed amongst the Egyptians in their sentiments and practice about the conjugal relation, as they not only openly sanctioned marriages between brothers and sisters, but even between parents and children... [M]arriage with... a sister in the wife’s lifetime [was] a practice common among the ancient Egyptians.”

o I don’t even want to know what all they did.

· The verbs in this section of Leviticus 18 are masculine singular, perhaps because the perpetrator of these acts of adultery are more often men than women, but the underlying principle of what is adultery applies to both men and women. After all, both the woman and the man were punished in most of these situations, as we shall see.

· Most of this chapter focuses on limiting that relationship within your own household – one’s “kin,” “relatives,” or literally “his flesh.” Lev. 21:2 defines such a relative as a parent, child, or sibling, but Lev. 25:49 expands this to include an uncle or a cousin, and Num. 27:11 includes any family member capable of receiving an inheritance. The idea behind the Hebrew word shear seems to indicate anyone that you would share food with at your family dinner table.

o Our American radical individuality keeps most of us in small households with only our spouse and children (if we’re married) – maybe adding a set of parents for a season. But worldwide, and throughout history, extended family households with multiple generations and even non-related members are fairly common, and those who can afford it hire maids and other service folk to help with the household work. There could be quite a variety of people sharing the food in a larger household.

o But God makes it clear that the women in your household are absolutely off-limits – except for your wife (if you’re married). If you’re not married, then they’re all off-limits. Their house should be the safest place in the world for them, and it is one of the most terrible things in the world for a woman to have to live with the fear and shame of being taken advantage of by a man – or a brother – that she can’t get away from in her own house.

o Fathers, your daughters have been commanded to obey you as a parent, and they depend on you for food, shelter, and clothing. Don’t you dare compromise your relationship with their vulnerable soul by violating them sexually. 1 Corinthians 7:36 says that if you can’t control yourself around your daughter, then marry her off!

7. The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you may not uncover – she is your mother; you may not uncover her nakedness! 8. You may not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife – she is the nakedness of your father!

· The impropriety of exposing a parent’s nakedness is established with Noah. Genesis 9:23ff indicates that all of Noah’s sons had an awareness that this was wrong, and everyone living today is a descendent of one of Noah’s sons, so there is no excuse for any culture to claim ignorance of this universal statue.

· The reason given for why no one should violate a parent like this seems to underscore this: “She is your mother... the nakedness of your father,” as though no further explanation is needed, it should just be obvious.

· The punishment for such incest is severe in Leviticus 20:11, “The 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.” (NKJV)

9. Regarding the nakedness of your sister – the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother (born into the household or born outside): you must not uncover her nakedness. 10. [Regarding] the nakedness of the daughter of your son – or the daughter of your daughter: you may not uncover their nakedness because they are your nakedness. 11. [Regarding] the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, born of your father: she is your sister; you may not uncover her nakedness.

· This is a protection for all the females in a given household. The father and the sons in a household may never abuse their position in the household by taking advantage of any female in the house.

· Lev. 20:17 “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.” (NKJV)

· The way God worded these verses includes every conceivable family relationship – including stepmothers, half-sister, step-sister, step-child. Whether or not you are related to your father’s wife, and whether or not you are related to your sister, this is a family member and therefore off-limits for marriage. This is not just about whether or not she is a blood relative – this is not just some protection against genetic problems from marrying too close; it is about covenantal position in the family, and the home should be a sacred and safe space.

· It appears that the reasoning in v.10 is that such exposure would be tantamount to exposing yourself (“they are your nakedness” - “their shame is your shame”) - or else that your daughter is of such like nature to you that it would be abuse to your own body to treat her body as though it were complimentary to yours.

o In the New International Commentary on Leviticus, Gordon Wenham wrote, “With our understanding of biology, we readily see that our children are an extension of ourselves; they are in a vertical blood relationship with us. But foreign to our way of thinking is the idea that... marriage... makes the man and wife as closely related as parents and children. In the words of Genesis 2:24, ‘they become one flesh.’”

12. You may not uncover the nakedness of the sister of your father; she is a family-member of your father. 13. You may not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister because she is a family-member of your mother. 14. You may not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You may not come near to his wife; she is your aunt.

· It also stands to reason that if, according to Leviticus, marriage to an uncle or aunt is forbidden, then it is also forbidden to the nieces and nephews to whom you are an uncle or aunt.

· Not “coming near” is a euphemism for approaching her romantically.

· Note the civil sentence in Leviticus 20:20, “If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.” (NKJV)

· This brings up the question of Moses’ parents, because his father married an aunt (Ex. 6:20). I can think of answers to this:

o 1) There was no prohibition against marrying near-relatives up until the time of Moses (Adam and Eve’s children had nobody else to marry except for siblings, and the human gene pool would have been diverse enough at first to support such a practice without problems, but by Moses’ time, individual humans were not as genetically diverse, and so God saw fit to limit the practice of marrying near relatives as a way of limiting genetic problems in offspring)

o 2) But perhaps the more morally-relevant issue is that of not violating the exclusivity of marriage, and in the case of Moses’ parents, if neither Amram nor Jochabed were married, then they could marry, even though it was a nephew with an aunt, and it appears that this Hebrew word is used in Leviticus 18 to indicate an aunt by marriage rather than a blood relative aunt, in which case Amram and Jochabed were not closely related after all, but only close family members,

o 3) Those first two answers involved a lot of guesswork, however, and the safest route is to avoid conjecture and recognize that the Bible just doesn’t comment on whether the marriage of Jochabed and Amram was proper or not; all we know is that they got married, so this doesn’t really have any bearing on whether or not there is a contradiction in the Bible.

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

· In Gen. 38, there is a story of a daughter-in-law who seduced the patriarch of the tribe of Judah, but this was a special circumstance of the practice of Levirate (Deut. 25) where the daughter-in-law was no longer married because her husband had died, and there was no brother capable of providing her with an heir, so Tamar did what was illegal in order to get an heir. The Bible doesn’t seem to show approval of what she did. In fact, note the civil sentence in Lev 20:12 “If 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.” (NKJV)

16. You may not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; she is the nakedness of your brother.

· Leviticus 20:21 says “If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.” (NKJV)

· There was, however, an exception to this law in the Levirate statues of Deut. 25:5. Levirate, however, was different from marriage because its conjugal permission was singular and not perpetual, and it was to produce an heir for a brother’s family.

17. You may not uncover the nakedness of a woman as well as her daughter. You may not take the daughter of her son or the daughter of her daughter in order to uncover her nakedness. They are family-members; it is a pre-meditated-crime. 18. Also, you may not take a wife in addition to her sister as a rival in order to uncover her nakedness in opposition to her while she is living.

· Seeing as the nation of Israel was the offspring of such a marriage, the relational tension inevitable in such a rivalry was always before the Israelites every time they experienced conflict among their 12 tribes. Here God warns them against doing such an unwise and relationally-contentious thing again.

o The fact that Jacob married two sisters does not mean it was ever right for him to do so, it’s just what he did, and it serves as a general discouragement to having more than one wife – as well as the less-common converse of having more than one husband.

o The fact that the children of both Rachel and Leah lived under God’s covenantal blessings shows God’s grace to bring good out of His people despite their foolishness; it’s no excuse to pull the same stunt ourselves.

· The wording of vs 17-18 describes polygamy as being a particularly willful perversion of marriage.

o The Hebrew word zimmah at the end of v.17, translated “wickedness/lewdness,” has a root meaning of “planning/scheming/purposing,” thus my translation is that such a polygamous marriage “is a pre-meditated crime.”

o Also, the Hebrew lamed preposition expressing purpose is doubled in v.18 “in order to be a rival, in order to uncover”

o We must not sin on purpose. Hebrews 10:26-29 reminds us, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (NKJV)

Summary:

· v.6 says literally, “Don’t come near” Don’t even approach this idea with a 10-foot pole; don’t flirt with being tempted by this sin.

o It is dangerous and terribly devastating to the soul of both the woman and the perpetrator.

o Not to mention, incest is one of the most harshly-dealt-with crimes in our current culture. A missionary co-worker of mine who was caught in this sin was not allowed to see or speak to his wife and children for the rest of his life, spent time in jail, was publicly profiled on the sex offender’s website so that everybody in his neighborhood would know to treat him like an outcast, and was even prohibited from being near any children at all, which meant he could not go to church or live within proximity of a school or go to stores at normal hours.

o Even if God had not framed it so severely in Leviticus 18, the temporal punishments alone should be enough to scare any man into keeping wide boundaries to avoid this kind of evil.

· To summarize the first category of statutes in verses 6-18, they define adultery in terms of protecting family relationships, prohibiting marriage within the first and second degree of consanguinity.

o v.6 your family flesh

o v.7-8 your father and mother

o v.8 your stepmother (Lev 20:11 death sentence)

o v.9 sister or half-sister (Lev. 20:17 cut off and bear guilt)

o v.10. any granddaughter

o v.11. step-sister

o v.12. father’s sister

o v.13. mother’s sister

o v.14 uncle’s wife (Lev. 20:14 bear sin, die childless)

o v.15 son’s wife (daughter-in-law) (Lev. 20:12 death sentence)

o v.16 brother’s wife (sister-in-law) (Lev. 20:21 unclean, die childless, cf. Mark 6:18)

o v.17. multigenerationalism, stepdaughter or step-granddaughter (Lev. 20:14 burn to death)

o v.18. wife’s sister

III) The second section of statutes in this chapter has to do with 5 forms of adultery other than incest. They are in verses 19-23:

19. Furthermore, you may not come near to a woman during the separation-period of her uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.

· We already studied the law regarding this time of separation coinciding with the monthly cycle of a wife in Leviticus 15:19 together with the sentence for accidental violations of it.

· The sentence for intentionally violating this law is in Leviticus 20:18 “If 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.” (NKJV)

· It is listed as a form of adultery, although it does not carry the immediate death-sentence that other forms of adultery carried.

· In my sermon on Leviticus 15, I discussed some of the reasons why such a practice was repugnant based on the symbolism of blood and life and impurity and uncleanness.

· To these reasons could be added, now that we are on the topic of adultery in Leviticus 18, that a husband and wife’s lovemaking needs to be by mutual consent, and this time of the month is generally not agreeable to a woman.

· Furthermore, God’s character which is to be reflected in His people is one of self-restraint, and if a man cannot moderate his appetites from time to time, this indicates some deeper issues of sin that he needs to deal with.

· The other forms of adultery are in the verses that follow:

20. Moreover, you may not give your lying-down for seed to the wife of your kinsman, to become unclean with her.

· This is a restatement of the seventh of the Ten Commandments. This verse describes with uncomfortable explicitness the most common way that, “Do not commit adultery,” is violated.

· And the way the Hebrew text is worded, it even rules out donations from a surrogate father to an infertile couple^{^[1]}.

· The penalty for breaking this law is in Leviticus 20:10 “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.” (NKJV) This means that adultery is deadly-serious sin. It is not something to treat lightly in others or flirt with ourselves.

· The proponents of same-sex marriage complain (and rightly-so) about the hypocrisy of Christians who consider homosexuality abominable but who consider common adultery no big deal. We must be consistent; both sins are awful.

· V.6 talks about not even “coming near,” and that is great advice. Stay away from situations where you are alone with someone that you are not married to but to whom you could become sexually attracted. “Flee from sexual immorality; every sin which a man might do is outside his body, but the one who is sexually immoral continues to sin into his own body.” (1 Cor. 6:18, NAW)

21. And you may not give any of your descendents to give service to Molech, and you may not blaspheme the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

· There is some uncertainty about the word in the Hebrew text variously translated “pass through the fire” (KJV), “offer” (NASB), “Sacrifice” (NIV), or “serve” (LXX), but the idea is the same; this is describing a blasphemous, profane worship practice before a Canaanite sun-god named Molech.

· The name means “king,” and he was often depicted as a bronze statue of a great man with the head of a calf and arms stretched out in front of him to accept gifts from his worshipers. The priests of Molech would light a fire under the metal statue, and then worshippers would pass their infant firstborn child through the fire across the outstretched arms of that statue, dedicating them to Molech.

· In later years the Israelites actually laid their children on the metal arms of the statue and burned them to death^{^[2]}. (Canaanite customs were horrible, and that’s only one of them!)

· Of course, our contemporary practice of saline abortion is fairly similar – burning a tiny baby to death with injected chemicals when the mother and father decide it is too inconvenient to raise the child. Satan inspires modern man with many of the same old ideas that horrify us about ancient people.

· But our children are not ours to decide how to use. Ezekiel 16:20-21 “Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire?” (NKJV) God claims ownership of our children, and for us to dispose of them like so much trash is terribly offensive to Him – just as offensive as neglecting the spiritual lives of our children to let them wander away from God and worship whatever they please. Just as this chapter emphasizes that our marital union is to be exclusive to one spouse, so also our children are holy to God and to be treated as such.

· The punishment for this crime is detailed in Leviticus 20:2 “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.” (NKJV)

22. In addition, you may not lie down with a male in the manner of lying down with a woman. That is an abomination.

· Since this law came from God Himself, it is not subject to change by human consensus. Yahweh’s opinion is the only one that matters when it comes to moral authority, so if He says, “You may not” (as He does here), then you may not. End of discussion.

· Homosexuality is a form of adultery, which is why it is listed here in Leviticus 18, and so, Christians who are consistent with the Bible oppose all forms of adultery, including so-called “gay” and “lesbian” marriage because God has forbidden them.

· But could it be that Leviticus 18 represents a law that was only for a certain ancient time and place? That is a theory advanced by sexual revolutionaries today, but it ignores the fact that, with the exception of the increasing limits on marrying family members, God’s standards regarding marriage have stood unchanged.

o The first marriage (Adam and Eve in Genesis 1) was set up by God as one man and one woman, and, as Jesus indicated in the Gospels (Matthew 19:4), that first marriage was intended to be a template for all subsequent marriages to follow.

o That standard is upheld in Mosaic law from the second millennium BC, in the writings of the Prophets in the first millennium BC (Ezek. 16:47ff), in the Apostles of the first millennium AD (Rom. 1:26ff), and in the future in heaven (Rev. 21:8). The prohibition against homosexuality is for all time.

· The civil penalty for violating this prohibition is given in Leviticus 20:13 “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” (NASB)

23. Also you may not give your lying-down with any beast to become unclean with it, and a woman may not position herself before a beast to mate with it; this is perversion.

· The subject of the first verb in verse 23 is masculine, so it is addressed to men (cf. Lev. 15:18), and the second half is obviously addressed to women.

· Bestiality is the last and most base of the types of adultery.

· It was popular in ancient Egypt and Canaan, and it is still around today. I actually saw a newspaper article describing a wedding for a man and his dog in Colorado a decade or so ago.

· Bestiality, however, is so degrading to human dignity that it’s one of those areas where we need to apply the principle of 1 Corinthians 14:20 “in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” (KJV). Don’t even pry into knowledge of this kind of evil.

· The pretended marriage to an animal is called tebel/confusion/perversion – a mixture that violates principle. God made humans fundamentally different from animals, holy, and therefore any action or statement which indicates we are no more than animals is abominable.

· Capital punishment is prescribed for violating this law in Leviticus 20:15-16 “If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. If 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.” (NKJV)

Summary

· v.19 exposing menstrual flow (Lev. 20:18 Both man and woman cut off from their people)

· v.20 neighbor’s wife (Lev. 20:10 both man and woman put to death)

· v. 21 ritual adultery and child sacrifice (Lev. 20:2 stone to death)

· v.22. Homosexuality (Lev. 20:13 death sentence for both men)

· v.23 Bestiality (Lev. 20:15-16 death sentence for both beast and person)

IV) Conclusion

· Now, there are a number of questions and related issues which these statutes raise, such as:

o How should a woman cover herself?

o Should we still put people to death for adultery? and

o What should I do if I am guilty of one of these sins?

· But I’m out of time for today, so I will plan to save those topics for next week, and if you have other questions, email or text them to me, and I’ll try to address them too.

· For now I want to close by going back to the Hebrews 10:26-29 passage I mentioned in the middle of the sermon and give its converse:

o For those who “sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” but for believers who renounce their rebellion against God’s law, Jesus has offered Himself as a sacrifice to pay for your sins!

o For those who wish to violate God’s statutes, all there is to look forward to is indeed “a fearful... judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour,” but for those who receive Jesus as their Life-giver, they can look forward to salvation and eternal life with God!

o “Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” but anyone who embraces God’s covenant of lovingkindness which frames Moses’ law will live because Jesus will testify that you are His child.

o Those who “trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace” will indeed be punished, but those who exalt Jesus, count His blood holy for forgiving sin, and are sanctified by the spirit need have no fear of punishment because they are beloved of God (NKJV).

Comparative translations of Leviticus 18:6-30

When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original Hebrew, I use ~~strikeout~~. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. Hebrew text that is colored purple matches the Dead Sea Scrolls, and variants between the DSS and the MT are noted in endnotes with the following exceptions: When a holem or qibbutz pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a vav or a hireq pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a yod (the corresponding consonantal representation of the same vowel) or when the tetragrammaton is spelled with paleo-Hebrew letters, I did not record it a variant. In Chapter 18, 11Q1 paleoLeviticus^a contains verses 27-30, and 4Q23 Leviticus-Numbers^a contains verses 16-18 & 20-21.

LXX	Brenton	KJV	NAW	MT
6 Ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος πρὸς πάντα οἰκεῖα σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ οὐ προσελεύσεται ἀποκαλύψαι ἀσχημοσύνην· ἐγὼ κύριος.	6 No man shall draw nigh to any of his near kindred to uncover their nakedness; I am the Lord.	6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.	6. Everybody, y’all may not come near to any family-member [who is] of [your] flesh to uncover nakedness. I am Yahweh.	6 אִישׁ אִישׁ^{^[A]} אֶל-כָּל-שְׁאֵר בְּשָׂרוֹ לֹא תִקְרְבוּ לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָה אֲנִי יְהוָה: ס
7 ἀσχημοσύνην πατρός σου καὶ ἀσχημοσύνην μητρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· μήτηρ γάρ σού ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς.	7 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, for she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	7. The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you may not uncover – she is your mother; you may not uncover her nakedness!	7 עֶרְוַת אָבִיךָ וְעֶרְוַת אִמְּךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אִמְּךָ הִוא לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָהּ: ס
8 ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· ἀσχημοσύνη πατρός σού ἐστιν.	8 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife; it is thy father's nakedness.	8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.	8. You may not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife – she is the nakedness of your father!	8 עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת-אָבִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה עֶרְוַת אָבִיךָ הִוא: ס
9 ἀσχημοσύνην τῆς ἀδελφῆς σου ἐκ πατρός σου ἢ ἐκ μητρός σου, ἐνδογενοῦς ἢ γεγεννημένης ἔξω, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς.	9 The nakedness of thy sister by thy father or by thy mother, born at home or abroad, their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.	9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.	9. Regarding the nakedness of your sister – the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother (born into the household or born outside): you must not uncover her nakedness.	9 עֶרְוַת אֲחוֹתְךָ בַת-אָבִיךָ אוֹ בַת-אִמֶּךָ מוֹלֶדֶת בַּיִת אוֹ מוֹלֶדֶת חוּץ לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָן^{^[B]}: ס
10 ἀσχημοσύνην θυγατρὸς υἱοῦ σου ἢ θυγατρὸς θυγατρός σου, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν, ὅτι σὴ ἀσχημοσύνη ~~ἐστίν~~ X.	10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or thy daughter's daughter, their nakedness thou shalt not uncover; because it is thy nakedness.	10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.	10. [Regarding] the nakedness of the daughter of your son – or the daughter of your daughter: you may not uncover their nakedness because they are your nakedness.	10 עֶרְוַת בַּת-בִּנְךָ אוֹ בַת-בִּתְּךָ לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָן כִּי עֶרְוָתְךָ הֵנָּה: ס
11 ἀσχημοσύνην θυγατρὸς γυναικὸς πατρός σου [οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις]· ~~ὁμο~~πατρία ἀδελφή σού ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς.	11 [Thou shalt not uncover] the nakedness of the daughter of thy father's wife; she is thy sister ~~by the same~~ father: thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	11. [Regarding] the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, born of your father: she is your sister; you may not uncover her nakedness.	11 עֶרְוַת בַּת-אֵשֶׁת אָבִיךָ מוֹלֶדֶת אָבִיךָ אֲחוֹתְךָ הִוא לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָהּ: ס
12 ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφῆς πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· οἰκεία [γὰρ] πατρός σού ἐστιν.	12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister, [for] she is near akin to thy father.	12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.	12. You may not uncover the nakedness of the sister of your father; she is a family-member of your father.	12 עֶרְוַת אֲחוֹת-אָבִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה שְׁאֵר אָבִיךָ הִוא: ס
13 ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφῆς μητρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· οἰκεία γὰρ μητρός σού ἐστιν.	13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, for she is near akin to thy mother.	13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.	13. You may not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister because she is a family-member of your mother.	13 עֶרְוַת אֲחוֹת-אִמְּךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה כִּי-^{^[C]}שְׁאֵר אִמְּךָ הִוא: ס
14 ἀσχημοσύνην ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ πατρός σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις [καὶ] πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰσελεύσῃ· συγγενὴς [γάρ] σού ἐστιν.	14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, [and] thou shalt not go in to his wife; [for] she is thy relation.	14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.	14. You may not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You may not come near to his wife; she is your aunt.	14 עֶרְוַת אֲחִי-אָבִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אֶל^{^[D]}-אִשְׁתּוֹ לֹא תִקְרָב דֹּדָתְךָ הִוא:
15 ἀσχημοσύνην νύμφης σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· γυνὴ [γὰρ] υἱοῦ σού ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς.	15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law, [for] she is thy son's wife, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.	15. You may not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is the wife of your son; you may not uncover her nakedness.	15 עֶרְוַת כַּלָּתְךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אֵשֶׁת בִּנְךָ הִוא לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָהּ: ס
16 ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς ἀδελφοῦ σου οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· ἀσχημοσύνη ἀδελφοῦ σού ἐστιν.	16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.	16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.	16. You may not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; she is the nakedness of your brother.	16 עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת-אָחִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה עֶרְוַת אָחִיךָ הִוא: ס
17 ἀσχημοσύνην γυναικὸς καὶ θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς οὐκ ἀποκαλύψεις· τὴν θυγατέρα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς οὐ λήμψῃ ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶν· οἰκεῖαι [γάρ σού] εἰσιν, ἀσέβημά ἐστιν.	17 The nakedness of a woman and her daughter shalt thou not uncover; her son's daughter, and her daughter's daughter, shalt thou not take, to uncover their nakedness, [for] they are [thy] kinswomen: it is impiety.	17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are [her] near kinswomen: it is wickedness.	17. You may not uncover the nakedness of a woman as well as her daughter. You may not take the daughter of her son or the daughter of her daughter in order to uncover her nakedness. They are family-members; it is a pre-meditated-crime.	17 עֶרְוַת אִשָּׁה וּבִתָּהּ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אֶת-בַּת-בְּנָהּ וְאֶת-בַּת-בִּתָּהּ לֹא תִקַּח לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ^{^[E]} שַׁאֲרָה הֵנָּה זִמָּה הִוא:
18 X γυναῖκα ἐπὶ ἀδελφῇ αὐτῆς οὐ λήμψῃ ἀντίζηλον ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς ἐπ᾿ αὐτῇ ἔτι ζώσης αὐτῆς.	18 X Thou shalt not take a wife in addition to her sister, as a rival, to uncover her nakedness in opposition to her, while she is yet living.	18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside ~~the other~~ in her life time.	18. Also, you may not take a wife in addition to her sister as a rival in order to uncover her nakedness in opposition to her while she is living.	18 וְאִשָּׁה אֶל-אֲחֹתָהּ לֹא תִקָּח לִצְרֹר לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ עָלֶיהָ בְּחַיֶּיהָ:
19 Καὶ πρὸς γυναῖκα ἐν χωρισμῷ ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῆς οὐ προσελεύσῃ ἀποκαλύψαι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῆς.	19 And thou shalt not go in to a woman under separation for her uncleanness, to uncover her nakedness.	19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as [she is] put apart for her uncleanness.	19. Furthermore, you may not come near to a woman during the separation-period of her uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.	19 וְאֶל-אִשָּׁה בְּנִדַּת טֻמְאָתָהּ לֹא תִקְרַב לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ:
20 καὶ πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον σου οὐ δώσεις κοίτην σπέρματός σου ἐκμιανθῆναι πρὸς αὐτήν.	20 And thou shalt not X X X X lie with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.	20 Moreover thou shalt not X X lie X ~~carnally~~ with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.	20. Moreover, you may not give your lying-down for seed to the wife of your kinsman, to become unclean with her.	20 וְאֶל-אֵשֶׁת עֲמִיתְךָ לֹא-תִתֵּן שְׁכָבְתְּךָ לְזָרַע לְטָמְאָה-בָהּ:
21 καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματός σου οὐ δώσεις λατρεύειν ~~ἄρχοντι^{^[F]}~~ καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσεις τὸ ὄνομα [τὸ ἅγιον·] X X X ἐγὼ κύριος.	21 And thou shalt not give of thy seed to serve a ~~ruler~~; and thou shalt not profane my [holy] name X X X; I am the Lord.	21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.	21. And you may not give any of your descendents to give service to Molech, and you may not blaspheme the name of your God; I am Yahweh.	21 וּמִזַּרְעֲךָ לֹא-תִתֵּן לְהַעֲבִיר^{^[G]} לַמֹּלֶךְ וְלֹא תְחַלֵּל אֶת-שֵׁם אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲנִי יְהוָה:
22 καὶ μετὰ ἄρσενος οὐ κοιμηθήσῃ κοίτην γυναικός· βδέλυγμα [γάρ] ἐστιν.	22 And thou shalt not lie with a man [as] ~~with~~ a woman, [for] it is an abomination.	22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, [as] ~~with~~ womankind: it is abomination.	22. In addition, you may not lie down with a male in the manner of lying down with a woman. That is an abomination.	22 וְאֶת-זָכָר לֹא תִשְׁכַּב מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה תּוֹעֵבָה הִוא:
23 καὶ πρὸς πᾶν τετράπουν οὐ δώσεις τὴν κοίτην σου εἰς σπερματισμὸν ἐκμιανθῆναι πρὸς αὐτό, καὶ γυνὴ οὐ στήσεται πρὸς πᾶν τετράπουν βιβασθῆναι· μυσερὸν γάρ ἐστιν.	23 Neither shalt thou X lie with any quadruped for ~~copulation~~, to be polluted with it: neither shall a woman present herself before any quadruped to have connexion with it; for it is an abomination.	23 Neither shalt thou X X lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall [any] woman stand before a beast to ~~lie down~~ thereto: it is confusion.	23. Also you may not give your lying-down with any beast to become unclean with it, and a woman may not position herself before a beast to mate with it; this is perversion.	23 וּבְכָל-בְּהֵמָה לֹא-תִתֵּן שְׁכָבְתְּךָ לְטָמְאָה-בָהּ וְאִשָּׁה לֹא-תַעֲמֹד לִפְנֵי בְהֵמָה לְרִבְעָהּ תֶּבֶל הוּא^{^[H]}:
24 Μὴ μιαίνεσθε ἐν πᾶσιν τούτοις· ἐν πᾶσι γὰρ τούτοις ἐμιάνθησαν τὰ ἔθνη, ἃ ἐγὼ ἐξαποστέλλω πρὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν,	24 Do not defile yourselves with any of these [things]; for in all these [things] the nations are defiled, which I drive out before you,	24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these [things]: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:	24. You must not make yourselves unclean by means of any of these, for it was by means of all these that the nations which I am thrusting out before your faces became unclean,	24 אַל-תִּטַּמְּאוּ בְּכָל-אֵלֶּה כִּי בְכָל-אֵלֶּה נִטְמְאוּ הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר-אֲנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ מִפְּנֵיכֶם:
25 καὶ ἐμιάνθη ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἀνταπέδωκα ἀδικίαν αὐτοῖς δι᾿ αὐτήν, καὶ προσώχθισεν ἡ γῆ τοῖς ἐγκαθημένοις [ἐπ᾿] αὐτῆς.	25 and the land is polluted; and I have recompensed ~~their~~ iniquity to ~~them~~ because of it, and the land is aggrieved with them that dwell [upon] it.	25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land [itself] vomiteth out her inhabitants.	25. and the land became unclean, so I brought accountability upon it for its iniquity, so that the land vomited out its residents.	25 וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ וָאֶפְקֹד עֲוֹנָהּ עָלֶיהָ וַתָּקִא הָאָרֶץ אֶת-יֹשְׁבֶיהָ:
26 X καὶ φυλάξεσθε [πάντα] τὰ νόμιμά μου καὶ [πάντα] τὰ προστάγματά μου καὶ οὐ ποιήσετε ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν βδελυγμάτων τούτων, ὁ ἐγχώριος καὶ ὁ προσγενόμενος προσήλυτος ἐν ὑμῖν·	26 And ye shall keep all my statutes and [all] my ordinances, and ye shall do none of these abominations; [neither] the native, nor the stranger that joins himself with you:	26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither [any] of ~~your own nation~~, nor [any] stranger that sojourneth among you:	26. So as for y’all, you must keep my statutes and my judgments, and y’all (the native as well as the visitor visiting among you) must not act out any of these abominations,	26 וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אַתֶּם^{^[I]} אֶת-חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה הָאֶזְרָח וְהַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם:
27 πάντα γὰρ τὰ βδελύγματα ταῦτα ἐποίησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τῆς γῆς οἱ ὄντες πρότεροι ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐμιάνθη ἡ γῆ·	27 (for all these abominations the men of the land did who were before you, and the land was defiled,)	27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)	28. so that the land will not vomit y’all out as a result of y’all making it unclean, like when it vomited out the nation before y’all.	27 כִּי אֶת-כָּל-הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵל^{^[J]} עָשׂוּ אַנְשֵׁי-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ:
28 καὶ [ἵνα] μὴ προσοχθίσῃ ὑμῖν ἡ γῆ ἐν τῷ μιαίνειν ὑμᾶς αὐτήν, ὃν τρόπον προσώχθισεν τ~~οῖς~~ ἔθ~~νεσιν~~ τ~~οῖς~~ πρὸ ὑμῶν.	28 and [lest] the land be aggrieved with you in your polluting it, as it was aggrieved with the nations before you.	28 That the land spue not you out [also], when ye defile it, as it spued out the nation[s] that were before you.	27. For the men of this land which is in front of y’all, they did all these abominations, and the land became unclean.	28 וְלֹא-תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת-הַגּוֹי^{^[K]} אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם:
29 ὅτι πᾶς, ὃς ἂν ποιήσῃ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν βδελυγμάτων τούτων, ἐξολεθρευθήσονται αἱ ψυχαὶ αἱ ποιοῦσαι ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτῶν.	29 For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, the souls that do them shall be destroyed from among their people.	29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.	29. Therefore, as for anyone who acts out any of these abominations, the lives of the ones who do so will then be cut off from proximity to their people,	29 כִּי כָּל-אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְנִכְרְתוּ הַנְּפָשׁוֹת הָעֹשֹׂת מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּם:
30 καὶ φυλάξετε τὰ προστάγματά μου, ὅπως μὴ ποιήσητε ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν νομίμων τῶν ἐβδελυγμένων, ἃ γέγονεν πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐ μιανθήσεσθε ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν.	30 And ye shall keep mine ordinances, that ye may not do any of the abominable practices, which have taken place before your time: and ye shall not be polluted in them; for I am the Lord your God.	30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.	30. so y’all must keep my charge in order not to act out the abominable statutes which were acted out before y’all - and so that you shall not make yourselves unclean by them, for I am Yahweh your God.	30 וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת-מִשְׁמַרְתִּי לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת מֵחֻקּוֹת הַתּוֹעֵבֹת אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשׂוּ לִפְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא תִטַּמְּאוּ בָּהֶם^{^[L]} אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: פ

^{^[1]} Perhaps a case could be made, based on the law of Levirate, for doing it for a brother (Deut. 25), but I don’t know of any Christian theologian who believes that Levirate was intended to be an ongoing practice among God’s people, so that would be very questionable.

^{^[2]} “De Vaux points out that only one contemporary description of Carthaginian practice may imply this [that these sacrifices involved throwing the children alive into the flames]; the others state that the babies were killed first. He suggests that this custom was practiced in Israel only from about the seventh century B.C.” ~Gordon Wenham