Leviticus 20 - Introduction

Leviticus 20. A second list of the crimes catalogued in Leviticus 18, together with the penalties for them, and a final appeal. The special interest of the chapter lies in the variations of penalty assigned; but the real sanction of such prohibitions as these lies in the popular horror with which they were regarded rather than in their public punishment. A distinction is also to be made between penalties inflicted by man stoning, putting to death, and by Yahwehcutting off. The purpose and result of both were to preserve the holiness of the people, i.e. to preserve it, and its God, from the contamination which inevitably followed certain actions, and which, once it had taken place, could be removed only by the excision of the offending member of the community.