Leviticus 18:1-30
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
6 None of you shall approach to any that is neara of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
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.
8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.
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.
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.
11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.
13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.
14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.
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.
18 Neither shalt thou take a wifeb to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.
21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech,c neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
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:
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
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.
Leviticus
*Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness
Leviticus
Gordon Churchyard
This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.Words in boxes are from the Bible, except for the words in brackets (…).
Chapter 18
Rules about sex in the family and in the nation
v1 The *LORD said (this) to Moses.
v2 ‘Speak to the *Israelites and say (this) to them. “I am the *LORD, (who is) your God.
v3 You must not do what the people in Egypt did. You lived there in the past. You must not do what the people in *Canaan do. I will take you into (*Canaan). Do not do what they do.
v4 You must obey my rules. You must be careful to do what I tell you to do. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.
v5 Obey my rules and my commands. The man who obeys them will live by them. I am the *LORD.
v6 Nobody must come to a close relative to have sex with them. I am the *LORD.
v7 Do not have sex with your mother. She is your mother, (so) do not have sex with her. It would cause shame to your father.
v8 Do not have sex with your father’s wife. It would cause shame to your father.
v9 Do not have sex with your sister or with your father’s daughter. (Do not have sex) with your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same house (as you) or elsewhere.
v10 Do not have sex with your son’s daughter or with your daughter’s daughter. This should cause shame to you.
v11 Do not have sex with the daughter of your father’s wife. She is your sister (because) she was born to your father.
v12 Do not have sex with your father’s sister. She is a close relative to your father.
v13 Do not have sex with your mother’s sister. She is a close relative to your mother.
v14 Do not come to your father’s brother’s wife, to have sex with her. She is your aunt. This would cause shame (to your father’s brother).
v15 Do not have sex with your *daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. Do not have sex with her.
v16 Do not have sex with your brother’s wife. That would cause shame to your brother.
v17 Do not have sex both with a woman and with her daughter. Do not marry or have sex (both with a woman and) with either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter. They are close relatives. It is evil to do (these things).
v18 Do not marry your wife’s sister to compete with your wife. Do not have sex with (your wife’s sister) while your wife is still alive.
v19 Do not come near to a woman to have sex with her during her monthly *period. She is *unclean (at this time).
v20 Do not have sex with your neighbour’s wife. This would make you really *unclean with her.
v21 Do not give any of your children to be *sacrifices to (the false god) *Molech. (This is) because you must not make your God’s name bad. I am the *LORD.
v22 Do not have sex with a man as you would with a woman. This is really nasty.
v23 Do not have sex with an animal. This would make you really *unclean. A woman must not give herself to an animal to have sex with it. That is really nasty.
v24 Do not make yourselves really *unclean in any of these ways. The nations that I am going to send away in front of you became really *unclean in these ways.
v25 Even the land (itself) became really *unclean. So I punished the land for its *sin. And the land (became like someone who is sick). It threw out from its stomach the people who lived there!
v26 But you must do what I have told you to do. You must obey my rules. The people who are *Israelites must not do any of these nasty things. Neither must the foreigners who live among you.
v27 The people, who lived in the land (the country called *Canaan) before you, did all these (nasty) things. So the land (itself) became really *unclean.
v28 And if you make the land really *unclean, the land will (again become like a sick person). It will throw you out from its stomach. It did this to the nations (who lived there) before you.
v29 (I will) *cut off everyone who does any of these nasty things from their people.
v30 Do what I ask you to do. Do not do any of the nasty things that they did before you. Do not make yourselves really *unclean by these things. I am the *LORD (who is) your God.” ’
Notes
Verses 1-2 These laws are important, because the *LORD gave them. Moses did not make them up.
God says, ‘I am the *LORD your God.’ He is the *Israelites’ God. They have a relationship with him. So that is a special reason why they must obey his rules.
Verse 3 This verse seems to show that people in Egypt did have sex with their close relatives. People in *Canaan did this too. And God was angry with them because of this. We can see the results in verses 24-30. Clearly, God is saying that these rules are for people from every nation, not just the *Israelites. People’s conscience should tell them that such behaviour is wrong – see Romans 1:18-27.
Verse 5 God gave these rules for a good reason. A wrong desire for sex can ruin people’s lives. So God showed people that wrong desires did not have to control their lives. Instead, they should obey God’s law. And then God’s law, which is good and perfect, will rule their lives. They will live by God’s law.
Verse 6 In this verse, to have sex with’ is ‘to uncover the nakedness of’ in the *Hebrew language. ‘Nakedness’ really means ‘the sex parts’ of a man or a woman in the *Hebrew language. It is a polite way to refer to sex!
These words also appear in several other verses in this chapter.
Verses 7-16 These verses include a list of people in a man’s family. The man must not have sex with any of them. We call this *sin ‘incest’. There are several reasons why God gave this law:
(1) A child born as a result of incest may not be perfect. So these laws are partly for reasons of health.
(2) The father’s shame in verses 7 and 8 tells us that the marriage relationship is very important. This is another reason to avoid incest.
(3) God wanted his people to understand who their close relatives were. They had a duty to respect and to look after their close relatives. This list showed that they were not just responsible for their parents or their children. There were many other people to whom they owed duties as close relatives. God gave these rules so that people would have a good life – see verse 5.
(4) People should not do whatever wrong things they desire to do. They should not do things just because they feel strong emotions. They must learn to do the things that God wants them to do. People do feel very powerful emotions about sex. And those emotions often cause people to do wrong things. God has given rules so that people can learn to obey him.
Here is the list:
Mother, verse 7.
Father’s wife (not the man’s mother), verse 8
Sister, verse 9
Granddaughter, verse 10.
Stepsister, verse 11. A stepsister is the daughter of your father but not of your mother.
Aunt on your father’s side, verse 12. ‘Father’s side’ means ‘his part of the family’.
Aunt on your mother’s side, verse 13. That is, the ‘mother’s part of the family’.
Aunt who is the wife of your father’s brother, verse 14
Daughter-in-law (your son’s wife), verse 15.
Sister-in-law (your brother’s wife), verse 16.
This list shows the relatives that a man must not have sex with. But also, a woman must not have sex with similar male relatives.
Verses 17-18 These verses are more about marriage than incest. It is wrong to marry more than one person in the same family, verse 17. Or (it is wrong to marry) your wife’s sister while your wife is still alive. The two women would compete for their husband’s love, as Rachel and Leah did (Genesis 30:1).
However, these laws did permit a man to have more than one wife. The *Old Testament describes the problems that such marriages cause (for example, 1 Samuel 1:6-7). But we must look in the *New Testament to see that God prefers a man to have just one wife (1 Timothy 3:2). In the *Old Testament, God allowed some things because people were not willing to obey him (Mark 10:5).
Verse 19 The monthly *period is when women lose blood. Remember, *unclean in Leviticus means this. You cannot go to the house of God. Read Leviticus 15:24.
Verse 20 Exodus 20:14 tells us that this is wrong. It is one of the Ten Commands that God gave to his people. We call this *sin ‘adultery’. Read Leviticus 20:10.
Here, ‘neighbour’ does not only mean a person who lives near you. It can even mean someone from another country. See Luke 10:29-37. So people even have some responsibilities towards people whom they do not know.
Verse 21 Many nations burnt their children for their gods. They thought that their gods wanted them to do this.
Verse 22 We call this *sin ‘homosexuality’. Many ancient religions used homosexuality as part of what they did. Romans 1:27 shows us that God does not allow women to do such things with other women.
Verse 23 We call this *sin ‘buggery’. Again, many ancient religions used buggery. God did not allow his people to do it, Exodus 22:19 and Leviticus 20:15-16.
Verses 24-30 The people in *Canaan allowed their feelings about sex to rule their lives. They were carrying on the *sins that this chapter describes. God was patient with them for a very long time (Genesis 15:16). He gave them an opportunity to change their behaviour. But they did not change. In the end, God has to punish *sin.
God uses an unusual word picture here. He compares the land in *Canaan to a sick person. That person may feel ill for some time. But suddenly, the sick person vomits (in other words, his stomach forces out its contents). So the person’s body tries to remove whatever is causing the illness.
When God sent the *Israelites into *Canaan, he would use them to punish the inhabitants of *Canaan. So the people in *Canaan would suddenly have to leave *Canaan, or they would die. It was as if the land was trying to remove the cause of its problems.
But afterwards, the *Israelites had to be careful. They must not imitate the wrong behaviour of the inhabitants of *Canaan. If they did, the same thing would happen to them.
Something to do
1. When people do not obey God’s rules about sex, they can help bad illnesses to spread, for example AIDS. Pray for people who have this illness. God cares very much about them!
2. Prepare a list of the people who are alive in your own family. Use that list so that you can pray for them. And ask God to show you whether you can do anything to help those people.
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
holiness ~ the quality of somebody who is holy, or very, very good.
holy ~ very, very good; only God is really holy. Or, a description of something that belongs to God.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Canaan ~ the old name for the countries afterwards called Israel and Judah.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
'daughter-in-law ~ your son’s wife.period ~ when women lose blood once a month.
unclean ~ unsuitable for God or for God’s people. When someone was unclean, that person was unable to worship at God’s house.
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
Molech ~ the name of a false god.
sin ~ to do wrong things; not to obey God’s rules. Or, the things we do when we sin. Evil thoughts, words and deeds are all sin, whether we do them on purpose or not.'cut off ~ to give someone a punishment that separates that person from his family or nation. That punishment may be death. But it may be to force that person to live abroad.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
'Old Testament ~ the first 39 books in the Bible.'New Testament ~ the last 27 books in the Bible.