CHAPTER XVIII _The people are commanded to avoid the doings of the Egyptians_ _and Canaanites_, 1-3. _They are to do God's judgments, and to keep his ordinances_, _that they may live_, 4, 5. Marriages _with those who are_ near of kin _are prohibited_, 6. _None to marry with his_ mother _or_ st... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:3. _THE DOINGS OF THE LAND OF EGYPT - THE LAND OF CANAAN_] The worshipping of demons, beasts, c., as mentioned in the preceding chapters, Leviticus 17:7, and the abominations mentioned in this chapter from Leviticus 18:21-3.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:6. _ANY THAT IS NEAR OF KIN_] כל שאר בשרו _col shear_ _besaro, any remnant of his flesh_, i. e., to any particularly allied to his own family, the prohibited degrees in which are specified from Leviticus 18:7-3 inclusive. Notwithstanding the prohibitions here, it must be evident t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:16. _THY BROTHER'S WIFE_] This was an illegal marriage, unless the brother died _childless_. In that case it was not only lawful for her to marry her brother-in-law, but _he_ was _obliged_ by the law, Deuteronomy 25:5, to take her to wife.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:18. _A WIFE TO HER SISTER_] Thou shalt not marry two sisters at the same time, as Jacob did Rachel and Leah; but there is nothing in this law that rendered it illegal to marry a sister-in-law when her sister was dead; therefore the text says, _Thou shalt not take her in her life_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:19. _AS LONG AS SHE IS PUT APART_] Leviticus 15:24, Leviticus 15:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:20. _THY NEIGHBOUR'S WIFE_] Exodus 20:14, Exodus 20:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:21. _PASS THROUGH_ THE FIRE _TO MOLECH_] The name of this idol is mentioned for the first time in this place. As the word מלח _molech_ or _melech_ signifies _king_ or _governor_, it is very likely that this idol represented the _sun_; and more particularly as the _fire_ appears to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:22. _WITH MANKIND_] This abominable crime, frequent among the Greeks and Romans as well as the Canaanites, may be punished with _death_ in this country.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:23. _WITH ANY BEAST_] This abomination is also punishable with _death_ by the laws of this country. _ANY WOMAN STAND BEFORE A BEAST_] That this was often done in Egypt there can be no doubt; and we have already seen, from the testimony of _Herodotus_, that a fact of this kind act... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 18:25. _THE LAND ITSELF VOMITETH OUT HER INHABITANTS._] This is a very nervous _prosopopoeia_ or _personification_; a figure by which any part of inanimate nature may be represented as possessing the passions and reason of man. Here the _land_ is represented as an intelligent being,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _SHALL YE KEEP MINE ORDINANCE_] The only way to be preserved from all false worship is seriously to consider and devoutly to observe the ordinances of the true religion. He who in the things of God goes no farther than he can say, _Thus it is_ _written, and thus it behoves me to do_, is ne... [ Continue Reading ]