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Leviticus 20

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Death Penalty for Worshipping Molech 1–6

1
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
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Moreover, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ​
3
I also will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. ​
4
And if the people of the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and put him not to death;
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then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that play the harlot after him, to play the harlot with Molech, from among their people. ​
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And the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards, to play the harlot after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. ​

The Call to Holiness 7–8

7
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am Jehovah your God. ​
8
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you.

Penalties for Specific Immorality 9–21

9
For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. ​
10
And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ​
11
And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12
And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them. ​
13
And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. ​
14
And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. ​
15
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
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And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
17
And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
18
And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19
And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister; for he hath made naked his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
20
And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ​
21
And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is impurity: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless. ​

Exhortation to Separation and the Penalty for Consulting Spirits 22–27

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Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them; that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, vomit you not out. ​
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And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
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But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who hath separated you from the peoples. ​
25
Ye shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything wherewith the ground teemeth, which I have separated from you as unclean.
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And ye shall be holy unto me: for I, Jehovah, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be mine. ​
27
A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Leviticus 20

Verse 2

giveth any of his seed unto Molech — 18:21 forbids letting a child 'pass through the fire to Molech'. The penalty binds the native Israelite and 'the strangers that sojourn in Israel' (ger) alike, and falls to 'the people of the land', who 'shall stone him with stones' (ragam). Josiah later 'defiled Topheth' to stop the practice (2 Kings 23:10).

Verse 3

set my face against that man — Karath, to cut off, is the LORD's own sentence. The two reasons given are to 'defile my sanctuary' and 'profane my holy name'. Ezekiel describes the same double offence: 'when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it' (Ezek 23:39).

Verse 5

go a whoring after him — Zanah is to play the harlot, and Scripture uses it of idolatry. The family is named with the man (mishpachah), and so are 'all that go a whoring after him'. The Psalm applies the word to this very sin: Israel sacrificed 'their sons and their daughters' and 'went a whoring with their own inventions' (Ps 106:37–39).

Verse 6

familiar spirits — The sin of 19:31 now carries its sentence, again as going 'a whoring after them' (zanah, as in v.5). The penalty is stated in v.27. Saul 'died for his transgression' and for 'asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit' (1 Chr 10:13); see his visit to Endor in 1 Sam 28:7.

Verse 7

Sanctify yourselves — Qadash is to make holy, and it is both commanded here and promised in v.8: 'ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.' The call repeats 11:44 and 19:2, which Peter quotes: 'Be ye holy; for I am holy' (1 Pet 1:16).

Verse 9

curseth his father or his mother — Qalal is to treat as light, to curse, the verb of 19:14, 'Thou shalt not curse the deaf'. Ex 21:17 gives the same sentence. Christ quotes it against those who set aside the command to honour parents: 'He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death' (Matt 15:4).

Verse 10

the adulterer and the adulteress — Naaph is the verb of the seventh commandment, used here of both parties, as in Deut 22:22, 'both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman'. In John 8:3–5 the scribes and Pharisees bring only the woman 'taken in adultery', citing 'Moses in the law'.

Verse 12

wrought confusion — Tebel is found only here and in 18:23, where it closes the law on beasts, 'it is confusion'. The act with a daughter in law is forbidden in 18:15, 'she is thy son's wife', and here both parties are put to death.

Verse 13

an abomination — To'evah is the word 18:22 uses of the same act, 'it is abomination'. In the New Testament Paul lists 'abusers of themselves with mankind' among those who 'shall not inherit the kingdom of God' (1 Cor 6:9–10) and 'them that defile themselves with mankind' among those the law was given against (1 Tim 1:10).

Verse 14

it is wickedness — Zimmah is the word of 18:17, where the same union is forbidden, 'it is wickedness'. Burning is the penalty for the daughter of a priest who plays the whore (21:9) and for Achan with the accursed thing (Josh 7:15). The sentence is carried out so 'that there be no wickedness among you'.

Verse 20

they shall die childless — Ariri is childless, a word found only here, in v.21, in Gen 15:2 (Abram: 'I go childless') and in Jer 22:30. The sin is the one forbidden in 18:14, 'thy father's brother… she is thine aunt'. The text says the pair 'shall bear their sin' and gives this as the outcome.

Verse 21

an unclean thing — Niddah is the word for the impurity of a woman's monthly separation (15:19–24; 18:19). The union is forbidden in 18:16, 'it is thy brother's nakedness'. The exception is a brother who dies with no child, where the surviving brother is to 'take her to him to wife' (Deut 25:5). John the Baptist told Herod the rule: 'It is not lawful for thee to have her' (Matt 14:4).

Verse 22

spue you not out — Qo is to vomit, used of the land only here and in 18:25, 28, where the land 'spued out the nations that were before you'. The 'statutes' and 'judgments' are the pair of 19:37. Keeping them and staying in the land are tied together, as the land's casting out of the nations shows (18:28).

Verse 24

a land that floweth with milk and honey — The description is the LORD's promise from Egypt (Ex 3:8, 17). Badal, 'separated', is the verb of Gen 1:4, where God divided light from darkness; the same verb is used in vv.25–26 of the clean and unclean beasts and of Israel.

Verse 26

have severed you from other people — Badal is the same verb as in vv.24–25, with the clean beasts put apart from the unclean. The purpose is stated, 'that ye should be mine', as in Ex 19:5–6, 'a peculiar treasure unto me… a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation'. Peter applies the words to the church (1 Pet 2:9).

Verse 27

a familiar spirit… a wizard — Ob and yiddeoni are the pair of 19:31 and v.6. The sentence is stoning (ragam), the verb of v.2, and 'their blood shall be upon them' is the formula of vv.11, 12, 13 and 16 as well, and v.9 has it as 'his blood shall be upon him'. It covers 'a man also or woman', and Saul had earlier put such persons out of the land (1 Sam 28:9).