Leviticus20

Leviticus 20 outlines various capital offenses and other prohibitions for Israel, emphasizing the nation's call to holiness. It condemns practices such as child sacrifice to Molech, consulting familiar spirits, and a range of illicit sexual relations, including adultery, incest, and bestiality. The chapter reiterates that obedience to God's statutes is essential for remaining in the promised land and maintaining their separated status as a holy people.
Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Introduction to Capital Laws

1
Then the LORD said to Moses,

Death Penalty for Worshipping Molech

2
“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him. ​
3
And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name. ​
4
And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech,
5
then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech. ​
6
Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. ​

The Call to Holiness

7
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. ​
8
And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Penalties for Specific Immorality

9
If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him. ​
10
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death. ​
11
If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
12
If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them. ​
13
If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. ​
14
If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that there will be no depravity among you. ​
15
If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.
16
If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
17
If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.
18
If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.
19
You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.
20
If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered the nakedness of his uncle. They will bear their sin; they shall die childless. ​
21
If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they shall be childless. ​

Summary and Exhortation to Separation

22
You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. ​
23
You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.
24
But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples. ​
25
You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.
26
You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own. ​

The Penalty for Consulting Spirits

27
A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’” ​

Study Notes for Leviticus 20

Verse 2

Molech worship involved child sacrifice, a practice strictly forbidden as it profaned God’s holy name and defiled the sanctuary. The community had the responsibility to police and execute the offender by stoning.

Verse 3

If the community failed to execute justice, God promised direct divine judgment ('set my face against that man'), emphasizing that the holiness of Israel was God's immediate concern.

Verse 5

The phrase 'go a whoring after him' uses the metaphor of sexual infidelity to describe spiritual rebellion and idolatry, highlighting the intimate covenant relationship between God and Israel.

Verse 6

Consulting those with familiar spirits (*’ōḇ*), or necromancers, was a form of forbidden divination associated with Canaanite practices and was deemed an act of spiritual rebellion against God.

Verse 7

This verse is foundational to the entire book, serving as the theological rationale: Israel must maintain moral and ritual purity because their God is inherently holy.

Verse 9

Cursing one’s parents is placed alongside capital sexual offenses, demonstrating the high value placed on the foundational family unit and respect for authority within Israelite society.

Verse 10

Adultery undermines the covenant of marriage and the social structure; the required death penalty applied equally to both the man and the woman, emphasizing mutual accountability.

Verse 12

The phrase 'wrought confusion' (Hebrew: *tebhel*) refers to the disruption and disorder of the natural, God-ordained relationship structure, reserved for the most severe sexual perversions.

Verse 13

This statute prohibits male homosexual acts, classifying them as an 'abomination' (*to’evah*), meaning ritually and morally repugnant, requiring the strict penalty of death.

Verse 14

Incest involving a mother and daughter is deemed 'wickedness' (*zimmah*), a severe term often reserved for the most heinous sexual crimes, necessitating execution by burning.

Verse 20

Unlike most capital offenses in this chapter, incest with an uncle’s wife results in the unique penalty of dying 'childless,' a devastating judgment signifying the termination of the family line and inheritance.

Verse 21

Taking a brother's wife (outside of the levirate marriage requirement, Deut. 25:5) is punished with childlessness, preventing the continuation of the family name through that union.

Verse 22

This summarizes the purpose of the detailed laws: obedience ensures Israel remains in the land, while disobedience leads to the land rejecting them ('spue you not out'), paralleling the fate of the Canaanites.

Verse 24

God reminds Israel that the laws are intrinsically linked to the promise of the land ('flowing with milk and honey') and their status as a people 'separated' by divine choice.

Verse 26

This reiterates the core theological theme of Leviticus: Israel’s holiness is a direct reflection of God’s holiness and the result of His sovereign act of severing them from the surrounding nations.

Verse 27

This final law reiterates the command from verse 6, clarifying that consulting mediums or wizards is a capital offense punishable by stoning, reinforcing the strict boundary against forbidden spiritual practices.

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Options