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.

Introduction to Capital Laws

1
ADONAI said to Moshe,

Death Penalty for Worshipping Molech

2
"Say to the people of Isra'el, 'If someone from the people of Isra'el or one of the foreigners living in Isra'el sacrifices one of his children to Molekh, he must be put to death; the people of the land are to stone him to death. ​
3
I too will set myself against him and cut him off from his people, because he has sacrificed his child to Molekh, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. ​
4
If the people of the land look the other way when that man sacrifices his child to Molekh and fail to put him to death,
5
then I will set myself against him, his family and everyone who follows him to go fornicating after Molekh, and cut them off from their people. ​
6
"'The person who turns to spirit-mediums and sorcerers to go fornicating after them -I will set myself against him and cut him off from his people. ​

The Call to Holiness

7
Therefore consecrate yourselves -you people must be holy, because I am ADONAI your God. ​
8
Observe my regulations, and obey them; I am ADONAI, who sets you apart to be holy.

Penalties for Specific Immorality

9
"'A person who curses his father or mother must be put to death; having cursed his father or his mother, his blood is on him. ​
10
"'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, that is, with the wife of a fellow countryman, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ​
11
The man who goes to bed with his father's wife has disgraced his father sexually, and both of them must be put to death; their blood is on them.
12
If a man goes to bed with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death; they have committed a perversion, and their blood is on them. ​
13
If a man goes to bed with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they must be put to death; their blood is on them. ​
14
If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is depravity; they are to be put to death by fire, both he and they, so that there will not be depravity among you. ​
15
If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you are to kill the animal.
16
If a woman approaches an animal and has sexual relations with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal; their blood will be on them.
17
If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and has sexual relations with her, and she consents, it is a shameful thing; they are to be cut off publicly - he has had sexual relations with his sister, and he will bear the consequences of their wrongdoing.
18
If a man goes to bed with a woman in her menstrual period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her blood, and she has exposed the source of her blood; both of them are to be cut off from their people.
19
You are not to have sexual relations with your mother's sister or your father's sister; a person who does this has had sexual relations with his close relative; they will bear the consequences of their wrongdoing.
20
If a man goes to bed with his uncle's wife, he has disgraced his uncle sexually; they will bear the consequences of their sin and die childless. ​
21
If a man takes his brother's wife, it is uncleanness; he has disgraced his brother sexually; they will be childless. ​

Summary and Exhortation to Separation

22
"'You are to observe all my regulations and rulings and act on them, so that the land to which I am bringing you will not vomit you out. ​
23
Do not live by the regulations of the nation which I am expelling ahead of you; because they did all these things, which is why I detested them.
24
But to you I have said, "You will inherit their land; I will give it to you as a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey."I am ADONAI your God, who has set you apart from other peoples. ​
25
Therefore you are to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and between clean and unclean birds; do not make yourselves detestable with an animal, bird or reptile that I have set apart for you to regard as unclean.
26
Rather, you people are to be holy for me; because I, ADONAI, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me. ​

The Penalty for Consulting Spirits

27
"'A man or woman who is a spirit-medium or sorcerer must be put to death; they are to stone them to death; their blood will be on 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.

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