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.
“Moreover, you shall tell the children of Israel, ‘Anyone of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his seed to Molech; he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people because he has given of his seed to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, to play the prostitute with Molech, from among their people.
“‘The person that turns to those who are mediums, and to the wizards, to play the prostitute after them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people.
“‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
“‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
“‘The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
“‘If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have committed a perversion; their blood shall be upon them.
“‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
“‘If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burned with fire, both he and they; that there may be no wickedness among you.
“‘If a woman approaches any animal, and lies down with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
“‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness; it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity.
“‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness; he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, nor of your father’s sister; for he has made his close relative naked. They shall bear their iniquity.
“‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I am bringing you to dwell, may not vomit you out.
But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
“‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you.
“‘A man or a woman that is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be 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.
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