Leviticus chapter 20
Punishments for various sins.
PUNISHMENTS FOR VARIOUS SINS
VERSE 1. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
VERSE 2. “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 offspring to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone that person with stones.
his offspring. Or, “seed.”
to Molech. God’s people may not have any involvement in child sacrifice.
VERSE 3. I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his offspring to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
VERSE 4. If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person when he gives of his offspring to Molech, and don’t put him to death,
If the people of the land all hide their eyes. Pretending to not notice child sacrifice is a crime.
VERSE 5. 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.
VERSE 6. “ ‘The person that turns to those who are mediums and 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.
mediums and wizards. In ancient times, the Jewish people were forbidden from going to a Medium or a Necromancer. Why was that? Read more »
VERSE 7. “ ‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God.
The LORD God is holy. He calls us to be holy. Holy people apply themselves, and all their actions, to God. They imitate the LORD God. Read more »
VERSE 8. You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
and do them. We Christians say salvation is by faith. Yet the New Testament calls us to put our faith into action. Otherwise our faith is worthless. Read more »
VERSE 9. “ ‘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 himself.
curses his father or his mother. This is a wonderful command. And in many families, it works for the best.
However, an abusive parent can use it for evil purposes.
VERSE 10. “ ‘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.
adulterer and the adulteress. Both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. Yet the religious leaders only presented the woman to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Leviticus 20:10. 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.
Deuteronomy 22:22. If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
John 8:5. Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?”
VERSE 11. “ ‘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 themselves.
man who lies with his father’s wife. A man has sex with his mother. Or step-mother. This incurs a death-sentence.
1 Corinthians 5:1. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.
VERSE 12. “ ‘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 themselves.
a man lies with his daughter-in-law. This too incurs a death-sentence.
VERSE 13. “ ‘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 themselves.
If a man lies with a male. This too incurs a death-sentence.
VERSE 14. “ ‘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 man takes a wife and her mother. A man has three-person sex. It is with his wife and with her own mother. This too incurs a death-sentence.
VERSE 15. “ ‘If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.
If a man lies with an animal. This too incurs a death-sentence.
VERSE 16. “ ‘If a woman approaches any animal and lies 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 woman approaches any animal and lies with it. This too incurs a death-sentence.
VERSE 17. “ ‘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.
sees her nakedness. Seeing a sibling’s nakedness is a crime.
We wonder if the intent of this law was to be a barrier to incest.
VERSE 18. “ ‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made her fountain naked, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period. We wonder if part of the rationale for this law was to give a woman a break during her period.
the fountain of her blood. We learned in Leviticus chapter 17 that the נָ֫פֶשׁ (“nephesh”), the soul or life essence, was assumed to reside in the blood.
Leviticus 17:11. For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.
If a man were to initiate sex during a woman’s period, he would come in direct physical contact with her life essence.
VERSE 19. “ ‘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.
the nakedness of. Seeing an aunt’s nakedness is a crime.
VERSE 20. If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.
VERSE 21. “ ‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
VERSE 22. “ ‘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.
VERSE 23. You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
VERSE 24. 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.
a land flowing with milk and honey. We first encountered this expression in Exodus chapter 3:
Exodus 3:8. I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
VERSE 25. “ ‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. 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.
VERSE 26. You shall be holy to me, for I, the LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
VERSE 27. “ ‘A man or a woman that is a medium or is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood shall be upon themselves.’ ”
In ancient times, the Jewish people were forbidden from going to a Medium or a Necromancer. Why was that? Read more »
LEVITICUS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, The Scapegoat, Female Sacrificial Animals
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.