Leviticus 20 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Leviticus 20

Punishment for Child Sacrifice

20:1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.

6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 9 For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

Punishments for Sexual Immorality

10 “If a man commits adultery with the wife of¹ his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 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 is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 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 is upon them.

17 “If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual 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. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 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. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity.² He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

22 “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. 24 But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

27 “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”

Footnotes

[1] 20:10 Hebrew repeats if a man commits adultery with the wife of
[2] 20:21 Literally menstrual impurity

Commentary

This chapter continues the themes of the previous two. Here we also read of the punishments applicable to various transgressions, v5, 13. God's standards must be applied by His people.

v1-5: Idolatry is serious, and demands punishment. There was a responsibility upon the Israelites to punish the wrong-doer. Since sin can spread, it must be dealt with promptly and decisively. Where the people turn a blind eye (v4), that is to condone or tolerate the wrong, and is also punishable.

v6: Spiritism and occult practices are consistently condemned in Scripture. Gentile nations commonly practised such things. 19.31 states that such things defile the people. This verse states that the Lord will cut off from His people any who practise spiritism. Thus, in v7, the people are instructed to sanctify themselves, including ridding themselves of such evil. In v26, we are reminded that the Lord called His people to be distinct from other nations. In v27, the guilty man had to be stoned to death.

We note that prohibitions against spiritism are linked with teaching about holiness. This is no surprise, as the God who is perfectly holy demands holiness from His people.

v7-8: Holiness is from God's work and our commitment. (See also v26). Holiness must be the shared desire of God's people.

v9-21: A series of instructions, followed by punishments for those who disobey. The reason is found in v14, "so that no wickedness will be among you", quoted in 1 Cor 5.13.

v9: See also 19.3. Failure to honour parents was serious. It is not insignificant that disobedience to parents is a mark of general godlessness (Rom 1.30; 2 Tim 3.2).

v10: Adultery, of which King David was guilty. Such is the grace of God that He put away David's sin. We see that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bore this sin, and was put to death instead.

v11-12: In a similar vein, sexual contact with a close relative is punished. It is "perversion."

v13: Homosexual practices are condemned; see 18.22. Note that this is not presented as being much worse than adultery, nor idolatry. There can be a tendency for certain sins to be thought of as more serious; the additional word here is "detestable", i.e: disgusting. There is forgiveness in Christ (1 Cor 6.9-11).

v14-16: More sexual wickedness; again, we must consider that the Canaanite nations were guilty of such things (see v23).

v17-21: Some sins were not punishable by death. God is fair and reasonable in His dealing with mankind. And some sins are manifestly more serious than others.

v22-24: See also 18.24-25. The Canaanite peoples were guilty of all these wrong practices, particularly sexual perversions (referred to in most verses, v9-21). As a result, the land vomited them out. Individuals, such as Rahab, who turned from such things, could be delivered and saved. What was important was that the people of God did not follow such practises.

The land was the inheritance promised by God, and therefore there has to be an on going testimony of true holiness.

v25-26: The principle of separation, applied to the eating of animals, as well as to sexual relations, worship, and other matters.

v27: Evidently, spiritism was widespread in Canaan, and so an extra prohibition was added here. Spiritism did not and could not promote holiness in life.