INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 20 In this chapter several laws are, repeated, enforced with a penalty annexed to them, and the breach them made capital, to deter from it, as giving seed to Molech, Leviticus 20:1; going after such that have familiar spirits, or are wizards, Leviticus 20:6; by shunning wh... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES,.... After he had delivered the above laws to him in the preceding chapter, he added penalties, to many of them, or declared what punishment should be inflicted on the transgressors of them: SAYING; as follows.... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAIN THOU SHALT SAY TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL,.... The body of the people by their elders, and the heads of their tribes; for the following laws were binding on them all: WHOSOEVER [HE BE] OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, OR OF THE STRANGERS THAT SOJOURN IN ISRAEL; everyone of the people of Israel, of w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL SET MY FACE AGAINST THAT MAN,.... Express resentment, anger, wrath, and indignation at him, see Psalms 34:16: AND WILL CUT HIM OFF FROM AMONG HIS PEOPLE: that is, supposing him to have been guilty of the above horrid crime, and there being not sufficient evidence given of it by witnesses... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND DO ANY WAYS HIDE THEIR EYES FROM THE MAN,.... That is, the people of the house of Israel, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; if the friends, relations, and neighbours of such a man, though they know what he is about to do, or has done, yet they shut their eyes wilf... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN I WILL SET MY FACE AGAINST THAT MAN,.... That man that sees him do the fact, and winks at it, or the judge that connives at him, and will not condemn him, as well as the man that has committed the iniquity: AND AGAINST HIS FAMILY; either the family of the witness, who could and should have tes... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SOUL THAT TURNETH AFTER SUCH AS HAVE FAMILIAR SPIRITS,.... The man or woman that has respect unto them, seeks after them, and inquires of them, in order to get knowledge of things: AND AFTER WIZARDS who pretend to tell fortunes, and discover lost and stolen goods, Leviticus 19:31; TO GO A WHOR... [ Continue Reading ]
SANCTIFY YOURSELVES THEREFORE,.... By abstaining from such impious and idolatrous practices, and separating themselves from all that gave into them, as well as by observing the holy commandments of the Lord; otherwise internal sanctification is not the work of man, but of the Lord himself, as in Lev... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL KEEP MY STATUTES, AND DO THEM,.... Not only those respecting the above things, but all others, which would be a means of preserving them from sin, and of promoting holiness in their lives and conversations: I [AM] THE LORD WHICH SANCTIFY YOU: who had separated and distinguished them fr... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVERYONE THAT CURSETH HIS FATHER OR HIS MOTHER,.... Here begins the account of the penalties annexed to the several laws in the preceding chapter; and that respecting the fear and honour of parents being the first, Leviticus 19:3, is here begun with: SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH; the Targum of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MAN THAT COMMITTETH ADULTERY WITH [ANOTHER] MAN'S WIFE,.... Which is a breach of the seventh command, Exodus 20:14; [EVEN HE] THAT COMMITTETH ADULTERY WITH HIS NEIGHBOUR'S WIFE: which is only an explanation of the former clause; though the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, say this... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MAN THAT LIETH WITH HIS FATHER'S WIFE,.... Whether she be his mother, or another woman, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, whether she is his own mother, or a stepmother, or whether he did this in the lifetime of his father, or after his death, or whether she was betrothed or married, it ma... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN LIE WITH HIS DAUGHTER IN LAW,.... His son's wife, whether in the lifetime of his son, or after his death, or whether she was espoused or married, according to the above tradition f: BOTH OF THEM SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH; it being a breach of the law in Leviticus 18:15; and this is the... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN LIE ALSO WITH MANKIND, AS HE LIETH WITH A WOMAN,.... Is guilty of the sin of sodomy, this is a breach of the law in Leviticus 18:22; BOTH OF THEM HAVE COMMITTED AN ABOMINATION; he that lies, and he that is lain with, both consenting to perpetrate the abominable wickedness; which may well... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF A MAN TAKE A WIFE, AND HER MOTHER,.... Marry both the one and the other, or commit uncleanness with them, they consenting to it: IT [IS] WICKEDNESS; abominable wickedness, shocking and detestable; there are other things, which also are wicked and not to be done, but this is extremely wicked,... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A MAN LIE WITH A BEAST,.... A sin quite unnatural, exceeding shocking and detestable, forbid Leviticus 18:23: HE SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH: by stoning, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; and this is the death such are condemned to in the Misnah h: AND YE SHALL SLAY THE BEAST; with clubs, as say... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF A WOMAN APPROACH UNTO ANY BEAST, AND LIE DOWN THERETO,.... In order that the beast may lie with her, and solicit it to commit such an action with her, see Leviticus 18:23; THOU SHALL KILL THE WOMAN AND THE BEAST: the woman by stoning, and the beast with clubs, as the Targum of Jonathan; and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF A MAN SHALL TAKE HIS SISTER, HIS FATHER'S DAUGHTER, OR HIS MOTHER'S DAUGHTER,.... Take her to be his wife, or commit lewdness with her, whether she be his sister by both father and mother's side, or whether by one only, either way she is his sister, and it is not lawful to marry her, or lie w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF A MAN SHALL LIE WITH A WOMAN HAVING HER SICKNESS,.... Her monthly courses, which make her weak and languid, which is forbidden, Leviticus 18:19; this is not to be understood of a man's lying with his wife ignorantly, when in such a condition, for this being the case, he was only unclean seven... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU SHALT NOT UNCOVER THE NAKEDNESS OF THY MOTHER'S SISTER, NOR OF THY FATHER'S SISTER,.... An aunt either by mother or father's side, against which the law is, Leviticus 18:13; FOR HE UNCOVERETH HIS NEAR KIN; as an aunt is to a man, and so an uncle to a woman, and both equally criminal; for i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF A MAN SHALL LIE WITH HIS UNCLE'S WIFE,.... His uncle being dead, and he marry her, which is forbidden, Leviticus 18:14; HE HATH UNCOVERED HIS UNCLE'S NAKEDNESS: his wife's, which was his, and therefore the kindred too near for a man to marry in, and such a copulation must be incestuous: THE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF A MAN SHALL TAKE HIS BROTHER'S WIFE,.... To his wife, whether in his life, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, or whether after his death, unless when there is no issue, then he was obliged to it by another law, Deuteronomy 25:5; which is now ceased, and the law in Leviticus 18:16; here referred... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL THEREFORE KEEP ALL MY STATUTES,.... All the ordinances, institutions, and appointments of God, whether observed in this chapter or elsewhere, but particularly those concerning incestuous marriages and unlawful copulations: AND ALL MY JUDGMENTS, AND DO THEM; all the laws and commandments of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL NOT WALK IN THE MANNERS OF THE NATION WHICH I CAST OUT BEFORE YOU,.... Nation seems to be put for nations, for there were seven nations cast out for them; though the Canaanites may be intended, being a general name for the whole: some think the Amorites are meant, who were a principal n... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I HAVE SAID UNTO YOU, YE SHALL INHERIT THE LAND,.... Promised it unto them, as he had to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and also to them; or he had said the above things unto them, that they, observing them, might possess the land of Canaan, and continue therein, which is the sense of... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL THEREFORE PUT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLEAN BEASTS AND UNCLEAN,.... The ten clean ones, as Aben Ezra observes, and all the rest that are unclean, according to the law before given, Leviticus 11:3, by using the one for food, and not the other, and so the Targum of Jonathan, ye shall separate betw... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YE SHALL BE HOLY UNTO ME,.... Separated from all unclean persons and things, and devoted to his service, and obedient to all his commands, and so live holy lives and conversations, according to his will, and to his honour and glory: FOR I THE LORD [AM] HOLY; and therefore they, his people, shou... [ Continue Reading ]
A MAN ALSO OR A WOMAN THAT HATH A FAMILIAR SPIRIT,.... Or the spirit of Python or divination, see Leviticus 19:31; such as the damsel had in Acts 16:16; a woman is here particularly mentioned, though before included in the above law; because, as Aben Ezra says, such sort of practices were more frequ... [ Continue Reading ]