Leviticus 20:19
WEB
“‘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.
BSB
You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.
KJV
And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H6172
n-f — nudity
Derivation: from 6168;
nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish)
KJV: nakedness, shame, unclean(-ness).
n.f — nakedness
עֶרְוָה 54 n.f. nakedness, pudenda
H269
n-f — sister
Derivation: irregular feminine of 251;
a sister (used very widely [like 251], literally and figuratively)
KJV: (an-) other, sister, together.
n.f — sister
אָחוֹת 114 n.f. sister
1. sister
2. = beloved
3. symbol. of Judah, Samaria, Sodom & Jerusalem
4. fig. of intimate connection
5. another
H517
n-f — mother
Derivation: a primitive word;
a mother (as the bond of the family); in a wide sense (both literally and figuratively [like father])
KJV: dam, mother, × parting.
n.f — mother
אֵם 221 n.f. mother
1. lit. (human) mother
2. fig. of Deborah as caring for her people
3. of animals, dam
4. = point of departure or division
H1
n-m — father
Derivation: a primitive word;
father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application
KJV: chief, (fore-) father(-less), × patrimony, principal. Compare names in 'Abi-'.
n.m — father
אָב 1101 n.m. father
1. father of individual
2. of God as father of his people
3. head of household, family or clan
4. ancestor
5. originator or patron of a class, profession, or art
6. fig. of producer, generator
7. fig. of benevolence & protection
8. term of respect & honor
9. specif., ruler, chief (late)
H3808
adv — not, no
Derivation: or לוֹא; or לֹה; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle;
not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
KJV: × before, or else, ere, except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, surely, as truly as, of a truth, verily, for want, whether, without.
adv — not
לֹא or לוֹא adv. not
H1540
v — denude, exile, reveal
Derivation: a primitive root;
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense); by implication, to exile (captives being usually stripped); figuratively, to reveal
KJV: advertise, appear, bewray, bring, (carry, lead, go) captive (into captivity), depart, disclose, discover, exile, be gone, open, × plainly, publish, remove, reveal, × shamelessly, shew, × surely, tell, uncover.
vb — uncover
גָּלָה 189 vb. uncover, remove
Qal
1. uncover the ear of one, i.e. reveal to him
2. intr. remove, depart
3. go into exile
Niph.
1. refl.
a. uncover oneself (one’s nakedness)
b. discover or shew oneself
2. pass.
a. be uncovered (one’s nakedness)
b. be disclosed, discovered
3. be removed
Pi.
1. uncover
2. disclose, discover, lay bare
3. make known, shew, reveal
Pu. be uncovered
Hiph. carry away into exile, take into exile
Hoph. carried into exile
Hithp.
1. was uncovered (naked)
2. that his heart may reveal itself
H3588
conj — relative conjunction
Derivation: a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent;
(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
KJV: and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.
conj — that
כִּי conj. that, for, when
1. that
2.
a. Of time, when, of the past
b. elsewhere כִּי has a force approximating to if, though it usu. represents a case as more likely to occur than אִם
c. when or if, with a concessive force, i.e. though
3. Because, since
relative conjunction
כִּי אם־
1. each part. retaining its independent force, and relating to a different clause:
a. that if
b. for if
2. (About 140 t.) the two particles being closely conjoined, and relating to the same clause—
a. limiting the prec. clause, except
b. the if being neglected, and treated as pleonastic, so that the clause is no longer a limitation of the preceding clause but a contradiction of it: but rather, but
c. after an oath, surely
forasmuch as
כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as
H853
prt — self, even, namely
Derivation: apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity;
properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)
KJV: [as such unrepresented in English].
mark of the accusative
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
H7607
n-m — flesh, swelling, food, kindred
Derivation: from 7604;
flesh (as swelling out), as living or for food; generally food of any kind; figuratively, kindred by blood
KJV: body, flesh, food, (near) kin(-sman, -swoman), near (nigh) (of kin).
n.m — flesh
שְׁאֵר n.m. flesh (perh. orig. the inner flesh, full of blood, next to the bones)
1. flesh
a. as food
b. fig. for physical power
2. in HP = flesh- (= blood-) relation (i.e. one near of kin)
3. = self
H6168
v — be, make, bare, empty, pour out, demolish
Derivation: a primitive root;
to be (causatively, make) bare; hence, to empty, pour out, demolish
KJV: leave destitute, discover, empty, make naked, pour (out), rase, spread self, uncover.
vb — be naked
[עָרָה] vb. be naked, bare
Pi.
1. lay bare
2. lay bare by removing contents, empty, water-jar
3. pour out
Hiph.
1. make naked, of sexual offences
2. pour out
Niph. until there be poured upon us a spirit from on high
Hithp.
1. thou shalt make thyself naked
2. usu. pouring himself, i.e. spreading himself out like a tree
H5771
n-m — perversity, evil
Derivation: or עָווֹן; (2 Kings 7:9; Psalm 51:5 [7]), from 5753;
perversity, i.e. (moral) evil
KJV: fault, iniquity, mischeif, punishment (of iniquity), sin.
n.m — iniquity
עָוֹן n.m. iniquity, guilt, or punishment of iniquity
H5375
v — lift
Derivation: or נָסָה; (Psalm 4:6 [7]), a primitive root;
to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
KJV: accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable ( man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, × needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, swear, take (away, up), × utterly, wear, yield.
vb — lift
נָשָׂא 656 vb. lift, carry, take
Qal
1. lift, lift up
2. Bear, carry
3. Take, take away
Niph.
1. be lifted up
2. refl. lift oneself up = rise up, of י׳, to display power in judgment
3. be borne, carried
4. be taken away, carried off
Pi.
1. lift up = exalt
2. fig. = desire, long
3. carry, bear continuously
4. take, take away
Hithp. lift oneself up
Hiph.
1. cause one to bear iniquity
2. appar. cause to bring, have brought
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Verses 10–21
Leviticus 20:10–21
Sins against the seventh commandment are here ordered to be severely punished. These are sins which, of all others, fools are most apt to make a mock at; but God would teach those the heinousness of the guilt by the extremity of the punishment that would not otherwise be taught it.
I. Lying with another man's wife was made a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress that had joined in the sin must fall alike under the sentence: they shall both be put to death, Lev 20:10. Long before this, even in Job's time, this was reputed a heinous crime and an iniquity to be punished by the judges, Job 31:11. It is a presumptuous contempt of an ordinance of God, and a violation of his covenant, Pro 2:17. It is an irreparable wrong to the injured husband, and debauches the mind and conscience of both the offenders as much as any thing. It is a sin which headstrong and unbridled lusts hurry men violently to, and therefore it needs such a powerful restraint as this. It is a sin which defiles a land and brings down God's judgments upon it, which disquiets families, and tends to the ruin of all virtue and religion, and therefore is fit to be animadverted upon by the conservators of the public peace: but see Joh 8:3-11.
II. Incestuous connections, whether by marriage or not. 1. Some of them were to be punished with death, as a man's lying with his father's wife, Lev 20:11. Reuben would have been put to death for his crime (Gen 35:22) if this law had been then made. It was the sin of the incestuous Corinthian, for which he was to be delivered unto Satan, Co1 5:1, Co1 5:5. A man's debauching his daughter-in-law, or his mother-in-law, or his sister, was likewise to be punished with death, Lev 20:12, Lev 20:14, Lev 20:17. 2. Others of them God would punish with the curse of barrenness, as a man's defiling his aunt, or his brother's wife (Lev 20:19-21): They shall die childless. Those that keep not within the divine rules of marriage forfeit the blessings of marriage: They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase, Hos 4:10. Nay it is said, They shall bear their iniquity, that is, though they be not immediately cut off by the hand either of God or man for this sin, yet the guilt of it shall lie upon them, to be reckoned for another day, and not be purged with sacrifice or offering.
III. The unnatural lusts of sodomy and bestiality (sins not to be mentioned without horror) were to be punished with death, as they are at this day by our law, Lev 20:13, Lev 20:15, Lev 20:16. Even the beast that was thus abused was to be killed with the sinner, who was thereby openly put to the greater shame: and the villany was thus represented as in the highest degree execrable and abominable, all occasions of the remembrance or mention of it being to be taken away. Even the unseasonable use of the marriage, if presumptuous, and in contempt of the law, would expose the offenders to the just judgment of God: they shall be cut off, Lev 20:18. For this is the will of God, that every man should possess his vessel (and the wife is called the weaker vessel) in sanctification and honour, as becomes saints.
Cross-references: Lev 20:10 · Job 31:11 · Prov 2:17 · John 8:3 · Lev 20:11 · Gen 35:22 · 1Cor 5:1 · 1Cor 5:5 · Lev 20:12 · Lev 20:14 · Lev 20:17 · Lev 20:19 · Hos 4:10 · Lev 20:13 · Lev 20:15 · Lev 20:16 · Lev 20:18