Leviticus 18:6-23

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 18:6-18

These laws relate to the seventh commandment, and, no doubt, are obligatory on us under the gospel, for they are consonant to the very light and law of nature: one of the articles, that of a man's having his father's wife, the apostle speaks of as a sin not so much as named among the Gentiles, 1 Cor. 5:1. Though some of the incests here forbidden were practised by some particular persons among the heathen, yet they were disallowed and detested, unless among those nations who had become... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 18:19-30

Here is, I. A law to preserve the honour of the marriage-bed, that it should not be unseasonably used (Lev. 18:19), nor invaded by an adulterer, Lev. 18:20. II. A law against that which was the most unnatural idolatry, causing their children to pass through the fire to Moloch, Lev. 18:21. Moloch (as some think) was the idol in and by which they worshipped the sun, that great fire of the world; and therefore in the worship of it they made their own children either sacrifices to this idol,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:6

None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him ,.... Or to all "the rest of his flesh" F20 אל כל שאר בשרו "ad omnes reliquias carnis suae", Montanus; "ad quascunque reliquias carnis suae", Tigurine version. , which together with his make one flesh, who are of the same flesh and blood with him, and are united together in the bonds of consanguinity; and such, with respect to a man, are his mother, sister, and daughter; his mother, of whom he was born, his sister,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:7

The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother , shall thou not uncover ,.... By uncovering a father's nakedness is not meant anything similar to what befell Noah, which Ham beheld with pleasure, and the other two sons of Noah studiously and with reverence to their father covered; nor any sodomitical practice of a son with his father; as Gersom interprets it; but the same is meant by both phrases, and the words are by many interpreters thus rendered, "the nakedness of thy... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:8

The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover ,.... That is, who is indeed a man's father's wife, but not his own mother, but a stepmother or mother-in-law; or otherwise this law would coincide with the former; a man lying with such an one is accursed by the law, Deuteronomy 27:23 ; such an incestuous copulation was that of Reuben with Bilhah, and Absalom with his father's concubines or secondary wives, and such an incestuous marriage was that of the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:9

The nakedness of thy sister ,.... To lie with one in so near a relation is exceeding criminal, and for which the law curses a man, Deuteronomy 27:22 ; and to marry her is not lawful; for though it was necessary for the propagation of mankind that a man should marry his sister, for who else could Cain and Abel marry? yet afterwards, when there was an increase of mankind, and there were people enough remote from each other, it became unlawful for persons in such near ties of consanguinity to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:10

The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter ,.... A man might not marry his granddaughter, whether a descendant of his son or of his daughter, nor any further off descending from him in a right line, not his great-granddaughter, and so on; and if he might not marry his granddaughter, much less his own daughter, as Jarchi observes, for the relation is still nearer; therefore that being prohibited, this in course must, though not mentioned: even their nakedness thou... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:11

The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter ,.... Either the daughter of his father by another wife, which seems to be countenanced by what follows: begotten of thy father, she is thy sister ; but then this coincides with what is prohibited, Leviticus 18:9 , "the daughter of thy father"; that is, by another woman than a man's mother, only with this difference, that there is added, or "daughter of thy mother", that is, by another man than a man's own father; so that there is a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:12

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister ,.... His aunt by his father's side, an instance of which we have in Amram, Exodus 6:20 ; and Maimonides says F9 Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 2. sect. 5. , an aunt was forbidden whether she was a father's sister in lawful wedlock or in fornication: she is thy father's near kinswoman ; or, the rest of thy father F11 שאר אביך "reliquiarum patris tui", Tigurine version. ; the residue of his flesh, one of the same... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:13

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister ,.... Which is the same relation as before, an aunt by the mother's side; wherefore, if such a marriage was unlawful, this must also, and for the same reason: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman ; the same phraseology is used here as in the preceding verse; See Gill on Leviticus 18:12 ; and by the same rule a woman might not marry her uncle, whether by father or mother's side, the relation being the same, and this reaches... read more

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