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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 20:11

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 mattered not; according to the Jewish tradition F4 Misn. ut supra, (Sanhedrin, c. 7.) sect. 4. , this is a breach of the law, Leviticus 18:8 ; and a man guilty of this hath uncovered his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 20:12

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 F6 Misn. ut supra. (Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 4.) : both of them shall surely be put to death ; it being a breach of the law in Leviticus 18:15 ; and this is the penalty annexed to it, even death: they have wrought confusion : have been guilty of a shocking and shameful mixture, as Jarchi and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 20:13

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 be called an abomination, being contrary to nature, and more than brutish, for nothing of that kind is to be found among brutes: they shall surely be put to death ; if he that is lain... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 20:14

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, wickedness to a high degree: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they ; the man, the mother and her daughter both being married together to him, or both consenting to his lying... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 20:12

They have wrought confusion - See Leviticus 18, and especially the note on Leviticus 18:6 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 20:14

They shall be burnt with fire - As there are worse crimes mentioned here, (see Leviticus 20:11 ; and Leviticus 20:17 ;), where the delinquent is ordered simply to be put to death, or to be cut off, it is very likely that the crime mentioned in this verse was not punished by burning alive, but by some kind of branding, by which they were ever after rendered infamous. I need not add that the original, ישרפו באש baesh yishrephu , may, without violence to its grammatical meaning, be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 20:11

Verse 11 Nothing new occurs here, for the object of Moses was, by the enactment of penalties, to sanction the instruction lately given. By previously condemning incestuous marriages, he would cite the Israelites before God, in order that their consciences might abhor the crime, although he gave them nothing to fear from earthly judges; whereas now he alarms them by the dread of punishment, in case any should indulge themselves with too great security. He does not chastise the incestuous with... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 20:13

Verse 13 13.If a man also (63) God had hitherto taught what was right, in order to restrain the people from sin, not only from fear of punishment, but for conscience’ sake. But whereas all do not voluntarily dispose themselves to obedience, the awards severe punishments to those wicked despisers in whom there is no effort to be religious. And it is astonishing that almost all the Gentiles have so sunk into stupid and brutal folly, that they have tolerated with little less than impunity... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 20:1-21

The difference between the religious and the secular law is more marked in modern nations than in the Hebrew commonwealth; the primary object of the first being to forbid and prevent sin; of the second, to protect life and property. The distinction is shown by the separation of the eighteenth and the twentieth chapters; but as in the Mosaic legislation both the law which denounces sin and the law which pronounces penalties for crime proceeded from God, it was not necessary that the... read more

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