Leviticus 18:1-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 18:1-5

After divers ceremonial institutions, God here returns to the enforcement of moral precepts. The former are still of use to us as types, the latter still binding as laws. We have here, 1. The sacred authority by which these laws are enacted: I am the Lord your God (Lev. 18:1, 4, 30), and I am the Lord, Lev. 18:5, 6, 21. ?The Lord, who has a right to rule all; your God, who has a peculiar right to rule you.? Jehovah is the fountain of being, and therefore the fountain of power, whose we are,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:1

And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... He continued speaking to him, after he had delivered to him the laws respecting the day of atonement, and the bringing of the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, and particularly concerning the Israelites not worshipping devils, as they had done in Egypt: the Lord proceeds to deliver out others, the more effectually to guard against both the immoral and idolatrous practice, of the Egyptians and Canaanites: saying , as follows. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:2

Speak unto the children of Israel ,.... To the heads of their tribes, that they might deliver to them the following laws; or Moses is bid to publish them among them, either by word of mouth, or by writing, or both: and say unto them, I am the Lord your God ; with which they were to be introduced; showing the right he had to enact and enjoin such laws, since he was Jehovah, the Being of beings, and from whom they received their beings; their sovereign Lord and King, who had a right to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:3

After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do ,.... Where they had dwelt many years, and were just come out from thence, and where they had learned many of their evil practices; not only their idolatrous ones referred to in the preceding chapter, which it is certain they followed, Ezekiel 20:7 ; but also their immoral practices, particularly respecting incestuous marriages, after insisted on, some of which were established by a law among them; so Diodorus Siculus... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 18:3

The doings of the land of Egypt - the land of Canaan - The worshipping of demons, beasts, etc., as mentioned in the preceding chapter, Leviticus 17:7 , and the abominations mentioned in this chapter from Leviticus 18:21-23 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 18:1

Verse 1 1.And the Lord spoke unto Moses. I have not introduced this declaration amongst other similar ones, which had for their object the preparation of their minds for the reverent reception of the Law, because, whatever conformity there may be in the words themselves, in their substance there is a great difference; for they were general, whereas this is specially confined to a single point. For it was not God’s intention here merely to exhort the people to the study of the Law, but the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 18:1-4

Two aspects of sin. There are many ways in which sin may be regarded. Directed by these words, we may look at it in— I. ITS UGLY ASPECT AS SEEN IN HUMAN ILLUSTRATIONS . The children of Israel were warned to separate themselves in every way from "the doings of the land of Egypt" and from "the doings of the land of Canaan" ( Leviticus 18:3 ). These were to be a beacon to them; they were things to be hated and shunned. To those who had not been brought down themselves to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 18:1-5

Form an introduction to the Hebrew code of prohibited degrees of marriage and of forbidden sins of lust. The formal and solemn declaration, I am the Lord your God , is made three times in these five verses. This places before the people the two thoughts: 1 . That the Lord is holy, and they ought to be like him in holiness; 2 . That the Lord has commanded holiness, and they ought to obey him by being holy. Because the Lord is their God, and they are his people, they are, negatively,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 18:1-5

Obedience enjoined. A nation's importance is not to be reckoned according to its size, but more according to the character of its people and of the great men who have belonged to it. That must ever be a distinguished nation which has had a Moses ruling over it, a man with whom God spoke face to face, instructing him by what rules to govern the people. Those rules form a code second to none in history for purity, justice, and completeness. At the head of a number of separate precepts stands... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Leviticus 18:1-18

The restraints thrown about marriage by God's Law are not meant to confine within the narrowest limits that which is a necessary evil, but to guard a holy institution, and prevent its being corrupted by abuse. Manichaeanism and asceticism, which is essentially Manichaean in its character, denounce the body and the bodily affections as being in themselves bad; stoicism strives to crush out or eradicate natural feelings, to make place for a passionless calm. God's Law and the doctrine of the... read more

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