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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 18:22

Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind ,.... By carnal knowledge of them, and carnal copulation with them, and mixing bodies in like manner: this is the sin commonly called sodomy, from the inhabitants of Sodom, greatly addicted to it, for which their city was destroyed by fire: those that are guilty of this sin, are, by the apostle, called "abusers of themselves with mankind", 1 Corinthians 6:9 , it is abomination ; it is so to God, as the above instance of his vengeance... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:23

Neither shall thou lie with any beast, to defile thyself therewith ,.... A female one, as Aben Ezra notes, as a mare, cow, or ewe, or any other beast, small or great, as Ben Gersom, or whether tame or wild, as Maimonides F2 Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 16. ; and even fowls are comprehended, as the same writers observe: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto : that is, stand before a beast, and by a lascivious and obscene behaviour solicit the beast to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:24

Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things ,.... In incestuous copulations and marriages, in adultery, corporeal and spiritual, and bestiality: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you ; that is, the seven nations of the land of Canaan, which God was about to eject out of their land to make room for the Israelites, and that on account of the above shocking vices which abounded among them; so that in some sense the land they dwelt upon was defiled by them,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:25

And the land is defiled ,.... The inhabitants of it, with the immoralities and idolatries before mentioned: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it ; or punish the inhabitants that are on it for their sins: and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants ; as a stomach loaded with corrupt and bad food it has taken in, nauseates it, and cannot bear and retain it, but casts it up, and never receives it again; so the land of Canaan is represented as loathing its inhabitants,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:26

Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments ,.... Before observed to them, whether of a ceremonial nature, and enjoined them according to his sovereign will and pleasure; or of a moral nature, and founded in justice and equity, and so worthy of their regard, and obligatory upon them; as well as in their own nature they recommended themselves to their regard, as being the reverse of those loathsome and abominable things before dehorted from: and shall not commit any of these... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:27

For all these abominations have the men of the land done ,.... The then present inhabitants of Canaan, who dwelt in it before the Israelites came into it; these were guilty of unclean copulations, of incestuous, marriages, of fornication and adultery, and of bestiality and idolatry: which were before you ; lived in the land before them, had long dwelt there, but now about to be cast out for their sins; and therefore they who were going to succeed them should take warning by them, lest,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:28

That the land spew not you out also, when ye defile it ,.... By sinning on it, and so rendering it obnoxious to the curse of God, as the whole earth originally was for the sin of man; and so be cast out of it, as Adam was out of paradise, and as the Israelites might expect to be cast out of Canaan, as the old inhabitants of it had been: as it spewed out the nations that were before you ; which for the certainty of it is spoken of as done, though it was as yet future; and what the Lord... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:29

For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations ,.... Before particularly forbid, any of them, be it which it will, they all being very heinous and vile, and especially these last mentioned: even the souls that commit them ; whether male or female, as Jarchi observes; for the above things concern them both for the most part, however some one, and some another; and though most, if not all the said crimes are committed by the members of the body, yet since under the influence and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:30

Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance ,.... Whatever the Lord appointed them and commanded, whether contained in this chapter, or elsewhere: that ye commit not anyone of these abominable customs ; for attending to the ordinances of God, and a close in them, they would be preserved from the commission of such abominable things, and giving in to such detestable customs as before warned against: which were committed before you ; by the inhabitants of Canaan; and by the punishment... read more

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