Leviticus 18:4-6

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

Matthew Henry

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:4

Ye shall do my judgments ,.... Which are just and right, and according to the rules of justice and equity; these are things, as Jarchi observes, which are said in the law with judgment, or are laws framed with the highest reason, even by the judgment of God himself, whose judgment is always according to truth: Aben Ezra thinks, these are the judicial laws in Exodus 21:1 ; but though they may include them, they have more particular respect to the following laws: and keep mine ordinances,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Leviticus 18:5

Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments ,.... The same as before; these they were to keep in their minds and memories, and to observe them and do them: which if a man do he shall live in them ; live a long life in the land of Canaan, in great happiness and prosperity, see Deuteronomy 30:20 ; for as for eternal life, that was never intended to be had, nor was it possible it could be had and enjoyed by obedience to the law, which fallen man is unable to keep; but is what... 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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 18:6

Any that is near of kin - בשרו שאר כל col shear besaro , any remnant of his flesh, i.e., to any particularly allied to his own family, the prohibited degrees in which are specified from the 7th to the 17th verse ( Leviticus 18:7-17 ;) inclusive. Notwithstanding the prohibitions here, it must be evident that in the infancy of the world, persons very near of kin must have been joined in matrimonial alliances; and that even brothers must have matched with their own sisters. This must have... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 18:4

Verse 4 4.Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments. Because it is no less difficult to correct vices, to which men have been long accustomed, than to cure diseases of long standing, especially because people in general so pertinaciously cleave to bad examples, God adduces His statutes, in order to recall the people from the errors of their evil habits into the right way. For nothing is more absurd than for us to fix our minds on the actions of men, and not on God’s word, in which is... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 18:5

Verse 5 5.Ye shall therefore keep my statutes. Although Moses introduces this passage, where he exhorts the Israelites to cultivate chastity in respect to marriage, and not to fall into the incestuous pollutions of the Gentiles, yet, as it is a remarkable one, and contains general instruction, from whence Paul derives his definition of the righteousness of the Law, (Romans 10:5,) it seems to me to come in very appropriately here, inasmuch as it sanctions and confirms the Law by the promise of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Leviticus 18:6

Verse 6 6.None of you shall approach to any that is near. This name does not include all female relations; for cousin-ger-mans of the father’s or mother’s side are permitted to intermarry; but it must be restricted to the degrees, which He proceeds to enumerate, and is merely a brief preface, declaring that there are certain degrees of relationship which render marriages incestuous. We may, therefore, define these female relations of blood to be those which are spoken of immediately afterwards,... 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

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