The Torah · Old Testament
Leviticus 18
Forbidden sexual relations and the warning about the land
General context
The Lord tells Israel to follow his statutes rather than the practices of Egypt or Canaan. The chapter then prohibits sexual relations with specified close relatives, including relationships created by marriage, and forbids taking a woman's sister as a rival wife during the woman's lifetime. It also prohibits intercourse during a woman's period of uncleanness, adultery, giving offspring to Molech, sex between males and sex with animals. The closing address describes these practices as defiling people and the land. Israel and resident foreigners are warned to keep the statutes, lest the land cast them out as it casts out the nations before them. Those who commit the listed acts face the stated penalty of being cut off from their people.
Cited passages: Leviticus 18:1, Leviticus 18:2, Leviticus 18:3, Leviticus 18:4, Leviticus 18:5, Leviticus 18:6, Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 18:8, Leviticus 18:9, Leviticus 18:10, Leviticus 18:11, Leviticus 18:12, Leviticus 18:13, Leviticus 18:14, Leviticus 18:15, Leviticus 18:16, Leviticus 18:17, Leviticus 18:18, Leviticus 18:19, Leviticus 18:20, Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 18:23, Leviticus 18:24, Leviticus 18:25, Leviticus 18:26, Leviticus 18:27, Leviticus 18:28, Leviticus 18:29, Leviticus 18:30
Leviticus 18 (KJV)
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God.
3After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
4Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.
5Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.
6None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord.
7The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
8The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
9The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
10The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
11The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
12Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
13Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman.
14Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
15Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
16Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
17Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
18Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
19Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
20Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
21And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.
22Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
23Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
26Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
27(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
29For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.
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Historical context
The address places Israel between its former life in Egypt and the land of Canaan to which the Lord is bringing it. Kinship terms specify which relationships the laws concern; the prohibition on a wife's sister includes the phrase 'in her life time'. The KJV describes offspring passing through fire to Molech, while the ASV says being made to pass through the fire to Molech. The chapter supplies no detailed description of that ritual. Its legal prohibitions are followed by a warning to Israel itself, not only an accusation against earlier inhabitants.
Cited passages: Leviticus 18:1, Leviticus 18:2, Leviticus 18:3, Leviticus 18:4, Leviticus 18:5, Leviticus 18:6, Leviticus 18:18, Leviticus 18:19, Leviticus 18:20, Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 18:23, Leviticus 18:24, Leviticus 18:25, Leviticus 18:26, Leviticus 18:27, Leviticus 18:28, Leviticus 18:29, Leviticus 18:30
Literary context
The repeated declaration 'I am the Lord' frames the opening commands and returns at the close. Between them, detailed prohibitions become a collective warning about defilement and loss of the land. The image of the land vomiting out inhabitants makes the threatened consequence vivid. This is the chapter's own image, not a physical account of how expulsion occurs.
Cited passages: Leviticus 18:2, Leviticus 18:3, Leviticus 18:4, Leviticus 18:5, Leviticus 18:6, Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 18:24, Leviticus 18:25, Leviticus 18:26, Leviticus 18:27, Leviticus 18:28, Leviticus 18:29, Leviticus 18:30
Key moments
- A different rule for Israel (Leviticus 18:3). Israel is told not to follow the practices of Egypt or Canaan.
- The stated kinship boundary (Leviticus 18:6). The opening sexual prohibition concerns approaching a near relative to uncover nakedness.
- The warning includes Israel (Leviticus 18:28). The land's expulsion of earlier nations becomes a warning to Israel as well.
For reflection
How does the warning that Israel too may be expelled affect the chapter's comparison with Egypt and Canaan?