The Torah · Old Testament
Leviticus 20
Penalties and Israel's call to holiness
General context
The chapter states penalties for offenses within Israel's community. Giving offspring to Molech requires stoning, and the Lord also threatens judgment if the people ignore it. Turning to mediums or spiritists brings a warning of being cut off. Death penalties are prescribed for cursing parents and several sexual offenses, including adultery and sex between males. Other cases name being cut off, bearing iniquity or childlessness. The address then warns Israel to keep the statutes so that the land does not expel them. The Lord promises the land and calls the people to distinguish clean from unclean because they have been set apart to belong to him. A final rule prescribes stoning for a man or woman who acts as a medium or spiritist.
Cited passages: Leviticus 20:1, Leviticus 20:2, Leviticus 20:3, Leviticus 20:4, Leviticus 20:5, Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 20:7, Leviticus 20:8, Leviticus 20:9, Leviticus 20:10, Leviticus 20:11, Leviticus 20:12, Leviticus 20:13, Leviticus 20:14, Leviticus 20:15, Leviticus 20:16, Leviticus 20:17, Leviticus 20:18, Leviticus 20:19, Leviticus 20:20, Leviticus 20:21, Leviticus 20:22, Leviticus 20:23, Leviticus 20:24, Leviticus 20:25, Leviticus 20:26, Leviticus 20:27
Leviticus 20 (KJV)
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
4And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
5Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
6And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
7Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.
8And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.
9For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
10And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
13If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
14And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
15And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
16And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
17And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
18And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
20And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
21And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.
22Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
23And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
24But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.
25Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
26And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
27A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
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Historical context
The laws address Israel, including resident foreigners in the opening Molech case. They distinguish actions assigned to the people, such as stoning, from the Lord's declarations that he will set his face against an offender. The sexual-offense cases do not all name the same consequence: verses 20-21 specify childlessness, without explaining its mechanism. These are stated laws and warnings; the chapter does not narrate a trial or execution. The promised land remains the setting toward which the address looks.
Cited passages: Leviticus 20:2, Leviticus 20:3, Leviticus 20:4, Leviticus 20:5, Leviticus 20:6, Leviticus 20:9, Leviticus 20:10, Leviticus 20:11, Leviticus 20:12, Leviticus 20:13, Leviticus 20:14, Leviticus 20:15, Leviticus 20:16, Leviticus 20:17, Leviticus 20:18, Leviticus 20:19, Leviticus 20:20, Leviticus 20:21, Leviticus 20:22, Leviticus 20:23, Leviticus 20:24, Leviticus 20:27
Literary context
Calls to holiness and obedience occur within a chapter of severe penalties. The final appeal connects separation from other peoples with distinctions between clean and unclean creatures. The repeated warning about losing the land makes Israel accountable to the commands attached to the promised possession. This reading preserves both the promise and the threatened consequences.
Cited passages: Leviticus 20:7, Leviticus 20:8, Leviticus 20:17, Leviticus 20:18, Leviticus 20:19, Leviticus 20:20, Leviticus 20:21, Leviticus 20:22, Leviticus 20:23, Leviticus 20:24, Leviticus 20:25, Leviticus 20:26
Key moments
- A warning against looking away (Leviticus 20:4). The law addresses a community that ignores the giving of offspring to Molech.
- The land is not an exemption (Leviticus 20:22). Israel is warned that failure to keep the statutes may lead to expulsion from the land.
- Set apart to belong to the Lord (Leviticus 20:26). The call to holiness is connected with the Lord's separation of Israel from other peoples.
For reflection
How does the chapter distinguish the community's responsibility to act from the judgments the Lord says he will carry out?