Leviticus 20:9

Family and Sexual Offenses

9 "If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on his own hands.^{[a] [b]}

Leviticus 20:9 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:9

For everyone that curseth his father or his mother
Here begins the account of the penalties annexed to the several laws in the preceding chapter; and that respecting the fear and honour of parents being the first, ( Leviticus 19:3 ) , is here begun with:

shall surely be put to death;
the Targum of Jonathan adds,

``by casting of stones,''

stoning being the punishment of such transgressors:

he hath cursed his father or his mother:
to do either is his sin, and a capital crime it is:

his blood [shall be] upon him:
he shall be guilty of death, be condemned unto it, and punished with it, namely, by stoning; for, as Jarchi observes, wherever it is, "his blood [shall be] on him", or "their blood shall be on them", it is to be understood of stoning.

Leviticus 20:9 In-Context

7 Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.

8 Keep My statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.

9 "If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on his own hands.

10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman-if he commits adultery with his neighbor's wife-both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

11 If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has shamed his father. Both of them must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands.

Footnotes

• [a] Lit on him
• [b] Ex 21:17; Dt 21:18-21; Pr 20:20; Mt 15:4; Mk 7:10