Leviticus 20:20

20 ¹If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

Leviticus 20:20 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:20

And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife
His uncle being dead, and he marry her, which is forbidden, ( Leviticus 18:14 ) ; he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness:
his wife's, which was his, and therefore the kindred too near for a man to marry in, and such a copulation must be incestuous: they shall bear their sin;
"both" of them, as the Vulgate Latin, as before, ( Leviticus 20:19 ) ; the punishment of it, as follows: they shall be childless;
which Jarchi and other Jewish writers interpret, if they had any children at this time, that is, by a former marriage, they should die and be buried before them, which was reckoned a great punishment, see ( Jeremiah 22:30 ) .

Leviticus 20:20 In-Context

18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for that is to make naked one's relative; they shall bear their iniquity.

20 If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

22 "You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.

Cross References

• 1. Leviticus 18:14