Leviticus 20:14

14 When a man marries a woman and her mother, they have done a perverted thing. The man and the two women must be burned. Never do this perverted thing.

Leviticus 20:14 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:14

And if a man take a wife, and her mother
Marry both the one and the other, or commit uncleanness with them, they consenting to it:

it [is] wickedness;
abominable wickedness, shocking and detestable; there are other things, which also are wicked and not to be done, but this is extremely wicked, wickedness to a high degree:

they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they;
the man, the mother and her daughter both being married together to him, or both consenting to his lying with them; otherwise, if one of them was first his wife, it was not reasonable that she should be put to death; and therefore some interpret "they", one of them, as Jarchi observes, one or other of them; and so Aben Ezra explains it, this or that; if the mother was his wife, the daughter was to be burnt; and so on the contrary, if the daughter was his wife, the mother was to be burnt; according to the Targum of Jonathan, they were to be burnt by pouring lead into their mouths: and so the manner of burning is described in the Misnah F7; they that are to be burnt are fixed in dung up to their knees, then they put a hard napkin within a soft one, and roll it about is neck; one draws it one way, and another another way, until he opens his mouth; then they take hot melted lead, and pour it into his mouth, which goes down into his bowels and burns them. But it was rather done with faggots, of which an instance is given:

that there be no wickedness among you;
of such kind, continued, countenanced, and pass unpunished. This punishment was to be inflicted, to deter persons from it. The law against it is in ( Leviticus 18:17 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 2.

Leviticus 20:14 In-Context

12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have done a disgusting thing and deserve to die.
13 When a man has sexual intercourse with another man as with a woman, both men are doing something disgusting and must be put to death. They deserve to die.
14 When a man marries a woman and her mother, they have done a perverted thing. The man and the two women must be burned. Never do this perverted thing.
15 A man who has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death. You must kill the animal, too.
16 When a woman offers herself sexually to any animal, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. They deserve to die.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.