Leviticus 18:13

13 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister, because she [is] {your mother's close relative}.

Leviticus 18:13 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 18:13

Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister,
&c.] Which is the same relation as before, an aunt by the mother's side; wherefore, if such a marriage was unlawful, this must also, and for the same reason: for she [is] thy mother's near kinswoman;
the same phraseology is used here as in the preceding verse; (See Gill on Leviticus 18:12); and by the same rule a woman might not marry her uncle, whether by father or mother's side, the relation being the same, and this reaches to great-uncle and great-aunt; instances of women marrying their uncles, and men their aunts, among the Heathens, have been given, as among the Persians and Lacedaemonians by Herodotus ^F12, and among the Romans by Tacitus ^F13, but were, in his time, new things with the latter.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Erato, sive, l. 6. c. 71. Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c. 224, 239.
F13 Annal. l. 12. c. 5, 6, 7.

Leviticus 18:13 In-Context

11 [As for] the nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, she [is] your sister, a relative of your father; you must not expose her nakedness.

12 You must not expose the nakedness of your father's sister; she [is] {your father's close relative}.

13 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister, because she [is] {your mother's close relative}.

14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father's brother; you must not {have sex with} his wife--she [is] your aunt.

15 You must not expose your daughter-in-law's nakedness; she [is] your son's wife; you must not expose her nakedness.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "the flesh of your mother"