Leviticus 18:13

13 You must not have sexual relations with your mother's sister; 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 "'If your father and his wife have a daughter, she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.

12 "'You must not have sexual relations with your father's sister; she is your father's close relative.

13 You must not have sexual relations with your mother's sister; she is your mother's close relative.

14 You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your father's brother, because this would shame him. She is your aunt.

15 "'You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife. Do not have sexual relations with her.