Leviticus 20:5

5 Then I will turn against that man and his family. I will cut him off from his people. I will also cut off all those who follow him by joining themselves to Molech. They are not faithful to me.

Leviticus 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:5

Then I will set my face against that man
That man that sees him do the fact, and winks at it, or the judge that connives at him, and will not condemn him, as well as the man that has committed the iniquity:

and against his family;
either the family of the witness, who could and should have testified against him, or of the judge negligent of his office, or of the man himself, whose family must be privy to so shocking an action, and were abettors of it, and aiders and assisters in it; and so Onkelos renders it, "and his helpers":

and will cut him off:
the head of the family, whether judge, witness, or the criminal himself:

and all that go a whoring after him:
that commit the like idolatry after his example, and encouraged to it by the connivance of others at it:

to commit whoredom with Molech;
that is, idolatry, which is spiritual whoredom, and often so called in Scripture, and with great propriety; for since God had espoused these people to himself, and was their husband, as he was from the time of his bringing them out of Egypt, and making a covenant with them, ( Jeremiah 31:32 ) ; and their sacrificing to and serving other gods being a breach of their matrimonial covenant with him, it was no other than whoredom in a spiritual sense, for which he threatens to cut them off:

from among their people;
by an immature death, even all that were guilty of such abominable actions, or made themselves accessory to them, by any ways conniving at them, either as judges or witnesses.

Leviticus 20:5 In-Context

3 I will turn against that man. I will cut him off from his people. That is because he sacrificed his child to Molech. He has made my sacred tent "unclean." He has treated my name as if it were not holy.
4 " 'Suppose the people of the community close their eyes to the fact that the man sacrificed his child to Molech. And suppose they fail to put him to death.
5 Then I will turn against that man and his family. I will cut him off from his people. I will also cut off all those who follow him by joining themselves to Molech. They are not faithful to me.
6 " 'Suppose someone looks for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Or he goes to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. And he follows their advice. Then he has not been faithful to me. So I will turn against him. I will cut him off from his people.
7 " 'Set yourselves apart for me. Be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
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