Leviticus 20:17

17 If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, ^[a] it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.

Leviticus 20:17 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:17

And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or
his mother's daughter
Take her to be his wife, or commit lewdness with her, whether she be his sister by both father and mother's side, or whether by one only, either way she is his sister, and it is not lawful to marry her, or lie with her, see ( Leviticus 18:9 ) : and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness;
which is not to be understood of an immodest view, exposing to each other what should not be seen, and pleasing themselves wills such obscene sights, but of the act of lying together, for so it is afterwards explained by a phrase frequently used to express that action by; and it denotes, as Aben Ezra observes, their mutual consent and agreement in it: it [is] a wicked thing;
and by no means to be done; it is a breach of a former law, it is a scandalous and reproachful thing, and the word is sometimes used for reproach, as in ( Proverbs 14:34 ) ; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people;
by death, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, or by the hand of God, by the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan; Ben Gersom interprets it, of their dying childless, as in some following cases, ( Leviticus 20:20 Leviticus 20:21 ) ; he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness;
or lay with her, which explains a preceding clause: he shall bear his iniquity;
the punishment of it, and he alone, as Aben Ezra observes.

Leviticus 20:17 In-Context

15 If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.

16 If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.

18 If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

19 You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally and he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness