Leviticus 20:9

9 If anyone curses ^[a] his father or mother, he must be put to death. ^[b] He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.

Leviticus 20:9 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:9

For everyone that curseth his father or his mother
Here begins the account of the penalties annexed to the several laws in the preceding chapter; and that respecting the fear and honour of parents being the first, ( Leviticus 19:3 ) , is here begun with:

shall surely be put to death;
the Targum of Jonathan adds,

``by casting of stones,''

stoning being the punishment of such transgressors:

he hath cursed his father or his mother:
to do either is his sin, and a capital crime it is:

his blood [shall be] upon him:
he shall be guilty of death, be condemned unto it, and punished with it, namely, by stoning; for, as Jarchi observes, wherever it is, "his blood [shall be] on him", or "their blood shall be on them", it is to be understood of stoning.

Leviticus 20:9 In-Context

7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.

8 And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

9 If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.

10 If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or dishonors or reviles; similarly again in this verse
• [b]. Cited in Matthew 15:4 and Mark 7:10