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