Leviticus 20:10

10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death. 1

Leviticus 20:10 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:10

And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man's
wife
Which is a breach of the seventh command, ( Exodus 20:14 ) ;

[even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife:
which is only an explanation of the former clause; though the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, say this is so expressed to except the wife of a stranger, or a Gentile; but it means whether a Gentile or an Israelite; and which may be confirmed by the instance of Phinehas slaying a prince of Israel, that lay with a Midianitish woman, ( Numbers 25:6-8 ) :

the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death;
on account of her that is espoused, by strangling, with a hard napkin within a soft one; and on account of her that is married, by casting stones; even both the adulterer and adulteress, as the Targum: and the Jews say F2, strangling was thus performed; they that were strangled were fixed up to their knees in dung, and then they put a hard napkin within a soft one, and rolled it about his neck, and one drew it to him this way, and another drew it to him that way, until he expired: and there is no unlawful copulation punished with strangling, according to Maimonides F3, but lying with another man's wife; and who observes, that the death which is spoken of in the law absolutely, that is, without specifying any kind of death, is strangling; but stoning seems rather meant, agreeably to ( Deuteronomy 22:24 ) ( John 8:5 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 3.
F3 Hilchot lssure Biah, c. 1. sect. 6.

Leviticus 20:10 In-Context

8 Obey my laws, because I am the Lord and I make you holy."
9 The Lord gave the following regulations. Any of you that curse your father or mother shall be put to death; you are responsible for your own death.
10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of an Israelite, both he and the woman shall be put to death.
11 A man who has intercourse with one of his father's wives disgraces his father, and both he and the woman shall be put to death. They are responsible for their own death.
12 If a man has intercourse with his daughter-in-law, they shall both be put to death. They have committed incest and are responsible for their own death.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 20.10Exodus 20.14;Leviticus 18.20;Deuteronomy 5.18.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.