Leviticus 20

Molech Worship and Spiritism

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "And to the {Israelites} you shall say, '[If there is] {anyone} from the {Israelites} or from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives {any of} his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.

3 And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given {some of} his offspring to Molech, so that {he makes my sanctuary unclean} and profanes {my holy name}.

4 And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from that man at his giving {some of} his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death,

5 then I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech.

6 As for the person who turns to the mediums and the soothsayers to prostitute after them, I will set my face against that person, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people.

7 " 'And you shall consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, because I [am] Yahweh your God.

8 And you shall keep my statutes, and you shall do them; I [am] Yahweh who consecrates you.

Family and Sexual Offenses

9 " 'If [there is] {anyone} who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father and his mother--his blood [is] upon him.

10 " 'As for a man who commits adultery with a man's wife, who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, [both] the man who commits adultery and the woman who commits adultery shall surely be put to death.

11 As for a man who lies with his father's wife, he has exposed his father's nakedness; both of them shall be put to death--their blood [is] on them.

12 As for a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed a perversion--their blood [is] on them.

13 " 'As for the man who lies with a male [as] lying [with] a woman, they have committed a detestable thing; they shall surely be put to death--their blood [is] on them.

14 " 'As for a man who marries a woman and her mother, that [is] depravity; they shall burn him and them, so that it shall not become depravity in the midst of you [all].

15 " 'As for a man who {has sexual relations} with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you must kill the animal.

16 As for a woman who approaches any animal to copulate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death--their blood [is] on them.

17 " 'As for a man who takes his sister, his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and he sees her nakedness and she herself sees his nakedness, it [is] a disgrace, and they shall be cut off {before} the eyes of {their people}; he has exposed his sister's nakedness--he must bear his guilt.

18 As for a man who lies with a menstruating woman, he exposes her nakedness--her source he exposes and she herself reveals her blood's source--both of them shall be cut off from the midst of their people.

19 And you shall not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister, and you shall not expose your father's sister, because such a person has dishonored his close relative--they must bear their guilt.

20 As for a man who lies with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle's nakedness--they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21 As for a man who marries his brother's wife, it [is] an abomination; he has exposed his brother's nakedness--they shall be childless.

You Shall Be Holy

22 " 'And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them, so that the land, to which I am bringing you to inhabit it, shall not vomit you out.

23 And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out {from before you}, because they did all these things, and I detested them.

24 So I said to you, "You yourselves shall take possession of their land, and I myself shall give it to you to possess it--a land flowing with milk and honey"; I [am] Yahweh your God, who {has set you apart} from the nations.

25 And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or with the bird or with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you {as unclean}.

26 And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, [am] holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.

27 " 'And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones--their blood [is] on them.'"

Leviticus 20 Commentary

Chapter 20

Law against sacrificing children to Moloch, Of children that curse their parents. (1-9) Laws repeated, Holiness enjoined. (10-27)

Verses 1-9 Are we shocked at the unnatural cruelty of the ancient idolaters in sacrificing their children? We may justly be so. But are there not very many parents, who, by bad teaching and wicked examples, and by the mysteries of iniquity which they show their children, devote them to the service of Satan, and forward their everlasting ruin, in a manner even more to be lamented? What an account must such parents render to God, and what a meeting will they have with their children at the day of judgment! On the other hand, let children remember that he who cursed father or mother was surely put to death. This law Christ confirmed. Laws which were made before are repeated, and penalties annexed to them. If men will not avoid evil practices, because the law has made these practices sin, and it is right that we go on that principle, surely they should avoid them when the law has made them death, from a principle of self-preservation. In the midst of these laws comes in a general charge, Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy. It is the Lord that sanctifies, and his work will be done, though it be difficult. Yet his grace is so far from doing away our endeavours, that it strongly encourages them. Work out your salvation, for it is God that worketh in you.

Verses 10-27 These verses repeat what had been said before, but it was needful there should be line upon line. What praises we owe to God that he has taught the evil of sin, and the sure way of deliverance from it! May we have grace to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; may we have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "And"
• [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [c]. Literally "a man a man"
• [d]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [e]. Or "and"
• [f]. Literally "from"
• [g]. Hebrew "the stone"
• [h]. Literally "from"
• [i]. Literally "to make unclean my sanctuary"
• [j]. Hebrew "to profane"
• [k]. Literally "the name of my holiness"
• [l]. Or "disregard"
• [m]. Literally "from"
• [n]. Or "and"
• [o]. Or "And"
• [p]. Hebrew "and I will set"
• [q]. Literally "a man a man"
• [r]. Or "And"
• [s]. Or "And"
• [t]. Or "And"
• [u]. Or "And"
• [v]. Or "And"
• [w]. Or "And"
• [x]. Literally "he gives his lying down"
• [y]. Or "And"
• [z]. Or "and you shall kill"
• [aa]. Or "And"
• [ab]. Literally "in"
• [ac]. Literally "the sons/children of their people"
• [ad]. Or "And"
• [ae]. Or "and he exposes"
• [af]. Hebrew "he"
• [ag]. Or "And"
• [ah]. Or "And"
• [ai]. Or "and"
• [aj]. Literally "from your faces"
• [ak]. Or "And"
• [al]. Literally "I have set you apart"
• [am]. Or "and"
• [an]. Or "and"
• [ao]. Literally "to make unclean"
• [ap]. Hebrew "the stone"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 20

In this chapter several laws are, repeated, enforced with a penalty annexed to them, and the breach them made capital, to deter from it, as giving seed to Molech, Le 20:1-5; going after such that have familiar spirits, or are wizards, Le 20:6; by shunning which, and other sins, a regard would be shown to holiness, Le 20:7,8; such as cursing parents, Le 20:9; committing adultery, Le 20:10; incestuous copulations, and marriages, and beastly actions, Le 20:11-21; all which it became the Israelites to avoid, lest, when come into the land of Canaan, they should be cast out of it, as the old inhabitants were for the same things, Le 20:22-24; and therefore, that they might appear to be a distinct people from others, they were to put a difference between clean and unclean creatures, Le 20:25,26; and the chapter is closed with a law, making it death for any person to have a familiar spirit, or to be a wizard, Le 19:27.