None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to
him,
&c.] Or to all "the rest of his flesh" F20, which
together with his make one flesh, who are of the same flesh and
blood with him, and are united together in the bonds of
consanguinity; and such, with respect to a man, are his mother,
sister, and daughter; his mother, of whom he was born, his
sister, who lay in and sprung from the same "venter" he did, and
his daughter, who is his own flesh; and with respect to a woman,
her father brother, and son, who are in the same degree of
relation, and both sexes are included in this prohibition; for
though in the original text it is "a man, a man" F21, yet
as it takes in every man, so every woman: hence, as Jarchi
observes, it is expressed in the plural number, "do not ye
approach", to caution both male and female; and it is also
understood by the Talmudists F23 of Gentiles as well as
Israelites, for they ask, what is the meaning of the phrase "a
man, a man?" the design of it is, they say, to comprehend the
Gentiles, who are equally cautioned against incests as the
Israelites; and indeed the inhabitants of the land of Canaan are
said to defile the land with the incests and other abominations
hereafter mentioned, and for which they were driven out of it:
now when man and woman are forbidden to "approach" to those of
the same flesh and blood with them, the sense is not that they
may not come into each other's company, or make use of any civil
or friendly salutations, or have a free and familiar conversation
with each other, provided that modesty and chastity be preserved;
but they are not so to draw near as to lie with, or have carnal
knowledge of one another, in which sense the phrase is used, (
Genesis
20:4 ) ( Isaiah 8:3 ) ( Ezekiel 18:6
) ; or to tempt to it or solicit it, and as it follows, which
explains the meaning of it, to uncover [their]
nakedness;
that is, those parts, which, by a contrary way of speaking, are
so called, which should never be naked or exposed to view; but
should be always covered, as nature teaches to do, and as our
first parents did, when they perceived themselves naked, and were
ashamed, ( Genesis 3:7 Genesis 3:10
) : this phrase signifies the same as to lie with another, or
have carnal knowledge of them, wherefore the following laws are
generally understood of incestuous marriages; for if such an
action is not to be done between persons standing in such a
relation, as here in general, and afterwards more particularly
described, then there ought to be no intermarriages between them;
and if such marriages are forbidden, and such actions unlawful in
a married state, then much more in an unmarried one; wherefore
the several following instances are so many breaches of the
seventh command, ( Exodus 20:14
) , and so many explications and illustrations of it, and
consequently of a moral nature, and binding upon all men, Jews
and Gentiles: I [am] the Lord;
that gave this caution, and enjoined this prohibition, and would
greatly resent and severely revenge the neglect of it: the
particulars follow.