Leviticus 20:9

9 "Any and every person who curses his father or mother must be put to death. By cursing his father or mother he is responsible for his own death.

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 "Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God.
8 Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy.
9 "Any and every person who curses his father or mother must be put to death. By cursing his father or mother he is responsible for his own death.
10 "If a man commits adultery with another man's wife - the wife, say, of his neighbor - both the man and the woman, the adulterer and adulteress, must be put to death.
11 "If a man has sex with his father's wife, he has violated his father. Both the man and woman must be put to death; they are responsible for their own deaths.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.