Leviticus 20:11

11 If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness of his father, let them both be put to death: their blood be upon them.

Leviticus 20:11 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 20:11

And the man that lieth with his father's wife
Whether she be his mother, or another woman, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, whether she is his own mother, or a stepmother, or whether he did this in the lifetime of his father, or after his death, or whether she was betrothed or married, it mattered not; according to the Jewish tradition ^F4, this is a breach of the law, ( Leviticus 18:8 ) ; and a man guilty of this

hath uncovered his father's nakedness;
and which is a foul and shameful piece of wickedness; the penalty follows:

both of them shall be put to death;
by casting stones on them, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; for, as before observed, wherever the following phrase,

their blood [shall be] upon them,
is used, stoning is meant; and so, according to the Misnah ^F5, all those were to be stoned, after mentioned, of whom this phrase is used.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Misn. ut supra, (Sanhedrin, c. 7.) sect. 4.
F5 lbid.

Leviticus 20:11 In-Context

9 He that curseth his father, or mother, dying let him die. He hath cursed his father, and mother: let his blood be upon him.

10 If any man commit adultery with the wife of another, and defile his neighbour’s wife: let them be put to death, both the adulterer and the adulteress.

11 If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness of his father, let them both be put to death: their blood be upon them.

12 If any man lie with his daughter in law: let both die, because they have done a heinous crime. Their blood be upon them.

13 If any one lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed an abomination: let them be put to death. Their blood be upon them.