Leviticus 18 KJV
Unlawful Sexual Relations
Leviticus Chapter 18: Unlawful Sexual Relations
The chapter frames sexual prohibitions as tied to Israel's covenantal separation from both Egypt and Canaan, opening with a direct command not to imitate the practices of either nation, which positions these laws as identity markers rather than universal ethics.
1nd the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
8 The nakedness of thy fatherโs wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy fatherโs nakedness.
9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
10 The nakedness of thy sonโs daughter, or of thy daughterโs daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.
11 The nakedness of thy fatherโs wifeโs daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
12 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy fatherโs sister: she is thy fatherโs near kinswoman.
13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy motherโs sister: for she is thy motherโs near kinswoman.
14 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy fatherโs brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
15 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy sonโs wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
16 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brotherโs wife: it is thy brotherโs nakedness.
17 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her sonโs daughter, or her daughterโs daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
18 Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
19 Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbourโs wife, to defile thyself with her.
21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.
26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
27 (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.
29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.
30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
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Did You Know?
The chapter frames sexual prohibitions as tied to Israel's covenantal separation from both Egypt and Canaan, opening with a direct command not to imitate the practices of either nation, which positions these laws as identity markers rather than universal ethics.
Verse 21 inserts a prohibition on Molech child sacrifice amid sexual laws, creating a literary juxtaposition that associates idolatry with sexual boundary violations as twin threats to holiness.
The repeated refrain 'I am the LORD' functions as an inclusio and structural marker, appearing at key transitions to ground the laws in divine authority rather than mere social custom.
The land itself is depicted as an active agent that 'vomits out' its inhabitants for these acts, a unique theological motif in the Pentateuch that personifies Canaan as rejecting defilement in a manner parallel to the flood narrative's purging.
Several prohibitions extend beyond immediate blood relations to include affinal kin and combinations like a woman and her daughter, reflecting a broader concern with disrupting household alliances that were common in ancient Near Eastern diplomacy and inheritance.