Bible Commentaries
Leviticus 20

Verse 2

Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever [he be] of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth [any] of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

That giveth any of his seed unto Moloch. — See Trapp on " Leviticus 18:21 " Lactantius reports out of "Pescennius Festus," that the Carthaginians being overcome by Agathocles king of Sicily, and fearing lest their slackness in the service of Saturn - who is thought to be the same with Moloch - was the cause, offered unto him for a sacrifice no fewer than four hundred young gentlemen at once.

Verse 3

And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

To defile my sanctuary. — Great sins do greatly pollute. See Leviticus 18:21 .

Verse 4

And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:

Ver. 4:. Hide their eyes, — i.e., Be negligent or ignorant.

Verse 5

Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

I will set my face against that man. — See the reason in Ezekiel 16:20-21 , "Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to pass through the fire for them?" This was an enraging sin; such as God is absolute in threatening, and will be as resolute in punishing.

Verse 6

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

And will cut him off. — Nemo cum serpente securus ludit, nemo cum diabolo iocatur impune. Chrysolog., Serm. 155.

Verse 7

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the LORD your God.

For I am the Lord your God. — And God that is holy should be sanctified in righteousness. Isaiah 5:16

Verse 8

And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I [am] the LORD which sanctify you.

I am the Lord which sanctify you. — Ut acti agatis, that ye may trade with your talents, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and lives, and walk up to your principles.

Verse 9

For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood [shall be] upon him.

For every one that curseth. — See Trapp on " Matthew 15:4 " See Trapp on " Exodus 21:17 "

Verse 10

And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man’s wife, [even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Shall surely be put to death. — Adultery was death long before this law. Genesis 26:11 ; Genesis 38:24 So it was afterwards among the Greeks, Romans, and many other nations. Jeremiah 29:22-23

Verse 11

And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.

Ver. 11-14. See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 12

And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood [shall be] upon them.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 13

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 14

And if a man take a wife and her mother, it [is] wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 15

And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.

Ye shall slay the beast. — Though innocent: this shows the heinousness of the sin. See Leviticus 18:9 .

Verse 16

And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.

And the beast. — Lest the sight of such a beast should bring that loathsome sin to remembrance.

Verse 17

And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it [is] a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

And see her nakedness. — In the Pope’s war against the Albigenses, those ancient French Protestants, when the bishops had taken a great town yielded to them, they commanded the inhabitants, both men and women, to depart stark naked, Partibus illis, quae honeste nominari non possunt, sanctorum illorum cruciatorum oculis expositis, saith Rivet, Jesuita Vapulans., p. 331. not suffering them to hide from the impure eyes of those pope holy fathers those parts that nature would have covered. David that had faulted in looking lustfully on bathing Bathsheba, prays hard, after he had smarted for it, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity," … Psalms 119:37

“ Cur aliquid vidi, cur noxia lumina feci? ” - Ovid.

See Habakkuk 2:15 . Of looking comes lusting, especially when they do σκοτειν , which is the apostle’s word, 2 Corinthians 4:14 so look, as the archer at the mark.

It is a wicked thing. — Heb., An impiety or reproach: Chesed, it is called, per antiphrasin. That may have a good name, the nature whereof is so ill that it is not to be named.

Verse 18

And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

Ver. 18-20. See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 19

And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 20

And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30 .

Verse 21

And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it [is] an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.

They shall be childless. — Either barren or bereft; for this is a sin, saith Job, that roots out all a man’s increase. Job 31:12 Hence that of Hosea, They shall commit whoredom, velo iepparedu, they shall not increase. Pered is a mule, which is a beast very libidinous, but begetting nothing. Solomon had many concubines, yet but one son and two daughters. So had our Henry VIII. He had uncovered his brother’s nakedness, and was well-nigh childless by her. Afterwards he married many wives, and was blameworthy for women, but left no more children than Solomon did. More happy he was in them than Solomon; for he had Rehoboam, a man neither wise nor fortunate, as they call it: his daughters but obscure, and both of them subjects. But Henry had a peerless prince to his son, viz., Edward VI, and his two daughters were both sovereigns of an imperial crown.

Verse 22

Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30

Verse 23

And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

See on Leviticus 18:1-30

Verse 24

But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I [am] the LORD your God, which have separated you from [other] people.

Separated you. — With a wonderful separation; such as was that of light from darkness at the creation.

Verse 25

Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.

Between clean beasts. — How much more then shall you abstain from those unlawful copulations, whereby men put off all manhood, degenerate into dogs? Romans 1:27 Deuteronomy 23:18 2 Samuel 3:8

Verse 26

And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD [am] holy, and have severed you from [other] people, that ye should be mine.

See Leviticus 19:2 ; Leviticus 20:7 .

Verse 27

man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them.

That both a familiar spirit. — As Paracelsus had one confined to the pummel of his sword, or else Erastus belies him.