Net English TranslationLeviticus 20 =
Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship
20

1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel1 who gives any of his children2 to Molech3 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones.4 3 I myself will set my face5 against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people,6 because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name.7 4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes8 to that man9 when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution,10 to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech.11

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums12

6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits13 to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face14 against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience

7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8 You must be sure to obey my statutes.15 I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

Family Life and Sexual Prohibitions16

9 “‘If anyone17 curses his father and mother18 he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself.19 10 If a man20 commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife,21 both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness.22 Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.23 12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion;24 their blood guilt is on themselves. 13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman,25 the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 14 If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother,26 it is lewdness.27 Both he and they must be burned to death,28 so there is no lewdness in your midst. 15 If a man has sexual intercourse29 with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it,30 you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with31 his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people.32 He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.33 18 If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them34 must be cut off from the midst of their people. 19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative.35 They must bear their punishment for iniquity.36 20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless. 21 If a man has sexual intercourse with37 his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness;38 they will be childless.

Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience

22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations,39 so that40 the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out. 23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation41 which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. 24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples.42 25 Therefore you must distinguish43 between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground – creatures44 I have distinguished for you as unclean.45 26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums

27 “‘A man or woman who46 has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit47 must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones;48 their blood guilt is on themselves.’”

1tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.” 2tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4. 3tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21. 4tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136). 5tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.” 6sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4. 7tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.” 8tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p. 9tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.” 10tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution. 11tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20. 12sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below. 13tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above. 14tn Heb “I will give my faces.” 15tn Heb “And you shall keep my statutes and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31, etc.). 16sn Compare the regulations in Lev 18:6-23. 17tn Heb “If a man a man who.” 18tn Heb “makes light of his father and his mother.” Almost all English versions render this as some variation of “curses his father or mother.” 19tn Heb “his blood [plural] is in him.” Cf. NAB “he has forfeited his life”; TEV “is responsible for his own death.”sn The rendering “blood guilt” refers to the fact that the shedding of blood brings guilt on those who shed it illegitimately (even the blood of animals shed illegitimately, Lev 17:4; cf. the background of Gen 4:10-11). If the community performs a legitimate execution, however, the blood guilt rests on the person who has been legitimately executed (see the remarks and literature cited in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328). 20tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause. 21tc The reading of the LXX minuscule mss has been followed here (see the BHS footnote a-a). The MT has a dittography, repeating “a man who commits adultery with the wife of” (see the explanation in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328). The duplication found in the MT is reflected in some English versions, e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV. 22sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above. 23tn See the note on v. 9 above. 24tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” (cf. KJV, ASV “they have wrought confusion”). 25tn Heb “[as the] lyings of a woman.” The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males. 26tn Heb “And a man who takes a woman and her mother.” The Hebrew verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.” 27tn Regarding “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above. 28tn Heb “in fire they shall burn him and them.” The active plural verb sometimes requires a passive translation (GKC 460 §144.f, g), esp. when no active plural subject has been expressed in the context. The present translation specifies “burned to death” because the traditional rendering “burnt with fire” (KJV, ASV; NASB “burned with fire”) could be understood to mean “branded” or otherwise burned, but not fatally. 29tn See the note on Lev 18:20 above. 30tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16). 31tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse,” though some English versions translate it as “marry” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). 32tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20. 33tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above. 34tn Heb “and the two of them.” 35tn Heb “his flesh.” 36tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above. 37tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.” 38sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above. 39tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31, etc.). 40tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here. 41tc One medieval Hebrew ms, Smr, and all the major ancient versions have the plural “nations.” Some English versions retain the singular (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); others have the plural “nations” (e.g., NAB, NIV) and still others translate as “people” (e.g., TEV, NLT). 42tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.” 43tn Heb “And you shall distinguish.” The verb is the same as “set apart” at the end of the previous verse. The fact that God had “set them apart” from the other peoples roundabout them called for them to “distinguish between” the clean and the unclean, etc. 44tn The word “creatures” has been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the following relative clause modifies the animal, bird, or creeping thing mentioned earlier, and not the ground itself. 45tc The MT has “to defile,” but Smr, LXX, and Syriac have “to uncleanness.” 46tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, and some Targum mss have the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who, which”), rather than the MT’s כִּי (ki, “for, because, that”). 47tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirit” in Lev 19:31 above. 48tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning, but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (see the note on v. 2 above). Smr and LXX have “you [plural] shall pelt them with stones.”sn At first glance Lev 20:27 appears to be out of place but, on closer examination, one could argue that it constitutes the back side of an envelope around the case laws in 20:9-21, with Lev 20:6 forming the front of the envelope (note also that execution of mediums and spiritists by stoning in v. 27 is not explicitly stated in v. 6). This creates a chiastic structure: prohibition against mediums and spiritists (vv. 6 and 27), variations of the holiness formula (vv. 7 and 25-26), and exhortations to obey the Lord’s statutes (and judgments; vv. 8 and 22-24). Again, in the middle are the case laws (vv. 9-21).
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