Paths in Biblical Studies

Book of Leviticus · Chapter 20 of 27

Leviticus 20: Verse-by-Verse Commentary (with Videos)

27 verses · 4 video commentaries from 3 courses · Berean Standard Bible

1Then the LORD said to Moses,

2“Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him.

3And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.

4And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech,

5then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech.

6Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.

8And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.

10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

11If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them.

13If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

14If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that there will be no depravity among you.

15If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.

16If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.

18If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people.

19You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.

20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered the nakedness of his uncle. They will bear their sin; they shall die childless.

21If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they shall be childless.

22You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.

23You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

24But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.

25You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.

26You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.

27A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”

Leviticus 20 Section and Chapter Commentary

Lev 20:1-27

Leviticus 18 and 20 vilify the Canaanites to set Israel apart

Baden says Joshua is not the Bible's only attempt to insist that Israel is definitely not Canaan. Leviticus 18 and 20 open their sex laws and bans on sacrificing children with 'don't do what the Canaanites before you did', implying the Canaanites did those things, though he says there is no evidence whatsoever that they did. He reads this as vilifying and othering the Canaanites out of an anxiety about Israel's own origins, and suggests part of the dietary laws served the same identity-marking purpose.

Summarized by AI · The Rise and Fall of Biblical Israel: The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings · Lecture 2: Joshua and the Conquest of Canaan | Too Good to Be True · watch the clip

Leviticus 20 Verse Notes

Lev 20:13

Christians selectively apply Old Testament laws

Christians often selectively apply Old Testament laws, embracing those they find 'congenial' while dismissing others as irrelevant or superseded by Jesus. For example, some focus on prohibitions against male sexual relations in Leviticus while ignoring other laws in the same chapter, such as those against wearing mixed fabrics, demonstrating an arbitrary approach to biblical law.

Summarized by AI · Bart D. Ehrman · YouTube · Why Everyone Misreads the 10 Commandments · watch the clip

Jesus' silence on abortion and homosexuality

Jesus never explicitly addressed abortion or homosexuality. While some passages in the Hebrew Bible condemn male-on-male sexual acts, these condemnations are rooted in ancient cultural understandings of sex drives and social roles, not in the modern concept of sexual orientation, which was unknown in antiquity. Therefore, applying these ancient prohibitions directly to contemporary discussions of homosexuality is problematic.

Summarized by AI · Bart D. Ehrman · YouTube · Did Jesus Invent Modern Morality? Exploring Ancient Ethics · watch the clip

Lev 20:27

Biblical Condemnation of Mediums and Necromancy

Early Israelite law codes explicitly condemn practices associated with mediums and spiritualists, particularly those who commune with the dead. Texts like Exodus 22:18 and Leviticus 20:27 prescribe the death penalty for such individuals, while Deuteronomy 18:10-11 forbids consulting ghosts, spirits, or oracles from the dead. This condemnation forms a rubric by which kings are later evaluated, with 'bad' kings engaging in such practices and 'good' kings abolishing them.

Summarized by AI · Demons and Ghosts in the Bible · Lecture 24: The Ghost of Samuel and the “Witch” of Endor · watch the clip

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