Go to Related Reading
About this book

Leviticus

About this book
Chapter 20

1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites (or any of the resident foreigners who live in Israel) who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes to that man 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 the people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, committing prostitution by worshiping Molech. 6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people. 7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 “‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood guilt is on himself.⁠ 10 If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.⁠ 11 If a man goes to bed with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 12 If a man goes to bed with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood guilt is on themselves. 13 If a man goes to bed with a male as one goes to bed with a woman, 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 marital relations with both a woman and her mother, it is lewdness. Both he and they must be burned to death, so there is no lewdness in your midst. 15 If a man has sexual relations with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal to copulate with it, you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 17 “‘If a man has marital relations with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of 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. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity.⁠ 18 If a man goes to bed 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 them must be cut off from the midst of their people. 19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a person has exposed his own close relative. They must bear their punishment for iniquity. 20 If a man goes to bed 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 marital relations with his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; they will be childless. 22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, so that the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence does not vomit you out. 23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nations 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.⁠ 25 Therefore you must distinguish 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—creatures I have distinguished for you as unclean. 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. 27 “‘A man or woman who has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; their blood guilt is on themselves.’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 20:10 and Sirach 23:21

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

Share:

Summary

Leviticus demands death for adultery, presenting it as a capital crime within Israel’s legal code. Sirach echoes this, condemning adultery in similar terms, but is not explicit about requiring execution, instead saying the act will be exposed and judged.

Passages

Leviticus 20:10

Hebrew Bible
8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 “‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood guilt is on himself. 10 If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 If a man goes to bed with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 12 If a man goes to bed with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; their blood guilt is on themselves.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Sirach 23:21

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
19 The eyes of men are his terror. He doesn’t know that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun, seeing all the ways of men, and looking into secret places. 20 All things were known to him before they were created, and also after they were completed. 21 This man will be punished in the streets of the city. He will be seized where he least expects it. 22 So also is a wife who leaves her husband, and produces an heir by another man. 23 For first, she was disobedient in the law of the Most High. Second, she trespassed against her own husband. Third, she played the adulteress in fornication, and had children by another man.
195–180 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sirach

References

"... In the numerical proverb of Sirach 23:16-17 the author sums up the persons or activities that are despicable and cause anger. The first comment on the burning passion is not further specified ("Burning passion is like blazing fire, it will never be quenched until it burns itself out/is consumed"). Nothing indicates whether the person is married, nor what is the object of his passion. In the second element of the proverb, as noted above, behind the Hebrew term is assumed to mean "blood relation" ("The person who commits sexual wrongdoing literally in the body of his flesh, will never cease until the fire burns out"). We find the expression in Leviticus 18:6 and 25:49. The former is part of the incest laws in Leviticus 18:6-18; similar instructions are found also in Leviticus 20:11-12, 14, 17, 19-21. In none of these instances does the LXX use the Greek term of Sirach 23:16. All these instructions deal with a punishable act of a sexual nature and assume that the transgressors are in kinship, whether they live in the same household or not ... it is likely that adultery was not always detected either in pre or in postexilic times, including the time of Ben Sira. It seems, however, that the author anticipates a divine intervention when he points out that even if the man is foolish enough to think that his actions will not be discovered, the Lord, who created everything and therefore knows everything, will see his actions (23:19-20). Therefore the adulterer should be afraid of his sins. Somehow or other the man is apprehended at the end. God's judgment is perhaps not immediate but operates according to its own timetable. 23:21 does not disclose anything about the penalty. The death penalty was probably not in force anymore ..."
Ibolya Balla, Ben Sira on Family, Gender, and Sexuality, DCLS 8 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 2011), 131–134.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Leviticus 20:10 and Sirach 23:21

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library