Amplified Bible
Leviticus 18:20
20You shall not have intimate relations with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.
Leviticus 18:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her.
Context of Leviticus 18:20
18You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness. 19‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity and ceremonial uncleanness. You shall not have intimate relations with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. 21You shall not give any of your children to offer them [by fire as a sacrifice] to Molech [the god of the Ammonites], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by honoring idols as gods]. I am the Lord. 22You shall not lie [intimately] with a male as one lies with a female; it is repulsive.
Read all of Leviticus 18Leviticus 18:20 word by word
וְאֶל־אֵ֙שֶׁת֙ עֲמִֽיתְךָ֔ לֹא־תִתֵּ֥ן שְׁכָבְתְּךָ֖ לְזָ֑רַע לְטָמְאָה־בָֽהּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 18:20
- Leviticus 20:10‘The man who commits adultery with another’s wife, even his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall most certainly be put to death.
- Exodus 20:14“You shall not commit adultery.
- Deuteronomy 5:18‘You shall not commit adultery.
- Deuteronomy 22:22“If a man is intimate with a woman who is another man’s wife, they shall both be put to death, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
- 2 Samuel 11:3David sent word and inquired about the woman. Someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
- Proverbs 6:25Do not desire (lust after) her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelashes.
- Malachi 3:5“Then I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, and against those who oppress the laborer in his wages and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away the alien [from his right], and those who do not fear Me [with awe-filled reverence],” says the Lord of hosts.
- Matthew 5:27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
- Romans 2:22You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob [pagan] temples [of valuable idols and offerings]?
- 1 Corinthians 6:9Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor (perversely) effeminate, nor homosexuals,
- Galatians 5:19Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control),
- Hebrews 13:4Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin]; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Commentaries on Leviticus 18:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Thy neighbor's wife - See Clarke's note on Exodus 20:14.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20The Hebrew word translated as defile yourself can be more literally translated as to become ceremonially unclean. In the Old Testament, sexual intercourse with a neighbor’s wife or any married woman was adultery. Breaking this law was punishable by death (Deuteronomy 22:22). Like incest, adultery threatened the integrity and security of the home and family. It violated the marriage covenant and divided the adulterer’s affection between his spouse and his…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-302-4. I am the Lord your God--This renewed mention of the divine sovereignty over the Israelites was intended to bear particularly on some laws that were widely different from the social customs that obtained both in Egypt and Canaan; for the enormities, which the laws enumerated in this chapter were intended to put down, were freely practised or publicly sanctioned in both of those countries; and, indeed, the extermination of the ancient Canaanites is…Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 18:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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