Deuteronomy 27:20

Deuteronomy 27:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
• New International Version (NIV)“Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)"'Cursed be anyone who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's nakedness.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
• New King James Version (NKJV)‘Cursed is the one who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Context of Deuteronomy 27:20

18‘God will curse anyone who leads a blind person along the wrong path.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’ 19‘God will curse anyone who stops foreigners, widows or children who have no family from receiving justice.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’ ‘God will curse any man who has sex with his father's wife. That would bring shame on his father.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’ 21‘God will curse any man who has sex with any animal.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’ 22‘God will curse any man who has sex with his sister, whether she is his father's daughter or his mother's daughter.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Yes, we agree!’

Deuteronomy 27:20 word by word

אָר֗וּר שֹׁכֵב֙ עִם־אֵ֣שֶׁת אָבִ֔יו כִּ֥י גִלָּ֖ה כְּנַ֣ף אָבִ֑יו וְאָמַ֥ר כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אָמֵֽן׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Cursedאָרַר'ârar · to curseH779
• he that liethשָׁכַבshâkab · to lie down: have sexH7901
• with his father’sאָב'âb · fatherH1
• wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• because he uncoverethגָּלָהgâlâh · to reveal: uncoverH1540
• skirtכָּנָףkânâph · wingH3671
• And all the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• shall sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Amenאָמֵן'âmên · amenH543

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 27:20

• Deuteronomy 22:30A man must not marry a woman who was his father's wife. That would bring shame on his father.
• Genesis 35:22While Israel stayed there, his son Reuben had sex with Bilhah. She was Israel's slave wife, and Israel heard what had happened. Jacob had 12 sons:
• Genesis 49:4Yet you are as wild as the sea. You had sex with your father's slave wife. This bad thing brought me shame. So you will not become great.
• Leviticus 18:8Do not have sex with any wife of your father. Your father would be ashamed.
• Leviticus 20:11A man is sinning if he has sex with his father's wife. You must kill the man and the woman. They have destroyed the father's honour. Their sin causes their death.
• 2 Samuel 16:22So they put up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. There he had sex with his father's slave wives, and all the Israelites could see him.
• 1 Chronicles 5:1Reuben was Israel's firstborn son. That is, Reuben was born first. But he had sex with his father's slave wife. So his father took away the benefits that belong to a firstborn son. Instead, Israel gave those benefits to his son Joseph's sons. So Reuben does not have the first place in the list of Israel's sons.
• Ezekiel 22:10Some men have sex with their father's wife. Some men have sex with a woman at the time when she bleeds each month and she is unclean.
• Amos 2:7They are not kind to poor people and they do not help them. A father and his son have sex with the same woman. They do not respect the holy way that I want them to live.
• 1 Corinthians 5:1We have heard bad news about what is happening among you. Some of you are having sex in wrong ways. We have heard that one man is even having sex with his own father's wife! Even people who do not know God do not do things as bad as that!

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 27:20

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11-26Verses 11-26 Compare Joshua 8:32-35. The solemnity was apparently designed only for the single occasion on which it actually took place. Deuteronomy 27:12, Deuteronomy 27:13 The tribes appointed to stand on Gerizim to bless the people all sprang from the two wives of Jacob, Leah and Rachel. All the four tribes which sprang from the handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah are located on Ebal. But in order, as it would seem, to effect an equal division, two tribes are…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-26Verses 11-26 The six tribes appointed for blessing, were all children of the free women, for to such the promise belongs, Ga 4:31. Levi is here among the rest. Ministers should apply to themselves the blessing and curse they preach to others, and by faith set their own Amen to it. And they must not only allure people to their duty with the promises of a blessing, but awe them with the threatenings of a curse, by declaring that a curse would be upon those…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20violated his father's marriage bed: See 22:30.Read the comment

Topics related to Deuteronomy 27:20

• Adultery
• Amen
• Curse
• Incest
• Instruction
• Law
• Responsive Religious Service
• Reward
• Sanitation
• Word of God
• Worship

In the dictionaries

• Amen
• Gerizim
• Moses
• Plainly
• Reward
• Apostasy; Apostate
• Covenant, in the Old Testament
• Deuteronomy

Commentaries on Deuteronomy 27

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings