New English Translation
Leviticus 18:20
20You must not have sexual intercourse with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean 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 must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife while she is still alive, to have sexual intercourse with her. 19“‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her. You must not have sexual intercourse with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 21You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord! 22You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; it is a detestable act.
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 20:10If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
- Exodus 20:14“You shall not commit adultery.
- Deuteronomy 5:18You must not commit adultery.
- Deuteronomy 22:22If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge evil from Israel.
- 2 Samuel 11:3So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
- Proverbs 6:25Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes;
- Malachi 3:5“I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.
- Matthew 5:27“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’
- Romans 2:22You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
- 1 Corinthians 6:9Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals,
- Galatians 5:19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity,
- Hebrews 13:4Marriage must be honored among all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers.
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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