New English Translation
Leviticus 18:7
7You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her.
Leviticus 18:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.
Context of Leviticus 18:7
5So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the Lord. 6“‘No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual intercourse with her. I am the Lord. You must not expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her. 8You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. 9You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them.
Read all of Leviticus 18Leviticus 18:7 word by word
עֶרְוַ֥ת אָבִ֛יךָ וְעֶרְוַ֥ת אִמְּךָ֖ לֹ֣א תְגַלֵּ֑ה אִמְּךָ֣ הִ֔וא לֹ֥א תְגַלֶּ֖ה עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 18:7
- Leviticus 20:11If a man has sexual intercourse 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.
- Ezekiel 22:10They have sex with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you.
Commentaries on Leviticus 18:7
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Or - It might be rendered “and”, or rather, even; that is, which belongs to both parents as being “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24; compare Leviticus 18:8, Leviticus 18:14). These prohibitions are addressed to men.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7She is your mother: Incest was illegal because it disrupted families. The commands about this sin included close relatives, even if not related by blood. Incest was a serious crime because it caused competition and chaos in the family. It threatened home safety by breaking family intimacy and belonging. The Bible directs this command to men, even if the woman was older, like a mother. Men, especially household leaders or firstborns, had more power. This…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 18:7
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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