New International Version
Leviticus 18:7
7“ ‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations 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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.
Context of Leviticus 18:7
5Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord. 6“ ‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord. “ ‘Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her. 8“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father. 9“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
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 20:11“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
- Ezekiel 22:10In you are those who dishonor their father’s bed; in you are those who violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.
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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