New King James Version
Leviticus 18:20
20Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself 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 Living Translation (NLT)“Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.
Context of Leviticus 18:20
18Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive. 19‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity. Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. 21And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.
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 man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely 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 found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.
- 2 Samuel 11:3So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
- Proverbs 6:25Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
- Malachi 3:5And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.
- Matthew 5:27“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
- Romans 2:22You who say, “Do not 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. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
- Galatians 5:19Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
- Hebrews 13:4Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries