New King James Version
Leviticus 18:8
8The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness.
Leviticus 18:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that would dishonor your father.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.
Context of Leviticus 18:8
6‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. 7The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. 9The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. 10The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness.
Read all of Leviticus 18Leviticus 18:8 word by word
עֶרְוַ֥ת אֵֽשֶׁת־אָבִ֖יךָ לֹ֣א תְגַלֵּ֑ה עֶרְוַ֥ת אָבִ֖יךָ הִֽוא׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 18:8
- Leviticus 20:11The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
- Genesis 35:22And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
- Genesis 49:4Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.
- Deuteronomy 22:30“A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s bed.
- Deuteronomy 27:20‘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!’
- 2 Samuel 16:21And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.”
- Ezekiel 22:10In you men uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity.
- Amos 2:7They pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor, And pervert the way of the humble. A man and his father go in to the same girl, To defile My holy name.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!
Commentaries on Leviticus 18:8
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Compare the case of Reuben, Genesis 49:3-4. See 1 Corinthians 5:1.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8expose the nakedness of your father: The Hebrew text equates having sexual relations with your mother or any of your father's wives to having sexual relations with him (compare Genesis 35:22; 49:4; see also 1 Corinthians 5:1). The husband and his wife "become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24; compare Ephesians 5:29). These commands always emphasize honoring your parents (Leviticus 20:9; Exodus 20:12). These commands extend to other family members (see also study…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 18:8
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