New Living Translation
Leviticus 18:16
16“Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.
Leviticus 18:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.
Context of Leviticus 18:16
14“Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt. 15“Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her. “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother. 17“Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act. 18“While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.
Read all of Leviticus 18Leviticus 18:16 word by word
עֶרְוַ֥ת אֵֽשֶׁת־אָחִ֖יךָ לֹ֣א תְגַלֵּ֑ה עֶרְוַ֥ת אָחִ֖יךָ הִֽוא׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 18:16
- Leviticus 20:21“If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has violated his brother, and the guilty couple will remain childless.
- Deuteronomy 25:5“If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law.
- Matthew 14:3For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip).
- Matthew 22:24“Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.’
- Mark 6:17For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her.
- Mark 12:19“Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.
- Luke 3:19John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done.
Commentaries on Leviticus 18:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Thy brother's wife - This was an illegal marriage, unless the brother died childless. In that case it was not only lawful for her to marry her brother-in-law, but he was obliged by the law, Deuteronomy 25:5, to take her to wife.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Thy brother‘s wife - That is, if she had children. See Deuteronomy 25:5. The law here expressed was broken by Antipas in his connection with Herodias Matthew 14:3-4.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16Having sexual relations with your sister-in-law would be adulterous and would disgrace your brother. An exception was the law of levirate marriage (see Deuteronomy 25:5–10). This required a man to marry his brother’s widow to produce an heir who was considered the dead brother’s son.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 18:16
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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