New Living Translation
Leviticus 18:8
8“Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.
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 King James Version (NKJV)The nakedness of your father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness.
Context of Leviticus 18:8
6“You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord. 7“Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her. “Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father. 9“Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s. 10“Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself.
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 20:11“If a man violates his father by having sex with one of his father’s wives, both the man and the woman must be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
- Genesis 35:22While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it. These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:
- Genesis 49:4But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch.
- Deuteronomy 22:30“A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate his father.
- Deuteronomy 27:20‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with one of his father’s wives, for he has violated his father.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
- 2 Samuel 16:21Ahithophel told him, “Go and sleep with your father’s concubines, for he has left them here to look after the palace. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted your father beyond hope of reconciliation, and they will throw their support to you.”
- Ezekiel 22:10Men sleep with their fathers’ wives and force themselves on women who are menstruating.
- Amos 2:7They trample helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way. Both father and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy name.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.
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
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