Tyndale Open Study NotesLeviticus 18

Chapters 18 and 20 focus mainly on sexual matters. They warn Israel not to follow the practices of pagan peoples, whether in religion or in daily life. Between these chapters, chapter 19 urges the people to live holy lives in everyday situations.

Many Near Eastern treaties started with the ruler's name and titles. The phrase, "I am the LORD your God," names the great king, Yahweh (LORD), and gives his title, "your God" (see also Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:6). These words briefly recalled Israel’s covenant with God and all it meant. By reminding the people they belonged to the Lord, these words demanded a response (Leviticus 11:44; 18:4–5). Chapter 18 starts and ends with these words, and they appear often throughout chapters 19–26.

• judgments … statutes: The Bible anticipated that courts would interpret God's laws for different situations. These interpretations became case laws, known as mishpatim in Hebrew (see “statutes” in Leviticus 10:11).

• Paul refers to these verses in Romans 10:5 and Galatians 3:12, where he contrasts living "based on faith” or “by the law.”

to have sexual relations (literally to uncover the nakedness of): Similar rules in chapter 20 of Leviticus use the Hebrew word shakab (which means “lie with”). This often indicates an improper sexual relationship.

expose 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 note on Leviticus 20:17).

• She 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 power came with the duty to use it lawfully. Men were more often the sexual aggressors in illegal unions, though not always (for example, Genesis 39:6–18).

Sexual relations with a sister from both the same father and mother brought dishonor to both parents. Relations with a sister from only one parent brought dishonor to that parent.

your father's sister … mother's sister: These actions would dishonor your father or mother.

Having sexual relations with your aunt would dishonor your uncle. This would also bring dishonor to your father (see Leviticus 20:20).

Having sexual relations with your father's wife would dishonor your father. Similarly, having sexual relations with your daughter-in-law would dishonor your son. The law considered daughters-in-law the same as natural daughters (Exodus 21:9; compare Genesis 38:1–30).

Having 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.

Chapter 18 of Leviticus prohibited marrying a woman along with her daughter or granddaughter. This was to prevent family disruption. It would violate the intimacy of the family group by making a wife compete with a younger woman for her husband's love. The penalty for this act was death by burning (20:14).

The word rival (Hebrew tsarah) clearly describes the relationship between Leah and Rachel as well as Hannah and Peninnah (Genesis 29:16–30:24; 1 Samuel 1:6). In both cases, the wives competed bitterly for their husband's attention.

• The 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 mistress.

• Molech was the national god of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:7). Later, Israel worshiped this god during times of turning away from their faith (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 32:35). Molech worship probably appears here because it related to sexual sins and possibly included child sacrifice.

• profane (or blaspheme) the name of your God: This meant using the name of the Lord as if it were unholy, such as in a false oath or in the worship of a false god (Leviticus 19:12; Ezekiel 20:39).

In Genesis 1:31, God declared all things good. This shows that what God creates and the way he designed it to work define what is good. One part of this good creation was the making of woman as a companion for man (Genesis 2:22–24). Marriage reflects this design. It forms a small picture of the whole human race, which together bears God’s image. Sin entered the world through the original disobedience of humanity (called "the Fall") and disrupted this order (Genesis 3).

One example of this disruption is homosexuality. In Romans 1:25–32, Paul connects same-sex relations to the rejection of God by humanity that has turned away from him. The Hebrew word to‘ebah is often translated as"abomination." This word expresses strong disapproval and disgust (Leviticus 20:13; see also 18:26–30).

• Like homosexuality, bestiality violates God's created order (see study note on Leviticus 18:22).

• The Hebrew word for perversion refers not only to a violation but also to a confusion of the order God created. It destroys the clear boundaries that God established.

• any of these practices:

  • pagan worship (Leviticus 18:21),

  • homosexuality (18:22), and

  • bestiality (18:23).

• The land could not endure the sinful practices of the Canaanites. It is described as vomiting them out, showing how completely they would be removed (see 18:28).

Just as the land spewed out the Canaanites, it would also vomit the Israelites if they behaved like the Canaanites (see study note on Leviticus 18:24–25). This happened when the Assyrians destroyed and exiled the northern kingdom in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6). This also happened when the Babylonians destroyed and exiled Judah in 586 BC (2 Kings 25:8–21).