Leviticus 20:1-12

Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship

20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel ¹  who gives any of his children ²  to Molech ³  must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. ⁴  20:3 I myself will set my face ⁵  against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, ⁶  because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. ⁷  20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes ⁸  to that man ⁹  when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, ¹⁰  to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. ¹¹ 

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums ¹² 

20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits ¹³  to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face ¹⁴  against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.

Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience

20:7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 20:8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. ¹⁵  I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

Family Life and Sexual Prohibitions ¹⁶ 

20:9 “‘If anyone ¹⁷  curses his father and mother ¹⁸  he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself. ¹⁹  20:10 If a man ²⁰  commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, ²¹  both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 20:11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. ²²  Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. ²³  20:12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; ²⁴  their blood guilt is on themselves.

[20:2]  ¹ tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”

[20:2]  ² tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.

[20:2]  ³ tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).

[20:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”

[20:3]  ⁶ sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.

[20:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”

[20:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

[20:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”

[20:5]  ¹⁰ tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.

[20:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:6]  ¹² sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.

[20:6]  ¹³ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.

[20:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will give my faces.”

[20:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And you shall keep my statutes and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31, etc.).

[20:9]  ¹⁶ sn Compare the regulations in Lev 18:6-23.

[20:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “If a man a man who.”

[20:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “makes light of his father and his mother.” Almost all English versions render this as some variation of “curses his father or mother.”

[20:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his blood [plural] is in him.” Cf. NAB “he has forfeited his life”; TEV “is responsible for his own death.”

[20:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause.

[20:10]  ²¹ tc The reading of the LXX minuscule mss has been followed here (see the BHS footnote a-a). The MT has a dittography, repeating “a man who commits adultery with the wife of” (see the explanation in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328). The duplication found in the MT is reflected in some English versions, e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV.

[20:11]  ²² sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.

[20:11]  ²³ tn See the note on v. 9 above.

[20:12]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” (cf. KJV, ASV “they have wrought confusion”).