Discovery BoxLeviticus 20:1-13
Context20:1 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
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.
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.
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. 20:13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, 25 the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; 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
[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”).
[20:13] 25 tn Heb “[as the] lyings of a woman.” The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
