Leviticus 20 · WEB
Penalties for Violations of Holiness
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2"Moreover, you shall tell the children of Israel, 'Anyone of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech, shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3I will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his children to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
4If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person, when he gives of his children to Molech, and don't put him to death,
5then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who play the prostitute after him, prostituting themselves to Molech, from among their people.
6"'The person that turns to those who are mediums, and to the wizards, to prostitute himself with them, I will even set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people.
7"'Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God.
8You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
9"'For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.
10"'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11"'The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
12"'If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed a perversion. Their blood shall be upon them.
13"'If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
14"'If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.
15"'If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.
16"'If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.
17"'If a man takes his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity.
18"'If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19"'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister; for that is to make naked one's near relative. They shall bear their iniquity.
20"'If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.
21"'If a man takes his brother's wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.
22"'You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I am bringing you to dwell, won't vomit you out.
23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
24But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
25"'You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean.
26You shall be holy to me, for I Yahweh am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.
27"'A man or a woman who is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.'"
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Summary
Chapter 20 pairs with chapter 18 by providing the penalties for the sexual and religious violations listed there. Child sacrifice to Molech, consulting mediums or wizards, cursing parents, adultery, incest of various kinds, homosexual intercourse, and bestiality all carry capital penalties. Some violations are punished by being "cut off" (exclusion from the covenant community) rather than death. The chapter closes with the theological summary: God has separated Israel from the nations to be his holy people, just as he has separated clean from unclean animals.
Themes
- Holiness is not optional — it is enforced by the community on behalf of God
- Covenant community has boundaries that must be maintained for corporate well-being
- God is the one who sanctifies Israel — holiness is both commanded and divinely enabled
- Separation and distinction are fundamental to God's design (peoples, animals, behaviors)
Key verses
- Lev 20:24 — “I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.”
- Lev 20:26 — “You shall be holy to me, for I Yahweh am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
- Lev 20:7-8 — “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God. You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.”
Context & background
Chapter 20 reflects the judicial framework of the theocratic state of Israel at Mount Sinai (modern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt). The severe penalties reflect the gravity of violations against the covenant in a community where God literally dwelt among the people. The phrase "their blood is upon them" (e.g., vv. 11, 12, 13) indicates that the guilty party bears responsibility for their own death, not the community executing judgment. These laws served as a deterrent and as protection of the community's covenant identity. Modern readers must remember that these penalties applied to a specific theocratic nation-state context; they are not direct prescriptions for contemporary civil law, though the underlying moral principles remain significant.
Cross-references
- 1 Cor 5:1-5 — Paul calls the Corinthian church to discipline a man guilty of the incest described in Lev 20:11
- 1 Sam 28:3-20 — Saul's consultation of the medium at Endor violates this law
- Deut 18:9-14 — Reiterates the prohibition on divination, sorcery, and contacting the dead
- Gal 5:19-21 — Paul's list of "works of the flesh" includes many behaviors condemned in Leviticus 20
- Lev 18 — The parallel chapter listing the same prohibitions without penalties