Leviticus 18:20 kjv
Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to defile thyself with her.
Leviticus 18:20 nkjv
Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, to defile yourself with her.
Leviticus 18:20 niv
"?'Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.
Leviticus 18:20 esv
And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her.
Leviticus 18:20 nlt
"Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor's wife.
Leviticus 18 20 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 20:14 | "You shall not commit adultery." | Sixth Commandment. |
| Deut 5:18 | "‘Neither shall you commit adultery.’" | Reiterates the Ten Commandments. |
| Deut 22:22 | "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them..." | Stipulates death penalty for adultery. |
| Prov 6:32 | "Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding..." | Warns of destruction and dishonor. |
| Job 24:15 | "The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight..." | Depicts secrecy and wickedness of adulterers. |
| Mal 3:5 | "...I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers..." | God's judgment against those who pervert justice. |
| Ezek 16:32 | "You adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!" | Israel's unfaithfulness likened to adultery. |
| Hos 4:2 | "...by stealing and committing adultery..." | List of sins indicating Israel's corruption. |
| Jer 5:8 | "They were like well-fed lusty stallions; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife." | Prophets lament widespread adultery. |
| Matt 5:27-28 | "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her..." | Jesus expands adultery to include intent/heart. |
| Matt 19:9 | "...whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another..." | Adultery as the only permissible ground for divorce. |
| Mark 7:20-23 | "...For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries..." | Adultery as stemming from inner corruption. |
| Rom 7:2-3 | "...if while her husband lives, she is married to another man, she will be called an adulteress." | Law regarding marriage bond and adultery. |
| Rom 13:9 | "...You shall not commit adultery... and any other commandment..." | Love as fulfillment of the law against adultery. |
| 1 Cor 6:9-10 | "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? ...nor adulterers..." | Adulterers are excluded from God's kingdom. |
| 1 Cor 6:18 | "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." | Emphasizes gravity of sexual sin, impacting one's own body. |
| Gal 5:19 | "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry..." | Adultery listed as a work of the flesh. |
| Eph 5:3 | "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you..." | Call for purity in Christ. |
| Heb 13:4 | "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous." | Affirms sanctity of marriage and God's judgment. |
| Rev 21:8 | "...and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters...their part will be in the lake..." | Those who commit sexual immorality face eternal judgment. |
Leviticus 18 verses
Leviticus 18 20 Meaning
Leviticus 18:20 explicitly forbids adultery, commanding against sexual relations with one's neighbor's wife. This act is clearly declared to cause personal and communal defilement, rendering the individual morally and ritually unclean before God and the community. It violates covenantal fidelity, family sanctity, and the divinely ordained boundaries for sexual expression within marriage.
Leviticus 18 20 Context
Leviticus chapter 18, often referred to as the "Holiness Code," delineates forbidden sexual relationships for the Israelite community. This chapter forms a crucial part of the Mosaic Law, emphasizing purity and separation for the covenant people of God. The instructions within it are set against the backdrop of the immoral practices of Egypt and Canaan, nations from whom Israel was to be distinct. Verses like 18:20 serve not merely as legal statutes but as divine directives to maintain a holy national identity, preventing defilement that could provoke God's judgment upon the land itself. The preceding verses primarily address incestuous relationships, while this verse introduces a prohibition outside of direct kinship but equally damaging to family and societal order.
Leviticus 18 20 Word analysis
- And you shall not (וְלֹא תִתֵּן - wə-lo' titten): The "not" (לֹא - lo) signifies an absolute prohibition, a direct command from God. The phrase titten is from the verb נָתַן (nāṯan), meaning "to give" or "to place." Here, combined with the following words, it forms a specific idiom for sexual relations, implying the 'giving' or 'placing' of one's sexual presence.
- lie carnally (שְׁכָבְתְּךָ - šəḵāvṯəḵā): Derived from שָׁכַב (šākav), "to lie down," this specific form literally means "your lying down" or "your act of lying," serving as a euphemism for sexual intercourse, particularly emphasizing its consummation or a deep physical union. It can also specifically refer to the emission of semen or the sexual act that would result in procreation, though forbidden in this context. Its usage here denotes the act itself in a profound, comprehensive sense.
- with your neighbor’s wife (בְּאֵשֶׁת רֵעֲךָ - bə’ēšeṯ rē‘ăḵā): "Neighbor" (רֵעַ - rē‘a) signifies any fellow Israelite or close associate, highlighting the communal violation inherent in the act. "Wife" (אֵשֶׁת - ’ēšet) indicates a legally married woman, emphasizing that this sin targets the sanctity of an existing marital bond and another man's established family unit. This specification distinguishes adultery from other forms of sexual sin.
- defiling yourself with her (וְלֹא תִטְמָא בָהּ - wə-lōʾ tiṭmāʾ vāh): The verb תִטְמָא (tiṭmā’) comes from the root טָמֵא (ṭāmé’), which means "to be unclean," "defiled," or "polluted." In the Levitical context, this implies both a moral impurity that contaminates the soul and a ritual impurity that bars one from sacred spaces or activities until purification. Adultery, therefore, is not merely a legal transgression but a spiritually defiling act that compromises one's standing before a holy God and can even pollute the land.
Leviticus 18 20 Bonus section
The concept of "defilement" in Leviticus 18:20 signifies not just a personal stain but also a communal breach that impacts the entire body of Israel. Unlike some sins that only made an individual ritually unclean, sexual defilement had the potential to pollute the land itself, leading to God's ultimate judgment of expelling the inhabitants (Lev 18:25, 28). This illustrates that obedience to God's sexual ethics was vital for Israel's continued existence and blessing in the promised land. The strong language serves as a stark contrast to the surrounding Canaanite fertility cults, which often incorporated ritual prostitution and unbridled sexual expression, promoting their gods' "generative" power, whereas YHWH demanded strict marital fidelity and holiness from His people. The sin of adultery in ancient Israel was a capital offense because it directly threatened lineage, inheritance, and the very fabric of family life, mirroring God's own covenantal faithfulness, which is consistently depicted in scripture through marital metaphors.
Leviticus 18 20 Commentary
Leviticus 18:20 stands as a foundational prohibition against adultery within God's law. This command goes beyond merely establishing legal boundaries; it delineates spiritual and moral purity. The explicit warning of "defiling yourself" underscores that this sin isn't an external transgression alone, but an internal corruption that contaminates the individual. It also emphasizes the collective impact: the impurity from such acts could 'defile the land' (Lev 18:25, 28), leading to judgment. The focus is on protecting the sacred institution of marriage as established by God, which is a foundational pillar of societal order and a symbol of God's covenant faithfulness with His people. Jesus later amplified this concept by addressing the sin of lust in the heart, demonstrating that true purity encompasses not just actions but also inner thoughts and desires, thereby reinforcing the seriousness of what defiles a person from within.