Leviticus 20 11

Leviticus 20:11 kjv

And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Leviticus 20:11 nkjv

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.

Leviticus 20:11 niv

"?'If a man has sexual relations with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Leviticus 20:11 esv

If a man lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Leviticus 20:11 nlt

"If a man violates his father by having sex with one of his father's wives, both the man and the woman must be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.

Leviticus 20 verses

Leviticus 20 11 Meaning

This verse specifies one form of illicit sexual relationship as a capital offense. It decrees that any man who engages in sexual intercourse with his stepmother (his father's wife, regardless of whether she is his biological mother or if his father is alive or deceased) is committing a grievous sin. This act is considered a profound defilement, referred to as "uncovering his father's nakedness," which signifies a deep dishonor to the father and a severe violation of family sanctity and purity. Both the man and the woman involved in this transgression are to be punished by death, and the phrase "their blood shall be upon them" signifies that their demise is a just consequence of their own sin, freeing the community from bloodguilt.

Leviticus 20 11 Context

Leviticus chapter 20 primarily reiterates and expands upon capital offenses initially outlined in chapters 18 and 19. It functions as an appendix of judgments, pronouncing the specific severe penalties, mostly death, for various transgressions against God's covenant and holiness. These include child sacrifice to Molech, consulting mediums and spiritists, cursing parents, and a range of incestuous and other illicit sexual acts. The repeated phrase "you shall surely be put to death" underscores the gravity of these sins and God's absolute demand for purity among His chosen people. The broader historical and cultural context for these laws reveals God’s establishment of Israel as a distinct nation, morally and ritually set apart from the surrounding Canaanite nations, whose abhorrent practices (including various forms of incest and cultic prostitution) led to their defilement and expulsion from the land. This chapter firmly establishes the severe consequences of violating God’s covenantal boundaries, essential for Israel to remain in the Promised Land and reflect His holiness.

Leviticus 20 11 Word analysis

• And the man that lieth with his father's wife:
• lieth (שָׁכַב, shakhav): A direct and frequent biblical euphemism for the act of sexual intercourse. It signifies not merely reclining, but the full, intimate physical act of sexual union, emphasizing the completed illicit action.
• father's wife (אֵשֶׁת אָבִיו, ʼeshet ʼabiv): This Hebrew phrase unambiguously refers to one's stepmother. The prohibition stands regardless of the father's biological relationship to the son, or whether the father is living or deceased, highlighting the breach of the family unit's integrity and a profound violation of respect.
• hath uncovered his father's nakedness:
• uncovered nakedness (גָּלָה עֶרְוָה, galah ervah): This is a distinct Hebrew idiom for engaging in forbidden sexual intercourse, specifically referring to incestuous or otherwise illicit sexual relations within prohibited degrees of kinship. Attributing the act to "his father's" nakedness means the son is violating a sexual boundary reserved exclusively for his father (or by extension, his father's established household/honor), marking it as an act of profound disrespect, spiritual defilement, and a violation against the patriarchal order and divine command.
• both of them shall surely be put to death;
• surely be put to death (מוֹת יוּמַת, mot yumat): This powerful Hebrew construction uses the infinitive absolute before the imperfect verb, signifying the utmost certainty and severity of the judgment. It leaves no room for doubt or lesser penalties, stressing the absolute necessity of capital punishment for this specific transgression.
• their blood shall be upon them.
• their blood shall be upon them (דְּמֵיהֶם בָּם, demeihem bam): A legal and theological formula found throughout the Pentateuch. It denotes that the guilt and responsibility for the execution (and for the sin itself) rests solely upon the condemned individuals. This phrase functions to exonerate the community or executioners from any bloodguilt for carrying out God's prescribed justice, ensuring that justice is perceived as righteous and self-inflicted by the sinner's actions.

• Words-group analysis:
• "The man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness": This foundational segment of the verse meticulously defines the specific sinful act as both a sexual violation and a profound breach of filial and familial sanctity, illustrating its abhorrent nature through the lens of ancestral dishonor.
• "Both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them": This concluding segment declares the irrevocable and emphatic divine judgment, simultaneously establishing the full and direct culpability of the transgressors, thereby affirming the justice of their divinely mandated demise and ensuring the community's purity.

Leviticus 20 11 Bonus section

• While this specific law directly addresses incest with a stepmother, it broadly illustrates the profound importance God places on the sanctity of marital and familial relationships as foundational to a righteous society.
• The concept of "uncovering nakedness" transcends mere physical exposure, embodying the violation of deep personal, familial, and sacred boundaries. It is a spiritual desecration.
• This command serves as a prophetic foreshadowing of the New Testament emphasis on sexual purity and the sanctity of the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, even though the covenant consequences shifted from physical death to spiritual consequences and church discipline.
• The unyielding nature of this law underscores that certain sins are utterly abhorrent to God and carry intrinsically severe consequences, demanding absolute moral separation from pagan influences.

Leviticus 20 11 Commentary

Leviticus 20:11 sets an unyielding boundary for sexual purity within the covenant community, reiterating one of the severest forms of incest: relations with a stepmother. This act is not merely a moral impropriety but a direct defilement ("uncovering nakedness") against the father's established family honor and the sacred order instituted by God. The double emphasis on capital punishment ("surely be put to death") highlights the extreme gravity of such a transgression in God's eyes, signaling that it deeply pollutes the individual, the family, and by extension, the entire community. The declaration that "their blood shall be upon them" firmly places accountability and responsibility on the perpetrators, freeing the community from culpability while demonstrating the justness of divine law. This standard ensured Israel remained a holy nation, distinct from the perverse practices prevalent in the surrounding pagan cultures, maintaining the necessary sanctity for God to dwell among them.