Leviticus 18 Study Notes

18:1-30 The ancient Near Eastern world had many pagan practices that included incest, adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, and child sacrifice. God made it clear that the covenant community must not adopt such practices.

18:1-3 Egypt was known for its licentiousness and for condoning intrafamilial practices such as father-daughter, brother-sister, aunt-nephew, and uncle-niece marriages. Canaan was identified with homosexuality (Gn 19:5-8) and bestiality. Seven times Israel is warned not to behave like those living in Canaan (Lv 18:3,24,26-27,29-30). Six times the expression I am the Lord appears in chap. 18 as the motive for observing the law (vv. 2,4,5,6,21,30). The formula “I am the Lord your God” appears frequently in the context of God’s redeeming Israel from Egypt (v. 2; 19:34,36; 23:43; 25:38,55; 26:13; Ex 6:7; Nm 15:41). In this context, the formula shows that these statutes were God’s commandments and not human conventions.

18:4-5 Ordinances and statutes together encompass the whole divine law. The instruction is emphasized by being repeated in v. 5. John Hartley explains that the promise of life “means that Israel will have a secure, healthy life with sufficient goods in the promised land as God’s people.”

18:6 The expression close relative (lit “flesh of his flesh”) designates all close blood relatives, such as father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, and grandchild (vv. 12-13; 20:19; 21:2-3). Sexual intercourse with any close relative—even those who are not specifically mentioned in the list—is prohibited.

18:7 This prohibition is repeated because of the possibility of double incest—with the father and with the mother.

18:8 Your father’s wife would include a stepmother or another wife or concubine in a polygamous marriage.

18:9-11 Marriage with one’s half sister (Gn 20:12) was not prohibited before the Mosaic covenant at Sinai. Brother-sister marriages were commonplace in Egypt, Phoenicia, and pre-Islamic Arabia.

18:12-14 While sexual intercourse between aunts and nephews was forbidden, unions between uncles and nieces were permitted (Jos 15:17; Jdg 1:13). Later, marriages between uncles and nieces were forbidden in both the Qumran (11QT 66:16-17) and Christian communities.

18:15 The prohibition of a sexual relationship with one’s daughter-in-law extends to a person who is divorced or widowed, even though this practice was common in the ancient Near East.

18:16 John the Baptist used this law to rebuke Herod for marrying his brother’s wife (Mt 14:4; Mk 6:18). This law was in effect only if the brother was alive. If the brother died, the law of levirate marriage, which was instituted in Dt 25:5-9, would go into effect.

18:17 Orgies involving a woman and her daughter were classified as depraved, a legal term that was also used for incest (20:14), rape (Jdg 20:6), and prostitution (Lv 19:29; Ezk 16:27). Orgies of any type were prohibited and were seen as paganistic, profane acts.

18:18 A man was not to marry two sisters, as in the case of Jacob.

18:19 Self-control was one of the concepts God was trying to teach his people. Refraining from sex during a woman’s menstrual impurity was meant to keep the other person ceremonially clean (15:19-24). The apostle Paul listed self-control as part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gl 5:22-23).

18:20 This prohibition restates the seventh of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18), and it refers to sexual intercourse with a married or engaged person.

18:21 Child sacrifice practiced as worship of Molech was common among the Canaanites. The name “Molech” appears five times in Leviticus (v. 21; 20:2,3,4,5), and it refers to the god of the Ammonites. Human sacrifice was practiced in Israel only by corrupt rulers (1Kg 11:7; 2Kg 23:10; Jr 32:35). The literal expression pass through the fire indicates that the child was probably burned to honor Molech in a pagan ritual. This practice was labeled as profane by God.

18:22 Homosexuality is clearly prohibited throughout the Bible (20:13; Rm 1:27; 1Co 6:9). The Sodomites were destroyed because of their sodomy (Gn 19:5), and the men of Gibeah were destroyed following their homosexual rampage (Jdg 19:22). Male prostitution was practiced as part of a fertility ritual because pagans deified not just gods but sex as well; ironically, male and female shrine prostitutes were called literally “holy ones” (Dt 23:17). Homosexuality is called detestable because it is against God’s order of creation and against his laws pertaining to the covenant community. The word occurs 116 times in the OT in contexts addressing idolatry, magic, transvestism, and defective sacrifice.

18:23 Just like homosexuality, bestiality was prohibited in the Bible under all circumstances. This act was classified as a perversion, a violation of the divine order.

18:24-30 The punishment for these detestable acts was the death penalty. When the covenant community profaned God’s name by following pagan practices, it was not just a mistake, it was a grave iniquity, an abomination, and something that defiled the community. The fact that the laws of chap. 18 begin and end with the statement I am the Lord your God shows the seriousness of these laws.