Lev 18:6-30 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Lev 18:6-7: 18:6-7 have sexual relations with: Literally to uncover the nakedness of. Similar regulations in ch 20 use the Hebrew word shakab (“lie with”), a word frequently used to indicate an improper sexual relationship.

Summary for Lev 18:6-7: 18:6-7 ^a have sexual relations with: Literally to uncover the nakedness of. Similar regulations in ch 20 ^b use the Hebrew word shakab (“lie with”), a word frequently used to indicate an improper sexual relationship.
Summary for Lev 18:7-8: 18:7-8 ^c violate your father: The Hebrew text here equates having sexual relations with your mother or any of your father’s wives with having sexual relations with him (cp. Gen 35:22 ^d; 49:4 ^e; see also 1 Cor 5:1 ^f). The husband and his wife were “two united into one” (Gen 2:24 ^g; cp. Eph 5:29 ^h). Always in the background of these commands are the commands to honor your parents (Lev 20:9 ⁱ; Exod 20:12 ^j) and, by extension, other members of the family (see also study note on Lev 20:17). 18:7 ^k She is your mother: Incest was prohibited because of the disruption it created in families, so the commands concerning this sin included close relatives not necessarily related by blood. Incest was a serious crime because it brought competition and chaos into the family structure. It threatened the safety of the home by violating a family’s appropriate intimacy and the sense of belonging shared by its members.

• The commands were directly addressed to the male, even though the female could be older (such as one’s mother). The male, especially if he was the head of the household or the firstborn, wielded more power than the female; with this position came the responsibility to use that power lawfully. In addition, the male was more likely to be the sexual aggressor in an illicit sexual union, although this was not always the case (e.g., Gen 39:6-18 ^l).
18:9 ^m Sexual relations with a full sister dishonored both parents, and relations with a half sister dishonored one parent.
Summary for Lev 18:12-13: 18:12-13 ⁿ your father’s sister ... mother’s sister: These actions would dishonor your father or mother.
18:14 ^o Having sexual relations with your aunt would dishonor your uncle. In turn, this would also dishonor your father (see 20:20 ^p).
18:15 ^q Just as having sexual relations with your father’s wife would dishonor your father, having sexual relations with your daughter-in-law would dishonor your son. The law called for daughters-in-law to be treated like natural daughters (Exod 21:9 ^r; cp. Gen 38:1-30 ^s).
18:16 ^t Sexual relations with your sister-in-law would be adulterous and disgrace your brother. The exception was the law of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5-10 ^u), which called for a man to marry his brother’s widow in order to produce an heir who was considered the dead brother’s son.
18:17 ^v As with all examples listed in ch 18 ^w, marrying a woman together with her daughter or granddaughter was prohibited because of the disruption it would cause in the family order. It would violate the intimacy of the family group by forcing a wife to compete for her husband’s affections against a much younger woman. The penalty for this act was death by burning (20:14 ^x).
18:18 ^y The word rivals (Hebrew tsarah) vividly describes the relationship between Leah and Rachel (Gen 29:16–30:24 ^z) and Hannah and Peninnah (1 Sam 1:6 ^aa); in both cases, the fellow wives were driven to bitter rivalry for their husband’s affections.
18:20 ^ab The Hebrew word translated defile yourself could be more literally translated to become ceremonially unclean.

• Sexual intercourse with a neighbor’s wife or any married woman defined adultery in the Old Testament. Breaking this law was punishable by death (Deut 22:22 ^ac). Like incest, adultery threatened the integrity and security of the home and family. In this case, it violated the covenant of marriage and divided the adulterer’s affection between his spouse and his mistress.
18:21 ^ad Molech was the national god of the Ammonites (1 Kgs 11:7 ^ae). This god was later worshiped by Israel during times of apostasy (2 Kgs 23:10 ^af; Jer 32:35 ^ag). Molech probably appears in this list because Molech worship was associated with sexual sins; it seems to have included child sacrifice as well.

• To bring shame on (literally blaspheme, profane) the name of your God meant using the name of the Lord as though it were not holy, such as in a false oath (Lev 19:12 ^ah) or in the worship of a false god (Ezek 20:39 ^ai).
18:22 ^aj In Gen 1:31 ^ak, God pronounced all things good. This yielded a theology of the created order where good is defined by what God created and by the way he intended it to function. Part of this “good” was the creation of woman as man’s companion (Gen 2:22-24 ^al). Marriage forms a microcosm of the human race, which stands as the corporate bearer of God’s image. Sin, introduced by the Fall (Gen 3 ^am), disrupted the created order. Homosexuality is but one example of sinful violation of God’s order; it is tied to the rejection of God by fallen humanity (Rom 1:25-32 ^an).

• The Hebrew word translated detestable (to‘ebah) indicates strong disapproval and disgust (Lev 20:13 ^ao; see also 18:26-30 ^ap).
18:23 ^aq Like homosexuality, bestiality is a violation of the natural order (see study note on 18:22).

• The phrase perverse act referred not only to a violation, but to a confusion of the order God created because it broke down clear boundaries that he had established.
Summary for Lev 18:24-25: 18:24-25 ^ar any of these ways: Pagan worship (18:21 ^as), homosexuality (18:22 ^at), and bestiality (18:23 ^au).

• The land was so nauseated by Canaanite practices that it would dramatically vomit them out (see 18:28 ^av).
18:28 ^aw Just as the land would vomit out the Canaanites, it would also vomit out the Israelites if they acted like the Canaanites (see study note on 18:24-25). This came to pass with the destruction and exile of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 722 BC (2 Kgs 17:6 ^ax) and when the Babylonians destroyed and exiled Judah in 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:8-21 ^ay).