Leviticus 18
06 Aug 2026 - Theology
Forbidden Sexual Relationships
This chapter mentions a variety of forbidden sexual relationships as commanded by the Lord.
Leviticus 18:3-4 - “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God.”
If a man follows the commands of the Lord, he shall “live in them” (5). Most of the laws are given from the male point of view.
These laws are what you might expect:
Leviticus 18:6 - “None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord.”
This phrase “uncover nakedness”, or galah ervah in Hebrew, is a euphamism for sexual relations.
Those “near to kin”, of which sexual relations with them are forbidden, include:
- Mother (7-8)
- Sister (9,11)
- Granddaughter (10)
- Aunt (12-14)
- Daughter in law / son’s wife (15)
- Brother’s wife (16)
- Both a woman and her daughter (17)
- Both a woman and her granddaughter (17)
- Wife’s sister (18)
We also see other relationships in which sexual relations with them are also forbidden:
- A woman during her period (19)
- Neighbor’s wife (20)
- Man with man - homosexuality (22)
- Animal - beastiality (23)
In the midst of these rules we come to what seems to be a bit of an outlier in verse 21:
Leviticus 18:21 - “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.”
There was a religious group or cult that worshipped a god named Molech (“King”, as in melech). Members of the group would “pass their children though fire” to dedicate them to Molech. Perhaps the children walked between two fires or perhaps parents lifted babies or young children close to a fire and waved them. But this command simply forbids the Israelites from worshiping Molech instead of the Lord.
Leviticus 18:26-27 - “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)”
These laws make an important connection: sins can cause the land to become defiled - that is, unclean. Because the Canaanites sinned in these ways, the Lord was casting them out of the land and giving the land to the Israelites. (24-25)
Leviticus 18:28,30 - “That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you… Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.”
Once again we see the punishment that whoever breaks one of these laws will be cut off from among the congregation of Israelites (29).
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
- Leviticus 18 - Hebrew Interlinear