Deuteronomy 27:20
in Deuteronomy 27‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife, because he hath uncovered his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
KJV
Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 27
Commentary
4 notes on this verseCursed be he that lieth with his father's wife,.... As Reuben did, and which is forbidden Lev 18:8, because he uncovereth his father's skirt; see Deu 22:30, and all the people shall say Amen; the tribe of Reuben said this as well as the rest.
This site's exposition
because he uncovereth his
on Deuteronomy 27:20-23
All four stand in the list at Leviticus 18, the father's wife at 18:8, the beast at 18:23, the sister at 18:9 and the mother in law at 18:17. What they share with the curses on either side of them is a closed door, since each names an offence committed inside a household where no outside witness would be present. Paul finds the first of them in a Corinthian church at 1 Corinthians 5:1 and says that even the Gentiles do not name such a thing. Verse 22 covers a half sister on either side, which is the exact distinction Abraham drew about Sarah at Genesis 20:12.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
These crimes not only exposed men to the sword of the magistrate ( Lev. xx. 11 ), but, which is more dreadful, to the wrath of God; bestiality likewise,
10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the L ORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. A general charge to the people to keep God's commandments; for in vain did they know them, unless they would do them. This is pressed upon them, 1.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָר֗וּר | ʾarur | [is] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| שֹׁכֵב֙ | shokhev | [one who] lies | H7901 → | 212 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֵ֣שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| אָבִ֔יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גִלָּ֖ה | gilah | he has uncovered | H1540 → | 186 times |
| כְּנַ֣ף | kenaf | [the] skirt of | H3671 → | 109 times |
| אָבִ֑יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְאָמַ֥ר | veamar | and it will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אָמֵֽן׃ ס | ʾamen | amen | H543 → | 30 times |
אָר֗וּר[is] cursed
ʾarurH779 →63 times
שֹׁכֵב֙[one who] lies
shokhevH7901 →212 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֵ֣שֶׁת[the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
אָבִ֔יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
גִלָּ֖הhe has uncovered
gilahH1540 →186 times
כְּנַ֣ף[the] skirt of
kenafH3671 →109 times
אָבִ֑יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
וְאָמַ֥רand it will say
veamarH559 →5305 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אָמֵֽן׃ סamen
ʾamenH543 →30 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:8
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Revelation 2:21
Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
- Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Ephesians 5:3
But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- Leviticus 18:8
Through
Deuteronomy 22:30A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 5:1
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 5:1
Through
Leviticus 18:8You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; it would dishonor your father.
it leads to
- Leviticus 20:11
If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 20:11
Through
Genesis 35:22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 5:1
These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So…
- 1 Chronicles 5:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.