Leviticus 18:12
in Leviticus 18You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
KJV
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
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This verse in Leviticus 18
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thy father’s sister - The instance of Amram and Jochebed Exo 6:20 seems to show that marriage with an aunt was not considered wrong by the Israelites when they were in Egypt.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father
on Leviticus 18:12-13
Both aunts are named, the father's sister and the mother's sister, each a blood relation one generation above him. Exodus 6:20 says that Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to wife, and Moses is the son of that marriage. The man who carries this law down the mountain is the child of a union it forbids, and the text records both facts and reconciles neither.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister,....
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֶרְוַ֥ת | ʾervat | [the] nakedness of | H6172 → | 54 times |
| אֲחוֹת־ | ʾachot- | [the] sister of | H269 → | 114 times |
| אָבִ֖יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְגַלֵּ֑ה | tegaleh | you will uncover | H1540 → | 186 times |
| שְׁאֵ֥ר | sheer | [is] a relative of | H7607 → | 16 times |
| אָבִ֖יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| הִֽוא׃ ס | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
עֶרְוַ֥ת[the] nakedness of
ʾervatH6172 →54 times
אֲחוֹת־[the] sister of
ʾachot-H269 →114 times
אָבִ֖יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְגַלֵּ֑הyou will uncover
tegalehH1540 →186 times
שְׁאֵ֥ר[is] a relative of
sheerH7607 →16 times
אָבִ֖יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
הִֽוא׃ סshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 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
Exodus 6:20And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:59
and Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She was also a daughter of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
- Exodus 2:1–2
Now a man of the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi,
- Exodus 6:16
These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
- Exodus 6:18
The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
- Numbers 26:59
Through
Leviticus 20:19You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity.
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:6
None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
- Leviticus 18:12–30
You must not have sexual relations with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative.
- Exodus 6:20
And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
- Leviticus 18:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.