Leviticus 18:6
in Leviticus 18None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
None of you shall approach to any that are near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am Jehovah.
KJV
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord.
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This verse in Leviticus 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAny that is near of kin - כל שאר בשרו col shear besaro, any remnant of his flesh, i.e., to any particularly allied to his own family, the prohibited degrees in which are specified from the 7th to the 17th verse (Lev 18:7-17) inclusive. Notwithstanding the prohibitions here, it must be evident that in the infancy of the world, persons very near of kin must have been joined in matrimonial alliances; and that even brothers must have matched with their own sisters. This must have been the case in the family of Adam.
This site's exposition
None of you shall approach
on Leviticus 18:6-8
Verse 6 is the heading and everything through verse 18 works it out. The Hebrew behind near of kin is she'er besaro, the remnant of his flesh, so the stated ground of the law is shared flesh rather than shared descent. The Babylonian Talmud, which reached its form around 500 AD, records at Megillah 31a that this chapter is the synagogue reading for the afternoon of the Day of Atonement, which puts the list of forbidden relations on the one day of the year the nation is cleansed.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureDisputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine statute, Leviticus 18. For the Lord established laws according to which legitimacy is observed in the persons who contract marriage. For He says: I am the Lord your God: keep my laws and …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
To uncover their nakedness - I think Mark. Free has made it highly probable, that this phrase does not mean marriage, but fornication, throughout this chapter. So it unquestionably means in the twentieth chapter.
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him,....
(2.) Marriage puts an equality between husband and wife. "Is she not thy companion taken out of thy side?" Therefore, if those who before were superior and inferior should intermarry (which is the case in most of the instances here laid down), the order of nature would be taken away by a positive institution, which must by no means be allowed.
"The Lord, who has a right to rule all; your God, who has a peculiar right to rule you." Jehovah is the fountain of being, and therefore the fountain of power, whose we are, whom we are bound to serve, and who is able to punish all disobedience.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Such incestuous alliances Moses wisely prohibited, and his laws form the basis upon which the marriage regulations of this and other Christian nations are chiefly founded.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Near of kin - See the margin. The term was evidently used to denote those only who came within certain limits of consanguinity, together with those who by affinity were regarded in the same relationship. To uncover their nakedness - i. e. to have sexual intercourse. The immediate object of this law was to forbid incest.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אִישׁ֙ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שְׁאֵ֣ר | sheer | relative of | H7607 → | 16 times |
| בְּשָׂר֔וֹ | besaro | flesh his | H1320 → | 270 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִקְרְב֖וּ | tikrevu | you will draw near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| לְגַלּ֣וֹת | legalot | to uncover | H1540 → | 186 times |
| עֶרְוָ֑ה | ʾervah | nakedness | H6172 → | 54 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ ס | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
אִ֥ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אִישׁ֙a man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
שְׁאֵ֣רrelative of
sheerH7607 →16 times
בְּשָׂר֔וֹflesh his
besaroH1320 →270 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִקְרְב֖וּyou will draw near
tikrevuH7126 →280 times
לְגַלּ֣וֹתto uncover
legalotH1540 →186 times
עֶרְוָ֑הnakedness
ʾervahH6172 →54 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָֽה׃ ס[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
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); Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.