Leviticus 18:9
in Leviticus 18You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, whether born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
KJV
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.
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This verse in Leviticus 18
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
The nakedness of thy sister
on Leviticus 18:9-11
The sister is covered twice, once by blood at verse 9 and once by household at verse 11. Verse 9 reaches a half sister born at home or born abroad, and Abraham's word about Sarah at Genesis 20:12, that she was the daughter of his father though not of his mother, falls inside it. Verse 10 gives a reason where most of the list gives none, that a granddaughter is his own nakedness. The law comes to Israel at Sinai and the patriarchs lived centuries before it, and the narrative of Genesis is left standing as it is.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The nakedness of thy sister,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy sister - What was here spoken of was the distinguishing offence of the Egyptians.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֶרְוַ֨ת | ʾervat | [the] nakedness of | H6172 → | 54 times |
| אֲחֽוֹתְךָ֤ | ʾachotkha | sister your | H269 → | 114 times |
| בַת־ | vat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אָבִ֙יךָ֙ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| א֣וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| בַת־ | vat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אִמֶּ֔ךָ | ʾimekha | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
| מוֹלֶ֣דֶת | moledet | one born of | H4138 → | 22 times |
| בַּ֔יִת | bayit | house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| א֖וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| מוֹלֶ֣דֶת | moledet | one born | H4138 → | 22 times |
| ח֑וּץ | chutz | <of> outside | H2351 → | 164 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְגַלֶּ֖ה | tegaleh | you will uncover | H1540 → | 186 times |
| עֶרְוָתָֽן׃ ס | ʾervatan | nakedness their | H6172 → | 54 times |
עֶרְוַ֨ת[the] nakedness of
ʾervatH6172 →54 times
אֲחֽוֹתְךָ֤sister your
ʾachotkhaH269 →114 times
בַת־[the] daughter of
vat-H1323 →588 times
אָבִ֙יךָ֙father your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
א֣וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
בַת־[the] daughter of
vat-H1323 →588 times
אִמֶּ֔ךָmother your
ʾimekhaH517 →220 times
מוֹלֶ֣דֶתone born of
moledetH4138 →22 times
בַּ֔יִתhouse
bayitH1004 →2046 times
א֖וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
מוֹלֶ֣דֶתone born
moledetH4138 →22 times
ח֑וּץ<of> outside
chutzH2351 →164 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְגַלֶּ֖הyou will uncover
tegalehH1540 →186 times
עֶרְוָתָֽן׃ סnakedness their
ʾervatanH6172 →54 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
Ezekiel 22:11One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
it leads to
- Leviticus 20:17
If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 13:14
But Amnon refused to listen to her, and being stronger, he violated her and lay with her.
- Leviticus 18:15
You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sexual relations with her.
- Leviticus 18:20
You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife and thus defile yourself with her.
- Ezekiel 18:11
though the father has done none of them: Indeed, the son eats at the mountain and defiles his neighbor’s wife.
- Leviticus 20:17
Through
Deuteronomy 27:22‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
it leads to
- Ezekiel 22:11
One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 22:11
Through
Leviticus 20:17If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:22
‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Genesis 20:12
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
- Deuteronomy 27:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Leviticus
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.