Leviticus 19:29
in Leviticus 19You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
KJV
Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
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This verse in Leviticus 19
Commentary
4 notes on this verseDo not prostitute thy daughter - This was a very frequent custom, and with examples of it writers of antiquity abound. The Cyprian women, according to Justin, gained that portion which their husbands received with them at marriage by previous public prostitution. And the Phoenicians, according to Augustine, made a gift to Venus of the gain acquired by the public prostitution of their daughters, previously to their marriage. “Veneri donum dabant, et prostitutiones filiarum, antequam jungerent eas viris.” - De Civit. Del, lib. xviii., c. 5; and see Calmet.
This site's exposition
Do not prostitute thy daughter
on Leviticus 19:29-30
The reason attached to verse 29 is corporate, that the land itself falls to whoredom and becomes full of wickedness, so the harm named reaches past the household to the country. Verse 30 returns to my sabbaths, which the chapter already commanded at verse 3, and adds reverence for the sanctuary. Naming the sabbath at both ends puts a frame around the commands about neighbours that sit between them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), seems to have been practised by the heathen in their idolatrous worships, for with such abominations those unclean spirits which they worshipped were well pleased.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore,....
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּחַלֵּ֥ל | techalel | you profane | H2490 → | 143 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּתְּךָ֖ | bitekha | daughter your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לְהַזְנוֹתָ֑הּ | lehaznotah | by making prostitute [herself] her | H2181 → | 94 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִזְנֶ֣ה | tizneh | it will prostitute itself | H2181 → | 94 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּמָלְאָ֥ה | umalah | and it will be full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| זִמָּֽה׃ | zimah | wickedness | H2154 → | 29 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּחַלֵּ֥לyou profane
techalelH2490 →143 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בִּתְּךָ֖daughter your
bitekhaH1323 →588 times
לְהַזְנוֹתָ֑הּby making prostitute [herself] her
lehaznotahH2181 →94 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִזְנֶ֣הit will prostitute itself
tiznehH2181 →94 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וּמָלְאָ֥הand it will be full
umalahH4390 →249 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
זִמָּֽה׃wickedness
zimahH2154 →29 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 6:15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:30
For we are members of His body.
- Romans 12:5
so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.
- Ephesians 4:15–16
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.
- Colossians 2:19
He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
- 1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.
- Ephesians 5:30
Through
Leviticus 21:7A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
it leads to
- Leviticus 21:13–14
The woman he marries must be a virgin.
- Ezekiel 44:22
And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.
- Leviticus 21:8
You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.
- Leviticus 21:13–14
Where this verse is studied
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.