Leviticus 20:15
in Leviticus 20If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
KJV
And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
⋯
This verse in Leviticus 20
Commentary
3 notes on this verseEven the beast that was thus abused was to be killed with the sinner, who was thereby openly put to the greater shame: and the villany was thus represented as in the highest degree execrable and abominable, all occasions of the remembrance or mention of it being to be taken away.
This site's exposition
if a man take a wife and her mother
on Leviticus 20:14-16
Verse 14 carries the one sentence in the chapter executed by fire, and the text is silent on whether the burning follows a death already inflicted. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read stoning first and burning afterwards from the pattern at Joshua 7:15, while Adam Clarke suggests a branding that left the offender marked for life. Verses 15 and 16 order the animal killed along with the person, which Keil and Delitzsch take as removing the memory of the act rather than as punishing the beast.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
If a man lie with a beast,....
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֗ישׁ | veish | and a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִתֵּ֧ן | yiten | he will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| שְׁכָבְתּ֛וֹ | shekhaveto | copulation his | H7903 → | 4 times |
| בִּבְהֵמָ֖ה | bivhemah | in an animal | H929 → | 190 times |
| מ֣וֹת | mot | certainly <to die> | H4191 → | 839 times |
| יוּמָ֑ת | yumat | he will be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַבְּהֵמָ֖ה | habehemah | the animal | H929 → | 190 times |
| תַּהֲרֹֽגוּ׃ | taharogu | you will kill | H2026 → |
וְאִ֗ישׁand a man
veishH376 →1663 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִתֵּ֧ןhe will give
yitenH5414 →2011 times
שְׁכָבְתּ֛וֹcopulation his
shekhavetoH7903 →4 times
בִּבְהֵמָ֖הin an animal
bivhemahH929 →190 times
מ֣וֹתcertainly <to die>
motH4191 →839 times
יוּמָ֑תhe will be put to death
yumatH4191 →839 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַבְּהֵמָ֖הthe animal
habehemahH929 →190 times
תַּהֲרֹֽגוּ׃you will kill
taharoguH2026 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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 22:19Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:21
‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 18:23
You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 20:15–16
If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 18:25
Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
- Deuteronomy 27:21
Through
Leviticus 18:23You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:19
Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 20:12
If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them.
- Exodus 22:19
About Leviticus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
