Leviticus 18:15
in Leviticus 18You 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter-in-law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
KJV
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
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This verse in Leviticus 18
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
approaching his wife to have sexual relations with her
on Leviticus 18:14-16
These three are relations by marriage, the uncle's wife, the son's wife and the brother's wife. John the Baptist applies verse 16 to Herod at Mark 6:18, and it costs him his head.
This site's exposition
She is your son’s wife
John Gill reads the rule as binding both while the son lives and after his death. The son's wife is one flesh with the son, and the son is of the father's flesh and blood. So the tie holds after the marriage ends.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thou shall not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law,.... Shall not he with her in his son's lifetime, or marry her after his death: she is that son's wife; and so one flesh with him, and who is of the same flesh and blood with his father, and therefore the nearness of the relation forbids such incestuous copulation or marriage: thou shall not uncover her nakedness; or have carnal knowledge of her, whether in the life or after the death of his son, even then marriage with her is not lawful.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֶרְוַ֥ת | ʾervat | [the] nakedness of | H6172 → | 54 times |
| כַּלָּֽתְךָ֖ | kalatekha | daughter-in-law your | H3618 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְגַלֵּ֑ה | tegaleh | you will uncover | H1540 → | 186 times |
| אֵ֤שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [is] [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| בִּנְךָ֙ | binkha | son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| הִ֔וא | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְגַלֶּ֖ה | tegaleh | you will uncover | H1540 → | 186 times |
| עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃ ס | ʾervatah | nakedness her | H6172 → | 54 times |
עֶרְוַ֥ת[the] nakedness of
ʾervatH6172 →54 times
כַּלָּֽתְךָ֖daughter-in-law your
kalatekhaH3618 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְגַלֵּ֑הyou will uncover
tegalehH1540 →186 times
אֵ֤שֶׁת[is] [the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
בִּנְךָ֙son your
binkhaH1121 →4930 times
הִ֔ואshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תְגַלֶּ֖הyou will uncover
tegalehH1540 →186 times
עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃ סnakedness her
ʾervatahH6172 →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
Genesis 38:26Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 24:17
and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.
- 1 Samuel 24:17
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…
- 2 Samuel 13:14
But Amnon refused to listen to her, and being stronger, he violated her and lay with her.
- Leviticus 18:9
You 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.
- 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.
- Leviticus 20:10
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
- Leviticus 20:17
Through
Leviticus 20:12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them.
it leads to
- 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.
- Genesis 38:18
“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became…
- Leviticus 18:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.