Leviticus - 20:19



19 "'You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister; for he has made naked his close relative: they shall bear their iniquity.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Leviticus 20:19.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister; for he hath made naked his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy aunt by thy mother, and of thy aunt by thy father: he that doth this, hath uncovered the shame of his own flesh, both shall bear their iniquity.
And the nakedness of thy mother's sister, and of thy father's sister shalt thou not uncover; for he hath laid naked his near relation: they shall bear their iniquity.
'And the nakedness of thy mother's sister, and of thy father's sister, thou dost not uncover; because his relation he hath made bare; their iniquity they bear.
And you shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister: for he uncovers his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
And you may not have sex connection with your mother's sister or your father's sister, for they are his near relations: their sin will be on them.
You shall not expose the nakedness of your maternal or paternal aunt. Whoever does this has laid bare the shame of his own flesh; both shall bear their iniquity.
Turpitudinem sororis matris tuae et sororis patris tui, non discooperies: quia propinquam suam nudavit, iniquitatem suam portabunt.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister,.... An aunt either by mother or father's side, against which the law is, Leviticus 18:13,
for he uncovereth his near kin; as an aunt is to a man, and so an uncle to a woman, and both equally criminal; for it is a rule that holds good in all those cases, though not expressed, that what is binding upon one sex is upon the other, being in the same degree of relation, whether of consanguinity or affinity:
they shall bear their iniquity; "both" of them, as the Vulgate Latin version, the man and his aunt, and so a woman and her uncle:
the guilt of their sin shall be upon them, and the punishment of it be inflicted on them; either they should be cut off from their people, as before, or be childless, as in the following instances.

No civil punishment, on the other hand, to be inflicted by the magistrate or by the community generally, was ordered to follow marriage with an aunt, the sister of father or mother (Leviticus 20:19, cf. Leviticus 18:12-13), with an uncle's wife (Leviticus 20:20, cf. Leviticus 18:4), or with a sister-in-law, a brother's wife (Leviticus 20:21, cf. Leviticus 18:16). In all these cases the threat is simply held out, "they shall bear their iniquity," and (according to Leviticus 20:20, Leviticus 20:21) "die childless;" that is to say, God would reserve the punishment to Himself (see at Leviticus 18:14). In the list of punishments no reference is made to intercourse with a mother (Leviticus 18:7) or a granddaughter (Leviticus 18:10), as it was taken for granted that the punishment of death would be inflicted in such cases as these; just as marriage with a daughter or a full sister is passed over in the prohibitions in ch. 18.

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