# Leviticus 18 đ: Forbidden Sexual Practices
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Exhortation to Obedience and Life
[[#Verse 01.]] The Lord spoke to Moses:Â
[[#Verse 02.]]' âSpeak to the Israelites and tell them, âI am the Lord your God!Â
[[#Verse 03.]] You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; you must not walk in their statutes.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] You must observe my regulations and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the Lord your God.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] So you must keep my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. I am the Lord.
### Laws of Sexual Relations
[[#Verse 06.]] ââNo man is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations with her. I am the Lord.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] You must not expose your fatherâs nakedness by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.
[[#Verse 08.]]Â You must not have sexual relations with your fatherâs wife; she is your fatherâs nakedness.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is your fatherâs daughter or your motherâs daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual relations with either of them.
[[#Verse 10.]]Â You must not expose the nakedness of your sonâs daughter or your daughterâs daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness.Â
[[#Verse 11.]]Â You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your fatherâs wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have sexual relations with her.Â
[[#Verse 12.]]Â You must not have sexual relations with your fatherâs sister; she is your fatherâs flesh.Â
[[#Verse 13.]]Â You must not have sexual relations with your motherâs sister, because she is your motherâs flesh.Â
[[#Verse 14.]] You must not expose the nakedness of your fatherâs brother; you must not approach his wife to have marital relations with her. She is your aunt.Â
[[#Verse 15.]]'Â You must not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your sonâs wife. You must not have sexual relations with her.Â
[[#Verse 16.]]Â You must not have sexual relations with your brotherâs wife; she is your brotherâs nakedness.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] You must not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her sonâs daughter or her daughterâs daughter to have sexual relations with them. They are closely related to herâit is lewdness.Â
[[#Verse 18.]] You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife while she is still alive, to have sexual relations with her.
[[#Verse 19.]] ââYou must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity to have sexual relations with her.Â
[[#Verse 20.]] You must not have sexual relations with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, so that you do not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord!Â
[[#Verse 22.]]Â You must not have sexual relations with a male as one has sexual relations with a woman;Â it is a detestable act.Â
[[#Verse 23.]] You must not have sexual relations with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is a perversion.
### Warning against the Abominations of the Nations
[[#Verse 24.]] ââDo not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations that I am about to drive out before you have been defiled with all these things.Â
[[#Verse 25.]] Therefore the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants.
[[#Verse 26.]] You yourselves must obey my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst,Â
[[#Verse 27.]] for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean.Â
[[#Verse 28.]] So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nations that were before you.
[[#Verse 29.]]Â For if anyone does any of these abominations, that person who does them will be cut off from the midst of the people.Â
[[#Verse 30.]] You must obey my charge not to practice any of the abominable statutes that have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.ââ
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
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###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
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###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
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###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
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###### Verse 24.
###### Verse 25.
###### Verse 26.
###### Verse 27.
###### Verse 28.
###### Verse 29.
###### Verse 30.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. "Uncover nakedness" is a Hebrew way of referring to sexual relations.
2. The chapter is framed by the words "I am the Lord your God" (18:2, 30).
3. Leviticus 18:5 is quoted by Paul (Romans 10:5; Galatians 3:12) and echoed in Nehemiah 9:29 and Ezekiel 20:11.
4. Molech (18:21) was a god associated with child sacrifice. King Josiah later desecrated the place where it happened (2 Kings 23:10).
5. Abraham married his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12), a union later forbidden here (18:9).
6. Jacob married two sisters (Genesis 29), which this chapter later forbids (18:18).
7. Moses' father Amram married his aunt Jochebed (Exodus 6:20), also later forbidden (18:12).
8. The land itself is pictured as vomiting out those who defile it (18:25, 28).
9. These laws applied to foreigners living in Israel as well (18:26).
10. John the Baptist rebuked Herod for marrying his brother's wife (Mark 6:18), a union forbidden in 18:16.
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the Lord who calls His people to holiness and also washes and sanctifies them (1 Corinthians 6:11). Israel was not to live like Egypt or Canaan (18:3), and Jesus bought our bodies so we can honor God with them (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. God tells Israel not to imitate the practices of Egypt or Canaan (18:3). Where is culture pressuring you to conform (Romans 12:2)?
2. "I am the Lord" repeats through this chapter (18:2, 4, 5, 6). How does knowing who God is shape how we obey?
3. The land "vomited out" its inhabitants for these sins (18:25, 28). What does that teach about how seriously God takes sexual sin, and where do we find grace?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verse 3: Do not live like the people of Egypt or Canaan.
- đ verse 5: Keep the Lord's statutes and regulations, and you will live by them.
- đ verse 30: Keep the Lord's charge and do not defile yourselves; He is the Lord your God.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[Romans 12#Verse 01.|Romans 12:1-2]] - Do not be conformed to this world.
- đ [[1 Corinthians 06#Verse 09.|1 Corinthians 6:9-11]] - You were washed, sanctified, and justified.
- đ [[1 Corinthians 06#Verse 18.|1 Corinthians 6:18-20]] - Glorify God with your body.
- đ [[1 Thessalonians 04#Verse 03.|1 Thessalonians 4:3-5]] - God's will is your sanctification.
- đ [[Galatians 03#Verse 12.|Galatians 3:12]] - The one who does these things will live by them.
## đ Devotional Reflection
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đ Internal Notes