ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Leviticus 18

Lev. 18:1–22:33 The Call to Holiness. This section applies the principle of holiness (19:1–2) to various aspects of Israelite life. Chapter 18 considers sexual behavior and how Israel is to act differently from the pagan nations. Chapters 19–20 apply the idea of holiness in various ways. The manner in which the people treat the land, their neighbors, their parents, and all other things is to be distinct. Holiness is to affect every area of Israelite life. Chapters 21–22 deal with the holiness of the priesthood.

Lev. 18:1–30 The rules from ch. 18 onward aim to lead the people to holiness, although the term “holy” or “holiness” is not mentioned in ch. 18. The minimal requirement for holiness is to not act like the Egyptians or Canaanites. The actions prohibited in this chapter are representative examples. They do not address every possible situation in life.

Lev. 18:5 if a person does them, he shall live by them. The person who responds rightly to God’s grace (“does”) will enjoy life under God’s pleasure (“shall live”). Compare Deut. 4:1; 8:1; Neh. 9:29; Ezek. 20:11; John 15:10.

Lev. 18:6–18 These laws prohibit sexual relations (approach . . . to uncover nakedness), and therefore marriage, between people who are too closely related, either by blood (mother, sister, granddaughter, aunt) or by marriage (stepmother, stepsister, stepdaughter, stepgranddaughter, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, aunt by marriage). No mention is made of the daughter, probably because this prohibition was already well known in the laws of other cultures. The rules enforce a distinction between family affection and erotic love, which protects the well-being of the community.

Lev. 18:18 you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister. Polygamy violates the creation ideal (Gen. 2:24), and polygamous marriages in the Bible are generally unhappy ones (e.g., Gen. 29:30–30:2; 1 Sam. 1:2–7).

Lev. 18:19 Leviticus offers no explanation for this law. Unlike most of the other sexual laws of this chapter, such as those concerning adultery and homosexuality, this law is not repeated in the NT. In view of 15:19–24, the concern is probably the man’s ceremonial uncleanness.

Lev. 18:20 This prohibition follows from the seventh commandment (Ex. 20:14) and is universally applicable. make yourself unclean with her. Although not all uncleanness is sin, all sin makes a person unclean.

Lev. 18:21 This refers to the cult of Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35). The precise nature of the offering of children to this pagan god is uncertain. It may be that they are being given to the cult of Molech to train to be temple prostitutes, and that is why this passage is listed in a section dealing with sexual prohibitions. On the other hand, Roman authors describe the practice of sacrificing babies by fire, and this may indeed refer to this horrific custom.

Lev. 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. This prohibits all male homosexual activity (compare 20:13; also note on Rom. 1:26–27). Such activity is utterly at odds with the creation ideal (see note on Gen. 2:23–24).

Lev. 18:24–30 All the listed offenses are declared to be an outrage to the Lord. They defile the offender and the land.