^18:6“ ‘No man is to approach any close relative⁸ to have sexual intercourse with her.⁹ I am the Lord.¹⁰^18:7You must not¹¹ expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother.¹² She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her. ^18:8You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness.¹³^18:9You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter,¹⁴ whether she is born in the same household or born outside it;¹⁵ you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them.¹⁶^18:10You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual intercourse with them, because they are your own nakedness.¹⁷^18:11You must not have sexual intercourse with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have intercourse with her.¹⁸^18:12You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh.¹⁹^18:13You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. ^18:14You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual intercourse with her.²⁰ She is your aunt.²¹^18:15You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her. ^18:16You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness.²²^18:17You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them.²³ They are closely related to her²⁴—it is lewdness.²⁵^18:18You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife²⁶ while she is still alive,²⁷ to have sexual intercourse with her.

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Footnotes

8 Heb “Man, man shall not draw near to any flesh (שְׁאֵר, shé’er) of his body/flesh (בָּשָׂר, basar).” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or “every”) man” ( §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2). The two words for “flesh” are combined to refer to emphasize the physical familial relatedness (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
9 Heb “to uncover [her] nakedness” (cf. , , , ), which is clearly euphemistic for sexual intercourse (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). This expression occurs a number of times in the following context and is generally translated “have sexual intercourse with [someone],” although in the case of the father mentioned in the following verse the expression may be connected to the shame or disgrace that would belong to the father whose wife’s sexuality is violated by his son. See the note on the word “mother” in v. .
10 The general statement prohibiting sexual intercourse between close relatives serves as an opening summary statement for the following section, which gives details concerning which degrees of relationship are specifically forbidden.
11 The verbal negative here is the same as that used in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:4–5, 7, 13–17). It suggests permanent prohibition rather than a simple negative command and could, therefore, be rendered “must not” here and throughout the following section as it is in vv. 3–4 above.
12 Heb “The nakedness of your father and [i.e., even] the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover.” Commentators suggest that the point of referring to the father’s nakedness is that the mother’s sexuality belongs to the father and is forbidden to the son on that account (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], , and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ). The expression may, however, derive from the shame of nakedness when exposed. If one exposes his mother’s nakedness to himself it is like openly exposing the father’s nakedness (cf. Gen 9:22–23 with the background of Gen 2:25 and 3:7, 21). The same essential construction is used in v. 10 where the latter explanation makes more sense than the former.
13 Heb “the nakedness of your father she is.” See the note on v. above. This law refers to another wife of the man’s father, who is not that man’s mother. The laws in the Pentateuch sometimes assume the possibility that a man may have more than one wife (cf., e.g., Deut 21:15–17).
14 Heb “the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother.”
15 Heb “born of house or born of outside.” interprets as “whether you grew up together or not” (cf. also , ).
16 Several medieval Hebrew , , , and have “her nakedness” rather than “their nakedness,” thus agreeing with singular “sister” at the beginning of the verse. For a smooth English translation “either of” was added.
17 That is, to have sexual intercourse with one’s granddaughter would be like openly exposing one’s own shameful nakedness (see the note on v. above).
18 Heb “The nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father, she is your sister; you must not uncover her nakedness.” That is, a half sister, the daughter of the man’s father by another wife, who is not the man’s mother, is to be considered a true sister. Therefore, the man must not have sexual intercourse with her.
19 A few medieval Hebrew , the , , and all read “because she is the flesh of your father,” like the of v. 13.
20 Heb “you must not draw near to his wife.” In the context this refers to approaching one’s aunt to have sexual intercourse with her, so this has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 As in v. 12 (see the there), some and versions have “because she is your aunt.”
22 Regarding the last clause, see the notes on vv. and above.
23 Heb “You must not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter; the daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness.” Translating “her” as “them” provides consistency in the English. In this kind of context, “take” means to “take in marriage” (cf. also v. 18). The and have “their nakedness,” referring to the nakedness of the woman’s granddaughters, rather than the nakedness of the woman herself.
24 Heb “they are her flesh.” The reads “your” here (followed by ). If the reading were followed by the present translation, the result would be “They are closely related to you.”
25 The term rendered “lewdness” almost always carries a connotation of cunning, evil device, and divisiveness (cf. I זִמָּה 2, “infamy”), and is closely associated with sexual and religious infidelity (cf., e.g., Lev 19:29; 20:14; Job 31:11; Jer 13:27; Ezek 16:27; 22:9). Recent English versions differ on how they handle this: “would be shameful”; “would make you unclean”; “wickedness”; “horrible wickedness”; “depravity”; “incest.”
26 Or “as a concubine”; Heb “And a woman to her sister you shall not take to be a second wife [or “to be a concubine”].” According to III צרר, the infinitive “to be a second wife” (לִצְרֹר, litsror) is a denominative verb from II צָרָה A (“concubine; second wife”), which, in turn, derives from II צר “to treat with hostility” (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
27 Heb “on her in her life.”