^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

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Footnotes

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.