Leviticus 20:10

Sins against the seventh commandment are here ordered to be severely punished. These are sins which, of all others, fools are most apt to make a mock at; but God would teach those the heinousness of the guilt by the extremity of the punishment that would not otherwise be taught it.

I. Lying with another man's wife was made a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress that had joined in the sin must fall alike under the sentence: they shall both be put to death, Lev 20:10. Long before this, even in Job's time, this was reputed a heinous crime and an iniquity to be punished by the judges, Job 31:11. It is a presumptuous contempt of an ordinance of God, and a violation of his covenant, Pro 2:17. It is an irreparable wrong to the injured husband, and debauches the mind and conscience of both the offenders as much as any thing. It is a sin which headstrong and unbridled lusts hurry men violently to, and therefore it needs such a powerful restraint as this. It is a sin which defiles a land and brings down God's judgments upon it, which disquiets families, and tends to the ruin of all virtue and religion, and therefore is fit to be animadverted upon by the conservators of the public peace: but see Joh 8:3-11.

II. Incestuous connections, whether by marriage or not. 1. Some of them were to be punished with death, as a man's lying with his father's wife, Lev 20:11. Reuben would have been put to death for his crime (Gen 35:22) if this law had been then made. It was the sin of the incestuous Corinthian, for which he was to be delivered unto Satan, Co1 5:1, Co1 5:5. A man's debauching his daughter-in-law, or his mother-in-law, or his sister, was likewise to be punished with death, Lev 20:12, Lev 20:14, Lev 20:17. 2. Others of them God would punish with the curse of barrenness, as a man's defiling his aunt, or his brother's wife (Lev 20:19-21): They shall die childless. Those that keep not within the divine rules of marriage forfeit the blessings of marriage: They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase, Hos 4:10. Nay it is said, They shall bear their iniquity, that is, though they be not immediately cut off by the hand either of God or man for this sin, yet the guilt of it shall lie upon them, to be reckoned for another day, and not be purged with sacrifice or offering.

III. The unnatural lusts of sodomy and bestiality (sins not to be mentioned without horror) were to be punished with death, as they are at this day by our law, Lev 20:13, Lev 20:15, Lev 20:16. Even the beast that was thus abused was to be killed with the sinner, who was thereby openly put to the greater shame: and the villany was thus represented as in the highest degree execrable and abominable, all occasions of the remembrance or mention of it being to be taken away. Even the unseasonable use of the marriage, if presumptuous, and in contempt of the law, would expose the offenders to the just judgment of God: they shall be cut off, Lev 20:18. For this is the will of God, that every man should possess his vessel (and the wife is called the weaker vessel) in sanctification and honour, as becomes saints.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Lev 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man’s wife, [even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Ver. 10. Shall surely be put to death.] Adultery was death long before this law. {Gen 26:11; Gen 38:24} So it was afterwards among the Greeks, Romans, and many other nations. {Jer 29:22-23}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 20:10. The adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death —Adultery, however lightly it may be accounted of by men who are lost to all sense of virtue and honour, has not only under the Mosaic economy, but by several other civilized nations; been reckoned a capital wickedness. By the ancient laws of Solon the husband was authorized to kill the adulterer and adulteress, if he found them in the fact; or if he did not choose to proceed to that severity, he might put out their eyes. Among the Egyptians too, adulterers were punished with the utmost severity. If a woman were enticed to commit adultery, her nose was slit, and the man received a thousand blows with rods. To the same purpose, by the Roman laws, the adulterer might be put to death if he were taken in the act. Considering the heinous nature and fatal consequences of this vice, we need not wonder much, if, in well-regulated states, it has been punishable with death. By our laws a man shall lose his life by robbing another of a few shillings; but what proportion is there between robbing a man of a sum of money, and invading his property in what he often cherishes more tenderly than ease, plenty, honour, and even life itself?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:10 See study note on 18:20; see also Exod 20:14.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. Committeth adultery] To what has been said in Clarke's note on "Ex 20:14", we may add, that the word adultery comes from the Latin adulterium, which is compounded of ad, to or with, and alter, another, or, according to Minshieu, of ad alterius forum, he that approaches to another man's bed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) Shall be surely put to death—That is, by stoning. (See Lev_20:2.) This precept is also to be found in Exo_21:17; Pro_20:20, and is referred to by our Lord (Mat_15:14; Mar_7:10).

His blood shall be upon him—That is, he has brought it upon himself to be killed. (See Jos_2:19.) This phrase, which occurs seven times either in the singular or plural, is only to be found in this chapter (See Lev_20:9; Lev_20:11-13; Lev_20:16; Lev_20:27). According to the authorities during the second Temple, it carried with it death by lapidation.

(10) Shall surely be put to death.—This is, by penalty for the sin forbidden in Lev_18:20. According to Jewish tradition whenever the phrase “shall surely be put to death” occurs by itself, it denotes death by strangling. This death was inflicted for six crimes—upon him who had commerce with another man’s wife; who smote his father or mother; (3) who stole an Israelite; (4) who being an elder rebelled against the decree of the senate (Deu_17:12); (5) who played the false prophet; and (6) who prophesied in the name of another god.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10–21. Directions on the whole similar to those of Lev_18:6-20; Lev_18:22-23, but adding penalties for transgression.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife,.... Which is a breach of the seventh command, Exo 20:14,

even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife: which is only an explanation of the former clause; though the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, say this is so expressed to except the wife of a stranger, or a Gentile; but it means whether a Gentile or an Israelite; and which may be confirmed by the instance of Phinehas slaying a prince of Israel, that lay with a Midianitish woman, Num 25:6,

the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death; on account of her that is espoused, by strangling, with a hard napkin within a soft one; and on account of her that is married, by casting stones; even both the adulterer and adulteress, as the Targum: and the Jews say (b), strangling was thus performed; they that were strangled were fixed up to their knees in dung, and then they put a hard napkin within a soft one, and rolled it about his neck, and one drew it to him this way, and another drew it to him that way, until he expired: and there is no unlawful copulation punished with strangling, according to Maimonides (c), but lying with another man's wife; and who observes, that the death which is spoken of in the law absolutely, that is, without specifying any kind of death, is strangling; but stoning seems rather meant, agreeably to Deu 22:24.

(b) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 3. (c) Hilchot lssure Biah, c. 1. sect. 6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adulteress. Philo (de Josephus) says, whoever discovered a man in the very act, might kill him; and the Roman law allowed the same liberty, impune necato. But God requires a juridical process, and witnesses, as we see in the case of Susanna, (Daniel xiii.) and in that of the woman who was brought to our Saviour. One witness might authorize a person to put his wife away, and if he then retained her, he was esteemed a fool, Proverbs xviii. 23. But more witnesses were requisite before she could be put to death. They put their hands on the heads of the guilty, thus taking their blood upon themselves, if they accused them wrongfully. Solon allowed the husband to kill the adulterer. The woman was not permitted to wear any ornaments, or to enter any temple afterwards. If she did, any one might tear her clothes, and beat, but not kill her.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

10. The adulterer and the adulteress — In the Mosaic law adultery is committed only through the unchastity of a wife. A husband commits this crime only with the free wife of another. See Exo_20:14, note.

Put to death — If the adulteress was another’s slave, the penalty was milder, probably corporeal punishment. The allowance of polygamy implies that the wife has no such exclusive right to the husband as the husband has to the wife. In many countries the adulteress has suffered capital punishment while the adulterer has escaped with a less penalty. Since this crime destroys the family, the corner-stone of society, it deserves the severest penalty. If both parties are married persons, the crime is double adultery; if but one is under marriage vows, it is single. See Exo_20:14, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Hebrew punishment for adultery is more severe than that of most other nations. Death is again pronounced as the penalty of both adulterer and adulteress in Deu_22:22. The crime is that of a man with a married woman, whether the man be married or not; it is not that of a married man with an unmarried woman, which, in a country where polygamy was allowed, could not be regarded in the same light.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For Unlawful Marriages

v. 10. And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, who, according to Lev 18:20, is restricted to her husband, so far as sexual relations are concerned, 1Co 7:4-5, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

v. 11. And the man that lieth with his father’s wife, with his stepmother,hath uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be up on them.

v. 12. And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have wrought confusion, become guilty of a revolting defilement;their blood shall be up on them.

v. 13. If a man also lie with mankind as he lieth with a woman, in the sin of pederasty, both of them have committed an abomination, a bestial crime, contrary to nature, a horror; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

v. 14. And if a man take a wife and her mother, in revolting incest, it is wickedness, a most horrible act, an unheard-of deed of shame; they shall be burned with fire, both he and they, after they have been stoned, for thus the abnormality of their crime was emphasized; that there be no wickedness among you. In all these cases, both persons are alike guilty, because even the passive part consented to the act, permitted the seduction to take place. In the case of rape the Lord’s judgment is different. Deu 22:26-27.

v. 15. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death; and ye shall slay the beast.

v. 16. And if a woman approach unto any beast and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast; they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. "With the beastly human being the beast itself was also to be destroyed. " (Lange. )

v. 17. And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, his (older) half-sister, and see her nakedness and she see his nakedness, it is a wicked thing, a disgraceful act; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity, his misdeed.

v. 18. And if a man lie with a woman having her sickness, her menstrual period, and shall uncover her nakedness, knowingly and intentionally, he hath discovered her fountain, exposed her life-spring, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. For the penalty of the unintentional offense, see Lev 15:24.

v. 19. 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. This transgression was not punished with death by the government, but the Lord Himself would take their case in hand.

v. 20. And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, his aunt by marriage, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. While the marriage was not annulled, the Lord’s punishment was very severe, for childlessness was classed with bereavement in the estimation of the Jews.

v. 21. And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, in any case but that of the levirate marriage, it is an unclean thing, calling forth God’s curse of the first degree; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless. The aim of all these provisions was to purify sexual life among the Hebrews, since the entire nation was consecrated to the Lord as a royal priesthood, Exo 19:6. Christians will keep in mind at all times that marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, Heb 13:4.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, that is, anyone who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife

The full meaning of this can be made explicit. AT: "The man who commits adultery with someone else's wife" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

certainly be put to death

This can be translated in active form. AT: "you must certainly put both of them to death" (See: Active or Passive)

lies with his father's wife

This is a polite way of saying that he had sex with his father's wife. Some languages use more direct phrases such as "has sex with his father's wife." (See: Euphemism)

They have committed perversion

Here God calls a man having sex with his son's wife a "perversion", a serious sin. See how you translated "perversion" in Leviticus 18:23.

translationWords

adultery

neighbor

ancestor

had relations with

guilt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ואיש AND THE MAN [THAT COMMITTETH ADULERY SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH] — a man, thus excluding a minor (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 10 8).

אשר ינאף את אשת איש WHO COMMITTETH ADULTERY WITH ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE — a man's wife, thus excluding the wife of a minor from the death penalty. This teaches us that a minor cannot enter into a marriage contract. And in reference to what married woman do I make you liable to the death penalty?

אשר ינאף את אשת רעהו IF HE COMMITTETH ADULTERY WITH THE WIFE OF HIS FELLOW-MAN — his fellow-man, thus excluding the wife of a heathen; this teaches us that a heathen cannot enter into a marriage contract according to Jewish law (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 10 8; Sanhedrin 52b).

מות יומת הנאף והנאפת THE ADULTERER AND THE ADULTRESS SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH — Wherever a death penalty is mentioned in Scripture without being precisely defined, only strangulation is intended (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 10 8; Sanhedrin 55b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.