Leviticus 20, Molech, Sex, Holiness

The book of Leviticus continues to lay out expectations for the Israelites, expectations that distinguish them from the nations around them.

Leviticus 20:1-5, Molech

 The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: `Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him. I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death, I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.  

Sacrificing children to Molech is a horrible sin, with the penalty of death. This prohibition makes it clear that such customs were common in the people of Canaan.

Leviticus 20:6, No mediums or spiritists

"`I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people. 

 

Consulting the dead (as mentioned previously) is also forbidden.

Leviticus 20:7-8, Be holy

"`Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

As YHWH is different, so too are the people of Israel to be distinct, separate, from those around them.

Leviticus 20:9, Don't curse your parents!

"`If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.  

Cursing one's parents is a grave crime in this new nation.

Leviticus 20:10-17, Sexual prohibitions

"`If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.  

"`If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

"`If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.

"`If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.  

"`If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.  

"`If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 

"`If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. 

"`If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his  father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off before the eyes of their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible. 

These prohibitions echo those of chapter 18.

Leviticus 20:18, Not during her period

"`If a man lies with a woman during her monthly period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them must  cut off from their people.  

A strange command here prohibits sexual relations with a woman during her menstrual period.

Leviticus 20:19-21, Incest

"`Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible. 

"`If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle. They will be held responsible; they will die childless.

"`If a man marries his brother's wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless. 

We return to chapter 18 prohibitions against incest.

Leviticus 20:22-26, A holy land

"`Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

But I said to you, "You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and  honey."

 I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the nations. "`You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground--those which I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.  

The new nation, in this new land, is to be a distinct holy one, a future Eden.

Leviticus 20:27, Mediums (again)

"`A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.'"   

The command of verse 6 is repeated.

First published August 22, 2025; updated August 22, 2025