48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover,.... That is, who is indeed a man's father's wife, but not his own mother, but a stepmother or mother-in-law; or otherwise this law would coincide with the former; a man lying with such an one is accursed by the law, Deuteronomy 27:23; such an incestuous copulation was that of Reuben with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The nakedness of thy sister,.... To lie with one in so near a relation is exceeding criminal, and for which the law curses a man, Deuteronomy 27:22; and to marry her is not lawful; for though it was necessary for the propagation of mankind that a man should marry his sister, for who else could Cain and Abel marry? yet afterwards, when there was an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter,.... A man might not marry his granddaughter, whether a descendant of his son or of his daughter, nor any further off descending from him in a right line, not his great-granddaughter, and so on; and if he might not marry his granddaughter, much less his own daughter, as Jarchi...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter,.... Either the daughter of his father by another wife, which seems to be countenanced by what follows: begotten of thy father, she [is] thy sister; but then this coincides with what is prohibited, Leviticus 18:9, "the daughter of thy father"; that is, by another woman than a man's mother, only with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister,.... His aunt by his father's side, an instance of which we have in Amram, Exodus 6:20; and Maimonides says (i), an aunt was forbidden whether she was a father's sister in lawful wedlock or in fornication: she [is] thy father's near kinswoman; or, the rest of thy father (k); the residue...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister,.... Which is the same relation as before, an aunt by the mother's side; wherefore, if such a marriage was unlawful, this must also, and for the same reason: for she [is] thy mother's near kinswoman; the same phraseology is used here as in the preceding verse; [See comments on Leviticus...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother,.... Which Gersom understands of committing sodomy with him, on which account he was doubly guilty, partly because of lying with a male, and partly because of uncovering the nakedness of his father's brother; but it rather seems at first sight as if the sense was, that a woman should not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law,.... Shall not he with her in his son's lifetime, or marry her after his death: she [is] that son's wife; and so one flesh with him, and who is of the same flesh and blood with his father, and therefore the nearness of the relation forbids such incestuous copulation or marriage: thou...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife,.... Neither debauch her nor after the death of the brother marry her, that is, unless he dies without issue; and then, by another law, he was obliged to marry her, Deuteronomy 25:5; hence the Targum of Jonathan adds; by way of explanation. "in the life of thy brother, or after his death,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter,.... That is, if a man marries a woman, and she has a daughter, which is the man's daughter-in-law, after the death of his wife he may not marry this daughter; for this daughter is of the same flesh with her mother, who became one flesh with the man she married, and therefore his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister,.... Both of them together, as Jarchi; two sisters at one and the same time; so the Targum of Jonathan, "a woman in the life of her sister thou shall not take;'' that is, in marriage, that sister being his wife; for the sense of the Targumist can never be that a man might not take a woman for his wife,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Also thou shall not approach unto a woman,.... Not even a man to his own wife, and much less to another woman: to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness; in her monthly courses; and the time of her separation from her husband on that account was seven days, Leviticus 15:19; if a man lay with a woman when in such...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife,.... Which is adultery, and a breach of the seventh command, Exodus 20:14: to defile thyself with her; not only adultery is a defiling a man's wife, as it is sometimes called, but the adulterer defiles himself: all sin is of a defiling nature, but especially this, which defiles a man...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through [the fire] to Molech,.... The name of an image or idol, according to Aben Ezra, who observes, that their wise men interpret it as a general name for everyone whom they made to reign over them; and it is right, he says, that it is the abomination of the children of Ammon, and so the same with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind,.... By carnal knowledge of them, and carnal copulation with them, and mixing bodies in like manner: this is the sin commonly called sodomy, from the inhabitants of Sodom, greatly addicted to it, for which their city was destroyed by fire: those that are guilty of this sin, are, by the apostle,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Neither shall thou lie with any beast, to defile thyself therewith,.... A female one, as Aben Ezra notes, as a mare, cow, or ewe, or any other beast, small or great, as Ben Gersom, or whether tame or wild, as Maimonides (b); and even fowls are comprehended, as the same writers observe: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things,.... In incestuous copulations and marriages, in adultery, corporeal and spiritual, and bestiality: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you; that is, the seven nations of the land of Canaan, which God was about to eject out of their land to make room for the Israelites,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the land is defiled,.... The inhabitants of it, with the immoralities and idolatries before mentioned: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it; or punish the inhabitants that are on it for their sins: and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants; as a stomach loaded with corrupt and bad food it has taken in, nauseates it, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments,.... Before observed to them, whether of a ceremonial nature, and enjoined them according to his sovereign will and pleasure; or of a moral nature, and founded in justice and equity, and so worthy of their regard, and obligatory upon them; as well as in their own nature they recommended...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For all these abominations have the men of the land done,.... The then present inhabitants of Canaan, who dwelt in it before the Israelites came into it; these were guilty of unclean copulations, of incestuous, marriages, of fornication and adultery, and of bestiality and idolatry: which [were] before you; lived in the land before them, had long...