Set Apart from the Peoples
9 “‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself. 10 “‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 “‘The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves. 12 “‘If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed a perversion. Their blood shall be upon themselves. 13 “‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves. 14 “‘If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 “‘If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal. 16 “‘If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 17 “‘If a man takes his sister—his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter—and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a shameful thing. They shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his iniquity. 18 “‘If a man lies with a woman having her monthly period, and uncovers her nakedness, he has made her fountain naked, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 “‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, nor of your father’s sister, for he has made his close relative naked. They shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless. 21 “‘If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless. 22 “‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. 23 You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24 But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 “‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine. 27 “‘A man or a woman that is a medium or is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood shall be upon themselves.’”
The penalties close with the sentence the section opened with, and the reason given for the separation is possession rather than superiority.
The bulk of the chapter restates the prohibitions of chapter 18 with penalties attached. What was listed there as defilement is listed here as a capital matter, and the two chapters are meant to be read together.
Three observations belong beside the penalties, and none of them softens the text.
The first is the book's own framing. These practices are the reason the previous occupants are being removed — for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them Leviticus 20:23 — and the warning is turned immediately on Israel: keep the statutes that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out Leviticus 20:22. The standard is not a privilege of the covenant nation, and the covenant nation is told so twice.
The second is that this is the criminal law of one state, under a covenant, in one territory, for a limited period. It is administered by elders at a gate, requires two witnesses Deuteronomy 17:6, and puts the burden of execution on the witnesses themselves Deuteronomy 17:7.
The third is the record. Scripture reports almost no executions under this legislation across Israel's whole history, and the two it does report are narrated as difficult cases needing a direct ruling Leviticus 24:10–23 Numbers 15:32–36.
The chapter then returns to food, which looks out of place among the penalties and is not: you shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean Leviticus 20:25. The same word for separation runs through the section — God has separated you from the peoples Leviticus 20:24, and has separated certain creatures as unclean.
The daily discrimination at the table and the moral discrimination in the code are presented as one habit.
And the closing verse is where the whole central section of the book comes to rest.
You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
The same sentence opened this section nine chapters earlier, at the end of the food laws Leviticus 11:44–45. There the ground was the exodus; here it is possession — that you should be mine.
Separation is not offered as evidence of merit. It is described as ownership, and the holiness asked for is a resemblance to the owner.
settled What this mark means