Leviticus 18:1-30 - sexual prohibitions

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18:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר

KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:


18:2 DABER EL BENEY YISRA-EL VE AMARTA AL'EHEM ANI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM

דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

KJ: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.

BN: Speak to the Beney Yisra-El, and say to them: I am YHVH your god.


18:3 KE MA'ASEH ERETS MITSRAYIM ASHER YESHAVTEM BAH LO TA'ASU U CHE MA'ASEH ERETS KENA'AN ASHER ANI MEVIY ET'CHEM SHAMAH LO TA'ASU U VE CHUKOTEYHEM LO TELECHU

כְּמַעֲשֵׂה אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר יְשַׁבְתֶּם בָּהּ לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ וּכְמַעֲשֵׂה אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מֵבִיא אֶתְכֶם שָׁמָּה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ וּבְחֻקֹּתֵיהֶם לֹא תֵלֵכוּ

KJ: After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.

BN: Do not do as they do in the land of Mitsrayim, in which you dwelt; and do not follow their laws, nor do as they do, in the land of Kena'an, to which I am bringing you.


Interesting to see how a people comes up with its laws; here, not by deciding what is right and wrong in the abstract, and establishing licenses and prohibitions accordingly, but by seeing what other people around them are doing, and determining which ones to allow and which to proscribe. And while we tend to think of Yisra-Eli law as a breaking away from Egyptian slavery, it is also preparation - entirely unsuccessful, as the remainder of the Tanach constantly repeats, in the Prophetic writings especially - for the future.


18:4 ET MISHPATAI TA'ASU VE ET CHUKOTAI TISHMERU LALECHET BAHEM ANI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM

אֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשׂוּ וְאֶת חֻקֹּתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

KJ: Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.

BN: You shall follow my ordinances, and keep my statutes, and live by them: I am YHVH your god.


18:5 U SHEMARTEM ET CHUKOTAI VE ET MISHPATAI ASHER YA'ASEH OTAM HA ADAM VA CHAI BAHEM ANI YHVH

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם הָאָדָם וָחַי בָּהֶם אֲנִי יְהוָה

KJ: Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

BN: So you shall observe my statutes, and my ordinances, which, if a man does indeed do, he shall live by them: I am YHVH.


Where a few chapters ago we felt that we were reading a teaching manual for young medics, this has the proper tone and feel of a legal document, and it is YHVH's document, his laws as part of his covenant, signed by him line after line: ANI YHVH.



18:6 ISH ISH EL KOL SE'ER BESARO LO TIKREVU LEGALOT ERVAH ANI YHVH

אִישׁ אִישׁ אֶל כָּל שְׁאֵר בְּשָׂרוֹ לֹא תִקְרְבוּ לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָה אֲנִי יְהוָה

KJ: None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.

BN: None of you shall make approaches to anyone who is near kin to him, to uncover their nakedness. I am YHVH.


TIKREVU...LEGALOT ERVAH: Terms and phrases that will recur and recur in this chapter, and which we should probably regard as prudish euphemisms; there is, after all, a great deal of difference between "approaches" and "uncovering nakedness" on the one hand, and incestuous sexual intercourse - though self-evidently it is the latter that is being prohibited.

samech break


18:7 ERVAT AVIYCHA VE ERVAT IM'CHA LO TEGALEH IM'CHA HI LO TEGALEH ERVATAH

עֶרְוַת אָבִיךָ וְעֶרְוַת אִמְּךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אִמְּךָ הִוא לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָהּ

KJ: The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

BN: You shall not uncover your father's nakedness, or your mother's nakedness: she is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness.


cf Genesis 9:21 ff, where Cham, the father of Kena'an, the son of No'ach, commits the first of these two prohibited acts; and Genesis 19:30 ff, where Lot's daughters break the same taboo rather more extensively.

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18:8 ERVAT ESHET AVIYCHA LO TEGALEH ERVAT AVIYCHA HI

עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת אָבִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה עֶרְוַת אָבִיךָ הִוא

KJ: The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.

BN: You shall not uncover your father's wife's nakedness: it is your father's nakedness.


"Your father's wife" was not, in those days, necessarily the same as "your mother". And of course we may have step-parents today too, but then more than one wife was the norm. Cf the story of Re'u-Ven and Bilhah in Genesis 35:22.

samech break


18:9 ERVAT ACHOTECHA VAT AVIYCHA O VAT IMECHA MOLEDET BAYIT O MOLEDET CHUTS LO TEGALEH ERVATAN

עֶרְוַת אֲחוֹתְךָ בַת אָבִיךָ אוֹ בַת אִמֶּךָ מוֹלֶדֶת בַּיִת אוֹ מוֹלֶדֶת חוּץ לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָן

KJ: The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, eventheir nakedness thou shalt not uncover.

BN: The nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter, or your mother's daughter, whether born at home, or born abroad, their nakedness too you shall not uncover.


MOLEDET CHUTS: Why does the place of her birth matter? Because, as we see throughout Genesis, the Beney Yisra-El appear to have practiced patrilocal marriage - the wife coming to join the husband's tribe - where the Beney Kena'an and Beney Edom practiced matrilocal marriage - the husband going to join the wife's tribe.

IMECHA: Why was it IM'CHA in verse 7, and again in verse 13, but here it is IMECHA?

ERVATAN: A variant form of the third person plural, feminine; normally we would expect ERVAT'HEN.

samech break - note the number of samech breaks, each one separating a legal clause, rather than a sedrah.


18:10 ERVAT BAT BINCHA O VAT BIT'CHA LO TEGALEH ERVATAN KI ERVAT'CHA HENAH

עֶרְוַת בַּת בִּנְךָ אוֹ בַת בִּתְּךָ לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָן כִּי עֶרְוָתְךָ הֵנָּה

KJ: The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness.

BN: The nakedness of your son's daughter, or of your daughter's daughter, their nakedness too you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness.


Now that we have read a few of these verses, it is time to ask the question: who is this addressing? The whole nation, or just the men, or sometimes the men and sometimes the women. You will need to read each verse carefully to answer this; and it is not always clear-cut.

Though it does appear, at first glance, that all these laws are given to men, for men, to protect women from men; and if that proves correct, how very surprising that there are no instructions of a similar kind to protect men against the sexual voraciousness of women (cf Genesis 39:7 ff).

samech break


18:11 ERVAT BAT ESHET AVIYCHA MOLEDET AVIYCHA ACHOT'CHA HI LO TEGALEH ERVATAH

עֶרְוַת בַּת אֵשֶׁת אָבִיךָ מוֹלֶדֶת אָבִיךָ אֲחוֹתְךָ הִוא לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָהּ

KJ: The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

BN: The nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, fathered by your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness.


One seeming clue lies in the verb: TEGALEH, which is masculine singular. But is that just a grammatical convenience? And of course, without the pointing, it could just as easily be read as TEGALAH, which is feminine singular.

As above: is "uncovering nakedness" to be taken literally, or as a euphemism for sexual intercourse? I ask because, in speaking about brothers and sisters, there is very little taboo about them taking a bath together when they are five, six, seven, but Lord Byron and Augusta Leigh was a criminal offense in Georgian England.

We also need to read this clause in reference to Genesis 12:14-20, 20:1-18 and 26:8-12.

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18:12 ERVAT ACHOT AVIYCHA LO TEGALEH SHE'ER AVIYCHA HI

עֶרְוַת אֲחוֹת אָבִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה שְׁאֵר אָבִיךָ הִוא

KJ: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman.

BN: You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister: she is your father's near kinswoman.


And if it is only men who are intended, then why? Is it not equally wrong for a girl to see her uncle naked as for a boy to see his aunt?

samech break


18:13 ERVAT ACHOT IMCHA LO TEGALEH KI SHE'ER IMCHA HI

עֶרְוַת אֲחוֹת אִמְּךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה כִּי שְׁאֵר אִמְּךָ הִוא

KJ: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman.

BN: You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister; for she is your mother's near kinswoman.


samech break


18:14 ERVAT ACHI AVIYCHA LO TEGALEH EL ISHTO LO TIKRAV DODAT'CHA HI

עֶרְוַת אֲחִי אָבִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אֶל אִשְׁתּוֹ לֹא תִקְרָב דֹּדָתְךָ הִוא

KJ: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.

BN: You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother; you shall not make approaches to his wife: she is your aunt.


ACHI: Why the nominative?

TIKRAV: appears to suggest that it is indeed a euphemism. Does this verse apply to the gossip about Re'u-Ven and Bilhah? And later, will it apply to Amnon's rape of Tamar (2 Samuel 13) or Av-Shalom seizing David's harem (2 Samuel 16:22)?

I have asked about the masculine and feminine above for many reasons, one of which is the obvious, incest. But there is also the more complex issue of homosexuality, which has not yet been stated, but will be (verse 22). Is the opening of this phrase about the uncle, or about the aunt? Given that the aunt is the uncle's "property", and based on the phrasing of both verse 8 and verse 16, this may simply be a complex legal formulation: "whereas your aunt is both the property and the close kin of your uncle, and therefore your own close kinswoman too..." might be a modern equivalent.

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18:15 ERVAT KALAT'CHA LO TEGALEH ESHET BINCHA HI LO TEGALEH ERVATAH

עֶרְוַת כַּלָּתְךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אֵשֶׁת בִּנְךָ הִוא לֹא תְגַלֶּה עֶרְוָתָהּ

KJ: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she isthy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

BN: You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son's wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.


samech break


18:16 ERVAT ESHET ACHIYCHA LO TEGALEH ERVAT ACHIYCHA HI

עֶרְוַת אֵשֶׁת אָחִיךָ לֹא תְגַלֵּה עֶרְוַת אָחִיךָ הִוא

KJ: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness.

BN: You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife: it is your brother's nakedness.


Note also, repeated throughout, the notion of possession. A woman belongs to the man in precisely the same way as his arm or his leg: it is his nakedness.

samech break


18:17 ERVAT ISHAH U VITAH LO TEGALEH ET BAT BENAH VE ET BAT BITAH LO TIKACH LEGLAOT ERVATAH SHA'ARAH HENAH ZIMAH HI

עֶרְוַת אִשָּׁה וּבִתָּהּ לֹא תְגַלֵּה אֶת בַּת בְּנָהּ וְאֶת בַּת בִּתָּהּ לֹא תִקַּח לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ שַׁאֲרָה הֵנָּה זִמָּה הִוא

KJ: Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.

BN: You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; you shall not take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness: they are near kinswomen; it is lewdness.


no samech break on this occasion; the clause continues into the following several verses


18:18 VE ISHAH EL ACHOTAH LO TIKACH LITSROR LEGALOT ERVATAH ALEYHA BE CHAYEYHA

וְאִשָּׁה אֶל אֲחֹתָהּ לֹא תִקָּח לִצְרֹר לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ עָלֶיהָ בְּחַיֶּיהָ

KJ: Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

BN: And you shall not take a woman to her sister, to be a rival to her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime.


As Sarah perceived Av-Raham doing with Hagar. And as Ya'akov did with Rachel and Le'ah - though he gets forgiven, because he never wanted to marry Le'ah in the first place.

TIKACH: If we are treating TEGALEH as a euphemism, where does that leave TIKACH?


18:19 VE EL ISHAH BE NIDAT TUM'ATAH LO TIKRAV LEGALOT ERVATAH

וְאֶל אִשָּׁה בְּנִדַּת טֻמְאָתָהּ לֹא תִקְרַב לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ

KJ: Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.

BN: And you shall not make approaches to a woman, to uncover her nakedness, while she is impure through her menopause.


18:20 VE EL ESHET AMIYT'CHA LO TITEN SHECHAVTECHA LE ZARA LE TAM'AH VAH

וְאֶל אֵשֶׁת עֲמִיתְךָ לֹא תִתֵּן שְׁכָבְתְּךָ לְזָרַע לְטָמְאָה בָהּ

KJ: Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.

BN: And you shall not give your bed to your neighbour's wife, to defile yourself with her.


This needs some clarifying, because Rabbi Yishmael's hermeneutics, on which the 613 commandments are ultimately based, tell us to read a verse in the context of its predecessor and its successor. The previous speaks of a woman in her menstrual cycle, so is the defilement because she is menstruating, or because she is the neighbour's wife, at any time? Or both?

The King James translation needs looking at carefully; it does not appear to be rendering accurately what this verse is saying.

Also note that this is one of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:12 - 20:14 in some translations)


18:21 U MI ZAR'ACHA LO TITEN LEHA'AVIR LA MOLECH VE LO TECHALEL ET SHEM ELOHEYCHA ANI YHVH

וּמִזַּרְעֲךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לְהַעֲבִיר לַמֹּלֶךְ וְלֹא תְחַלֵּל אֶת שֵׁם אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲנִי יְהוָה

KJ: And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

BN: And you shall not give any of your offspring to be sacrificed to Moloch, nor shall you profane the name of your god: I am YHVH.


Does this mean that you should not take part in the orgiastic rites, or that you should not sacrifice your children (they also being your seed) to Moloch? King James and others prefer the former, but the Yehudit, both grammatically and syntactically, insists the latter. The reference to Moloch is anyway anachronistic and is one of the clues to the late writing of this book.

These last two ordinances sound like afterthoughts, or possibly late additions; the absence of samech breaks after each verse endorses that impression.


18:22 VE ET ZACHAR LO TISHKAV MISHKEVEY ISHAH TO'EVAH HI

וְאֶת זָכָר לֹא תִשְׁכַּב מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה תּוֹעֵבָה הִוא

KJ: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

BN: You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is abomination.


The phrasing tells us that this is directed to men only; when something specific to women is included, as in the following verse, it is clearly stated as such. We can therefore safely assume that all the above, indeed the entire Torah, was directed to men only; women, being the property of their fathers until they became the property of their husbands, learned the rules at second-hand.

TO'EVAH: Understandable in a fertility cult; the purpose of intercourse was fertility, not pleasure, not sexual gratification for its own sake. But this should not be regarded as homophobia - the punishment for men who masturbated in private, or performed coitus interruptus (cf the story of Onan in Genesis 35:8-9), was exactly the same - the "sin" in each case being the misuse of the divine seed.


18:23 U VE CHOL BEHEMAH LO TITEN SHECHAVTECHA LE TAM'AH VAH VE ISHAH LO TA'AMOD LIPHNEY VEHEMAH LE RIVAH TEVEL HU

וּבְכָל בְּהֵמָה לֹא תִתֵּן שְׁכָבְתְּךָ לְטָמְאָה בָהּ וְאִשָּׁה לֹא תַעֲמֹד לִפְנֵי בְהֵמָה לְרִבְעָהּ תֶּבֶל הוּא

KJ: Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

BN: And you shall not give your bed to any animal, to defile yourself with it; nor shall any woman stand before an animal, in order to lie down with it; it is perversion.


LO TITEN: Very strange phrasing: do not give your bed to any animal - as though it is the animal who makes the approach and you merely the one who yields to its powers of seduction! Women, on the other hand, are instructed not to stand before the animal, which infers that, while the man is the seducee, the woman is the seductress.

TA'AMOD LIPHNEY: "Stand before an animal" is the most euphemistic phrase yet in this chapter. The grammatical form is the give-away. The Hiphil or causative form, not the Pa'al, the standard active; it is not the woman who is, shall we say, upright before the animal, but the woman who is making the animal "upright" before her.

TEVEL: Defile here is clearly nothing to do with menstruation, so we can use it to apply Rabbi Yishmael's principle back to verse 20 and conclude that the "sin" is in the intercourse, regardless of the state of menstruation.

We have to assume that these practices, both the incestual and the bestial, were commonplace, or why the need to create laws against them?

And again, from the phrasing, we can see that this is addressed to the men, who will then provide instruction to the women.


18:24 AL TITAM'U BE CHOL ELEH KI VE CHOL ELEH NITME'U HA GOYIM ASHER ANI MESHAL'E'ACH MI PENEYCHEM

אַל תִּטַּמְּאוּ בְּכָל אֵלֶּה כִּי בְכָל אֵלֶּה נִטְמְאוּ הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ מִפְּנֵיכֶם

KJ: Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:

BN: Do not defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations are defiled, which I have cast out from before you.


Another anachronism. The verse infers Yisra-El post-conquest.

Note the use of GOYIM to mean "nations" in general, where in Genesis it was a specific nation (e.g. 25:23) - see my page on this here.


18:25 VE TITMA HA ARETS VA EPHKOD AVONAH ALEYHA VA TAKI HA ARETS ET YOSHVEYHA

וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ וָאֶפְקֹד עֲו‍ֹנָהּ עָלֶיהָ וַתָּקִא הָאָרֶץ אֶת יֹשְׁבֶיהָ

KJ: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

BN: And the land was defiled, therefore I visited its iniquity upon it, and the land vomited out her inhabitants.


Continuing the anachronism, but also allowing for "manifest destiny" through the normal colonial-imperial practice of "inferiorisation" as a justification of conquest, occupation and ethnic cleansing.

The language here is very much that of the Prophets, and appears to be predicting the Yehoshu'aic religious crusade that will begin after Mosheh's death; though it could just as well reflect retroactively the religious crusade of Ezra's time. See my commentaries on the Book of Joshua to understand how far it was not a geographical or political conquest (because if it was, it failed) but a religious one, the taking over of "pagan" shrines in the name of the Beney Yisra-Eli deity.


18:26 U SHEMARTEM ATEM ET CHUKOTAI VE ET MISHPATAI VE LO TA'ASU MI KOL HA TO'EVOT HA ELEH HA EZRACH VE HA GER HA GAR BETOCH'CHEM

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אַתֶּם אֶת חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה הָאֶזְרָח וְהַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם

KJ: Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

BN: You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances, and you shall not commit any of these abominations; neither the home-born, nor the stranger who dwells among you.


One more thought on the dating; earlier texts speaking of the stranger used ASHER BE SH'EAREYCHA = "within your gates", where this uses HA GAR BETOCH'CHEM. The former is specific to an encampment or a walled town; the latter reaches out to a much wider space of habitation.


18:27 KI ET KOL HA TO'EVOT HA EL ASU ANSHEY HA ARETS ASHER LIPHNEYCHEM VA TITMA HA ARETS

כִּי אֶת כָּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵל עָשׂוּ אַנְשֵׁי הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ

KJ: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

BN: For the men of the land who were here before you have committed all these abominations, and the land is defiled.


HA EL: HA ELEH really, but this shortened form is often used in the Tanach.

And as to "the men of the land" - which men, of which land, if this was written in the desert at Mount Sinai? Every tiny detail helps up with the dating!


18:28 VE LO TAKI HA ARETS ET'CHEM BE TAMA'ACHEM OTAH KA ASHER KA'AH ET HA GOY ASHER LIPHNEYCHEM

וְלֹא תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם

KJ: That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.

BN: So that the land does not vomit you out as well, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.


Which "prophesy" will form the base for many of the pulpit-rants of Yesha-Yahu (Isaiah) and Yechezke-El (Ezekiel) and Yirme-Yah (Jeremiah) later on.


18:29 KI KOL ASHER YA'ASEH MI KOL HA TO'EVOT HA ELEH VE NICHRETU HA NEPHASHOT HA OSOT MI KEREV AMAM

כִּי כָּל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְנִכְרְתוּ הַנְּפָשׁוֹת הָעֹשֹׂת מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּם

KJ: For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

BN: For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.


Notice that we haven't had a samech break for many verses; clearly this text has been gathered from more than a single source.


18:30 U SHEMARTEM ET MISHMARTI LE VILTI ASOT ME CHUKOT HA TO'EVOT ASHER NA'ASU LIPHNEYCHEM VE LO TITAM'U BAHEM ANI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּי לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת מֵחֻקּוֹת הַתּוֹעֵבֹת אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשׂוּ לִפְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא תִטַּמְּאוּ בָּהֶם אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

KJ: Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any oneof these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

BN: Therefore you shall keep my observances, so that you do not commit any of these abominable practices, which were done before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by so doing: I am YHVH your god.


MISHMARTI: Not MISHPATAI or CHUKOTAI, as above, but now MISHMARTI; clearly yet another different source document.

ANI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM: A different signature too.

pey break


Leviticus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27



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