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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:1-5
Obedience enjoined. A nation's importance is not to be reckoned according to its size, but more according to the character of its people and of the great men who have belonged to it. That must ever be a distinguished na…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:1-4
Two aspects of sin. There are many ways in which sin may be regarded. Directed by these words, we may look at it in— I. ITS UGLY ASPECT AS SEEN IN HUMAN ILLUSTRATIONS. The children of Israel were warned to separate them…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:1-30
Abominable doings. This chapter contains laws against abominations practiced by the heathen, together with reasons why they must be avoided by the people of God. Foremost amongst these reasons is— I. THAT THEY ARE FORBI…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:1-30
Leviticus 18:5, "Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord." I. THE TRUE MORALITY IS BASED UPON THE TRUE RELIGION. 1. Special need of insisting on thi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:5
Life in obedience. The Apostle Paul, both in his letter to the Romans (Romans 10:5), and in that to the Churches of Galatia (Galatians 3:12), brings this passage to prove that salvation under the Law was by obedience ra…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:6-23
Impurity-its extent and source. There are times when and conditions under which it is both our right and our duty to speak on this subject. We may offend delicacy by speech, and must therefore be careful what we say. Bu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:6
The next thirteen verses contain the law of incest, or the prohibited degrees of marriage. The positive law of marriage, as implanted in the human heart, would be simply that any man of full age might marry any woman of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:9
In the third place, incest with a sister is forbidden, and it is specifically stated that under the term "sister" is meant the half-sister, the daughter of thy father, or … thy mother,… born at home, as would naturally…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:10
The fourth case of incest which is prohibited is that with a granddaughter, whether the daughter of son or daughter, for, as they are descended from the grandfather, their's is thine own nakedness.
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:11
Incest with a half-sister on the father's side is again forbidden. Perhaps "the prohibition refers to the son by a first marriage, whereas Leviticus 18:9 treats of the son by a second marriage" (Keil).
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:12-15
Fifthly, incest with a paternal or maternal aunt is forbidden; sixthly, with an aunt by marriage; seventhly, with a daughter-in-law. The last of these finds its place in Ezekiel's catalogue of abominations (Ezekiel 22:1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:16
The eighth ease of incest is intercourse with a brother's wife. Yet this is commanded under certain circumstances in the Book of Deuteronomy, and was practiced in patriarchal times (Genesis 38:8). The following are the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:17
The ninth form of incest prohibited is intercourse with a stepdaughter, or step-granddaughter, or mother-in-law. The expression made use of, Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, covers the c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:18
Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time. Do these words refer to the marriage of two sisters or not? It has been passionately affirmed that t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:19-23
The preservation of the marriage relationship in its purity is the safeguard against sins of lust, which will be sure to invade a society wherever licentiousness or asceticism has dishonoured marriage.
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:19
The marriage restrictions having been laid down, there follows in the five next verses the prohibition of five sexual impurities unconnected with marriage except by their subject-matter. The first is to approach unto a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:20
The second prohibition is, Thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife—a prohibition already made in other words in the ten commandments. The punishment for adultery is death by stoning (Leviticus 20:10; Deute…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:21
The third prohibition is, Thou shall not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech. The words the fire are properly inserted, though not expressed in the original (cf. Deuteronomy 18:10; 2 Kings 22:10). What w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:22
The fourth prohibition forbids the sin of Sodom (see Genesis 19:5; 11:22; Romans 1:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10). The penalty is death (Leviticus 20:13).
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:23
The fifth prohibition (see Herod; Leviticus 2:16). The penalty is death (Leviticus 20:15).
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:24-30
The penalty of sin. The disastrous consequences of iniquity are clearly and strongly expressed in these concluding words of the chapter. We have the truth brought out— I. THAT BY SIN WE CORRUPT OURSELVES. "Defile not ye…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:24-30
Dissolute morals in respect to the relations of the sexes is always a symptom which precedes the ruin of an empire or the fall of a nation. It is both a sign and a cause—a sign of a general corruption, which will show i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 18:24-30
These verses contain a warning against the sins of incest and impurity already specified. The reason why the Canaanites were east out before the Israelites was that they were defiled in all these things,… and the land w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Leviticus 19:1-37
EXPOSITION From the prohibition of moral uncleanness exhibiting itself in the form of incest and licentiousness, the legislator proceeds to a series of laws and commandments against other kinds of immorality, inculcatin…