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英文原文
The laws which before were made are in this chapter repeated and penalties annexed to them, that those who would not be deterred from sin by the fear of God might be deterred from it by the fear of punishment. If we will not avoid such and such practices because the law has made them sin (and it is most acceptable when we go on that principle of religion), surely we shall avoid them when the law has made them death, from a principle of self-preservation. In this chapter we have, I. Many particular crimes that are made capital. I. Giving their children to Moloch, Le 20:1-5. 2. Consulting witches, Le 20:6,27. 3. Cursing parents, Le 20:9. 4. Adultery, Le 20:10. 5. Incest, Le 20:11,12,14,17,19-21. 6. Unnatural lusts, Le 20:13,15,16,18. II. General commands given to be holy, Le 20:7,8,22-26.
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Moral Laws (1490 BC)
道德律法（主前1490年）
¹ 耶和华对摩西说：
² 你还要对以色列人说：凡以色列人，或在以色列中寄居的外人，把自己的儿女献给摩洛的，总要治死他；本地的人要用石头打死他。
³ 我也要向那人变脸，把他从民中剪除；因为他把儿女献给摩洛，玷污了我的圣所，亵渎了我的圣名。
⁴ 那人把儿女献给摩洛的时候，本地的人若故意掩眼不顾他，不把他治死，
⁵ 我就要向那人和他的家变脸，把他和一切随从摩洛行淫的人，都从民中剪除。
⁶ 那偏向交鬼的和行巫术的，随他们行淫的，我也要向那人变脸，把他从民中剪除。
⁷ 所以你们要自洁成圣，因为我是耶和华你们的神。
⁸ 你们要谨守遵行我的律例：我是使你们成圣的耶和华。
⁹ 凡咒骂父母的，总要治死他；他咒骂了父母，他的罪必归到他身上。
摩西在此受指示，要对以色列人说先前实际上已说过的话（利20:2）。我们确知这不是徒然的重复，而是十分必要的，好使他们更加殷勤地留心所听见的，并因这些话屡次谆谆告诫，便信其为关系重大的事。神说了一次、两次，祂所吩咐要再说的话，我们也当乐意再听，因为对我们是稳妥的（腓3:1）。
I. 这些经文中，有三种罪被处以死刑：—
1. 父母虐待自己的儿女，将他们献为祭给摩洛（利20:2,3）。偶像崇拜的一切礼仪中都有极度的荒谬，都是对人类理性的大羞辱；但没有一样像这件那样践踏人性的一切尊严——将儿女用火焚烧以尊荣一个粪堆之神。这清楚证明他们的神是鬼魔，因为鬼魔渴慕并喜悦人类的痛苦与毁灭；也证明敬拜者比将要灭亡的走兽更糟，完全丧失了理性，也丧失了天然的亲情。亚伯拉罕献以撒，既不能为这野蛮的习俗提供依据，更不能为其源头；因为那事虽曾命令，却随即收回成命。然而这世界的神在不顺从之儿女身上的权势竟如此之大，以致这等惨无人道的恶行广泛流行；连以色列人也有被引入其中的危险，因此有必要制定严厉的律法来加以防范。仅仅告诉他们可以放过儿女（他们肉身所结的果子，断不可为灵魂的罪得蒙悦纳），是不够的，还必须告诉他们，（1.）犯罪者本人当作为杀人犯被处死：本地的人要用石头打死他（利20:2），这在犹太人看来是最重的死刑。儿女既献给鬼魔的恶意，父母就当献给神的公义。若是罪行无法证实，或官长不尽职，神就要亲自接管这事：我必把他剪除（利20:3）。注意，逃避了人之刑罚的人，却逃不脱神公义的审判；那些在罪中指望逍遥法外的人，正是这样可悲地自欺。神若向他们变脸——即皱眉相向、以仇敌相待、与他们争战——这些人怎能逃脱？这里陈明这罪的穷凶极恶以证判决正当：它玷污了圣所，亵渎了神的圣名，神为这两者的尊荣大发热心。请留意，这罪之所以更恶，正因其中那独属于以色列的成分。外邦人献儿女时，犯的是谋杀和偶像崇拜；但以色列人若如此行，便更招致玷污圣所的罪愆（他们即使身负此罪仍来事奉圣所，仿佛神的殿与偶像可以相通），并更招致亵渎神之圣名的罪——因为他们是称为祂名下的人，仿佛神容许敬拜祂的人作这样的事（罗2:23）。（2.）凡帮助怂恿他的人，也必同样被神公义的手剪除。邻舍若藏匿他、不肯出来作证控告他——官长若纵容他、不肯判他刑，宁可可怜他的愚妄而不恨恶他的不敬虔——神必亲自与他们算账（利20:4,5）。包庇偶像崇拜在天上的法庭是可问之罪，必不逃脱刑罚：我要向那人（那官长，耶5:1）和他的家变脸。注意，[1.] 一家之主的恶行常给全家带来灾祸；那本当作看守门户之人，反而成了破门而入之贼。[2.] 官长若不对犯法者施行公义，神必向官长施行公义，因为有许多人仅仅因别人纵容罪恶、视而不见，就追随他们而去行淫，这种危险甚大。领袖的罪若成为带头之罪，他们的刑罚就理当作成鉴戒之刑。
2. 儿女虐待父母，咒骂他们（利20:9）。儿女若说父母的坏话，或咒他们遭祸，或对他们态度傲慢恶毒，这就是当受审判官刑罚的罪孽；审判官受派维护神的尊荣和公众的平安，而这等悖逆天伦的狂妄对两者都构成攻击。见箴30:17：戏笑父亲、藐视而不听从母亲的，他的眼睛必为谷中的乌鸦啄出来——这暗示这样恶毒的儿女正走在不仅被绞死、而且要悬尸示众的路上。摩西的这条律法，基督亲自引用并加以确认（太15:4），因为它对第五条诫命的违背，正与故意杀人违背第六条诫命一样直接。要求父母怜惜儿女的律法，同样要求儿女尊重父母。那恶待父母——自己生命的器皿——的人，就是当面冒犯神——自己生命的源头——祂绝不容父职的尊严和权柄遭人侮辱践踏。
3. 人因求问交鬼的而虐待自己（利20:6）。这岂不正是人贬损自己、亏待自己、欺骗自己，因而虐待自己吗？还有比这更疯狂的吗——去找说谎者求信息，去找仇敌求谋略？那些追随行邪术之术、深知撒但之深奥事的人，正是如此。这是属灵的淫乱，正如偶像崇拜一样，是把唯独当归给神的荣耀归给了魔鬼；而嫉妒的神必给那些这样离祂而行淫的人休书，必把他们剪除——因为他们先已把自己与祂隔绝了。
II. 在这些具体的律法中间，插进了一个总括的吩咐（利20:7,8），其中我们看到，
1. 所要求的本分；共有两项：—（1.）我们的原则、情感和目标都当圣洁：你们要自洁成圣。我们必须从一切罪的污染中洁净自己，献身于事奉和荣耀神，并在凡事上顺服祂圣洁的旨意和形像：这就是自洁。（2.）我们一切的行动、整个行事为人，都当顺服神的律法：你们要谨守我的律例。我们唯有借此才能表明我们已经自洁、是圣洁的，就是借着我们遵守神的诫命；树凭果子就可认出来。而我们若不先自洁、成为圣洁，也不能守住神的律例，如我们本所当行的。树好，果子也就好了。
2. 强制这些本分的理由。（1.）我是耶和华你们的神；所以你们当圣洁，好使你们像你们所归属的那位，并蒙祂喜悦。圣洁与祂的殿和祂的家相称。（2.）我是使你们成圣的耶和华。神借独特的特权、律法和恩惠使他们成圣，将他们与万国分别，尊荣他们为归神为圣的子民。祂赐给他们祂的话语和典章作为他们成圣的手段，又赐下良善的圣灵指教他们；所以他们必须圣洁，否则便是徒然领受神在此所赐的恩。注意，[1.] 神的子民是、也必须是独特的人。神借圣洁之约将他们分别出来，所以他们当以圣洁的品行将自己分别出来。[2.] 神使我们成圣，是我们当自洁的充分理由——好叫我们顺服祂恩典的旨意，不与恩典相违。成圣的既是主，我们便可指望这工必成，虽然困难；这话的表达方式如同林后5:5：那为我们造成这事的就是神。祂的恩典绝非取代我们的努力和殷勤，反而是最有力地激励和鼓励它们。当恐惧战兢作成你们得救的工夫，因为是神在你们心里运行。
¹⁰ 与别人的妻行淫的，就是与邻舍之妻行淫的那人，奸夫淫妇总要被治死。
¹¹ 与继母同寝的，就是露了他父亲的下体：二人总要被治死；他们的罪必归到他们身上。
¹² 人若与儿妇同寝，二人总要被治死：他们行了逆伦的事；他们的罪必归到他们身上。
¹³ 人若与男人同寝，像与女人同寝一样，二人行了可憎恶的事：总要被治死；他们的罪必归到他们身上。
¹⁴ 人若娶妻并娶其母，便是大恶：要用火将这三人都焚烧；使你们中间没有这恶。
¹⁵ 人若与兽淫合，总要被治死；也要杀那兽。
¹⁶ 女人若就近兽与它交合，你要杀那女人和那兽：他们总要被治死；他们的罪必归到他们身上。
¹⁷ 人若娶他的姐妹，无论是异父同母的姐妹，或异母同父的姐妹，彼此看见下体；这是可耻的事；他们必在本国的民眼前被剪除：他露了姐妹的下体；他必担当自己的罪孽。
¹⁸ 人若与在月经污秽中的妇人同寝，露了她的下体；他就是露了她的源头，她也露了自己血漏的源头：二人必从民中被剪除。
¹⁹ 不可露你姨母的下体，也不可露你姑母的下体：因为他是露了骨肉之亲；他们必担当自己的罪孽。
²⁰ 人若与伯叔之妻同寝，就露了他伯叔的下体：他们必担当自己的罪；必无子女而死。
²¹ 人若娶弟兄之妻，本是污秽的事：他露了弟兄的下体；他们必无子女。
违犯第七条诫命的罪在此被命令严厉惩治。这些罪，是愚妄人最易于讥诮的；但神要借刑罚之极严，教导那些不肯借别的方式受教之人罪愆之重。
I. 与他人之妻行淫被定为死罪。同犯这罪的奸夫淫妇同样要落在判决之下：二人都要被治死（利20:10）。远在此以先，甚至在约伯的时代，这已被视为大罪，是当受审判官刑罚的罪孽（伯31:11）。这是对神所设立之典章的公然蔑视，是对祂之约的违背（箴2:17）。这对受亏负的丈夫是无法挽回的伤害，并与其他罪一样败坏两个犯罪者的心志和良心。这是刚愎放纵之情欲猛烈地把人驱入的罪，所以需要如此强有力的遏制。这是玷污全地、招致神审判临到全地的罪，是搅扰家庭、趋向败坏一切德行和信仰的罪，所以理当受维护公众平安者之处分：但见约8:3-11。
II. 乱伦的结合，无论是否涉及婚姻关系。1. 其中有些当处以死刑，如人与继母同寝（利20:11）。流便若在那时已有此律法，他的罪必被处死（创35:22）。这正是那乱伦的哥林多人的罪，为此他当交给撒但（林前5:1,5）。人与儿妇、或与岳母、或与姐妹苟合，同样当处死（利20:12,14,17）。2. 另一些，神要以无嗣之咒罚之，如人与伯婶苟合，或与弟兄之妻苟合（利20:19-21）：他们必无子女而死。那不守神所定婚姻之界限的，便丧失婚姻的福气：他们行淫乱，必不增衍（何4:10）。更有话说，他们必担当自己的罪孽，意思是：他们虽不因这罪立即被神或人的手剪除，但罪愆仍留在他们身上，留待他日算账，不可用祭物或供物来赎。
III. 那逆乎常理的男色和兽淫之罪（提之已足令人毛骨悚然的罪）当处以死刑，正如我们今日的律法所行（利20:13,15,16）。连这样被玷污的牲畜也要与犯罪者一同被杀，借此使犯罪者更加公开地蒙羞：恶行也借此被表明在最高程度上是可憎可恶的，凡足以唤起对它的记忆或提及的一切机会都当除去。即便婚姻之用的不合时，若是出于僭妄、出于对律法的轻蔑，也要使犯罪者暴露于神公义的审判之下：他们必被剪除（利20:18）。因为神的旨意是：各人（妻子被称为软弱的器皿）当在圣洁和尊贵中保守自己的器皿，这才与圣徒相称。
²² 所以你们要谨守遵行我一切的律例和一切典章，免得我领你们去住的那地把你们吐出来。
²³ 你们不可随从我在你们面前所赶出的国民的习俗；因为他们行了这一切事，所以我厌恶他们。
²⁴ 但我对你们说过：你们要承受他们的地，我要把它赐给你们为业，使你们承受，就是流奶与蜜之地：我是耶和华你们的神，是使你们与万民有分别的。
²⁵ 所以你们要把洁净的牲畜和不洁净的、不洁净的飞鸟和洁净的分别出来；不可因我使你们分别为圣不洁的走兽、飞鸟或地上一切爬行的活物，使自己成为可憎。
²⁶ 你们要归我为圣，因为我耶和华是圣洁的，并使你们与万民有分别，使你们作我的民。
²⁷ 无论男女，若有交鬼的或行巫术的，总要被治死：人必用石头打死他们；他们的罪必归到他们身上。
最后一节是一条特别的律法，在全段总括之后才出现，似乎是在原位遗漏的：它是为处死那些交鬼行巫术之人而设的（利20:27）。这样的人若为人所知、又得以在他们中间存活，必是对神和祂活泼圣言的冒犯，是当地的丑闻，是无知恶人的诱惑。那些与鬼魔结盟的人，实际上已与死亡立约、与阴间结盟——他们的结局也必如此。
这些经文的其余部分重复并谆谆告诫先前已说过的话；因为对那样不思善忘的百姓，确实需要律上加律，并需要常常重申通则及其理由，以加强具体的律法，使之更加有效。我们在此被提醒三件事：—
I. 他们的尊荣。1. 他们有耶和华作他们的神（利20:24）。他们是祂的，是祂的眷顾、祂的拣选、祂的珍宝、祂的珠宝、祂的祭司之国（利20:26）：使你们作我的民。有此光景的百姓是有福的，是真正伟大的。2. 他们的神是圣洁的神（利20:26），无限地超越一切。祂的圣洁就是祂的荣耀，能与祂相关联是他们的尊荣，而他们的邻舍却是污秽不洁之灵的可耻敬拜者。3. 大神已将他们从万民中分别出来（利20:24），又说（利20:26）。别的民族是公地，他们是圈出来的地，因独特的特权而得美化、得丰盛，又被定为独特的尊荣；所以他们当如此自重，保守自己的尊荣，不可因随从异教的道路而将它抛弃于尘土。
II. 他们的本分；这本分由他们的尊荣推论而出。神为他们所作的多于为别人所作的，所以对他们所期望的也多于对别人所期望的。耶和华他们的神，因他们所作所谋的大事而要求他们什么？1. 你们要谨守我一切的律例（利20:22）；他们理当如此，因为这些律例是他们的尊荣，遵行这些律例必是他们持久的安慰。2. 你们不可随从万民的习俗（利20:23）。既已与他们分别，就不可与他们结交，也不可学他们的道。万民的习俗在他们身上已经够坏，在神的子民身上就更加糟糕。3. 你们当把洁净的和不洁净的分别出来（利20:25）。这就是圣洁——能分辨不同的事物，不是放荡而活、仿佛我们可以任意说任意行，而是谨慎地言行。4. 你们不可使自己成为可憎（利20:25）。我们当不断地以保守自己灵魂的纯洁来保守自己灵魂的尊荣，绝不可作任何使自己灵魂在神和自己的良心眼中成为可憎的事。
III. 他们的危险。1. 他们正要进入一个受感染之地（利20:24）：你们要承受他们的地，是流奶与蜜之地，他们若持守正直，就必享其中的安慰；但这同时也是遍满偶像、偶像崇拜和迷信习俗之地，他们从埃及带来的对那感染的奇怪癖好，会使他们容易爱上这些。2. 他们若受了感染，后果必是致命的。迦南人正是因这些罪被驱逐：他们行了这一切事，所以我厌恶他们（利20:23）。请看罪是何等邪恶的事；它激怒神以致厌弃自己的受造之物，而祂本是喜悦自己手所作之工的。以色列人若效法他们的不敬虔，就当指望那地把他们吐出来（利20:22），正如祂先前告诉他们的（利18:28）。神若不顾惜原生的枝子而折断它们，也不顾惜那接上去的枝子，若它们也败坏了。这样，犹太人的被弃正成为对一切基督教会的警戒，叫他们当心，免得神的国从他们被夺去。凡像别人那样犯罪的，必像别人那样受苦；他们自称与神相关，并不能保证他们安全无虞。
英文原文
Moral Laws (1490 BC)
¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
² Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
³ And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
⁴ And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
⁵ Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
⁶ And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
⁷ Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
⁸ And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.
⁹ For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
Moses is here directed to say that again to the children of Israel which he had in effect said before, Le 20:2. We are sure it was no vain repetition, but very necessary, that they might give the more earnest heed to the things that were spoken, and might believe them to be of great consequence, being so often inculcated. God speaketh once, yea, twice, and what he orders to be said again we must be willing to hear again, because for us it is safe, Php 3:1.
I. Three sins are in these verses threatened with death:—
1. Parents abusing their children, by sacrificing them to Moloch, Le 20:2,3. There is the grossest absurdity that can be in all the rites of idolatry, and they are all a great reproach to men's reason; but none trampled upon all the honours of human nature as this did, the burning of children in the fire to the honour of a dunghill-god. It was a plain evidence that their gods were devils, who desired and delighted in the misery and ruin of mankind, and that the worshippers were worse than the beasts that perish, perfectly stripped, not only of reason, but of natural affection. Abraham's offering Isaac could not give countenance, much less could it give rise to this barbarous practice, since, though that was commanded, it was immediately countermanded. Yet such was the power of the god of this world over the children of disobedience that this monstrous piece of inhumanity was generally practised; and even the Israelites were in danger of being drawn into it, which made it necessary that this severe law should be made against it. It was not enough to tell them they might spare their children (the fruit of their body should never be accepted for the sin of their soul), but they must be told, (1.) That the criminal himself should be put to death as a murderer: The people of the land shall stone him with stones (Le 20:2), which was looked upon as the worst of capital punishments among the Jews. If the children were sacrificed to the malice of the devil, the parents must be sacrificed to the justice of God. And, if either the fact could not be proved or the magistrates did not do their duty, God would take the work into his own hands: I will cut him off, Le 20:3. Note, Those that escape punishment from men, yet shall not escape the righteous judgments of God; so wretchedly do those deceive themselves that promise themselves impunity in sin. How can those escape against whom God sets his face, that is, whom he frowns upon, meets as an enemy, and fights against? The heinousness of the crime is here set forth to justify the doom: it defiles the sanctuary, and profanes the holy name of God, for the honour of both which he is jealous. Observe, The malignity of the sin is laid upon that in it which was peculiar to Israel. When the Gentiles sacrificed their children they were guilty of murder and idolatry; but, if the Israelites did it, they incurred the additional guilt of defiling the sanctuary (which they attended upon even when they lay under this guilt, as if there might be an agreement between the temple of God and idols), and of profaning the holy name of God, by which they were called, as if he allowed his worshippers to do such things, Ro 2:23. (2.) That all his aiders and abetters should be cut off likewise by the righteous hand of God. If his neighbours concealed him, and would not come in as witnesses against him,—if the magistrates connived at him, and would not pass sentence upon him, rather pitying his folly than hating his impiety,—God himself would reckon with them, Le 20:4,5. Misprision of idolatry is a crime cognizable in the court of heaven, and which shall not go unpunished: I will set my face against that man (that magistrate, Jer 5:1) and against his family. Note, [1.] The wickedness of the master of a family often brings ruin upon a family; and he that should be the house-keeper proves the house-breaker. [2.] If magistrates will not do justice upon offenders, God will do justice upon them, because there is danger that many will go a whoring after those who do but countenance sin by winking at it. And, if the sins of leaders be leading sins, it is fit that their punishments should be exemplary punishments.
2. Children's abusing their parents, by cursing them, Le 20:9. If children should speak ill of their parents, or wish ill to them, or carry it scornfully or spitefully towards them, it was an iniquity to be punished by the judges, who were employed as conservators both of God's honour and of the public peace, which were both attacked by this unnatural insolence. See Pr 30:17, The eye that mocks at his father the ravens of the valley shall pick out, which intimates that such wicked children were in a fair way to be not only hanged, but hanged in chains. This law of Moses Christ quotes and confirms (Mt 15:4), for it is as direct a breach of the fifth commandment as wilful murder is of the sixth. The same law which requires parents to be tender of their children requires children to be respectful to their parents. He that despitefully uses his parents, the instruments of his being, flies in the face of God himself, the author of his being, who will not see the paternal dignity and authority insulted and trampled upon.
3. Persons abusing themselves by consulting such as have familiar spirits, Le 20:6. By this, as much as any thing, a man diminishes, disparages, and deceives himself, and so abuses himself. What greater madness can there be than for a man to go to a liar for information, and to an enemy for advice? Those do so who turn after those that deal in the black art, and know the depths of Satan. This is spiritual adultery as much as idolatry is, giving that honour to the devil which is due to God only; and the jealous God will give a bill of divorce to those that thus go a whoring from him, and will cut them off, they having first cut themselves off from him.
II. In the midst of these particular laws comes in that general charge, Le 20:7,8, where we have,
1. The duties required; and they are two:— (1.) That in our principles, affections, and aims, we be holy: Sanctify yourselves and be you holy. We must cleanse ourselves from all the pollutions of sin, consecrate ourselves to the service and honour of God, and conform ourselves in every thing to his holy will and image: this is to sanctify ourselves. (2.) That in all our actions, and in the whole course of our conversation, we be obedient to the laws of God: You shall keep my statutes. By this only can we make it to appear that we have sanctified ourselves and are holy, even by our keeping God's commandments; the tree is known by its fruit. Nor can we keep God's statutes, as we ought, unless we first sanctify ourselves, and be holy. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good.
2. The reasons to enforce these duties. (1.) "I am the Lord your God; therefore be holy, that you may resemble him whose people you are, and may be pleasing to him. Holiness becomes his house and household." (2.) I am the Lord who sanctifieth you. God sanctified them by peculiar privileges, laws, and favours, which distinguished them from all other nations, and dignified them as a people set apart for God. He gave them his word and ordinances to be means of their sanctification, and his good Spirit to instruct them; therefore they must be holy, else they received the grace of God herein in vain. Note, [1.] God's people are, and must be, persons of distinction. God has distinguished them by his holy covenant, and therefore they ought to distinguish themselves by their holy conversation. [2.] God's sanctifying us is a good reason why we should sanctify ourselves, that we may comply with the designs of his grace, and not walk contrary to them. If it be the Lord that sanctifies us, we may hope the work shall be done, though it be difficult: the manner of expression is like that, 2Co 5:5, He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God. And his grace is so far from superseding our care and endeavour that it most strongly engages and encourages them. Work out your salvation, for it is God that worketh in you.
¹⁰ And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
¹¹ And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
¹² And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
¹³ If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
¹⁴ And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
¹⁵ And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
¹⁶ And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
¹⁷ And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
¹⁸ And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
¹⁹ And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
²⁰ And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
²¹ And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
Sins against the seventh commandment are here ordered to be severely punished. These are sins which, of all others, fools are most apt to make a mock at; but God would teach those the heinousness of the guilt by the extremity of the punishment that would not otherwise be taught it.
I. Lying with another man's wife was made a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress that had joined in the sin must fall alike under the sentence: they shall both be put to death, Le 20:10. Long before this, even in Job's time, this was reputed a heinous crime and an iniquity to be punished by the judges, Job 31:11. It is a presumptuous contempt of an ordinance of God, and a violation of his covenant, Pr 2:17. It is an irreparable wrong to the injured husband, and debauches the mind and conscience of both the offenders as much as any thing. It is a sin which headstrong and unbridled lusts hurry men violently to, and therefore it needs such a powerful restraint as this. It is a sin which defiles a land and brings down God's judgments upon it, which disquiets families, and tends to the ruin of all virtue and religion, and therefore is fit to be animadverted upon by the conservators of the public peace: but see Joh 8:3-11.
II. Incestuous connections, whether by marriage or not. 1. Some of them were to be punished with death, as a man's lying with his father's wife, Le 20:11. Reuben would have been put to death for his crime (Ge 35:22) if this law had been then made. It was the sin of the incestuous Corinthian, for which he was to be delivered unto Satan, 1Co 5:1,5. A man's debauching his daughter-in-law, or his mother-in-law, or his sister, was likewise to be punished with death, Le 20:12,14,17. 2. Others of them God would punish with the curse of barrenness, as a man's defiling his aunt, or his brother's wife (Le 20:19-21): They shall die childless. Those that keep not within the divine rules of marriage forfeit the blessings of marriage: They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase, Ho 4:10. Nay it is said, They shall bear their iniquity, that is, though they be not immediately cut off by the hand either of God or man for this sin, yet the guilt of it shall lie upon them, to be reckoned for another day, and not be purged with sacrifice or offering.
III. The unnatural lusts of sodomy and bestiality (sins not to be mentioned without horror) were to be punished with death, as they are at this day by our law, Le 20:13,15,16. Even the beast that was thus abused was to be killed with the sinner, who was thereby openly put to the greater shame: and the villany was thus represented as in the highest degree execrable and abominable, all occasions of the remembrance or mention of it being to be taken away. Even the unseasonable use of the marriage, if presumptuous, and in contempt of the law, would expose the offenders to the just judgment of God: they shall be cut off, Le 20:18. For this is the will of God, that every man should possess his vessel (and the wife is called the weaker vessel) in sanctification and honour, as becomes saints.
²² Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
²³ And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
²⁴ But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.
²⁵ Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
²⁶ And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
²⁷ A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.
The last verse is a particular law, which comes in after the general conclusion, as if omitted in its proper place: it is for the putting of those to death that dealt with familiar spirits, Le 20:27. It would be an affront to God and to his lively oracles, a scandal to the country, and a temptation to ignorant bad people, to consult them, if such were known and suffered to live among them. Those that are in league with the devil have in effect made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, and so shall their doom be.
The rest of these verses repeat and inculcate what had been said before; for to that unthinking forgetful people it was requisite that there should be line upon line, and that general rules, with their reasons, should be frequently insisted on, for the enforcement of particular laws, and making them more effectual. Three things we are here reminded of:—
I. Their dignity. 1. They had the Lord for their God, Le 20:24. They were his, his care, his choice, his treasure, his jewels, his kingdom of priests (Le 20:26): That you should be mine. Happy the people, and truly great, that are in such a case. 2. Their God was a holy God (Le 20:26), infinitely advanced above all others. His holiness is his glory, and it was their honour to be related to him, while their neighbours were the infamous worshippers of impure and filthy spirits. 3. The great God had separated them from other people (Le 20:24), and again, Le 20:26. Other nations were the common; they were the enclosure, beautified and enriched with peculiar privileges, and designed for peculiar honours; let them therefore value themselves accordingly, preserve their honour, and not lay it in the dust, by walking in the way of the heathen.
II. Their duty; this is inferred from their dignity. God had done more for them than for others, and therefore expected more from them than from others. And what is it that the Lord their God requires, in consideration of the great things done and designed? 1. You shall keep all my statutes (Le 20:22); and there was all the reason in the world that they should, for the statutes were their honour, and obedience to them would be their lasting comfort. 2. You shall not walk in the manners of nations, Le 20:23. Being separated from them, they must not associate with them, nor learn their ways. The manners of the nations were bad enough in them, but would be much worse in God's people. 3. You shall put a difference between clean and unclean, Le 20:25. This is holiness, to discern between things that differ, not to live at large, as if we might say and do any thing, but to speak and act with caution. 4. You shall not make your souls abominable, Le 20:25. Our constant care must be to preserve the honour, by preserving the purity, of our own souls, and never to do any thing to make them abominable to God and to our own consciences.
III. Their danger. 1. They were going into an infected place (Le 20:24): You shall inherit their land, a land flowing with milk and honey, which they would have the comfort of if they kept their integrity; but, withal, it was a land full of idols, idolatries, and superstitious usages, which they would be apt to fall in love with, having brought from Egypt with them a strange disposition to take that infection. 2. If they took the infection, it would be of pernicious consequence to them. The Canaanites were to be expelled for these very sins: They committed all these things, therefore I abhorred them, Le 20:23. See what an evil thing sin is; it provokes God to abhor his own creatures, whereas otherwise he delights in the work of his hands. And, if the Israelites trod in the steps of their impiety, they must expect that the land would spue them out (Le 20:22), as he had told them before, Le 18:28. If God spared not the natural branches, but broke them off, neither would he spare those who were grafted in, if they degenerated. Thus the rejection of the Jews stands for a warning to all Christian churches to take heed lest the kingdom of God be taken from them. Those that sin like others must expect to smart like them; and their profession of relation to God will be no security to them.
前所定的律例，本章复述之，并附以刑罚，使那些因不敬畏神而不肯止息犯罪的人，可因惧怕刑罚而被制止。倘若我们因律法已将这些行为定为罪而不去犯（当我们顺着这种敬虔的原则而行时，是最蒙悦纳的），那么当律法已将这些行为定为死罪时，我们出于自保的原则，必定更要远避了。本章内容如下：I. 许多种被定为死罪的罪：1. 将儿女献给摩洛（利20:1-5）。2. 求问交鬼的（利20:6,27）。3. 咒骂父母的（利20:9）。4. 奸淫（利20:10）。5. 乱伦（利20:11,12,14,17,19-21）。6. 逆性的情欲（利20:13,15,16,18）。II. 当圣洁的总括诫命（利20:7,8,22-26）。