Leviticus 18:1
New International Version
The LORD said to Moses,

New Living Translation
Then the LORD said to Moses,

English Standard Version
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Moses,

King James Bible
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

New King James Version
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

NASB 1995
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

NASB 1977
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Amplified Bible
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

Christian Standard Bible
The LORD spoke to Moses:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Yahweh spoke to Moses: “

American Standard Version
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And LORD JEHOVAH spoke with Moshe and said to him:

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Contemporary English Version
The LORD told Moses

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

English Revised Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD spoke to Moses,

Good News Translation
The LORD told Moses

International Standard Version
The LORD told Moses,

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:

Literal Standard Version
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

Majority Standard Bible
Then the LORD said to Moses,

New American Bible
The LORD said to Moses:

NET Bible
The LORD spoke to Moses:

New Revised Standard Version
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

New Heart English Bible
The LORD said to Moses,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

World English Bible
Yahweh said to Moses,

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Unlawful Sexual Relations
1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God.…

Cross References
Leviticus 17:16
But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, then he shall bear his iniquity."

Leviticus 18:2
"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the LORD your God.


Treasury of Scripture

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

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Leviticus 18
1. Unlawful marriages and unlawful lusts














XVIII.

(1) And the Lord spake unto Moses.--Unlike the preceding Divine communications, which treated of the ritual and ceremonial pollutions, the enactments which Moses is here commanded to communicate direct to the children of Israel, or their representatives, the elders, affect their moral life--precepts which form the basis of domestic purity, and which are the foundation of human happiness.

SECTION III.

CHAPTER 18. MORAL UNCLEANNESS AND ITS PUNISHMENT. This being the subject of the three following chapters (chapters 18-20), they naturally form a sequence to chapters 11-17, which have dealt with ceremonial uncleanness and its purification. It is a remarkable thing that, except by implication in connection with the sin offerings and the trespass offerings and the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, there has not yet been a single moral precept, as such, in the Book of Leviticus, and there has been very little recognition of sin as distinct from pollution. All has been ceremonial. But the ceremonial is typical of the moral, and from the consideration of ceremonial uncleanness and its remedy, we now proceed to the consideration of moral uncleanness and its penalty. It is to be noticed too that, while the ensuing laws are commanded as the positive injunction of God (verses 2, 30), which of itself is sufficient to give them their authority and force, they are still founded, like the ceremonial prohibitions, upon the feelings of repugnance implanted in the mind of man. To enter into the marriage relation with near relatives is abhorrent to a sentiment in mankind so widely spread that it may be deemed to have been originally universal, and the same abhorrence is entertained towards other foul sins of lust. Ugliness, which creates disgust by its ugliness, symbolizes sin; immorality, which inspires abhorrence by its immoral character, proves itself thereby to be sin. The section deals first with sin in the marriage relation, next with sexual impurities connected with marriage, then with other cases of immorality, and lastly with the penalties inflicted on these sins in their character of crimes. Verses 1-5 form an introduction to the Hebrew code of prohibited degrees of marriage and of forbidden sins of lust. The formal and solemn declaration, I am the Lord your God, is made three times in these five verses. This places before the people the two thoughts:

1. That the Lord is holy, and they ought to be like him in holiness;

2. That the Lord has commanded holiness, and they ought to obey him by being holy. Because the Lord is their God, and they are his people, they are, negatively, to refrain from the vicious habits and lax customs prevalent in the land of Egypt wherein they dwelt, and in the land of Canaan whither they were going, the sensuality of which is indirectly condemned by the injunctions which command purity in contrast to their doings; and, positively, they are to keep God's statutes, and his judgments, as laid down in the following code, which if a man do, he shall live in them. The latter clause is of special importance, because it is repeated in the same connection by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 20:11, 13, 21), and in the Levitical confession in the Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:29), and is quoted by St. Paul in a controversial sense (Romans 10:5; Galatians 3:12). Its full meaning is that by obedience to God's commands man attains to a state of existence which alone deserves to be called true life - "the life which connects him with Jehovah through his obedience" (Clark). And this involves the further truth that disobedience results in death. Accordingly, St. Paul uses the text as being the testimony of the Law with regard to itself, that salvation by it is of works in contrast with faith. (Cf. Luke 10:28.) We have no evidence to tell us what were the doings of the land of Canaan in respect to the marriage relation, but this chapter is enough to show that the utmost laxity prevailed in it, and we may be sure that their religious rites, like those of Midian (Numbers 25), were penetrated with the spirit of licentiousness. With regard to the doings of the land of Egypt, we have fuller information. We know that among the Egyptians marriage with sisters and half-sisters was not only permissible, but that its propriety was justified by their religious beliefs, and practiced in the royal family (Died. Sic., 1:27; Die. Cass., 42). Other abominations condemned in this chapter (verse 23) also, as we know, existed there (Herod., 2:46), and if queens could be what in later times Cleopatra was, we may imagine the general dissoluteness of the people. Among Persians, Medes, Indians, Ethiopians and Assyrians, marriage with mothers and daughters was allowed, and from the time of Cambyses, marriage with a sister was regarded as lawful (Herod., 3:31). The Athenians and Spartans permitted marriage with half-sisters. All these concessions to lust, and ether unclean acts with which the heathen world was full (verse 22; Romans 1:27), were fallings away from the law of purity implanted in the heart of man and now renewed for the Hebrew people.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

said
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר (way·ḏab·bêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Moses,
מֹשֶׁ֥ה (mō·šeh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4872: Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver


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OT Law: Leviticus 18:1 Yahweh said to Moses (Le Lv Lev.)
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