“ ‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.
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Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
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And thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Leviticus 18:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.
- Leviticus 20:10 “ ‘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.
- Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
- Hebrews 13:4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:18 “You shall not commit adultery.
- 2 Samuel 11:3-4 David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?” David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.
- Proverbs 6:25 Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
- Deuteronomy 22:22 If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both die, the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall remove the evil from Israel.
- Deuteronomy 22:25 But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die;
- 2 Samuel 11:27 When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Yahweh.
- Proverbs 6:29-33 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished. Men don’t despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house. He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul. He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.
- Malachi 3:5 I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Romans 2:22 You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
- Galatians 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with…
Lev 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
Ver. 20. To defile thyself.] As David, how did he embroil himself with Bathsheba, and chased away that pure Spirit. {Psa 51:10-12} Casta Deus mens est.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's…
Moreover, thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife,.... Which is adultery, and a breach of the seventh command, Exo 20:14,
to defile thyself with her; not only adultery is a defiling a man's wife, as it is sometimes called, but the adulterer defiles himself: all sin is of a defiling nature, but especially this, which defiles a man both in soul and body, and brings a blot and stain upon his character, which shall not be wiped off, Pro 6:32.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Thy neighbour's wife] See Clarke on Ex…
Verse 20. Thy neighbour's wife] See Clarke on Ex 20:14.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wife. This crime is to be punished like the…
Wife. This crime is to be punished like the rest, ver. 29.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Thy neighbour’s wife — This is a repetition…
20. Thy neighbour’s wife — This is a repetition of the seventh commandment, in another form, for the purpose of emphasis and of completing the enumeration of abominations prevalent in Egypt and Canaan. This verse prohibits not only adultery proper, or double adultery, as some laws define this crime, in two married persons, (see Exo_20:14, note,) but also one species of single adultery.
Defile thyself — This is moral and ceremonial pollution.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) Thy neighbour’s wife.—For committing adultery, which is here…
(20) Thy neighbour’s wife.—For committing adultery, which is here branded as a defilement, whether with a betrothed or married woman, both guilty parties incurred the penalty of death by stoning. (See Lev_20:10; Deu_22:22; Eze_16:38; Eze_16:40; Joh_8:5.) In Egypt the adulterer received a thousand strokes with a stick, and the guilty woman had her nose cut off, and to this day the criminal wife among the Bedouins is executed by her husband, father, or brother, without any mercy. Both criminals were also punished with death among other Eastern nations.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The second prohibition is, Thou shalt not lie carnally…
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 (Lev_20:10 Deu_22:22Jo Deu_9:5) a more severe penalty than was usually inflicted in other nations.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 18:20 The Hebrew word translated defile yourself could be…
18:20 The Hebrew word translated defile yourself could be more literally translated to become ceremonially unclean. • Sexual intercourse with a neighbor’s wife or any married woman defined adultery in the Old Testament. Breaking this law was punishable by death (Deut 22:22). Like incest, adultery threatened the integrity and security of the home and family. In this case, it violated the covenant of marriage and divided the adulterer’s affection between his spouse and his mistress.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.