“ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself.
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself.
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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.
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For whatsoever man there be that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Leviticus 20:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 21:17 “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
- Mark 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
- Proverbs 30:17 “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.
- 2 Samuel 1:16 David said to him, “Your blood be on your head; for your mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have slain Yahweh’s anointed.’ ”
- Proverbs 30:11 There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.
- Judges 9:24 that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.
- Leviticus 20:11-13 “ ‘The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves. “ ‘If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed a perversion. Their blood shall be upon themselves. “ ‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon themselves.
- Matthew 27:25 All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He is worthy to die.
He is worthy to die.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 20:9 For every one that curseth his father…
Lev 20:9 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.
Ver. 9. For every one that curseth.] {See Trapp on "Mat 15:4"} {See Trapp on "Exo 21:17"}
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For, or, surely, as that particle, chi, is oft…
For, or, surely, as that particle, chi, is oft used, as Job 8:6; 20:20. So there needs no dispute about the connexion, or what this is a reason of. Curseth; which is not meant of every perverse expression, but of bitter reproaches or imprecations. Or his mother; Heb. and put for or, as hath been noted before.
His blood shall be upon him; he is guilty of his own death; he deserves to die for so unnatural a crime.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For everyone that curseth his father or his mother,....…
For everyone that curseth his father or his mother,.... Here begins the account of the penalties annexed to the several laws in the preceding chapter; and that respecting the fear and honour of parents being the first, Lev 19:3, is here begun with:
shall surely be put to death; the Targum of Jonathan adds,"by casting of stones,''stoning being the punishment of such transgressors:
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he hath cursed his father or his mother: to do either is his sin, and a capital crime it is:
his blood shall be upon him: he shall be guilty of death, be condemned unto it, and punished with it, namely, by stoning; for, as Jarchi observes, wherever it is, "his blood shall be on him", or "their blood shall be on them", it is to be understood of stoning.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Curseth - This is not here meant of every…
Curseth - This is not here meant of every perverse expression, but of bitter reproaches or imprecations. His blood shall be upon him - He is guilty of his own death: he deserves to die for so unnatural a crime.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Curseth his father or his mother] See…
Verse 9. Curseth his father or his mother] See Clarke on Ge 48:12, and "Ex 20:12". He who conscientiously keeps the fifth commandment can be in no danger of this judgment. The term יקלל yekallel signifies, not only to curse, but to speak of a person contemptuously and disrespectfully, to make light of; so that all speeches which have a tendency to lessen our parents in the eyes of others, or to render their judgment, piety, c., suspected and contemptible, may be here included though the act of cursing, or of treating the parent with injurious and opprobrious language, is that which is particularly intended.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 20:9. Curseth — This is not here meant…
Lev 20:9. Curseth — This is not here meant of every perverse expression, but of bitter reproaches or imprecations. His blood shall be upon him — He is guilty of his own death: he deserves to die for so unnatural a crime.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Die. The Rabbins say, by being strangled, when nothing…
Die. The Rabbins say, by being strangled, when nothing farther is added: but if the following addition be made, stoning is understood. But their authority is not of much weight, and is contradicted, ver. 2. Stoning was the most usual method of putting to death in the days of Moses, and is commonly meant; or perhaps the judges might determine the mode of execution. --- Upon him. He deserves to die. He can blame no other. See Matthew xvii. 25. (Calmet) --- For greater infamy, the person to be stoned or hung, was stripped of his clothes. (Tirinus) --- The punishment of lapidation (ver. 2) seems to be designed for the following times, as it was for adultery, Deuteronomy xxii. 24. (Menochius) (John. viii. 5.)
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 9. Curseth his father — The Hebrew includes contemptuous…
9. Curseth his father — The Hebrew includes contemptuous or disrespectful words, as well as cursing. But it is not probable that petulant words in a momentary passion were sufficient to constitute a capital crime, but the defiant and repeated vilification of the parents and the rejection of their authority.
His blood… upon him — This law phrase, recurring so often in the Scriptures, is first found here. It signifies that capital punishment worthily falls upon him who wilfully violates God’s law.
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Breach of the reverence due to parents is punished in just the same way as offences against the reverence due to God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. The penalty of death is here assigned for…
9. The penalty of death is here assigned for cursing a parent, as in Exo_21:17. In both places Targ. Ps-Jon. gives the traditional interpretation that when the sacred Name is mentioned in connexion with the cursing, the penalty of death is incurred. The words ‘his (their) blood shall be upon him (them)’ occur in this ch. and in Eze_18:13; Eze_33:5; cp. Jos_2:19; Eze_33:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) For every one that curseth his father.—Though the…
(9) For every one that curseth his father.—Though the administrators of the Law during the second Temple have laid down the most minute regulation with regard to filial obedience (see Lev_19:3), and though nothing can exceed the tenderness with which they instilled into the hearts of children the Biblical precepts on this subject (Exo_20:12), yet they enacted that the child only incurred the penalty of death when he used the ineffable name God when cursing his parent, who was either alive or dead, and that if he used an attribute of the Deity, such as Almighty, the Merciful, &c, he was simply to be beaten with stripes. This will account for the rendering of this passage in the ancient Chaldee Version, “who curseth his father or his mother by the inexpressible name,” i.e., Jehovah.
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 See above, the note on Lev_19:14, which shows how…
See above, the note on Lev_19:14, which shows how God"s word is made of none effect by man"s traditions. God says that a man who curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. Human authority, incontrovertible throughout a great part of Christendom, declares that in most cases it is no grave sin.
Just as the negative law, "Thou shalt do no murder," involves the positive law, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour," so the law forbidding to curse a father or a mother contains within it the law of reverential submission to parents and to all in authority.
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The unforgiven.
"His blood shall be upon him;" "their blood shall be upon them" (verses 13, 16, 27). These words have a deeper significance than a mere repetition of the sentence, "He shall be put to death." They signify this: his sin cannot be forgiven him. It was the blood of the animal that "made atonement for the soul". (Lev_17:11) It was the shed blood, therefore, that was associated, in thought, with the penalty due to sin. And when the legislator said.
"His Mood shall be upon him," he meant his penalty shall rest upon him it shall not be borne and taken away by the blood of the substituted victim. In other words, "He shall bear his iniquity," or the penalty of his iniquity, himself. (see Lev_7:18) There have always been, and there will always be, in the world "the unforgiven;" men, like Cain, who bear about them the brand of an unpardonable offense; sons and daughters who have erred and have not been taken back into parental love; criminals that have lost the place in society which they have no hope of regaining; forlorn wretches that have so sinned against their conscience that they cannot forgive themselves, and have abandoned themselves to a terrible despair. But what of the Divine forgiveness or refusal to forgive? We are taught
I THAT PROVISION WAS MADE IN THE LAW FOR THE PARDON OF MANY OFFENSES. This was the end of all the sin and trespass offerings, and on the Day of Atonement "all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions" were "borne away" into the uninhabited land, into the wilderness of oblivion. (Lev_16:21, Lev_16:22)
II THAT UNDER THE LAW THERE WERE OFFENSES WHICH COULD NOT BE THUS ATONED, AND WERE NOT FORGIVEN. Those who wrought shameful acts of idolatry or immorality could bring no oblation to the altar; they could look for no mercy; no blood of atonement was availing; their "blood was upon them;" they died before the Lord.
III THAT, UNDER THE GOSPEL, MERCY IS OFFERED FOR THE WORST TRANSGRESSORS IF THERE BE PENITENCE AND FAITH. The one "unpardonable sin" (Mar_3:29) is either
(1) a sin which was possible in the days of the Incarnation and is absolutely beyond commission now, or
(2) consists in that hardening of the heart against the Spirit"s influence which results in final impenitence. But where there is repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, there is an open gate into the kingdom of God"s mercy, into eternal life. No heinousness of offense, no multiplicity of transgressions, bars the way. "By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses". (Act_13:39)
IV THAT MANY SOULS, THOUGH WALKING IN THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL, ARE CONTENT TO RANK AMONG THE UNFORGIVEN. In the light, in the full sunshine of privilege and opportunity, there are thousands of men who do not find, because they will not seek, the mercy and the friendship of God. They live unforgiven; "their blood is upon them." They go through life
(1) with an oppressive sense of condemnation upon them;
(2) excluding themselves from purest spiritual blessedness; (Psa_32:1, Psa_32:2)
(3) voluntarily unfitted for the highest service man can render his brother.
V THAT THE IMPENITENT PASS INTO THE FUTURE WITH UNFORGIVEN SIN UPON THEIR SOUL. How terrible to pass beyond the line which bounds the period of probation with our "blood upon us;" to pass on
(1) to condemnation and reproach at the bar of God,
(2) to exile from the heavenly city,
(3) to the retribution which the justice of God must inflict!
Go, in the day of grace, to the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," through whom there is "remission of sins". C. (Luk_24:47)
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 20:9-27 Because pagan worship affected ethics, the regulations for…
20:9-27 Because pagan worship affected ethics, the regulations for families follow immediately after those dealing with pagan religious practices. To some extent, the laws of this section replicate those of 18:6-30, which precede the section dealing with proper expressions of holiness (19:1-37). These were all related issues, as the proper worship of God led to proper conduct toward other people, while improper worship of God led to moral violations.
20:9 The Hebrew word for dishonors means “to make light of, treat with contempt,” and is traditionally translated “curse,” in the sense of calling someone a vulgar or profane name. Parental authority was given by God, not chosen by the child (see Exod 20:12; Deut 21:18-21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.