Leviticus 18:4-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Leviticus 18:4 tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”sn The Hebrew term translated “regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) refers to the set of regulations about to be set forth in the following chapters (cf. Lev 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:46). Note especially the thematic and formulaic relationships between the introduction here in Lev 18:1-5 and the paraenesis in Lev 20:22-26, both of which refer explicitly to the corrupt nations and the need to separate from them by keeping the Lord’s regulations.
2. Leviticus 18:4 tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”
3. Leviticus 18:5 tn Heb “And you shall keep.”
4. Leviticus 18:5 tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ʾadam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (v^ekhayah) in Smr, but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ʿayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).
5. Leviticus 18:6 tn Heb “Man, man shall not draw near to any flesh (שְׁאֵר, sh^eʾer) of his body/flesh (בָּשָׂר, basar).” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or “every”) man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2). The two words for “flesh” are combined to refer to and emphasize the physical familial relatedness (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 282, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 119).
6. Leviticus 18:6 tn Heb “to uncover [her] nakedness” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), which is clearly euphemistic for sexual intercourse (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 282, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 119). This expression occurs a number of times in the following context and is generally translated “have sexual relations with [someone],” although in the case of the father mentioned in the following verse the expression may be connected to the shame or disgrace that would belong to the father whose wife’s sexuality is violated by his son. See the note on the word “mother” in v. 7.
7. Leviticus 18:6 sn The general statement prohibiting sexual relations between close relatives serves as an opening summary statement for the following section, which gives details concerning which degrees of relationship are specifically forbidden.