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The opening prohibition, “No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations” (v.6), governs the list of regulations that follow. The use of “close relative” is intended to cover both blood relatives and relatives by marriage.
Underlying these laws on sexual relationship is the biblical conception of sexual intercourse, which establishes a one-flesh unity between the man and woman who engage in it (cf. Ge 2:24; 1Co 6:16). D. S. Bailey, in The Mystery of Love and Marriage, describes the one-flesh unity as an enduring union of the two persons in their whole beings. Therefore, any other union with a member of one’s family is forbidden.