3. Laws forbidding defiling sexual practices (18:19-23)

In addition to the prohibition against sexual intercourse with relatives, a number of other sexual practices are forbidden. One must not have intercourse with a neighbor’s wife (v.20). Adultery is condemned throughout the Bible (cf. Ex 20:14, 17). Parents are not to offer their children to Molech (v.21). The exact nature of this sacrifice is not known, but most scholars believe that children were burnt on a special brazier as a sacrifice to the god Molech. The text states that it profanes God’s name. To profane is to debase that which is holy. God has given his name to the Israelites to be carried through their offspring, and they must not tarnish his reputation through false worship that destroys human life. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden (v.22). Such conduct is detestable, an activity that God abhors. Bestiality is forbidden for both sexes (v.23). The Hebrew word for sexual intercourse used in the case of a woman is the same word used in 19:19 for breeding animals. Its use in this text shows how degrading bestiality is.