Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, by R.A. Torrey, [ca. 1880], at sacred-texts.com
Leviticus Chapter 20
Overview
Lev 20:1, Of him that gives of his seed to Moloch; Lev 20:4, Of him that favours such an one; Lev 20:6, Of going to wizards; Lev 20:7, Of sanctification; Lev 20:9, Of him that curses his parents; Lev 20:10, Of adultery; Lev 20:11, Of incest; Lev 20:13, Of sodomy; Lev 20:15, Of bestiality; Lev 20:18, Of uncleanness; Lev 20:22, Obedience is required with holiness; Lev 20:27, Wizards must be put to death.
Whosoever: Lev 17:8, Lev 17:13, Lev 17:15
giveth: Lev 18:21; Deu 12:31, Deu 18:10; Kg2 17:17, Kg2 23:10; Ch2 28:3, Ch2 33:6; Psa 106:38; Isa 57:5, Isa 57:6; Jer 7:31, Jer 32:35; Eze 16:20, Eze 16:21, Eze 20:26, Eze 20:31, Eze 23:37, Eze 23:39; Act 7:43, Moloch.
Molech: The Rabbins describe this idol as made of brass sitting upon a throne of the same metal, in the form of a man, with the head of a calf, adorned with a royal crown, and his arms extended as if to embrace any one. When they offered any children to him, they heated the statue by a great fire kindled within, and the victim was put into his arms, and thus consumed. Others relate, that the idol, which was hollow, was divided into seven compartments within; in one of which they put flour, in the second turtles, in the third a ewe, in the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and the seventh a child; which were all burnt together by heating the statue inside. The account which Diodorus (l. xx.) gives of the statue of Saturn, to which the Carthaginians, descendants of the Canaanites, sacrificed their children, is very similar. For they had a brazen stature of Saturn, stretching out his hands towards the ground, in such a manner that the children placed within them tumbled down into a pit full of fire. To this account Milton alludes, in Paradise Lost, B. 1. 392.
the people: Lev 20:27, Lev 24:14, Lev 24:23; Num 15:35, Num 15:36; Deu 13:10, Deu 13:11, Deu 17:5-7, Deu 21:21; Act 7:58, Act 7:59
I will set: Lev 17:10; Pe1 3:12
to defile: Num 19:20; Eze 5:11, Eze 23:38, Eze 23:39
profane: Lev 18:21; Eze 20:39; Co2 6:16
hide: Act 17:30
and kill: Deu 13:8, Deu 17:2-5; Jos 7:12; Sa1 3:13, Sa1 3:14; Kg1 20:42; Rev 2:14
I will: Lev 17:10
against his: Exo 20:5; Jer 32:28-35, Jer 32:39
whoring: Lev 17:7; Psa 106:39; Jer 3:2; Hos 2:5, Hos 2:13
familiar: Lev 20:27, Lev 19:26, Lev 19:31; Deu 18:10-14; Isa 8:19
go: Exo 34:15, Exo 34:16; Num 15:39; Psa 73:27; Eze 6:9; Hos 4:12
cut him: Ch1 10:13, Ch1 10:14; In the days of Moses, superstition was almost the sensus communis of the human race, which then made severe punishment necessary. by means of the Christian dispensation such errors are now exploded, the cultivation of philosophy and natural history having harmonised and contributed their feebler share of light, so that we no longer have to deplore mischiefs occasioned by the silly curiosity attempting to unfold future events.
Lev 11:44, Lev 19:2; Eph 1:4; Phi 2:12, Phi 2:13; Col 3:12; Th1 4:3, Th1 4:7; Heb 12:14; Pe1 1:15, Pe1 1:16
And ye: Lev 18:4, Lev 18:5, Lev 19:37; Mat 5:19, Mat 7:24, Mat 12:50; Joh 13:17; Jam 1:22; Rev 22:14
sanctify: Lev 21:8; Exo 31:13; Eze 20:12, Eze 37:28; Co1 1:30; Th1 5:23; Th2 2:13
curseth: The term yekallel signifies not only to curse, but to speak contemptuously, disrespectfully, or to make light of a person, so that all speeches which have a tendency to lessen our parents in the eyes of others, or to render their judgment, piety, etc., suspected or contemptible, is here included; though the act of cursing, or of treating the parent with injurious or opprobrious language, is what is particularly intended. He who conscientiously keeps the fifth commandment, can be in no danger of the judgment here denounced. Exo 21:17; Deu 27:16; Pro 20:20, Pro 30:11, Pro 30:17; Mat 15:4; Mar 7:10
his blood: Lev 20:11-13, Lev 20:16, Lev 20:27; Jos 2:19; Jdg 9:24; Sa2 1:16; Kg1 2:32; Mat 27:25
the adulterer: Deu 22:22-24; Sa2 12:13; Eze 23:45-47; Joh 8:4, Joh 8:5
Lev 18:8; Deu 27:20, Deu 27:23; Amo 2:7; Co1 5:1
their: Lev 20:9
lie: Lev 18:15; Gen 38:16, Gen 38:18; Deu 27:23
confusion: Lev 18:23
Lev 18:22; Gen 19:5; Deu 23:17; Jdg 19:22; Rom 1:26, Rom 1:27; Co1 6:9; Ti1 1:10; Jde 1:7
a wife: Lev 18:17; Deu 27:23; Amo 2:7
burnt: Lev 21:9; Jos 7:15, Jos 7:25
Lev 18:23; Exo 22:19; Deu 27:21
And if a woman: We are assured by Herodotus (in Euterp) that the abominations here referred to existed among the Egyptians, and even formed part of their superstitious religious system, and we have reason to believe that they were not uncommon among the Canaanites. (See note on Lev 18:24, Lev 18:25). Need we wonder then, that God should have made laws of this nature, and appointed the punishment of death for these crimes? This one observation will account for many of those strange prohibitions which we find in the Mosaic law.
and the beast: Exo 19:13, Exo 21:28, Exo 21:32; Heb 12:20
Lev 18:9; Gen 20:12; Deu 27:22; Sa2 13:12; Eze 22:11
having: Lev 15:24, Lev 18:19; Eze 18:6, Eze 22:10
discovered: Heb. made naked
mother's: Lev 18:12, 13-30; Exo 6:20
uncovereth: Lev 18:6
uncle's wife: Lev 18:14
childless: Job 18:19; Psa 109:13; Jer 22:30; Luk 1:7, Luk 1:25, Luk 23:29
his brother's: Lev 18:16; Mat 14:3, Mat 14:4
an unclean thing: Heb. a separation
statutes: Lev 18:4, Lev 18:5, Lev 18:26, Lev 19:37; Psa 19:8-11, Psa 105:45, Psa 119:80, Psa 119:145, Psa 119:171; Eze 36:27
judgments: Exo 21:1; Deu 4:45, Deu 5:1; Psa 119:20, Psa 119:106, Psa 119:160, Psa 119:164, Psa 119:175; Isa 26:8, Isa 26:9
spue you: Lev 18:25-28, Lev 26:33; Deu 28:25, Deu 28:26
in the manners: Lev 18:3, Lev 18:24, Lev 18:30; Deu 12:30, Deu 12:31; Jer 10:1, Jer 10:2
therefore: Lev 18:27; Deu 9:5; Psa 78:59; Zac 11:8
But I: Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17, Exo 6:8
a land: Milk and honey were the chief dainties of the ancients as they are now among the Arabs, particularly the Bedouins. Hence not only the Hebrews, but also the Greeks and Romans, painted the highest pleasantness and fertility by an abundance of milk and honey. The image used in the text, and frequently by ancient authors on similar subjects, is a metaphor, derived from a breast, producing copious streams of milk.
which: Lev 20:26; Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6, Exo 33:16; Num 23:9; Deu 7:6, Deu 14:2; Kg1 8:53; Joh 15:19; Co2 6:17; Pe1 2:9
put difference: Lev. 11:1-47; Deut. 14:3-21; Act 10:11-15, Act 10:28; Eph 5:7-11
abominable: Lev 11:43
creepeth: or, moveth
the Lord: Lev 20:7, Lev 19:2; Psa 99:5, Psa 99:9; Isa 6:3, Isa 30:11; Pe1 1:15, Pe1 1:16; Rev 3:7, Rev 4:8
severed: Lev 20:24; Deu 7:6, Deu 14:2, Deu 26:18, Deu 26:19; Tit 2:14
a familiar: Lev 20:6, Lev 19:31; Exo 22:18; Deu 18:10-12; Sa1 28:7-9
their blood: Lev 20:9