Leviticus 18:19

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Leviticus 18:19 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.
Leviticus 18:19 — American Standard Version

Context — Leviticus 18

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
19And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Also thou shall not approach unto a woman, etc.] Not even a man to his own wife, and much less to another woman: to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness; in her monthly courses; and the time of her separation from her husband on that account was seven days, (<031519>Leviticus 15:19); if a man lay with a woman when in such circumstances, they were both to be cut off from their people, (<032018>Leviticus 20:18); and such an action is reckoned among sins, and uncleanness of the worst sort, (<262210>Ezekiel 22:10).”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“As long as she is set apart - No not to thy own wife. This was not only a ceremonial pollution, but an immorality also, whence it is put amongst gross sins, Eze 18:6. And therefore it is now unlawful under the gospel. Leviticus 18:21”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Lev 15:19, Lev 15:24, Lev 20:18; Eze 18:6, Eze 22:10 Leviticus 18:20”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“Prohibition of other kinds of unchastity and of unnatural crimes. - Lev 18:19 prohibits intercourse with a woman during her uncleanness. טמאה נדּת signifies the uncleanness of a woman's hemorrhage, whether menstruation or after childbirth, which is called in Lev 12:7; Lev 20:18, the fountain of bleeding. The guilty persons were both of them to be cut off from their nation according to Lev 20:18, i.e., to be punished with death. Lev 18:20 "To a neighbour's wife thou shalt not give שׁכבתּך thy pouring as seed" (i.e., make her pregnant), "to defile thyself with her," viz., by the emissio seminis ( Lev 15:16-17), a defilement which was to be punished as adultery by the stoning to death of both…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification