How does Leviticus 18:14 connect with the Ten Commandments on honoring parents? Key texts • Leviticus 18:14 — “You must not dishonor your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual relations with her; she is your aunt.” • Exodus 20:12 — “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” What “honor” means in family life • “Honor” (Hebrew kabed) carries ideas of weight, value, and respect. • It calls for attitudes and actions that protect a parent’s dignity and reputation (Proverbs 23:22; Ephesians 6:1-3). • Conversely, any act that brings shame, grief, or public reproach upon parents is a violation of that command. How Leviticus 18:14 applies the Fifth Commandment Leviticus 18 functions like case law, spelling out practical ways to keep the Ten Commandments. Verse 14 ties directly to honoring parents in at least four ways: 1. Protecting family loyalty • Approaching an aunt sexually betrays not only the uncle’s marriage but the entire family line. • Such betrayal publicly shames the offender’s father, whose brother has been violated (Leviticus 20:11). 2. Guarding parental reputation • Sexual scandal spreads quickly (Proverbs 6:32-33). • When a child ignores God’s boundary, the resulting disgrace lands on every branch of the family tree, especially the parents. 3. Valuing covenant order • God arranged households with clear relational roles (Genesis 2:24; Leviticus 18:6). • Respecting those roles affirms the order that parents are commissioned to teach and model (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). 4. Preventing generational sin • Dishonor in one generation invites judgment in the next (Exodus 34:7). • Obedience preserves blessing promised in the Fifth Commandment—“that your days may be long.” Sexual purity as an act of honor • 1 Corinthians 5:1 shows how incestuous sin scandalized even pagan Corinth; Paul links it to spiritual ruin, not just social offense. • Hebrews 13:4 commands, “Marriage must be honored by all.” To honor parents we must honor the marriages that surround them, including their siblings’. Implications for today • Family boundaries remain sacred; Christ upheld the moral law (Matthew 5:17). • Protecting parents’ good name involves more than polite speech; it encompasses moral integrity that keeps their household from shame. • Teaching children sexual ethics based on Scripture is a practical way to live out the Fifth Commandment in modern culture. |
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