What is the meaning of Leviticus 18:16? You must not have sexual relations – The command is direct and unequivocal. God draws clear sexual boundaries (Leviticus 18:1-5) that uphold holiness. – Adultery, in any form, violates the covenant of marriage established in Genesis 2:24 and is forbidden by the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14). – New-Testament echoes keep the standard unchanged: “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4); “It is God’s will that you should be holy: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5). – This prohibition guards body, soul, and community. Paul warns, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). with your brother’s wife – The relationship in view is doubly off-limits: adultery and a form of incest. Leviticus 20:21 reiterates, “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is impurity; he has dishonored his brother.” – Mark 6:17-18 highlights Herod’s guilt for marrying his brother Philip’s wife—John the Baptist condemned it on the same grounds. – God did provide a narrow, regulated exception in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 (the levirate marriage) to preserve a dead brother’s line; even then it required the brother to be deceased and childless, not merely absent. – The New Testament church treated such unions as scandalous: “A man has his father’s wife… Shouldn’t you have been filled with grief?” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). The same grief applies when a man takes his living brother’s wife. that would shame your brother – Sexual sin never affects only two people; it dishonors families and communities. Proverbs 6:33 warns, “Wounds and dishonor will he receive, and his reproach will never be wiped away.” – The law protects the brother’s dignity, reputation, marriage, and offspring. Romans 13:10 reminds us, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor,” and one’s brother is certainly a neighbor. – Shaming another image-bearer violated the core ethic spelled out by Jesus: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). – Israel’s health as a covenant people depended on maintaining honor within households (Genesis 34:5-7). Breaking that trust weakened the entire nation’s witness (Deuteronomy 23:14). summary Leviticus 18:16 literally forbids a man from having sexual relations with his brother’s wife. The command defends the sanctity of marriage, the purity of the family line, and the honor owed to one’s brother. Scripture consistently treats such a union as both adulterous and incestuous, bringing dishonor, personal ruin, and communal defilement. God’s people are called to uphold sexual purity, honor familial bonds, and love their neighbor—starting with those in their own household. |
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