Leviticus 20 · Verse 14

Leviticus 20:14

And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
Leviticus 20:14, King James Version

Leviticus 20:14 in other translations

BSBIf a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that there will be no depravity among you.
WEB“‘If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you.
ASVAnd if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
YLT‘And a man who taketh the woman and her mother--it is wickedness; with fire they burn him and them, and there is no wickedness in your midst.
DARBYAnd if a man take a wife and her mother, it is infamy: they shall burn him and them with fire, that there be no infamy among you.
BBEAnd if a man takes as wife a woman and her mother, it is an act of shame; let them be burned with fire, all three of them, so that there may be no shame among you.
WebsterAnd if a man shall take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they: that there be no wickedness among you.

What does Leviticus 20:14 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 20:7-19

7-19. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy--The minute specification of the incestuous and unnatural crimes here enumerated shows their sad prevalence amongst the idolatrous nations around, and the extreme proneness of the Israelites to follow the customs of their neighbors. It is to be understood, that, whenever mention is made that the offender was "to be put to death" without describing the mode, stoning…

Read the full comment on Leviticus 20:7-19 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 14 They shall be burnt with fire - As there are worse crimes mentioned here, (see Lev 20:11 and Lev 20:17), where the delinquent is ordered simply to be put to death, or to be cut off, it is very likely that the crime mentioned in this verse was not punished by burning alive, but by some kind of branding, by which they were ever after rendered infamous. I need not add that the original, באש ישרפו baesh yishrephu, may, without violence to its grammatical meaning, be understood as above, though in other places it is certainly used to signify a consuming by fire. But the case in question requires some explanation; it is this: a man marries a wife, and afterward takes his mother-in-law or wife's mother to wife also: now for this offense the text says all three shall be burnt with fire, and this is understood as signifying that they shall be burnt alive. Now the first wife, we may safely presume, was completely innocent, and was legally married: for a man may take to wife the daughter if single, or the mother if a widow, and in neither of these cases can any blame attach to the man or the party he marries; the crime therefore lies in taking both. Either, therefore, they were all branded as infamous persons, and this certainly was severe enough in the case of the first wife; or the man and the woman taken last were burnt: but the text says, both he and they; therefore, we should seek for another interpretation of they shall be burnt with fire, than that which is commonly given. Branding with a hot iron would certainly accomplish every desirable end both for punishment and prevention of the crime; and because the Mosaic laws are so generally distinguished by humanity, it seems to be necessary to limit the meaning of the words as above.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Leviticus 20:10-27

These verses repeat what had been said before, but it was needful there should be line upon line. What praises we owe to God that he has taught the evil of sin, and the sure way of deliverance from it! May we have grace to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; may we have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them.

Read the full comment on Leviticus 20:10-27 →

Leviticus 20:14 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאִ֗ישׁve.'Ishand a manH376
אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.SherwhoH834
יִקַּ֧חyi.Kachhe will takeH3947
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אִשָּׁ֛ה'i.Shaha womanH802
וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
אִמָּ֖הּ'i.Mahmother herH517
זִמָּ֣הzi.Mah[is] wickednessH2154
הִ֑ואhi'itH1931
בָּאֵ֞שׁba.'Eshwith <the> fireH784
יִשְׂרְפ֤וּyis.re.Fupeople will burnH8313
אֹתוֹ֙'o.To<obj.> himH853
וְאֶתְהֶ֔ןve.'et.Henand <obj.> themH853
וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
תִהְיֶ֥הtih.Yehit will beH1961
זִמָּ֖הzi.MahwickednessH2154
בְּתוֹכְכֶֽם\׃be.tokh.Khemin midst of youH8432

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Leviticus 20:14

  • Leviticus 18:17

    Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.

  • Deuteronomy 27:23

    Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen.

  • Amos 2:7

    That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:

  • Joshua 7:15

    And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

  • Joshua 7:25

    And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

  • Leviticus 21:9

    And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
a wife.
18:17; De 27:23; Am 2:7
burnt.
21:9; Jos 7:15,25

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Leviticus 20:13

    If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

  • Leviticus 20:14

    And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.

  • Leviticus 20:15

    And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.

Read all of Leviticus 20

Leviticus 20:14 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y el que tomare mujer y á la madre de ella, comete vileza: quemarán en fuego á él y á ellas, porque no haya vileza entre vosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et si un homme prend une femme et sa mère, c’est une infamie; on les brûlera au feu, lui et elles, et il n’y aura point d’infamie au milieu de vous.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und wenn ein Mann ein Weib nimmt und ihre Mutter, das ist eine Schandtat; man soll ihn und sie mit Feuer verbrennen, daß keine Schandtat in eurer Mitte sei.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Qui supra uxorem filiam, duxerit matrem ejus, scelus operatus est: vivus ardebit cum eis, nec permanebit tantum nefas in medio vestri.