And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness of his father, let them both be put to death: their blood be upon them.

And a man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

And a man who lieth with his father's wife, the nakedness of his father he hath uncovered, both of them are certainly put to death; their blood is on them.

And the man who has sex relations with his father's wife has put shame on his father: the two of them are to be put to death; their blood will be on them.

Whoever will have slept with his stepmother, or will have uncovered the shame of his father, they shall both die a death. So let their blood be upon them.

Quicunque concubuerit cum uxore patris sui, turpitudinem patris sui revelavit: moriendo morientur ambo, sanguis eorum super eos.

Nothing new occurs here, for the object of Moses was, by the enactment of penalties, to sanction the instruction lately given. By previously condemning incestuous marriages, he would cite the Israelites before God, in order that their consciences might abhor the crime, although he gave them nothing to fear from earthly judges; whereas now he alarms them by the dread of punishment, in case any should indulge themselves with too great security. He does not chastise the incestuous with rods, as if they were only guilty of a light offense; but he pronounces it to be a capital crime, if any had sinned against the law of nature; and first he condemns the step-mother and step-son to death, if they should have had connection with each other; he then makes the same decree with reference to the father-in-law and daughter-in-law; and, thirdly, the step-father and step-daughter. But when, if a man cohabits at the same time with a mother and her daughter, he extends the punishment to the mother also, it must be understood, provided she also consents to the abominable medley; for, if a man, against the mother's will, seduces her daughter, and the mother is unable to resist it if she would, she is free from guilt. The same punishment is awarded to brother and sister, and nephew and aunt, and it is extended also to affinity; if any should cohabit with the wife of his uncle or his brother. We have elsewhere explained the meaning of the expression, "their blood shall be upon them;" i.e., that the cause of their death is to be imputed to none but the gross criminals themselves, lest their judges, under the cloak of humanity, should shrink from being severe, since it often happens that those who do not sufficiently weigh the atrocity of the evil, are led away by an empty show of clemency. Moreover, Moses indirectly hints that if the guilty be pardoned, vengeance will be thus provoked against the whole people, since iniquity is fostered by impunity, until it bursts out like a deluge. The penalty of childlessness corresponds with the crime, for it is just that those should be exterminated in barrenness from the world, who have endeavored to corrupt the holy race of Abraham with their adulterous seed.

And the man that lieth with his father's wife,.... Whether she be his mother, or another woman, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, whether she is his own mother, or a stepmother, or whether he did this in the lifetime of his father, or after his death, or whether she was betrothed or married, it mattered not; according to the Jewish tradition (d), this is a breach of the law, Leviticus 18:8; and a man guilty of this
hath uncovered his father's nakedness; and which is a foul and shameful piece of wickedness; the penalty follows:
both of them shall be put to death; by casting stones on them, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; for, as before observed, wherever the following phrase:
their blood shall be upon them, is used, stoning is meant; and so, according to the Misnah (e), all those were to be stoned, after mentioned, of whom this phrase is used.
(d) Misn. ut supra, (Sanhedrin, c. 7.) sect. 4. (e) lbid.