Leviticus 16-21

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

Leviticus 16 - No mention of any women.

Leviticus 17 - No mention of any women.

18:6-18 - You shall not uncover your father's nakedness, which is the nakedness of your mother. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether born at home or abroad. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister nor your mother's sister. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law, she is your son's wife. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife, it is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover their nakedness. And you shall not take a woman as a rival to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while she is still alive.
18:19-23 - You shall not sleep with a woman while she is on her period. You shall not sleep with your kinsman's wife. You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. You shall not have sexual relations with any animal and defile yourself with it, nor shall any woman give herself to an animal to have sexual relationships with it, it is a perversion.

19:3 - Everyone shall revere their mother and father.
19:20-22 - If a man has sex with a woman who is a slave, designated for another man but not ransomed or given freedom, and inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death since she has not been freed, but he shall bring a guilt offering of a ram to the tent of meeting.
19:29 - Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute so that the land will not become prostituted and full of depravity.

20:9 - All who curse father or mother shall be put to death. Having cursed their father and mother their blood is upon them.
20:10-16 - If a man commits adultery with his neighbors wife then both he and the wife shall be put to death. The man who lies with his father's wife has seen his father's nakedness, and both he and the wife shall be put to death. If a man lies with his daughter-in-law then both shall be put to death. If a man takes a wife and her mother also that is depravity, and they shall all be burned to death. If a woman approaches an animal to have sex with it then she and the animal shall be put to death.
20:17-21 - If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother and they see each others nakedness they shall be cut off from the people. If a man lies with a woman during her period and they are both naked then they shall be cut off from the people. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or your father's sister, you shall be punished. If a man lies with his uncle's wife he shall be subject to punishment. If a man takes his brother's wife it is impurity and they shall be childless.
20:27 - A man or woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be stoned to death.

21:2-3 - A priest may only defile himself with a dead body when it is his nearest kin: mother, father, son, daughter, brother and virgin sister, since she has no husband.
21:7 - A priest shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled. Neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband.
21:9 - If a daughter of a priest profanes him by prostituting herself she shall be burned to death.
21:11 - A preist shall not defile himself with a dead body, even for his father or mother.
21:13-14 - A priest shall only marry a virgin of his own kin. He may not marry a widow, a divorced woman or a prostitute.

My Comments

Alright, we get it Bible. Don't look at women naked because they belong to another man. You can only look at the women you own (ie. wife, unmarried daughters). Also, I'm pretty sure several people have already broken a bunch of those rules. Say, for instance, Jacob, who married Rachel and Leah, and Judah who slept with his daughter-in-law. Do the laws not apply to them since they were created after they did those things?

And I guess if we're taking the Bible as literal truth, then lesbians are totally kosher. It only specifies a man being with another man as if with a woman, but it completely leaves out a woman lying with another woman as if with a man. Were lesbians just unheard of? Was it not specified since women were property and men were expected to keep their property in line? Is it because homosexual behavior back in the olden days was culturally a male activity, like during the Roman times and what not? Since, you know, women were not equals with men so men shared company with each other because they considered the relationship to be stronger with another man than a woman, since relationships tend to be stronger when they are with an equal. So it's nice to know the Bible has nothing negative to say about girl on girl action. Right on.

Lev 19:3 is interesting, since it's the first time I've seen a woman placed in front of a man. It's always "father and mother" and "sons and daughters," so seeing mother placed first here is interesting. But then at 20:9 we're back to having father in front of mother. So does it actually mean something when the order is different? Or is it a literary device?

And remember kids, it's okay to rape a female slave as long as they haven't been freed yet. You won't have to die for it, it's just a small fine of a ram. So go ahead, kids, do what you want with those female slaves. After all, women are strictly property and slaves aren't people, so what's the harm? :D

And don't prostitute your daughter. Not because she's a person with feelings but because you'll just muck the place up with hookers and no one wants that.

Leviticus 20:10-21 is ridiculous. Women had not autonomy during those times. It is stupid to think that a woman who laid with a man always did so willingly. But even if a woman is raped by her neighbor she has to die. Or if a daughter-in-law is raped, she is put to death along with her father-in-law rapist. I especially like the taking a wife and also her mother and then everyone has to die law. Women didn't CHOOSE who they married. If those women were given to a man then shouldn't the man responsible be put to death? Why are we killing the women when they really have no input into a marriage decision? Senseless woman killing if you ask me.

And weren't there just laws a few chapters ago about sleeping with a woman during her period? Wasn't the result uncleanliness and having to be unclean for a week? And now it's saying if you do that you have to be cut off from the people? So which one is it, because that's a BIG difference in punishment.

These contradictions are getting even closer together. Like 21:11. The Bible just got through saying a priest could defile himself if it was a close relative like his father or mother and NOW it's saying a priest may not defile himself with a dead body EVEN FOR his mother and father? What gives? I understand there being contradictions but they're in the SAME CHAPTER. Did no one notice?

Tomorrow: Leviticus 22-25