Imamat 19:20

Lying with a Slave Woman

19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, ¹  although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. ²  They must not be put to death, because she was not free.

Imamat 20:17

20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with ³  his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. ⁴  He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ⁵ 

[19:20]  ¹ tn Heb “And a man when he lies with a woman the lying of seed.”

[19:20]  ² sn That is, the woman had previously been assigned for marriage to another man but the marriage deal had not yet been consummated. In the meantime, the woman has lost her virginity and has, therefore, lost part of her value to the master in the sale to the man for whom she had been designated. Compensation was, therefore, required (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 130-31).

[20:17]  ³ tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse,” though some English versions translate it as “marry” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV).

[20:17]  ⁴ tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:17]  ⁵ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.