Leviticus 20:10-21

"10  And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 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. 12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them. 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. 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. 15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. 16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. 17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity. 18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister, nor of thy father’s sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity. 20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle’s wife, he hath uncovered his uncle’s nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 And if a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless." —  Leviticus 20:10-21 KJV.

10. The adulterer and the adulteress — In the Mosaic law adultery is committed only through the unchastity of a wife. A husband commits this crime only with the free wife of another. See Exodus 20:14, note. Put to death — If the adulteress was another’s slave, the penalty was milder, probably corporeal punishment. The allowance of polygamy implies that the wife has no such exclusive right to the husband as the husband has to the wife. In many countries the adulteress has suffered capital punishment while the adulterer has escaped with a less penalty. Since this crime destroys the family, the corner-stone of society, it deserves the severest penalty. If both parties are married persons, the crime is double adultery; if but one is under marriage vows, it is single. See Exodus 20:14, note.

12. Confusion — The word תֶּ֥בֶל occurs in only one other passage, Leviticus 18:23, note.

13. An abomination — Leviticus 18:22, note.

14. Burnt with fire — The heinousness of the incest specified in this verse is emphasized by burning the dead bodies of the culprits after they had been stoned. Cremation, so common among the Greeks and Romans, was exceedingly abhorrent to the Hebrews. Burning alive is not a penalty of the Mosaic law. See Joshua 7:15, note. Hence little confidence is to be put in the Targum of Palestine, which says, “Let them be burned with fire, with melted lead in their mouths.”

15. Lie with a beast — See Leviticus 18:23. Slay the beast — The innocent instrument of the abominable act of a moral agent is put to death as a mark of Jehovah’s abhorrence.

17. Sister — See Leviticus 18:9, 11, notes. Wicked thing — Properly a disgrace.

18. With a woman having her sickness — Since the Hebrew has but one term for woman and wife, this precept, with its dreadful penalty of extermination, must apply to conjugal intercourse during menstruation. This offence against purity is accounted among the crying sins of Israel, ranking with idol-worship, adultery, and violation of a father’s wife. Ezekiel 18:6; 22:10. Both… shall be cut off — They shall both be put to death, though in this case the man is chiefly guilty. Any less stringent safeguard of the wife’s health might have been ineffectual. It is difficult for modern moralists to adjust their ethical notions to all the requirements of the ceremonial law.

19. They shall bear their iniquity — Oehler thinks that this expression does not involve the death penalty. See Leviticus 10:17; Numbers 9:13, notes.

20. They shall die childless — Childlessness was at once a severe punishment in the eyes of the Hebrews, as a dishonour to a woman and the greatest misfortune to a house. It was also a protection against that physical and mental degeneracy which incest entails upon offspring. But Michaelis softens the penalty by asserting that it does not mean that God would miraculously prevent procreation, but only that the children of these parents should not be put to their account in the public registers; so that in a civil sense they would be childless. His proof is derived from Jeremiah 22:30. But the declaration of Michaelis that the offspring would be ascribed to the deceased brother does not cover the case, for both the wife and second husband were to die childless. Hence we cannot adopt this interpretation without bastardizing the children, which is worse than nonexistence or death in infancy.