Leviticus 18:23

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

And of no beast, shalt thou have carnal knowledge to commit uncleanness therewith, - neither shall a woman present herself to a beast to couch down thereto, - confusion, it is.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"'You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it; neither shall any woman give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.

King James Version
Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

Lexham English Bible
And you shall not have sexual relations with any animal, becoming unclean with it; and a woman shall not stand before an animal to copulate with it—that is a perversion.

New Century Version
"‘You must not have sexual relations with an animal and make yourself unclean with it. Also a woman must not have sexual relations with an animal; it is not natural.

New English Translation
You must not have sexual intercourse with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it; it is a perversion.

Amplified Bible
'You shall not have intimate relations with any animal to be defiled with it; nor shall a woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

New American Standard Bible
'Also you shall not have sexual intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Thou shalt not also lie with any beast to bee defiled therewith, neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie downe thereto: for it is abomination.

Legacy Standard Bible
Also you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

Contemporary English Version
Anyone who has sex with an animal is unclean.

Complete Jewish Bible
"‘You are not to have sexual relations with any kind of animal and thus become unclean with it; nor is any woman to present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.

Darby Translation
And thou shalt lie with no beast to become unclean therewith; and a woman shall not stand before a beast to lie down with it: it is confusion.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Men, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. This will make you filthy. And women, you must not have sexual relations with any animal. It is against nature!

English Standard Version
And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

George Lamsa Translation
Neither shall you lie with any beast to defile yourself with it; neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie with it; because it is an abomination.

Good News Translation
No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.

Christian Standard Bible®
You are not to have sexual intercourse with any animal, defiling yourself with it; a woman is not to present herself to an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

Literal Translation
And you shall not give your semen with any animal, for uncleanness with it. And a woman shall not stand before an animal to lie down with it; it is a shameful mixing.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou shalt lye with no maner of beest, to defyle yi self therwith. And no woman shal haue to do wt a beest, for it is abhominacion.

American Standard Version
And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

Bible in Basic English
And you may not have sex relations with a beast, making yourself unclean with it; and a woman may not give herself to a beast: it is an unnatural act.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt lye with no maner of beast to defile thy selfe therwith: neither shall any woman stande before a beast to lye downe therto, for it is vnnaturall confusion.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto; it is perversion.

King James Version (1611)
Neither shalt thou lie with any beast, to defile thy selfe therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie downe thereto: It is confusion.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Neither shalt thou lie with any quadruped for copulation, to be polluted with it: neither shall a woman present herself before any quadruped to have connexion with it; for it is an abomination.

English Revised Version
And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

Berean Standard Bible
You must not have sexual relations with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou schalt not do letcherie with ony beeste, nethir thou schalt be defoulid with it. A womman schal not ligge vnder a beeste, nether schal be medlid therwith, for it is greet synne.

Young's Literal Translation
`And with any beast thou dost not give thy copulation, for uncleanness with it; and a woman doth not stand before a beast to lie down with it; confusion it [is].

Update Bible Version
And you shall not have sex with any animal and defile yourself therewith; neither shall any woman have sex with an animal: it is perverted.

Webster's Bible Translation
Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it [is] confusion.

World English Bible
You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before an animal, to lie down with it: it is confusion.

New King James Version
Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

New Living Translation
"A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.

New Life Bible
Do not have sex with any animal, or you will be unclean. And no woman should give herself to an animal to lie with it. It is a sin.

New Revised Standard
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 relations with it: it is perversion.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not copulate with any beast: neither shalt thou be defiled with it. A woman shall not lie down to a beast, nor copulate with it: because it is a heinous crime.

Revised Standard Version
And you shall not lie with any beast and defile yourself with it, neither shall any woman give herself to a beast to lie with it: it is perversion.

THE MESSAGE
"Don't have sex with an animal and violate yourself by it. "A woman must not have sex with an animal. That is perverse.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

Contextual Overview

¹⁹ And unto a woman during her removal for uncleanness, shalt thou not approach, to uncover her shame. ²⁰ And of the wife of thy neighbour, shalt thou not have carnal knowledge, - to commit uncleanness with her. ²¹ And none of thy seed, shalt thou deliver up, to cause to pass through to Molech, - that thou profane not the name of thy God, I, am Yahweh. ²² And, with mankind, shalt thou not lie as with womankind, - an abomination, it is. ²³ And of no beast, shalt thou have carnal knowledge to commit uncleanness therewith, - neither shall a woman present herself to a beast to couch down thereto, - confusion, it is. ²⁴ Do not make yourselves unclean in any of these things, - For in all these things, have the nations made themselves unclean, whom, I, am sending out from before you. ²⁵ Therefore hath the land become unclean, and I have visited the iniquity thereof upon it, - and the land hath vomited her inhabitants. ²⁶ Ye, therefore, shall observe my statutes and my regulations, and have nothing to do with any of these abominations, - whether the home-born, or the sojourner that sojourneth in your midst; ²⁷ For all these abominations, have the men of the land done, who were before you; And so the land hath become unclean: ²⁸ So shall the land not vomit you, through your making it unclean, - as it vomited the nation which was before you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

any beast: Leviticus 20:15, Leviticus 20:16, Exodus 22:19

confusion: Leviticus 20:12

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 27:21 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 18:4
Let there be fetched, I pray thee a little water, and bathe ye your feet, - and rest yourselves under the tree.

Genesis 18:5
And let me fetch a morsel of bread, and stay ye your heart, Afterwards, ye may pass on, For on this account, have ye passed by, over against your servant. And they said, Thus, shalt thou do as thou hast spoken.

Genesis 18:6
So Abraham hastened towards the tent unto Sarah, - and said, Hasten thou three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make hearth-cakes.

Genesis 18:7
And unto the herd, ran Abraham, - and took a calf tender and good and gave unto the young man, and he hastened to make it ready.

Genesis 18:25
Far be it from thee! to do after this manner. to put to death the righteous with the lawless! Then should righteous and lawless be alike, Far be it from thee! Shall, the Judge of all the earth not do justice?

Genesis 20:4
Now, Abimelech, had not come near unto her, - so he said, O My Lord! a nation even a righteous one, wilt thou slay?

2 Samuel 24:17
Then said David unto Yahweh, when he saw the messenger who was smiting the people, yea he said - Lo! I, have sinned, and, I, have done perversely, but what have, these sheep, done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against the house of my father!

Job 8:3
Should, GOD, pervert justice? Or, the Almighty, pervert righteousness?

Job 34:17
Shall, the very hater of right, control? Or, the just - the mighty one, wilt thou condemn?

Psalms 73:28
But, as for me, the drawing near of God, is my blessedness, - I have made, of My Lord Yahweh, my refuge, - That I may recount all thy works.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Neither shall thou lie with any beast, to defile thyself therewith,.... A female one, as Aben Ezra notes, as a mare, cow, or ewe, or any other beast, small or great, as Ben Gersom, or whether tame or wild, as Maimonides b; and even fowls are comprehended, as the same writers observe:

neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: that is, stand before a beast, and by a lascivious and obscene behaviour solicit the beast to a congress with her, and then lie down after the manner of four-footed beasts, as the word signifies, that it may have carnal copulation with her: for a man to lie with a beast is most shocking and detestable, but for a woman to solicit such an unnatural mixture is most horrible and astonishing: perhaps reference may be had to a most shocking practice among the Egyptians, from among whom the Israelites were lately come, and whose doings they were not to imitate,

Leviticus 18:3; and which may account for this law, as Bishop Patrick observes: at Mendes, in Egypt, a goat was worshipped, as has been remarked Leviticus 18:7; and where the women used to lie with such creatures, as Strabo c and Aelianus d from Pindar have related; yea, Herodotus e reports, of his own knowledge, that a goat had carnal copulation with a woman openly, in the view of all, in his time; and though that creature is a most lascivious and lustful one, yet, as Bochart f from Plutarch has observed, when it is provoked by many and beautiful women, is not inclined and ready to come into their embraces, but shows some abhorrence of it: nature in brutes, as that learned man observes, is often more prevalent in them than in mankind:

it [is] confusion; a mixing of the seed of man and beast together, a blending of different kinds of creatures, a perverting the order of nature, and introducing the utmost confusion of beings, from whence monsters in nature may arise.

b Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 16. c Geograph. l. 17. p. 551. d De Animal. l. 7. c. 19. e Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 46. f Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 53. col. 642.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Leviticus 18:23. With any beast — This abomination is also punishable with death by the laws of this country.

Any woman stand before a beast — That this was often done in Egypt there can be no doubt; and we have already seen, from the testimony of Herodotus, that a fact of this kind actually took place while he was in Egypt. Leviticus 17:7; Leviticus 17:7, and "Leviticus 20:16".