What Does Leviticus 18:14 Mean in the King James?
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Calling her “thine aunt” makes the kinship bond itself the reason this approach is forbidden.
THE MEANING
This verse names a clear boundary around your father’s brother’s marriage: his wife is your aunt, and sexual approach to her is forbidden. The prohibition treats this as a breach of kinship, not a private desire detached from family bonds.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that an uncle’s wife lies outside your kinship obligations simply because she is not your blood relative.
THE ROOT
תְגַלֵּה
tegalleh
GROWS FROM
ג-ל-ה
g-l-h
to uncover, expose, reveal
“uncover” in this verse is tegalleh. The Hebrew verb makes the euphemism visible: this is described as exposing what should remain covered. The same verb appears in Leviticus 20:20, which makes explicit that the exposure violates the uncle’s kinship as well as approaching his wife.
ALSO GROWS
niglāh: be revealed, become visible
נִגְלָה
This form carries the same movement from hidden to exposed, clarifying the force of “uncover.”
gilluy: disclosure, revealing
גִּלּוּי
This noun names the act of making something exposed; here that language marks sexual access as a boundary-crossing exposure.
תִקְרָב
tiqrav
GROWS FROM
ק-ר-ב
q-r-b
to come near, approach, draw near
The English “approach” can sound like a mere step toward someone; this root also names nearness and a drawing near. Here that movement is forbidden because the woman is your aunt.
ALSO GROWS
qārōb: near, close
קָרוֹב
The shared root links approaching with becoming near, making the prohibited act a crossing of relational distance.
qorbān: a drawing near
קָרְבָּן
This word shares the root’s sense of drawing near; here the approach is marked as out of bounds by the kinship relation.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats sexual access to a close relative’s spouse as a breach of kinship, not an isolated private relationship.
The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.THE THREAD
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.The same verb for “uncover” appears here, where the act with an uncle’s wife is stated directly and its consequence is named. The parallel shows that the exposure implicates the uncle’s kinship as well as the forbidden approach to his wife.
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