What Does Leviticus 18:19 Mean in the King James?
Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
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
The boundary begins at nearness itself: the verse forbids approaching before it forbids uncovering.
THE MEANING
This verse names a woman’s menstrual separation as a boundary around sexual access: a man does not draw near to uncover her nakedness while she is in that condition. The limit holds at the approach, before any uncovering takes place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that sexual desire makes access available at any time; here, the woman’s bodily condition marks a boundary.
THE ROOT
תִּקְרַב
tiqrav
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
Draw near; come close.
The prohibition attaches first to nearness: the verb itself names movement into proximity. Its sibling קָרְבָּן (qorbān), meaning drawing near, shows that approach is a consequential act before exposure occurs.
ALSO GROWS
qarov: Near, close.
קָרוֹב
This branch makes the shared idea of proximity explicit: the verse’s boundary concerns coming near.
qorbān: Drawing near.
קָרְבָּן
The same root names drawing near as a meaningful act, echoing the verse’s focus on approach itself.
THE PATTERN
Sexual access is bounded by bodily conditions and explicit periods of abstention.
And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.THE THREAD
And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,Ezekiel uses the same Hebrew root ק־ר־ב (q-r-b), meaning draw near, for coming near to a menstruous woman. The echo shows the boundary beginning at approach, before the uncovering named in Leviticus.
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