What Does Leviticus 20:12 Mean in the King James?
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.
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 Hebrew word behind “confusion” carries the sense of abhorrence, while “both of them” makes the stated consequence shared.
THE MEANING
This verse names sex between a man and his daughter-in-law as an abhorrent act and assigns death to both. It places their responsibility and the severe consequence in the same frame: “their blood shall be upon them.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that only one participant bears responsibility: the verse explicitly names both and places their blood upon them.
THE ROOT
תּוֹעֵבָה
toʿēvāh
GROWS FROM
תעב
To abhor; regard as detestable.
“confusion” in this verse is toʿēvāh. The word names what is abhorrent, giving the act a forceful judgment. That judgment stands beside an explicit consequence for both participants.
ALSO GROWS
taʿab: To abhor or loathe.
תָּעַב
The verb shows the active sense within the word family: treating something as detestable.
toʿev: Detestable or abominable; something regarded with abhorrence.
תּוֹעֵב
This form carries the same judgment as a description, linking the act in the verse to what is deemed abhorrent.
THE PATTERN
Scripture keeps consequences attached to the actions people commit, naming the responsible actor or actors.
If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.Who will render to every man according to his deeds:THE THREAD
If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.Both verses use שכב (shakhav, “to lie”) for the sexual act, and both name the man and woman and state death as the consequence. The shared root and repeated pairing make the shared accountability in this verse visible in the Hebrew wording.
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