Context No. 2928 of 4322 · Leviticus

Leviticus 18:16-20: in context

16“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. It is your brother’s nakedness. 17“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter. You shall not take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near kinswomen. It is wickedness. 18“‘You shall not take a wife in addition to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is still alive. 19“‘You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness. 20“‘You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, and defile yourself with her.

This continues the list of forbidden relations, and it should be read soberly. It fences off relations with a brother's wife, with a woman and her daughter, with a wife's sister taken as a rival, and, plainly, with a neighbor's wife. Each prohibition draws a protective line around marriage and family.

Look at verse eighteen in particular: do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife to torment her while she still lives. God's law here is guarding a woman from the cruelty of a rivalry set up inside her own home. And the flat prohibition of adultery, do not defile yourself with your neighbor's wife, protects the marriage bond and the trust it rests on. Underneath the whole list is one steady concern: sexual faithfulness shields real people, spouses and families, from betrayal, rivalry, and harm. God fences these relationships because he cares about the people held inside them.

Do I treat the marriage bond, mine or others', as something to protect faithfully, guarding the people it holds from betrayal?

Sources

Leviticus 18:20: "You shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's wife, and defile yourself with her."
Hebrews 13:4: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled."
Malachi 2:14: "The LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously."