Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 18:13
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she [is] thy mother’s near kinswoman.
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister,…. Which is the same relation as before, an aunt by the mother’s side; wherefore, if such a marriage was unlawful, this must also, and for the same reason:
for she [is] thy mother’s near kinswoman; the same phraseology is used here as in the preceding verse; [See comments on Le 18:12]; and by the same rule a woman might not marry her uncle, whether by father or mother’s side, the relation being the same, and this reaches to great-uncle and great-aunt; instances of women marrying their uncles, and men their aunts, among the Heathens, have been given, as among the Persians and Lacedaemonians by Herodotus l, and among the Romans by Tacitus m, but were, in his time, new things with the latter.
l Erato, sive, l. 6. c. 71. Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c. 224, 239. m Annal. l. 12. c. 5, 6, 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) Thy mothers sister.Equally forbidden is the aunt by the mothers side. The law which obtained in the time of Christ also defines this prohibition to extend to a mothers sister or half-sister by the same father or mother, whether born in wedlock or out of it. It is remarkable that the administrators of the law during the second Temple understood this last prohibition strictly to apply to alliances between nephews and aunts, but not vice vers to marriages between nieces and uncles. They regarded intermarriage between uncle and niece as an especially meritorious act, and interpreted the promises then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer (Isa. 58:9) to refer more particularly to the man who loves his neighbours, befriends his relations, marries his brothers daughter, and lends money to the poor in the hour of need. This is in accordance with the fact that not only do we find that Nahor married Milcah the daughter of his brother Haran(Gen. 11:29), but that Othniel, the son of Kenaz, married his niece Achsah, being the daughter of Caleb, his fathers brother (Jos. 15:17; Jdg. 1:13). Hence among the Jews to this day intermarriages between uncles and nieces is of common occurrence.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 18:13 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she [is] thy mother’s near kinswoman.
Ver. 13. See Trapp on “ Lev 18:12 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Reciprocal: Lev 20:19 – mother’s Num 18:20 – General