Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 18:23
Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it [is] confusion.
Verse 23. With any beast] This abomination is also punishable with death by the laws of this country.
Any woman stand before a beast] That this was often done in Egypt there can be no doubt; and we have already seen, from the testimony of Herodotus, that a fact of this kind actually took place while he was in Egypt. See Clarke on Le 17:7, and “Le 20:16“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A horrible confusion of the natures which God hath distinguished, and of the order which God hath appointed, and an overthrow of. all bounds of religion, honesty, sobriety, and modesty.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Neither shall thou lie with any beast, to defile thyself therewith,…. A female one, as Aben Ezra notes, as a mare, cow, or ewe, or any other beast, small or great, as Ben Gersom, or whether tame or wild, as Maimonides b; and even fowls are comprehended, as the same writers observe:
neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: that is, stand before a beast, and by a lascivious and obscene behaviour solicit the beast to a congress with her, and then lie down after the manner of four-footed beasts, as the word signifies, that it may have carnal copulation with her: for a man to lie with a beast is most shocking and detestable, but for a woman to solicit such an unnatural mixture is most horrible and astonishing: perhaps reference may be had to a most shocking practice among the Egyptians, from among whom the Israelites were lately come, and whose doings they were not to imitate,
Le 18:3; and which may account for this law, as Bishop Patrick observes: at Mendes, in Egypt, a goat was worshipped, as has been remarked Le 18:7; and where the women used to lie with such creatures, as Strabo c and Aelianus d from Pindar have related; yea, Herodotus e reports, of his own knowledge, that a goat had carnal copulation with a woman openly, in the view of all, in his time; and though that creature is a most lascivious and lustful one, yet, as Bochart f from Plutarch has observed, when it is provoked by many and beautiful women, is not inclined and ready to come into their embraces, but shows some abhorrence of it: nature in brutes, as that learned man observes, is often more prevalent in them than in mankind:
it [is] confusion; a mixing of the seed of man and beast together, a blending of different kinds of creatures, a perverting the order of nature, and introducing the utmost confusion of beings, from whence monsters in nature may arise.
b Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 16. c Geograph. l. 17. p. 551. d De Animal. l. 7. c. 19. e Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 46. f Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 53. col. 642.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) Any beast.The necessity for the prohibition of this shocking crime, for which the Mosaic law enacts the penalty of death (see Lev. 20:15-16; Exo. 22:18), will appear all the more important when it is borne in mind that this degrading practice actually formed a part of the religious worship of the Egyptians in connection with the goat deities.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. With any beast Let him who denies the inherent depravity of man study this prohibition. This prohibition implies the sacredness and dignity of human nature, inasmuch as the abomination was punished by death. In Egypt women publicly submitted themselves to goats. Nor has unregenerate nature entirely outgrown its dreadful downward tendency. In modern Egypt men lie even with female crocodiles. ( Sonnini, R. 11, p. 330.) The heathen generally have no moral abhorrence for this crime. The Revised Statutes of Massachusetts, a foremost Christian State, contains this law: “Whoever commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature, either with mankind or with any beast, shall be punished in the State prison not exceeding twenty years.”
Confusion Hebrew tebhel, pollution or profanation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it [is] confusion.
Ver. 23. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast. ] See what a foul sink of sin man’s nature is! Who would think that any such surpassing wickedness – so a Aristotle calls bestiality – should ever enter into man’s heart? But “there, as in the sea, is that Leviathan,” the devil, and there are “creeping things,” abominable and ugly lusts, “innumerable.” b
a .
b 2. Mag. Mor., cap. 5.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
any beast. This was part of the religious worship of the Egyptians.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
any beast: Lev 20:15, Lev 20:16, Exo 22:19
confusion: Lev 20:12
Reciprocal: Deu 27:21 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 18:23-30. Epilogue.These sins mean defilement for those who commit them, whether Canaanites or Israelites, and also for the land itself. Hence the land also must be punished, and will vomit out its inhabitants as so much unclean or noisome food (cf. Eze 36:6 ff., Eze 36:17). Lev 18:26 is parallel to Lev 18:30, which forms an impressive conclusion to the whole chapter; Lev 18:29, however, where alone in this chapter an actual punishment is stated, is rather in the manner of Leviticus 17 and Leviticus 20.