Leviticus 20:19

Summary

The verse prohibits uncovering the nakedness of one's maternal aunt or paternal aunt, framed as an act that exposes a blood relative. Both parties involved are said to bear responsibility for this act.

Key words

• 'erVat ("nakedness of", H6172) — construct-state noun opening a triple chain: "nakedness of the sister of your mother," binding the prohibited act to a specific kinship category.
• te.ga.Leh ("you will uncover", H1540I) — piel imperfect of galah, negated by lo' ("not", H3808) to form the legal prohibition; the piel stem intensifies the act of exposure.
• she.'e.R ("relative/flesh", H7607) construct with suffix -o ("his") — designates the aunt as blood-kin (she'ero, "his flesh-relative"), grounding the prohibition in kinship rather than naming her directly again.
• he.'e.Rah ("he has made naked", H6168) — hiphil perfect of a different root ('arah) than galah used earlier; a causative, completed-action verb describing the act as already accomplished when judged.
• yi.Sa.'u ("they will bear", H5375J) — qal imperfect, plural subject, stating a shared future consequence ('avonam, "their iniquity") for those involved.

What the text says

The verse opens with a construct chain — 'erVat 'achot 'immekha ("nakedness of the sister of your mother") and 'achot 'avikha ("sister of your father") — stacking possessive relationships to specify exactly whose nakedness is forbidden: the maternal and paternal aunt. The main clause uses lo' tegalleh ("you shall not uncover"), a piel imperfect negated for prohibition, addressed to a second-person masculine singular subject.

The following clause, introduced by ki ("for/because", H3588A), shifts to a different verb root: he'erah (hiphil perfect of 'arah, H6168), grammatically distinct from galah used in the prohibition itself, though both denote exposure or making-bare. This clause states that the offender "has exposed his she'ero" — his own flesh-relative (H7607), a kinship term rather than a repetition of "aunt." The perfect aspect frames the act as completed at the point of legal evaluation.

The closing clause, 'avonam yisa'u ("their iniquity they shall bear"), uses a plural verb (qal imperfect of nasa', H5375J) despite the singular addressee of the prohibition, indicating that the consequence is attributed to more than one party in the completed act.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew lists "sister of your mother" before "sister of your father," while the LXX reverses this order, giving ἀδελφῆς πατρός σου ("sister of your father") before ἀδελφῆς μητρός σου ("sister of your mother"). The Vulgate uses specific Latin kinship terms, materterae (maternal aunt) and amitae (paternal aunt), rather than rendering the Hebrew construct phrases literally as "sister of mother/father." The Vulgate also renders she'ero ("his relative/flesh") as carnis suae ("his own flesh"), keeping the bodily sense more explicit than the English versions' "kin" or the Spanish "parienta."