Leviticus 19:20

Lying with a Slave Woman

19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, 1  although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. 2  They must not be put to death, because she was not free.

Leviticus 20:2

20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel 3  who gives any of his children 4  to Molech 5  must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 6 

1 tn Heb “And a man when he lies with a woman the lying of seed.”

2 sn That is, the woman had previously been assigned for marriage to another man but the marriage deal had not yet been consummated. In the meantime, the woman has lost her virginity and has, therefore, lost part of her value to the master in the sale to the man for whom she had been designated. Compensation was, therefore, required (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 130-31).

3 tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”

4 tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.

5 tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.

6 tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).