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		Living in Exile     Acharei Mot/Kedoshim   (Lev 16:1 - 20:27)

Vayikra/Leviticus 18:24   You shall not make yourselves unclean in any of these, for in all of these the nations that I am expelling before you became unclean.

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Chapter 18 of Vayikra - it could be argued that the later chapter divisions serve better here than the traditional Jewish aliyot - is concerned with forbidden sexual activities: with close family members, with a woman during her period, with a neighbour's wife, with a person of the same sex, with an animal, or by sacrificing children to Molekh. They all involve likely abuses of power and control to overcome normal human desires and expectations. Verses 1-5 and 24-30 form bookends to the list of these forbidden practices, so that the word אֵלֶּה, 'these' here means the contents of the enclosed list. The word כָל, most frequently translated as 'all' may often - depending on context or the number of the objects being described - be rendered as 'any' or 'every', so it is reasonable to take its first use in our text as "any of these", while taking "all of these" for the second.

The root טמא occurs twice in the verse. The first instance is תִּטַּמְּאוּ, the Hitpa'el 2mp prefix form, preceded with the negative particle אַל, literally "you shall not make yourselves unclean", approximating to a negative imperative, "don't make yourselves unclean". The use of the Hitpa'el stem, is reflexive - the Israelites would do it to themselves - and deliberate: they would make themselves unclean rather than it being a passive consequence. The second instance is נִטְמְאוּ, the Nif'al 3mp affix form, "they became unclean", suggesting that their uncleanness is complete: they are already completely unclean. Notice also that the word order places the verb before "any of these" in the first use, to show that the Israelites - like Cain, "sin couches at the door; its urge is toward you, yet you can be its master" (B'resheet 4:7, NJPS), have a choice - whereas the verb is placed after "all of these" in the second, to show that the nations - whom HaShem is expelling before the Israelites - have already succumbed to those sins.

Baruch Levine makes the point that "although incest and the other sexual offences involve interpersonal relations, they are also offences against G-d." Apart from being individually named and forbidden, they all violate the Torah's command to love one's neighbour: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Vayikra 19:18). Yeshua describes this as the second most important commandment after loving G-d "The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these'" (Mark 12:31). John Hartley reports that "Israel's polytheistic neighbours energetically pursued fertility rites to ensure the fertility of their fields, flocks and families", misunderstanding that the real link is not pagan mimicry, but obedience to and relationship with the Creator of the land. "When the people obey G-d's laws, G-d blesses the land and it bears abundantly."¹

Although we have dealt with the opening bookend on another occasion, we need to briefly revisit it in order to bring the focus sharply to bear on our position as exiles today. There, The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem tells Moshe, "You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws" (Vayikra 18:3, NJPS). Egypt is the land that the Israelites have just left, while Canaan is the land where the Israelites will shortly arrive; currently they are in a liminal state, flushing Egypt out of their system and preparing to enter the land of Canaan which HaShem has promised to give to them and their descendants. They know only too well the proclivities of the Egyptians and their moral state; they suspect - and HaShem confirms - that things will be much the same or worse in Canaan, which is one of the reasons why they have been told, "you shall not bow down to their gods in worship or follow their practices, but shall tear them down and smash their pillars to bits" (Shemot 23:24, NJPS), not to allow any opportunities for engagement with the Canaanite culture.

Exiles are not in a position to demolish the idols of modern culture, in particular the way that sex is used and abused to sell anything and everything, to manipulate social values and behaviour, to trivialise and corrupt the concepts of marriage and family and to reduce men and women - created in the image of G-d - to mere physical animals and technicians. Nevertheless, even in the weakness and vulnerability of exile, we are called to maintain the distinctives of the kingdom of G-d by making sure that we observe G-d's standard of righteousness in all things, especially in the area of sexual behaviour. Walter Kaiser comments that, "sexual purity is only one part of the larger morality that is mandatory for all who would live a godly and righteous life before a holy G-d. However, sexual holiness may be the first line of practical defence for all who are on the road to living a holy life devoted to G-d. To give free course to our passions, appetites and hunger in this area is ultimately to turn loose the controls over every other area of our lives."²

Yeshua points out that these thoughts and desires do not come from outside. In the middle of an argument with the Pharisees about the importance of washing the hands before eating, He tells the disciples that "the things that proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and these things make the man unholy" (Matthew 15:18, TLV). But what does come out of the mouth from the heart? Yeshua is under no illusion here: "out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander" (v. 19, TLV). Right up there in Yeshua's mind as things that make people unclean, second only to murder, come adultery and sexual immorality. Ouch! Yeshua is adamant: "These are the things that make the man unholy; but to eat with unwashed hands does not make the man unholy" (v. 20, TLV). Who can fix the heart? The prophets are clear that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV). Only G-d can change this, as He promises: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26, ESV).

Connecting back to our text, Samuel Balentine emphasises that "the measure of Israel's obedience to G-d is not only the purity of its rituals; it is also the morality of its everyday conduct."³ It is surely significant that Rav Sha'ul's two landmark lists of behaviours that are incompatible with inheriting the kingdom of G-d both start with sexual immorality. To the Galatians - probably his first written letter - Sha'ul is very explicit, aligning "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality" (Galatians 5:19) with "idolatry and sorcery" (v. 20), bluntly stating that "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of G-d" (v. 21). Writing some years later - a more considered and definite letter - he forthrightly tells the congregations in Corinth, "Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who practice homosexuality ... will inherit the kingdom of G-d" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). In both cases, he places all these sexual sins in the same category as idolatry and is sure that they exclude a person from being a part of G-d's kingdom and people. This exactly corresponds with the Torah's language for the punishment of such actions: "All who do any of those abhorrent things -- such persons shall be cut off from their people" (Vayikra 18:29, NJPS).

Where should we draw the line? Ovadiah Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno suggests that the Israelites should refuse "even to draw nigh to uncover nakedness, for the beginning of these nations' transgressions was not in the actual uncovering of nakedness, but in the coming close (to the forbidden partner)." That is clearly a physical border-line, but Rav Sha'ul, it appears, has much the same idea, when he tells the congregation in Ephesus, "sexual immorality and all impurity ... must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints" (Ephesus 5:3, ESV). Don't even talk about it, think about it, or acknowledge that it could be a possibility - even if forbidden. The first step to doing something forbidden is to talk about it, since talk normalises the action and appears to diminish the prohibition.

Peter tells us how we should be applying this: "Live such good lives among the pagans that even though they now speak against you as evil-doers, they will, as a result of seeing your good actions, give glory to G-d on the Day of His coming" (1 Peter 2:12, CJB). Of course, the brief is larger than sexual matters; it extends to all facets of life. But the point is that the world is watching us all the time and we are to bring glory not scorn or ridicule to G-d's name in the way we behave. When we misbehave we discredit the name of Yeshua and put a stumbling block in the way of others coming to know Him. Balentine puts it this way: "Unethical and immoral human conduct outside the sanctuary defiles the world with consequences no less catastrophic than religious infidelity."⁴ How zealous for G-d's reputation are you today? He has taken the risk of letting us be called by His name; we must be careful not to let Him down!

1. - John E. Hartley, Leviticus, Word Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1992), page 298.

2. - Walter C. Kaiser, "Leviticus" in The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary Vol I, edited by Leander E. Keck, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2015), page 615.

3. - Samuel E. Balentine, Leviticus, Interpretation, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), page 153.

4. - Balentine, ibid.

Further Study: Luke 6:45; Hebrews 3:12; James 1:22-25

Application: Do we sometimes spend altogether too long talking about what other people do, so making ourselves unclean with their sin? We should instead be focusing on encouraging each other to live holy, pure and clean lives before Yeshua and before the world. Let's repent right now and get our act together - Him and us - to speak only of what is "true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable" (Philippians 4:8).

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© Jonathan Allen, 2025

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