Leviticus

Leviticus 20:9

Dishonoring parental authority is a serious offense against God’s covenant order.

Leviticus 20:9 (WEB)

9 “ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself.

Central Idea

Dishonoring parental authority is a serious offense against God’s covenant order.

Authorial Intent

This passage establishes the severe covenant consequence for cursing one’s father or mother, reinforcing the sanctity of parental authority within Israel’s covenant life.

Literary Context

This unit follows the warning against turning to mediums and spiritists and the summons to consecration in Leviticus 20:6–8. Leviticus 20 now moves through penalties for practices that fracture Israel's covenant identity. Verse 9 begins the household and sexual-boundary section by grounding communal holiness in the honoring of father and mother.

Historical Context

Sinai covenant instruction for Israel as a redeemed nation called to be holy before the LORD.

Chapter: Leviticus 20

Holiness, Judgment, and the LORD Who Sanctifies His People

The LORD who sanctifies His people requires Israel to reject idolatry, occultism, sexual defilement, and national imitation, preserving holiness as His separated possession in the land.