Leviticus 20:13

The context

Leviticus 17 to 26 is often called the Holiness Code, a collection of laws distinguishing Israel from surrounding peoples. Chapter twenty lists offenses with their penalties, sexual and otherwise, and frames them as abominations that defile the land. Verse thirteen is one entry in that list.

What it establishes

It establishes the legal stance of this code toward male homosexual acts and the penalty attached within Israel's system. That is what the verse says, and it says it in a chapter of comparable capital provisions.

What it does not establish

It does not address orientation, consent, or modern categories. Those concepts are not in view in an ancient legal collection. Nor does the verse tell later readers how to apply its penalty; the chapter also prescribes death for adultery and for cursing parents, which readers do not apply uniformly.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• So you believe in a book full of contradictions, one that endorses slavery, incest, murder, drowning babies, genocide and stoning homosexuals?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.