Does Leviticus 20:10 permit adultery with the wife of a Gentile?
Question:
Maimonides says that the repeated clause in Leviticus 20:10 is written this way to permit adultery with the wife of a Gentile. Is there any truth to that? And why is it written in such an ambiguous way? Is it to reveal human evils?
Answer:
The text of Leviticus 20:10 literally reads:
"and a man - who - he commits adultery - with the wife of - a man - who - he commits adultery - with the wife of - his fellow - dying they must be executed - the adulterer - and the adulteress"
Ancient languages didn't have punctuation or means to change font styles to emphasize text. Thus, a part of translation is dividing the text properly. For example:
"Woman without her man is nothing"
Could that be read as:
"Woman, without her man, is nothing."
or
"Woman, without her, man is nothing."
The meaning is quite different, depending on how the words are parsed.
A duplication of text could be a copyist error. However, it could indicate that the duplicated words are being emphasized for added clarity. One suggestion for the division of Leviticus 20:10 is:
"And a man who commits adultery with the wife of a man (who commits adultery with the wife of his companion) must be put to death, the adulterer and the adulteress."
One of the Ten Commandments is "You shall not commit adultery." This law specifies the penalty for breaking that commandment. Both the man and woman involved in adultery are to be put to death. The repeated phrases emphasize that adultery is a sin against your fellow man (your neighbor). Remember the lawyer who asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus' answer basically stated that anyone you have contact with is your neighbor.
This isn't a loophole to allow adultery in some cases. It is an underscored command that adultery results in the death penalty because it is a crime against your fellow man.
Question:
Thank you so much. Could it be that adultery with a pagan's wife was sinful but not worthy of the death penalty?
Answer:
Israel's laws applied to foreigners living in the land. "As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the LORD. There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you" (Numbers 15:15-16). Therefore, adultery was wrong regardless of whether the neighbor was an Israelite or a Gentile.
