Bible Strands
Leviticus 19:20
If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel through Moses during the wilderness period, placing this statute immediately after laws prohibiting mixed kinds in livestock, seeds, and fabrics.
The words — The phrase שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע (shikhvat zera), literally "a laying of seed," specifies the sexual act, while אִשָּׁה (isha) identifies the woman as the object of that action.
The thread — This regulation parallels the legal treatment of a pledged virgin in Deuteronomy 22:23 and the conditional punishment of a servant in Exodus 21:20.
Why it lands — The text prescribes a measured penalty rather than execution because the woman remains bound to another master, and it requires the man to present a ram as a guilt offering to the Tent of Meeting.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 22:23 If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,
- Exodus 21:20 If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.