Commentary - Leviticus 19:20-22

Bird's-eye view

This short passage in the Holiness Code of Leviticus deals with a very specific and complicated case: sexual relations between a man and a female slave who is betrothed to another man but not yet fully freed or redeemed. At first glance, it might seem like an obscure and irrelevant law, but it is packed with profound theological principles about justice, social status, atonement, and the nature of sin. The law makes a careful distinction in penalty based on the woman's social standing. Because she is "not free," the full penalty for adultery, which would be death, is not exacted. This is not because God is lenient on the sin, but because the situation is legally complex; her status is ambiguous, and therefore the man's crime is not straightforward adultery against a free citizen. The passage then outlines the required process for atonement through a guilt offering, emphasizing that even when the civil penalty is lessened, the offense against Yahweh remains a serious matter that requires sacrifice and forgiveness. This law, therefore, showcases God's meticulous justice, which takes all circumstances into account, while simultaneously upholding His absolute holiness and the necessity of blood atonement for sin.

In this, we see a key principle of biblical law. It is not a blunt instrument but a finely tuned one, designed to render true justice in a fallen world full of messy situations. It protects the vulnerable, defines sin clearly, and always, always points forward to the final guilt offering, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice alone can truly cleanse the conscience and secure ultimate forgiveness.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

This passage is situated within the broader context of the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26), a section of the law that outlines how Israel is to live as a holy people set apart for Yahweh. Chapter 19 is a particularly dense collection of laws that apply the principle of holiness to everyday life, covering everything from worship and sacrifice to economic justice, neighborly love, and sexual ethics. The famous command to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18) is found just two verses before our text. This proximity is significant. The laws in this chapter are not arbitrary rules; they are practical applications of what it means to love God and love your neighbor. The specific case in verses 20-22 follows a series of prohibitions against various forms of sexual immorality and idolatry. It demonstrates that God's concern for holiness extends into the most complex social arrangements of the people, including the institution of slavery, ensuring that justice is applied and sin is atoned for, even in the messiest corners of human society.

Key Issues

Justice in a Fallen World

One of the things that trips up modern readers of the Old Testament law is that it legislates for a world that is not ideal. We live in a fallen world, and the Mosaic law was given to Israel as a "body politic," a functioning nation, and it had to deal with situations as they were, not as they ought to have been in Eden. Slavery was a ubiquitous feature of the ancient world, and the Bible does not endorse it as a positive good, but rather regulates it in order to mitigate its evils and protect the rights of slaves in a way that was radically counter-cultural. Pagan systems treated slaves as property, as cattle with no rights. The Mosaic law, by contrast, recognized the humanity of the slave and provided legal protections.

This particular law is a prime example of this. It does not simply ignore the woman's compromised social status. It takes it directly into account when determining the civil penalty. This is what we call case law. God provides a specific case, and from it, wise judges are to derive the underlying principle of justice and apply it to other, similar cases. The principle here is that the severity of a crime can be affected by complicating factors, and the punishment must be proportional. This is not a watering down of God's hatred for sin, but rather a demonstration of His meticulous and perfect justice, which weighs every detail. It shows us that God's law is not a clumsy, one-size-fits-all hammer, but a scalpel in the hands of a master surgeon.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 ‘Now if a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave assigned to another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death because she was not free.

The case is laid out with precision. The act is clear: a man has sexual relations with a woman. The complication lies entirely in her social and legal status. She is a slave, and she has been "assigned" or betrothed to another man. However, the transaction is incomplete. She has not been fully redeemed (paid for) nor has she been formally set free. This puts her in a legal gray area. She is not a free woman, so the act is not adultery in the full sense, which was a capital crime against the rights of a free husband and his household. But she is also not unattached; she is designated for another man. Therefore, a wrong has clearly been committed.

The law's verdict is twofold. First, "there shall be punishment." The Hebrew word suggests an investigation or inquiry, leading to a just penalty. A crime has occurred, and it will not be ignored. Justice must be done. Second, the penalty is explicitly limited: "they shall not, however, be put to death." Why? "Because she was not free." Her lack of freedom is the mitigating factor. This does not excuse the sin, but it changes its legal classification. The man did not violate the covenant of a free woman, and so he does not incur the death penalty. This is a crucial distinction. The law protects the rights of all, but it recognizes that the nature and consequences of an offense can change based on the status of the persons involved.

21 And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering.

Here the case moves from the civil court to the divine court. Whatever the civil punishment was (the text doesn't specify, leaving it to the judges), it did not and could not deal with the offense against God. Sin is never merely a horizontal affair between people; it is always a vertical offense against the Holy One of Israel. So, the man is required to bring a "guilt offering" (asham) to Yahweh. This particular offering was for sins where restitution was possible, for sins of deceit or trespass against the property or rights of another, and by extension, against the holy things of God. By lying with this woman, he has trespassed against the property rights of her master and her betrothed, and ultimately, against the holiness of God's covenant people.

He must bring a ram, a valuable animal, to the very entrance of the tabernacle. This is a public act. He cannot deal with his sin in private. He must come before God and the community and acknowledge his guilt through the prescribed sacrifice. This underscores the seriousness of the sin in God's eyes, even if the civil penalty was less than capital.

22 The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Yahweh for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

The priest acts as the mediator. He takes the man's offering, the ram, and performs the ritual of atonement. Atonement means to cover, to pay the price for the sin. The blood of the ram symbolically covers the man's guilt before Yahweh. This is the crucial transaction. The civil penalty satisfied the claims of human justice, but only the blood of a sacrifice can satisfy the claims of divine justice. This entire system of sacrifice was a constant, bloody reminder that the wages of sin is death, and that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:22).

And the result is a glorious promise: his sin "will be forgiven him." This is the gospel in Leviticus. For the penitent sinner who comes to God on God's own terms, through the prescribed sacrifice, there is real, objective forgiveness. The guilt is removed. The relationship with God is restored. Of course, we know that the blood of rams and goats could not ultimately take away sin (Heb 10:4). These sacrifices were effective because they pointed forward to the one true guilt offering, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He is the one who was led to the slaughter, and by His blood, true and final atonement was made for all who trust in Him. This Old Testament law, in its careful distinctions and its sacrificial remedy, ultimately drives us to the cross.

Application

We are not under the Mosaic civil code today, and our society does not have the same system of slavery or betrothal. So how does a law like this apply to us? First, it teaches us about the character of our God. He is a God of meticulous justice. He is not a God of broad strokes and generalities; He cares about the details. He sees the complexities of our lives and judges with perfect equity. This should give us great confidence in Him as our Judge. He will not misjudge our case.

Second, it reminds us that sin is always, first and foremost, an offense against God. We tend to categorize our sins, thinking some are "not that bad" because they don't seem to have a major horizontal impact. But this passage shows that even when the human consequences are mitigated, the need for atonement before God remains absolute. There are no small sins in the sight of a holy God. Every sin, no matter the circumstances, is a trespass that requires a guilt offering.

Finally, this passage drives us to the gospel. We read of this man bringing a ram to be forgiven, and we should be overwhelmed with gratitude that our guilt offering has already been provided. Jesus Christ is the ram caught in the thicket for us. He is the one who paid the price for all our complicated, messy sins. He took our ambiguous situations, our compromised positions, our trespasses against God and neighbor, and made full and final atonement. The law reveals the standard and provides a temporary, typological solution. But Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for all who believe. Our response, therefore, is not to try and parse the details of our own sinfulness to minimize our guilt, but to flee to the cross where a full and free forgiveness has already been secured for us.