And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
If a man marries a woman and also marries her mother, this is a terrible evil. All three of them must be burned to death so that this kind of wickedness will not spread among you.
This verse establishes that marrying both a woman and her mother was considered such a serious violation of God's moral order that it carried the death penalty to protect the community from moral corruption.
📚 Historical Context
This law was given to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, distinguishing them from the immoral practices of surrounding nations like the Canaanites. In ancient times, such extreme penalties served to establish clear boundaries for a newly formed nation that needed to maintain moral purity. The severity reflected how seriously God viewed the breakdown of proper family relationships and sexual boundaries.
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