Ver. 2. That giveth any of his seed unto Moloch.] [See Trapp on “Le 18:21”] Lactantius reports out of “Pescennius Festus,” that the Carthaginians being overcome by Agathocles king of Sicily, and fearing lest their slackness in the service of Saturn—who is thought to be the same with Moloch—was the cause, offered unto him for a sacrifice no fewer than four hundred young gentlemen at once.
Ver. 3. To defile my sanctuary.] Great sins do greatly pollute. See Leviticus 18:21.
Ver. 4. :. Hide their eyes,] i.e., Be negligent or ignorant.
Ver. 5. I will set my face against that man.] See the reason in Ezekiel 16:20,21, “Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to pass through the fire for them?” This was an enraging sin; such as God is absolute in threatening, and will be as resolute in punishing.
Ver. 6. And will cut him off.] Nemo cum serpente securus ludit, nemo cum diabolo iocatur impune. Chrysolog., Serm. 155.
Ver. 7. For I am the Lord your God.] And God that is holy should be sanctified in righteousness. (Isaiah 5:16)
Ver. 8. I am the Lord which sanctify you.] Ut acti agatis, that ye may trade with your talents, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and lives, and walk up to your principles.
Ver. 9. For every one that curseth.] [See Trapp on “Mt 15:4”] [See Trapp on “Ex 21:17”]
Ver. 10. Shall surely be put to death.] Adultery was death long before this law. (Genesis 26:11 38:24) So it was afterwards among the Greeks, Romans, and many other nations. (Jeremiah 29:22,23)
Ver. 11-14. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 12. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 13. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 14. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 15. Ye shall slay the beast.] Though innocent: this shows the heinousness of the sin. See Leviticus 18:9.
Ver. 16. And the beast.] Lest the sight of such a beast should bring that loathsome sin to remembrance.
Ver. 17. And see her nakedness.] In the Pope’s war against the Albigenses, those ancient French Protestants, when the bishops had taken a great town yielded to them, they commanded the inhabitants, both men and women, to depart stark naked, Partibus illis, quae honeste nominari non possunt, sanctorum illorum cruciatorum oculis expositis, saith Rivet, not suffering them to hide from the impure eyes of those pope holy fathers those parts that nature would have covered. David that had faulted in looking lustfully on bathing Bathsheba, prays hard, after he had smarted for it, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,” &c. (Psalms 119:37) “ Cur aliquid vidi, cur noxia lumina feci? ’’— Ovid. See Habakkuk 2:15. Of looking comes lusting, especially when they do σκοτειν, which is the apostle’s word, (2 Corinthians 4:14) so look, as the archer at the mark. It is a wicked thing.] Heb., An impiety or reproach: Chesed, it is called, per antiphrasin. That may have a good name, the nature whereof is so ill that it is not to be named. Jesuita Vapulans., p. 331.
Ver. 18-20. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 19. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 20. See on Leviticus 18.
Ver. 21. They shall be childless.] Either barren or bereft; for this is a sin, saith Job, that roots out all a man’s increase. (Job 31:12) Hence that of Hosea, They shall commit whoredom, velo iepparedu, they shall not increase. Pered is a mule, which is a beast very libidinous, but begetting nothing. Solomon had many concubines, yet but one son and two daughters. So had our Henry VIII. He had uncovered his brother’s nakedness, and was well-nigh childless by her. Afterwards he married many wives, and was blameworthy for women, but left no more children than Solomon did. More happy he was in them than Solomon; for he had Rehoboam, a man neither wise nor fortunate, as they call it: his daughters but obscure, and both of them subjects. But Henry had a peerless prince to his son, viz., Edward VI, and his two daughters were both sovereigns of an imperial crown.
Ver. 22,23. See on Leviticus 18
Ver. 23. See on Leviticus 18
Ver. 24. Separated you.] With a wonderful separation; such as was that of light from darkness at the creation.
Ver. 25. Between clean beasts.] How much more then shall you abstain from those unlawful copulations, whereby men put off all manhood, degenerate into dogs? (Romans 1:27 Deuteronomy 23:18 2 Samuel 3:8)
Ver. 26. See Leviticus 19:2 20:7.
Ver. 27. That both a familiar spirit.] As Paracelsus had one confined to the pummel of his sword, or else Erastus belies him.