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Incestuous marriage condemned.
"The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, ... thou shalt not uncover." Leviticus
18:9
"Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister." Leviticus 18:12
"And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his
nakedness; it is a wicked thing." Leviticus 20:17
"And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin:they
shall bear their iniquity." Leviticus 20:19
"Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother." Deuteronomy 27:22
Incestuous marriage approved.
"And yet indeed, she [Sarah] is my [Abraham's] sister; she is the daughter of my father." Genesis 20:12
"And I will bless her [Sarah], and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations;
kings of people shall be of her." Genesis 17:16
"And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses." Exodus 6:20
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Explanation:
Abraham and the parents of Moses and Aaron had their marital relations before the introduction of the Law by God. It was
not the ideal, even in those days, to marry the father’s sister(step-sister), but God did not condemn them for it, because
he had not given them a warning as of yet.
When God gave the Law to Moses, He wanted to produce the purest, strongest and healthiest of a people, since they were chosen
from all other nations for Himself. By making a regular practice of marrying close relations, the Israelites would weaken
the bloodlines genetically. So just as God called eating certain animals “evil” and an “abomination”,
He made sure that His people would see the semi-incestuous relationships as forbidden and “wicked”. These commandments
had more to do with Israel’s long-term physical health than anything else.
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