1. Leviticus 18:17 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the word “depravity” mean?

Leviticus 18:17 (ESV)

17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity.

The term depravity (zimmāh) literally means evil or assault. It refers specifically to sexual sins. Elsewhere in the Bible, the term is used as an idiom for Israel’s idolatry (Nehemiah 13:27; Ezekiel 16:26–27). In the sight of God, the Hebrew’s disobedience is seen as a form of spiritual adultery.