“Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death.
Parallel translations
- KJV Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
- BSB Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death.
- NKJV “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
- NASB “Whoever has sexual intercourse with an animal must be put to death.
- NLT “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must certainly be put to death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Bestiality is a capital crime, a perversion that defies God's created order. Sexual sin against nature is treated with utmost seriousness.
Overview
This law condemns a grievous violation of the boundaries God set in creation between humans and animals. It reflects the holiness God required of His people in contrast to surrounding pagan practices. The created order it defends is restored and honored in Christ, through whom all things are made new and rightly ordered.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Lev 18:23“‘You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No woman may give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion.
- Deut 27:21‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Lev 20:15–16“‘If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.
- Lev 18:25The land was defiled: therefore I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out her inhabitants.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 22:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.