(1) And the Lord spake unto Moses.--It is difficult to account for the position of this chapter. Naturally we should expect it to follow Leviticus 18. If Leviticus 20 contains the penalties attached to the sins enumerated in Leviticus 18, we should expect it immediately to follow that chapter. It may, however, be that before enacting these severe punishments, the Lawgiver wanted to appeal to the high calling of the nation, to qualify them by the sublime precepts laid down in Leviticus 19 for obedience to the laws in Leviticus 18, and that in the chapter before us the civil punishments are set forth as an alternative for those who will not be guided by the spiritual sentiments enunciated in Leviticus 19.

The subject of chapter 18, is resumed in this chapter; but that which was before considered as sin only is now regarded as crime, and penalties are attached according to the heinousness of the offense. For example, the sin of "giving of his seed to Molech," or which is the same thing, "letting any of his seed pass through the fire to Molech," had been forbidden as a sin in chapter Leviticus 18:21; now it is condemned as a crime. The various penalties assigned in this chapter are

(1) burning with fire (verse 14);

(2) stoning with stones (verses 2, 27);

(3) being put to death in a manner not specified (verses 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16); . . .

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