Leviticus 20:15 (DBY)

Passage

And if a man lie with a beast for copulation, he shall certainly be put to death; and ye shall kill the beast.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Leviticus 20:14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is infamy: they shall burn him and them with fire, that there be no infamy among you.

Leviticus 20:15 And if a man lie with a beast for copulation, he shall certainly be put to death; and ye shall kill the beast.

Leviticus 20:16 And if a woman approach unto any beast to gender therewith, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Leviticus 20:17 And if a man take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness, that is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off before the eyes of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "beast", "copulation", "shall", "certainly", "death", and "kill". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "beast" and "copulation", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "And if a man take a wife..." into verse 16's "And if a woman approach unto any...", so "beast" and "copulation" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "beast" and "copulation" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.