Leviticus 20:18 (DRB)

Passage

If any man lie with a woman in her flowers, and uncover her nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood: both shall be destroyed out of the midst of their people.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 20:16 The woman that shall lie under any beast, shall be killed together with the same. Their blood be upon them.

Leviticus 20:17 If any man take his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother, and see her nakedness, and she behold her brother's shame: they have committed a crime. They shall be slain, in the sight of their people, because they have discovered one another's nakedness. And they shall bear their iniquity.

Leviticus 20:18 If any man lie with a woman in her flowers, and uncover her nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood: both shall be destroyed out of the midst of their people.

Leviticus 20:19 Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy aunt by thy mother, and of thy aunt by thy father. He that doth this, hath uncovered the shame of his own flesh: both shall bear their iniquity.

Leviticus 20:20 If any man lie with the wife of his uncle by the father, or of his uncle by the mother, and uncover the shame of his near akin, both shall bear their sin. They shall die without children.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "woman", "flowers", "uncover", "nakedness", "open", "fountain", "blood", and "both". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "woman" and "flowers", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "If any man take his sister the..." into verse 19's "Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of...", so "woman" and "flowers" 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 "woman" and "flowers" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.