Leviticus 18:23 forbids sexual relations between a person and an animal, and it calls such conduct a perversion that defiles the one who commits it. God speaks these words through Moses to the people of Israel as they stand on the edge of the promised land, giving them instructions for holy living in a land that surrounded them with very different customs.
“‘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.
Leviticus 18:23 (WEB)
What Leviticus 18:23 Means
The verse opens with a direct prohibition: “You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it.” The Hebrew word translated “defile” refers to making something unclean or polluted, so the concern is less about a rule for its own sake and more about the damage such an act does to a person’s moral and spiritual wholeness. The second sentence extends the same prohibition to women, which was a notable inclusion in an ancient legal text that often addressed men alone.
The final word, “perversion,” names the act as something that twists what is created to be good. The verse does not spell out every penalty or every legal consequence here. It states a clear boundary and a clear judgment. What it does not do is offer commentary on the feelings or histories of people who struggled with such temptations, nor does it treat the topic as a matter for ridicule. It simply names the line God draws.
The Context of Leviticus 18:23
Leviticus is the third book of the Torah, traditionally attributed to Moses, and it was written for the Israelites who had been delivered from Egypt and were preparing to enter Canaan. Chapter 18 belongs to a larger section of holiness instructions that begins with a reminder: Israel must not copy the practices of Egypt or Canaan. The chapter lists a series of forbidden sexual unions and related sins, and verse 23 sits among them.
The verses just before and after give the verse its weight. Verses 22 and 23 are paired, and verse 24 warns that the nations Israel is displacing were defiled by exactly these things, which is why the land itself “vomited out” its inhabitants. Read in that setting, Leviticus 18:23 is part of a theology of holiness that treats God’s people as set apart, with their conduct shaping whether they can remain in the land God gives them.
Key Phrases in Leviticus 18:23
Romans 1:26
For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
(WEB)
Paul also describes sexual behavior that departs from God’s created design as a sign of humanity turning from the Creator. Reading it alongside Leviticus 18:23 shows that the concern for purity runs through both Testaments.
1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
(WEB)
Paul tells believers to flee sexual immorality because it sins against the body in a distinct way. This verse helps you see that defilement is a real harm to the person, which matches the concern Leviticus expresses.
A Short Prayer From Leviticus 18:23
Lord, you are holy, and you have made clear what is good and what defiles. I confess that I have sometimes treated your boundaries as optional or old-fashioned. Give me a clean heart and a steady mind so that I can recognize temptation before it takes root. Strengthen me to walk in your ways, and help me to show compassion to others who struggle with the same things. Thank you for your mercy that cleanses and restores. Amen.
