ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Sapate ‘Epeleli 23, 2023

Uncovering Nakedness  גלה ערוה 

KE FAKATELEFUA‘I

LEVITICUS 18:6-7

"NONE OF YOU SHALL APPROACH ANY ONE OF HIS CLOSE SHALL NOT UNCOVER THE NAKEDNESS OF YOUR FATHER, RELATIVES TO UNCOVER NAKEDNESS. I AM THE LORD. YOU WHICH IS THE NAKEDNESS OF YOUR MOTHER; SHE IS YOUR MOTHER, YOU SHALL NOT UNCOVER HER NAKEDNESS."

LEVITIKO 18:6-7

6 Tapu ki he tangata ke ‘unu‘unu ki he kakano ‘o hono manava, ke fakatelefua‘i ia: ko Sihova au. 7 Tapu ha‘o ala ki he telefua ‘o ho‘o tamai, ‘a ia ko ho‘o fa‘ē; ko ho‘o fa‘ē ia, ‘e ‘ikai te ke fakatelefua‘i.

Idioms spice up a language, but for nonnative speakers, they're often bewildering. Imagine trying to understand "by the skin of your teeth" or "cost an arm and a leg" as if they were literal! As with English, so with Hebrew. For instance, to galah ervah ("uncover [someone's] nakedness") often implicitly refers to sex with Person X while explicitly referring to Person Y. So to "undercover a father's nakedness" is actually to commit incest with the mother. But since she and her husband are "one flesh" (Gen. 2:24), her body is his, and his, hers. All the sexual laws in Leviticus 18 are variations on this theme: family members are our flesh and blood-to be defended against every evil.

"Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous" (Heb. 13:4). Our families are gifts of God. Each marriage is an icon of Christ and his bride. May our Father defend us from every attack of the evil one, who seeks to fracture families, including the family of God. 

Blessed are you, O Lord, giver of marriage and family; you alone are our rock and salvation.