כמעשה ארץ מצרים וכמעשה ארץ כנען, Rabbi Yossi the Galilean, raised the point that seeing the Torah had compared the cultures of Egypt to that of the Canaanites, and that of the Canaanites to that of the Egyptians, [why were we commanded to wipe out the Canaanites and to replace them in their former homeland, while the Torah did not command us to destroy the Egyptians and their culture? Ed.] The Canaanites were granted to live on their land for 47 years longer than it took for G-d to punish the Egyptians as we know that Chevron was founded seven years earlier than its counterpart Tzoan in Egypt? (Compare Numbers 13,22) The answer to his question is that they had the merit of burying Avraham in the cave of Machpelah going for them. (Sifra) Our paragraph was written at this juncture because the satyrs to whom the Egyptians sacrificed and whom the Israelites while there copied, have been mentioned immediately before this paragraph.

וחי בהם, “and live by them;” the implication is that failing to perform the commandments will bring about those people’s deaths, i.e. their souls will be wiped out, their connection to the Jewish nation will cease. (as spelled out more specifically in verse 29 of this chapter.)

לא תקרבו, “do not approach;” this expression is a simile for describing carnal relations. An example of the use of this expression elsewhere is in Genesis 20,4: ואבימלך לא קרב אליה, “Avimelech did not approach her,” or Isaiah 8,3: ואקרב אל הנביאה, “I was intimate with the prophetess;”

לא תקרבו, the reason this line is used in the plural mode is to warn both parties not to indulge in such carnal relations. The normally more passive partner is considered equally guilty.

ערות אחותך, “the nakedness of your sister;” this part of the verse concerns carnal relations without the benefit of marriage. [she is your sister from a an illicit relationship that your father indulged in. Ed.]

בת אביך, “the daughter of your father;” the result of your father having raped a woman, or seduced her, as a result of which she bore that daughter. This is why the Torah added the words: מולדת בית “born at home,” to describe this relationship. On the other hand, the expression מולדת חוץ, “born outside,” refers to the result of a stranger having raped or seduced your mother as a result of which she bore an illegitimate daughter.

ערות בת בנך או בת בתך, “the nakedness of your son\s daughter, or your daughter’s daughter, etc.;” how do we know that the “nakedness of your daughter” is also included although the Torah has not spelled this out? We derive this from the expression: הנה, both at the end of this verse as well as in verse 17. The Talmud in Sanhedrin folio 76, elaborates on this. [Actually logic dictates that if it is forbidden to have carnal relations with one’s grandchild, it is certainly forbidden to have such relations with one’s child. However, the sages preferred to find a hint of this in the written text of the Torah, also. Ed.]

אחותך היא, “she is your sister.” Here the Torah speaks of a “sister” who is the result of an official union, whereas previously, in verse 9 it spoke of the result of a casual relationship. The same is true when the Torah spoke of “the daughter of your mother by marriage, all the more so the daughter, i.e. a sister who is the result of your father or your mother.

ואשה אל אחותה, “and a woman (as a wife) in addition to her sister;” this construction is also found in “ אל חלליהם, in Joshua 13,22, where it means: “together with the others who had been slain.”

לא תקח לצרור, “you must not marry to become a rival;” the result would be that both these women (the sisters) would be widows in the house of their husbands while the husband is alive, as he is forbidden to have marital relations with either one of them.

לגלות ערותה, “to reveal her nakedness;” to the second one while both are alive.

עליה, “with her;” we find the expression על used in the sense of “with,” also Leviticus 25,31 על שדה הארץ יחשב, “they will be considered as belonging with the fields of the country.

לא תקרב לכלות ערותה, “you must not indulge in marital relations with her at the time when she has her menses.” He must refrain until she has become purified.

ולא תחלל את שם אלוקיך “so that you do not desecrate the name of your G-d.” Who is this G-d of yours? None other than the G-d we revere as the tetragram, the One Who referred to Himself as 'אני ה.

תועבה היא, “it is an abomination;” the letter ו in the word הוא is vocalised with a chirik״ i.e. it is read as such, it is feminine. [I have not understood the author’s reference to Job 36,33 here. Ed.]

לרבעה, “to defile herself;” the letter ה at the end has a dot in it, indicating that it is not the beast that becomes defiled, but the woman who committed this perversion. On the other hand, the same letter in the same word in Leviticus 20,16 is “weak,”

תבל הוא, “it is a perversion. The letter ו, here has the vowel shuruk, i.e. the word תבל is a masculine noun. [Our author points this out as in other places the word תבל, meaning “universe,” is feminine, as in Psalms 24,1; 98,7; 50,12; etc., etc. [The author may wish to see in this treatment of the word here as masculine, proof that the Torah always considers the male human being as the initiator of these kinds of perversions. Ed.]

ותקיא הארץ “The land spewed out;” anything a person vomits becomes repugnant to him, and he does not want to have a second look at it. [In other words, he does not even long to return to his former homeland. Ed.]

ושמרתם אותם, “you will observe them (not to violate them).” Seeing that you have already learned to keep G-d’s commandments while in the desert, you will not feel doing so as a hardship when you take possession of your inheritance, your own land. Our author compares this to the poetic manner in which Solomon describes the chastity of Jewish women in Song of Songs 4,12, where he likens them to a securely locked garden. Seeing that Jewish girls guarded their virginity before marriage, they will not find it difficult to observe fidelity once they are married.

את חקותי, the laws governing incest and chastity that were the principal subject of this portion.

ואת משפטי, “and My social laws; you will be careful not to violate them.”

ולא תקיא הארץ אתכם, “and the land will not spew you out.” If you do violate My commandments, not only will the land vomit you, but many of the sins you will become guilty of will carry the additional penalty of severing your souls from the Jewish people and their potentially eternal afterlife.

כאשר קאה, “as it had already vomited;”we find here that the same land had already once spewed out its former inhabitants. The word קאה in the masculine mode suddenly, [as compared with תקיא at the beginning of this verse, Ed.] reminds us of a previous time when the Torah used it in the masculine mode in connection with the noun ארץ, which is usually a feminine noun. The other time it was described as performing something in the masculine mode was in Genesis 13,6 when the land of Canaan was described as incapable of supporting both the herds and flocks of Avraham and his nephew Lot, as they had become too numerous. Our author quotes several other examples of this as in: Isaiah 9,18, Zecharyah 14,10, and Genesis 29,6.

הנפשות, “the souls,” the Torah employs the plural mode to teach us that both parties, i.e. also the woman will be subject to the same penalty from heaven, i.e. G-d will see to it that they will be totally severed from their celestial origin, seeing that our sages basically guarantee that every Jew who did not forfeit it, will have a share in eternal life. [Compare: introduction to first Mishnah of “Ethics of our Fathers.” Ed.]

לבלתי עשות מחקות התועבות, “not to become guilty of indulging in these abominable acts described previously.” Here the Torah refers to preliminary erotic acts which will eventually lead to violating the basic laws of chastity. They are kissing and hugging the members of the opposite sex, ogling, etc.

אשר נעשו לפניכם, which were performed in this country before you inherited it. You must not argue that since it was the accepted norm in this land for many hundreds of years and the people got away with it, we the Jewish people can also adopt their lifestyle.

אני ה' אלוקיכם, “I, the Lord, Am Your G-d.” You must not argue with Me, even when you do not understand the why’s and wherefore’s of My commandments. (Ibn Ezra)