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9 ‎[1] FOR WHATSOEVER MAN THERE BE THAT CURSETH HIS FATHER OR HIS MOTHER. The meaning thereof is that it refers back to the beginning of the section where He stated, *Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father*, and He now states here, *for whatsoever man there be* that does not obey [this commandment] and *curseth his father, or his mother, he shall surely be put to death*, and by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], this verse is here stated because He had said [above], *Sanctify yourselves therefore, and by ye holy; for I am the Eternal your G-d*, and *I am the Eternal Who sanctify you*, meaning that it is *the Glorious Name* Who sanctifies us, for He is *our Father*, and *our Redeemer from everlasting*, and it is His Name; therefore he who curses those who participated in his formation, is liable to death. This is the reason for the law [of the punishment] of the adulterer and adulteress, [in the following verse], which He placed near here before [the law of] all forbidden relations [mentioned further on in this section]. I have already alluded to this above.
Now Scripture mentions here some of the forbidden relations in order to make [one who has intercourse with them] liable to death, these being a man’s wife, a father’s wife, a daughter-in-law, a male, a woman and her mother, and the same law applies to a woman and her daughter and her daughter’s daughter, for He mentioned here only some of the relations of a wife, but the same punishment applies to all those mentioned there in the admonition. And surely this applies all the more so to one’s own relatives, such as his son’s daughter and his daughter’s daughter mentioned there, and needless to say, his [own] daughter. On all these matters there are also Rabbinical interpretations to establish their punishment. Similarly He mentioned here the punishment of death for lying with a beast. He mentioned excision again in the case of a menstruant [although this has already been included in a general statement above, 18:29], in order to declare him liable for mere sexual contact without completion of the act, this being the sense of the expression, *he hath bared her fountain*. Similarly [He has stated] in the case of a mother’s sister and a father’s sister, *for he hath bared his near kin*. He mentioned an uncle’s wife and also a brother’s wife, in order to declare them liable to [the punishment of] dying childless, whether he had no children at the time when he commits the sin, or he did have [in which case none will survive him]. But the excision mentioned in the case of one’s sister is redundant [being included in the general statement above, 18:29], and has therefore been interpreted by our Rabbis: “Why was excision specified in the case of a sister etc.” In line with the plain meaning of Scripture [excision was specified in the case of a sister] in order that Scripture should add [that it will be done] *in the sight of the children of their people*, meaning to state that *their soul will perish in youth* in such a way that people will see, understand and realize *that the hand of the Eternal hath done this*, and that the Holy One of Israel has decreed it.
The meaning of the expression *he shall bear his iniquity*, is that this sin will cleave to him from that time onwards, his deeds will not prosper, and the curse shall lie upon him, for G-d will strike him with sore sicknesses until He will destroy him with excision, something similar to what the Rabbis have said: “A sign of [this type of] sin is one affected with dropsy.” It was not necessary for Scripture to mention the other people who are liable to excision, such as one’s mother and a wife’s sister, because all that is needed to be stated about them we have already derived from those mentioned [here in this section].
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY