An interpretation of Lev 20, updated for publication. In addition to classical methods of exegesis, it also uses other approaches, particularly those from cultural anthropology. The study first clarifies the scholarly prerequisites, working on the assumption that Lev 17-26 is an integral part of the Priestly Source ("P" text). The text itself is examined in both its synchronic and diachronic aspects and identified as a reader and sermon which reflects internal Jewish conflicts in the post-exile community. The whole of the formulaic content of the death sentences in Lev 20 is analysed thoroughly and discussed against the background of the thesis of "social death" (H.-P. Hasenfratz). Within the text complex of Lev 11-22, Lev 20 is concerned with irreversible impurity, which leads to exclusion from Israel, and the concluding interpretation of Israel as a people sacred to YHWH. The study closes with a theology of Lev 20 and a preview of the history of capital punishment in later Judaism.