Leviticus 22:4

4 Any descendant of Aaron who is afflicted with skin disease or has a discharge cannot eat of the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who touches anything made unclean by a dead body, or who has an emission of semen,

Leviticus 22:4 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 22:4

What man soever of the seed of Aaron [is] a leper
A young, or an old man, as the Targum of Jonathan, and indeed man or woman; for the wives and daughters of the priests, if in this, and other circumstances following, might not eat of the holy things until cleansed, who otherwise might, see ( Leviticus 13:2 ) ( Numbers 18:13 ) ; or hath a running issue;
a gonorrhoea, whether man or woman, ( Leviticus 15:2 Leviticus 15:25 ) ; he shall not eat of the holy things until he be clean;
he might eat of the tithes, but not of the wave breast, or heave shoulder: and whoso toucheth any [that is] unclean [by] the dead;
not only that touched the dead, which made unclean, but that touched any person or thing that was made unclean by it: or a man whose seed goeth from him;
involuntarily when asleep, in a dream, and through a lustful imagination; see ( Leviticus 15:16 ) .

Leviticus 22:4 In-Context

2 Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful how they treat the holy things that the Israelites devote to me so that they do not make my holy name impure: I am the LORD.
3 Say to them: If any descendant of yours should ever come near the holy things that the Israelites have dedicated to the LORD while he is in an unclean state, he will be cut off from before me; I am the LORD.
4 Any descendant of Aaron who is afflicted with skin disease or has a discharge cannot eat of the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who touches anything made unclean by a dead body, or who has an emission of semen,
5 or who touches any swarming creature or another person who makes him unclean—whatever the uncleanness might be—
6 the person who touches these things will be unclean until evening. He must not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. The precise meaning is uncertain; traditionally leprosy—a term used for several different skin diseases.
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