Leviticus 21:21

21 If a descendant of the priest Aaron has a physical defect, he must never bring sacrifices by fire to the LORD. He has a defect. He must never bring food to offer to God.

Leviticus 21:21 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 21:21

No man that hath a blemish, of the seed of Aaron the priest,
&c.] Whether an high priest or a common priest that lies on him anyone of the above blemishes; and which the Jewish writers F6 make to amount to the number of one hundred and forty, and which they reckon, so many in one part of the booty and so many in another, till they make up the said number; and whoever had any might not

come nigh to offer up the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire;
the burnt offerings on the altar, to which he might not approach, and the meat offerings, and the fat, and the incense:

he hath a blemish;
in one part of him or another; and though but one,

he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God:
this is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to show how determined the Lord was in this matter; and how much he should resent it in any that should be found guilty of the breach of those rules, and so it is designed to deter from attempting: it.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Maimon. Biath Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 17.

Leviticus 21:21 In-Context

19 or a crippled hand or foot,
20 who is a hunchback or dwarf, who has defective sight, skin diseases, or crushed testicles.
21 If a descendant of the priest Aaron has a physical defect, he must never bring sacrifices by fire to the LORD. He has a defect. He must never bring food to offer to God.
22 He may eat the food of his God--what is holy and what is very holy.
23 However, he must never come up to the canopy or to the altar, since he has a physical defect. He must never dishonor the holy places because I, the LORD, set them apart as holy."
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