Leviticus 21:21

21 Any man from Aaron the priest's offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to Yahweh; a physical defect [is] in him; he shall not come near to present his God's food.

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 man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand,
20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle.
21 Any man from Aaron the priest's offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to Yahweh; a physical defect [is] in him; he shall not come near to present his God's food.
22 He may eat his God's food, from {the most holy things} and from the holy things.
23 But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect [is] in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I [am] Yahweh, who consecrates them.'"

Footnotes 1

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