Leviticus 22

Priests and Their Food

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the {Israelites}' votive offerings, and they must not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me; I [am] Yahweh.

3 "Say to them, 'Throughout your generations, any man from any of your offspring who comes near the votive offerings that the {Israelites} consecrate to Yahweh with his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut off from {before me}; I [am] Yahweh.

4 " '{Anyone} from Aaron's offspring, if he [is] afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary {until} he is clean; and the one who touches any unclean person or a man from whom an emission of semen goes out,

5 or a man who touches any swarmer that is unclean for him or [who touches] a person who is unclean for him {due to} whatever his uncleanness,

6 a person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, except [when] he washes his body with water

7 and {the sun sets}, and he shall be clean; then afterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it [is] his food.

8 He shall not eat a [naturally] dead body or a mangled carcass, {so that he becomes unclean} by it; I [am] Yahweh.

9 " 'And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so that they die through it, because they have profaned it; I [am] Yahweh who consecrates them.

10 " '{No stranger shall eat} [the] votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident with a priest or a hired worker eat [the] votive offering.

11 But a priest, if [with] his money he buys a person [as] {his possession}, that one may eat it, and the descendants of his house themselves may eat his food.

12 And a priest's daughter, when {she marries a layman}, she herself may not eat {the votive offering}.

13 But a priest's daughter, when she becomes a widow or divorced or there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father's house as [in] her childhood, she may eat from her father's food, but {no layman may eat it}.

14 And if a man eats [the] votive offering unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it, and he shall give the votive offering to the priest.

15 And they shall not profane the {Israelites}' votive offerings that they present to Yahweh,

16 and so cause them, by their eating their votive offerings, to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, because I [am] Yahweh, who consecrates them.'"

Acceptable Offerings

17 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

18 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the {Israelites}, and say to them, 'Anyone from the house of Israel or from the alien in Israel who presents his offering for any of their vows or for any of their freewill offerings that they present to Yahweh as a burnt offering,

19 [it must be] without defect {to be acceptable for you}: a male among the cattle, among the sheep, or among the goats.

20 You shall not present any [animal] in which [is] a physical defect, because it shall not be {acceptable} for you.

21 And if anyone brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings for Yahweh to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the cattle or from the flock, it must be without defect {to be acceptable}; there must not be any physical defect in it.

22 [The] blind or [the] injured or [the] maimed or [the] seeping or [one with a] skin disorder or [one with a] skin eruption--these you shall not present to Yahweh, nor shall you give from them an offering made by fire on the altar for Yahweh.

23 As for an ox or sheep that is deformed or that is stunted, you may present it [as] a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.

24 And you shall not present [anything] for Yahweh [with] bruised or shattered or torn or cut-off [testicles], and you shall not {sacrifice} [such] in your land.

25 And you shall not present your God's food from any of these by the hand of {a foreigner}, because their deformity [is] in them; a physical defect [is] in them; they shall not be accepted for you.'"

26 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

27 "When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, then it shall be under its mother [for] seven days, and from the eighth day and beyond it is acceptable as an offering made by fire for Yahweh.

28 And you shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep and {its young} on {the same day}.

29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you must sacrifice [it] to be acceptable for you.

30 It must be eaten on that day; you must not leave over [anything] from it until morning; I [am] Yahweh.

31 "Thus you shall keep my commands, and you shall do them; I [am] Yahweh.

32 "And you shall not profane my holy name, so that I may be consecrated in the midst of the {Israelites}; I [am] Yahweh, who consecrates you,

33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be as God for you; I [am] Yahweh."

Leviticus 22 Commentary

Chapter 22

Laws concerning the priests and sacrifices.

- In this chapter we have divers laws concerning the priests and sacrifices, all for preserving the honour of the sanctuary. Let us recollect with gratitude that our great High Priest cannot be hindered by any thing from the discharge of his office. Let us also remember, that the Lord requires us to reverence his name, his truths, his ordinances, and commandments. Let us beware of hypocrisy, and examine ourselves concerning our sinful defilements, seeking to be purified from them in the blood of Christ, and by his sanctifying Spirit. Whoever attempts to expiate his own sin, or draws near in the pride of self-righteousness, puts as great an affront on Christ, as he who comes to the Lord's table from the gratification of sinful lusts. Nor can the minister who loves the souls of the people, suffer them to continue in this dangerous delusion. He must call upon them, not only to repent of their sins, and forsake them; but to put their whole trust in the atonement of Christ, by faith in his name, for pardon and acceptance with God; thus only will the Lord make them holy, as his own people.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "And"
• [b]. Or "Speak to"
• [c]. Literally "to Aaron and to his sons"
• [d]. Or "and"
• [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [f]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [g]. Or "and"
• [h]. Or "and that person shall be cut off"
• [i]. Literally "to the faces of me"
• [j]. Literally "A man a man"
• [k]. Or "and"
• [l]. Literally "until which"
• [m]. Literally "for"
• [n]. Hebrew "him" or "it"
• [o]. Or "but if" or "but rather"
• [p]. Or "bathes"
• [q]. Literally "the sun goes" or "the sun enters"
• [r]. Or "and"
• [s]. Or "and"
• [t]. Literally "to become unclean"
• [u]. Or "and"
• [v]. Literally "And any stranger shall not eat"
• [w]. Hebrew "of"
• [x]. Or "and"
• [y]. Or "And"
• [z]. Literally "property of"
• [aa]. Literally "she becomes for a strange man"
• [ab]. Literally "the offering/lifting of the votive offering"
• [ac]. Or "And"
• [ad]. Or "and"
• [ae]. Or "and"
• [af]. Literally "any stranger shall not eat it"
• [ag]. Or "and"
• [ah]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [ai]. Or "And"
• [aj]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [ak]. Or "and"
• [al]. Or "and"
• [am]. Literally "for your acceptance"
• [an]. Or "and"
• [ao]. Literally "for acceptance"
• [ap]. Or "among"
• [aq]. Or "among"
• [ar]. The Hebrew term refers collectively to both sheep and goats (small livestock animals)
• [as]. Literally "for acceptance"
• [at]. Or "And"
• [au]. Or "and"
• [av]. Or "and"
• [aw]. Or "and"
• [ax]. Or "and"
• [ay]. Or "and"
• [az]. Literally "do" or "make"
• [ba]. Literally "a son of a foreign land"
• [bb]. Or "And"
• [bc]. Or "and"
• [bd]. Literally "his son" or "his child"
• [be]. Literally "on day one" or "in one day"
• [bf]. Or "And"
• [bg]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 22

In this chapter several laws are delivered out, forbidding the priests to eat of holy things, when in any uncleanness, or at any time what dies of itself, or is torn of beasts, Le 22:1-9; also showing who belonging to the priests might or might not eat of the holy things, Le 22:10-16; and others requiring that whatever offerings were brought by the children, of Israel, they should be perfect and without blemish, Le 22:17-25; and also declaring what age a creature should be of when sacrificed, and the time when thank offerings were to be eaten, Le 22:26-30; concluding with an exhortation to observe the commands of God, and sanctify him, and not profane his name, Le 22:31-33.