Leviticus 21:21

21 "'If one of Aaron's descendants has something wrong with him, he cannot come near to make the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has something wrong with him; he cannot offer the food of his 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 men with a crippled foot or hand,
20 hunchbacks, dwarfs, men who have something wrong with their eyes, men who have an itching disease or a skin disease, or men who have damaged sex glands.
21 "'If one of Aaron's descendants has something wrong with him, he cannot come near to make the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has something wrong with him; he cannot offer the food of his God.
22 He may eat the most holy food and also the holy food.
23 But he may not go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place, and he may not go near the altar, because he has something wrong with him. He must not make my Holy Place unfit. I am the Lord who makes these places holy.'"
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.