The Bible

The Bible › Leviticus

Leviticus 21

1Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and tell them: A priest must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his people, 2except for his close kin: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; 3and for his virgin sister, who is close to him and has not become a man’s wife—for her he may make himself unclean. 4As a husband among his people he must not make himself unclean, profaning himself. 5They must not make bald patches on their heads, shave off the edge of their beards, or cut gashes in their flesh. 6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, because they present Yahweh’s offerings by fire, the food of their God; they must be holy. 7They must not take a woman who is a prostitute or is defiled, and they must not take a woman divorced from her husband, because the priest is holy to his God. 8You must treat him as holy, because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you, because I, Yahweh, who make you holy, am holy. 9If a priest’s daughter profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

10“The priest who is greatest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments. 11He must not go near any dead person. He must not make himself unclean even for his father or his mother. 12He must not leave the sanctuary and profane the sanctuary of his God, because the consecration of his God’s anointing oil is on him. I am Yahweh. 13He must take a woman in her virginity. 14A widow, a divorced woman, a defiled woman, or a prostitute—these he must not take. He must take as wife a virgin from his people, 15so that he does not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahweh, who makes him holy.”

16Yahweh spoke to Moses: 17“Tell Aaron: No man among your descendants throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to present the food of his God. 18For no man who has a defect may approach: a man who is blind or lame, has a disfigured face or an overlong limb, 19a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand, 20one who has a hunched back, is stunted, has a blemish in his eye, has an itching eruption or a scaly rash, or has a crushed testicle. 21No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect may draw near to present Yahweh’s offerings by fire. He has a defect; he must not draw near to present the food of his God. 22He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy. 23But he must not enter at the veil or draw near to the altar, because he has a defect, so that he does not profane my holy places; for I am Yahweh, who makes them holy.” 24Moses spoke to Aaron, his sons, and all the sons of Israel.

Translation notes 5

21:1–4 — Dead person; close kin; husband. “Person” here refers to a dead body; the issue is corpse-related ritual uncleanness. The text names particular relatives for whom an ordinary priest may become unclean. Verse 4 is difficult: “husband” can also be understood as master or leader. The retained husband reading concerns relatives by marriage and may include the priest’s wife; the verse does not explicitly identify which relative is meant.

21:5 — Bald patch. The draft follows the Masoretic reading instruction’s plural verb, “they must not make bald,” rather than silently treating the written form as the reading. The surrounding verbs are also plural. The context associates baldness, shaved beard edges, and gashes with mourning practices; the verse does not prohibit every instance of ordinary hair cutting.

21:6–8, 14 — Holy; defiled. The food of God and the priest’s holy status are explicit ritual language. The word “defiled” in the marriage restrictions is not precisely defined here; it may name a separate category or describe a woman defiled by prostitution. The draft leaves the categories visible instead of supplying an unstated history of the woman.

21:10–12 — Greatest priest; mourning. This is the priest commonly called the high priest. The Hebrew describes him as the greatest among his brothers. The hair and garment commands concern mourning, alongside the stricter ban on corpse contact. “Ordained” represents “fill the hand.” The verse does not make the sanctuary a permanent residence from which he can never leave.

21:17–23 — Defects and priestly service. The restrictions are explicit and difficult. They concern approaching the altar and veil; verse 22 still permits eating holy food. The text does not call these priests ritually unclean or morally at fault. Several ancient descriptions have uncertain anatomical meanings: “disfigured face” may concern the nose or a shortened limb, and “stunted” may concern small stature or a withered limb. The skin and eye terms do not establish precise modern diagnoses.