Leviticus 21:20
in Leviticus 21or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
or crook-backed, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or is scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
KJV
Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
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This verse in Leviticus 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseCrooked-backed - Hunch-backed or gibbous. A dwarf, דק dak, a person too short or too thin, so as to be either particularly observable, or ridiculous in his appearance. A blemish in his eye - A protuberance on the eye, observable spots or suffusions. Scurvy, or scabbed - A bad habit of body, evidenced by scorbutic or scrofulous affections. Stones broken - Is ruptured; an infirmity which would render him incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office, which might be often very fatiguing.
This site's exposition
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying
on Leviticus 21:16-20
Twelve defects are listed across three verses and no reason is given for any of them. The word blemish falls six times in this chapter and governs the animal as well at 22:20-21, so the man who offers and the thing he offers are measured by one standard. The readings on offer differ: Calvin declined to inquire into the particular defects and rested on the rule that only what was perfect came to the altar, Clarke read the list as fitness before the people who watch him, and Gregory of Nazianzus in Oration 2 read the whole of it as a figure of soundness of soul. The text itself settles none of them.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Hence also it is said through Moses that whoever is burdened with a hump should by no means be advanced to the priesthood. And all of us who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are made members of that same high priest. Whence also it is said to us through Peter: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood." But he who bears a hump always gazes at the lowest things.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Or crookbackt,....
Those are unworthy to be called Christians, and unfit to be employed as ministers, that are spiritually blind, and lame, and crooked, whose sins render them scandalous and deformed, so as that the offerings of the Lord are abhorred for their sakes.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֽוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| גִבֵּ֣ן | giben | a [man] hunchbacked | H1384 → | |
| אוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| דַ֔ק | dak | a [man] thin | H1851 → | 14 times |
| א֖וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| תְּבַלֻּ֣ל | tevalul | a defect | H8400 → | |
| בְּעֵינ֑וֹ | beeino | in eye his | H5869 → | 887 times |
| א֤וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| גָרָב֙ | garav | eczema | H1618 → | |
| א֣וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| יַלֶּ֔פֶת | yalefet | scabs | H3217 → | |
| א֖וֹ | ʾo | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| מְר֥וֹחַ | meroach | a [man] crushed of | H4790 → | |
| אָֽשֶׁךְ׃ | ʾashekh | testicle | H810 → |
אֽוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
גִבֵּ֣ןa [man] hunchbacked
gibenH1384 →
אוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
דַ֔קa [man] thin
dakH1851 →14 times
א֖וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
תְּבַלֻּ֣לa defect
tevalulH8400 →
בְּעֵינ֑וֹin eye his
beeinoH5869 →887 times
א֤וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
גָרָב֙eczema
garavH1618 →
א֣וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
יַלֶּ֔פֶתscabs
yalefetH3217 →
א֖וֹor
ʾoH176 →321 times
מְר֥וֹחַa [man] crushed of
meroachH4790 →
אָֽשֶׁךְ׃testicle
ʾashekhH810 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 23:1No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.
it leads to
- Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Isaiah 56:3–4
Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
- Deuteronomy 23:2–3
No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.
- Nehemiah 13:1–3
At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly…
- Galatians 3:28
Through
Isaiah 56:3Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
- Matthew 19:12–30
For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can…
- Acts 10:34
Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
- Zechariah 8:20–23
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities—
- 1 Corinthians 6:17
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 31; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.