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Leviticus 21:23

in Leviticus 21

but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I am Jehovah who sanctifieth them.

KJV

Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them.

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This verse in Leviticus 21

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

To the veil - To the second veil which was between the holy and the most holy place, to burn incense, to order the shew-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that veil though without. My altar - The altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, he shall not execute the priest's office, which was to be done in those two places.

This site's exposition

No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron

on Leviticus 21:21-24

The blemished priest keeps his portion and loses his function. The phrase bread of his God bars him at verses 17 and 21 and feeds him at verse 22, where he eats of the most holy and of the holy with his brethren, and only the vail and the altar are shut to him. Calvin read it that no natural defect kept such a man from the sacred meals and that the bar stood on appearing before God for others. Verse 24 has Moses telling all of it to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, so the law governing the priesthood is read out to the people it serves.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Only he shall not go in unto the vail,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

He shall not go in unto the veil - The priest with a blemish was not permitted to enter into the holy of holies, nor to burn incense, nor to offer the shew-bread, nor to light the golden candlestick, etc. In short, he was not permitted to perform any essential function of the priesthood. 1. The great perfection required in the Jewish high priest was intended principally to point out the perfection of that priesthood of which the Jewish was only the type.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אַ֣ךְnevertheless

    ʾakhH389 →161 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַפָּרֹ֜כֶתthe curtain

    haparokhetH6532 →25 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָבֹ֗אhe will go

    yavo'H935 →2568 times

  • וְאֶל־and to

    veel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֛חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יִגַּ֖שׁhe will draw near

    yigashH5066 →125 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • מ֣וּםa blemish

    mumH3971 →21 times

  • בּ֑וֹ[is] in <the> him

    bo

  • וְלֹ֤אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יְחַלֵּל֙he will profane

    yechalelH2490 →143 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • מִקְדָּשַׁ֔יsanctuary my

    mikdashaiH4720 →75 times

  • כִּ֛יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֲנִ֥יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • יְהוָ֖ה[am] Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • מְקַדְּשָֽׁם׃[who] sets apart as holy them

    mekadeshamH6942 →171 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 19:6And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”4 worksEzekiel 20:12I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.4 worksLeviticus 21:12He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.3 worksMatthew 27:51At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.3 worksLeviticus 15:31You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.2 worksEzekiel 44:9–14This is what the Lord GOD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh may enter My sanctuary—not even a foreigner who lives among the Israelites.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 40:26–27Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil,2 worksExodus 30:6–8Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.2 worksHebrews 10:20by the new and living way opened for us through the curtain of His body,1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Leviticus 15:31

    You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 19:20

      But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not…

    • Numbers 19:13

      Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel. He remains unclean, because the water of purification has…

    • Ezekiel 5:11

      Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon…

    • Ezekiel 23:38

      They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths.

    • Numbers 5:3

      You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

  • Through

    Leviticus 21:12

    He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 10:7

      You shall not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, or you will die, for the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses instructed.

    • Exodus 29:6–7

      Put the turban on his head and attach the holy diadem to the turban.

    • Exodus 28:36

      You are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD.

About Leviticus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Leviticus: the study guide →Read Leviticus 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.

Read on in Leviticus 21 →