Leviticus 22:13
in Leviticus 22But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if a priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and be returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s bread: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.
KJV
But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.
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This verse in Leviticus 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering
on Leviticus 22:10-16
Belonging to the priest's household draws the line, so a slave bought or born in his house eats and the guest and the hired hand do not. A daughter married outside the priestly families eats again only if she returns "widowed or divorced" with no children. Eating in error is repaid with the value plus "a fifth", the addition required at 5:16 and 6:5.
This site's exposition
with no children becomes widowed or divorced
Three conditions bring her back to the sacred food: no children, a marriage ended by death or divorce, and a return to her father's house. John Gill reckoned a married daughter as removed into another family. The verse restores only the childless daughter.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But if the priest's daughter be a widow or divorced,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
there shall no stranger eat thereof--The interdict recorded (Le 22:10) is repeated to show its stringency. All the Hebrews, even the nearest neighbors of the priest, the members of his family excepted, were considered strangers in this respect, so that they had no right to eat of things offered at the altar.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
There shall no stranger eat the holy thing--The portion of the sacrifices assigned for the support of the officiating priests was restricted to the exclusive use of his own family. A temporary guest or a hired servant was not at liberty to eat of them; but an exception was made in favor of a bought or homeborn slave, because such was a stated member of his household.
But if the priest’s daughter be a widow - and is returned unto her father’s house - A widow in Bengal not infrequently returns to her father’s house on the death of her husband: the union betwixt her and her own family is never so dissolved as among European nations. Thousands of widows in Bengal, whose husbands die before the consummation of marriage, never leave their parents - Ward.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
AND IF A MAN EAT OF THE HOLY THING. Here referring to terumah (the heave-offering) which is given to the priest from the produce of the Land. THROUGH ERROR, THEN HE SHALL ADD ITS FIFTH PART UNTO IT, AND SHALL GIVE UNTO THE PRIEST THE HOLY THING.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבַת־ | uvat- | and a daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| כֹּהֵן֩ | kohen | a priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| כִּ֨י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִהְיֶ֜ה | tihyeh | she will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַלְמָנָ֣ה | ʾalmanah | a widow | H490 → | |
| וּגְרוּשָׁ֗ה | ugerushah | and a divorced [woman] | H1644 → | 46 times |
| וְזֶרַע֮ | vezera' | and offspring | H2233 → | 229 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לָהּ֒ | lah | [belongs] to <the> her | ||
| וְשָׁבָ֞ה | veshavah | and she will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּ֤ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אָבִ֙יהָ֙ | ʾaviha | father her | H1 → | 1212 times |
| כִּנְעוּרֶ֔יהָ | kinureiha | like youth<s> her | H5271 → | |
| מִלֶּ֥חֶם | milechem | any of [the] food of | H3899 → | 298 times |
| אָבִ֖יהָ | ʾaviha | father her | H1 → | 1212 times |
| תֹּאכֵ֑ל | tokhel | she will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָ֖ר | zar | stranger | H2114 → | 77 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֹ֥אכַל | yokhal | he will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| בּֽוֹ׃ ס | bo | in <the> it |
וּבַת־and a daughter of
uvat-H1323 →588 times
כֹּהֵן֩a priest
kohenH3548 →750 times
כִּ֨יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
תִהְיֶ֜הshe will be
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
אַלְמָנָ֣הa widow
ʾalmanahH490 →
וּגְרוּשָׁ֗הand a divorced [woman]
ugerushahH1644 →46 times
וְזֶרַע֮and offspring
vezera'H2233 →229 times
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לָהּ֒[belongs] to <the> her
lah
וְשָׁבָ֞הand she will return
veshavahH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּ֤ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
אָבִ֙יהָ֙father her
ʾavihaH1 →1212 times
כִּנְעוּרֶ֔יהָlike youth<s> her
kinureihaH5271 →
מִלֶּ֥חֶםany of [the] food of
milechemH3899 →298 times
אָבִ֖יהָfather her
ʾavihaH1 →1212 times
תֹּאכֵ֑לshe will eat
tokhelH398 →810 times
וְכָל־and any
vekholH3605 →5413 times
זָ֖רstranger
zarH2114 →77 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֹ֥אכַלhe will eat
yokhalH398 →810 times
בּֽוֹ׃ סin <the> it
bo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Leviticus 10:14And you and your sons and daughters may eat the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution in a ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you…
it leads to
- Numbers 18:11
And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent…
- Exodus 29:24–28
Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.
- Leviticus 9:21
but he waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded.
- Leviticus 7:29–34
“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Anyone who presents a peace offering to the LORD must bring it as his sacrifice to the LORD.
- John 4:34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
- Numbers 18:11
Through
Genesis 38:11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went…
it leads to
- Ruth 1:11–13
But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
- Ruth 1:11–13
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.