Leviticus 22:23
in Leviticus 22You may present as a freewill offering an ox or sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath anything superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill-offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
KJV
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
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This verse in Leviticus 22
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThat hath anything superfluous or lacking - The term שרוע sarua signifies any thing extended beyond the usual size, and the term קלוט kalut signifies any thing unusually contracted; and both mean any monstrosity, whether in redundance or defect.
This site's exposition
whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings
on Leviticus 22:21-25
The disqualifying words in this list are largely the words used of the priest in 21:18-20, blind, superfluous, scurvy and scabbed, with the broken stones of 21:20 answered by the bruised and crushed and cut of verse 24. One vocabulary describes the man at the altar and the animal on it. Verse 23 holds the single relaxation in the chapter, and it turns on the difference between a gift and a promise, since a bullock or lamb with a part too many or too few may be brought freely and may never be paid on a vow. Verse 25 closes the last way round the rule, because an animal bought from a stranger's hand is judged by what it is rather than by where it came from.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Either a bullock, or a lamb that hath anything superfluous, or lacking in its parts,....
Thus God would teach us to make conscience of performing our promises to him very exactly, and not afterwards to abate in quantity or value of what we had solemnly engaged to devote to him. What was, before the vow, in our own power, as in the case of a free-will offering, afterwards is not, Acts
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
As sacrifices are called the bread or food of God (Le 22:25), to offer them immediately after birth, when they were unfit to be eaten, would have indicated a contempt of religion; and besides, this prohibition, as well as that contained in Le 22:28, inculcated a lesson of humanity or tenderness to the dam, as well as secured the sacrifices from all appearance of unfeeling cruelty.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשׁ֥וֹר | veshor | and an ox | H7794 → | 79 times |
| וָשֶׂ֖ה | vaseh | and a sheep | H7716 → | 47 times |
| שָׂר֣וּעַ | sarua' | [having] something enlarged | H8311 → | |
| וְקָל֑וּט | vekalut | and [having] something stunted | H7038 → | |
| נְדָבָה֙ | nedavah | a freewill offering | H5071 → | 26 times |
| תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה | taaseh | you will offer | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹת֔וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וּלְנֵ֖דֶר | uleneder | and for a vow | H5088 → | 60 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵרָצֶֽה׃ | yeratzeh | it will be accepted | H7521 → | 56 times |
וְשׁ֥וֹרand an ox
veshorH7794 →79 times
וָשֶׂ֖הand a sheep
vasehH7716 →47 times
שָׂר֣וּעַ[having] something enlarged
sarua'H8311 →
וְקָל֑וּטand [having] something stunted
vekalutH7038 →
נְדָבָה֙a freewill offering
nedavahH5071 →26 times
תַּעֲשֶׂ֣הyou will offer
taasehH6213 →2628 times
אֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וּלְנֵ֖דֶרand for a vow
ulenederH5088 →60 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵרָצֶֽה׃it will be accepted
yeratzehH7521 →56 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 21:18No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 3:2–3
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
- Leviticus 22:19–25
must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.
- Titus 1:10
For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision,
- 1 Timothy 3:7
Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil.
- Matthew 23:16–17
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
- 1 Timothy 3:2–3
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.