Leviticus 21:23
But because of their defects, they must not go near the curtain in the Sacred Tent or near the altar, because if they did that, they would desecrate my Sacred Tent. I am Yahweh, the one who sets those places apart as being holy.'”
Translation for Translators
In The King James Version
In Context
22Priests who have defects are permitted to eat the various kinds of holy food offered to me.
24So Moses/I told this to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israeli people.
Cross References
Exodus 30:6They must put this altar outside the curtain that hangs in front of the sacred chest and its lid. That is the place where I will talk with you.
Leviticus 15:31“You must warn the Israeli people not to do things that ◄defile them/cause them to be unacceptable to me►. If they become ◄unacceptable to me/defiled►, they will cause my Sacred Tent which is among them to become an unacceptable place to worship me, and as a result they will die.”
Leviticus 20:7‘Set yourselves apart and be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, am holy, and I want you to be like me.
Leviticus 21:12He must not leave the Sacred Tent to join those who are mourning, because he would cause himself to become unfit for his work and would also defile/desecrate the Sacred Tent. He must not leave the Sacred Tent at that time, because by being anointed with olive oil he has been ◄appointed/set apart► to serve his God in the Sacred Tent. I, Yahweh, am the one who am commanding this.
Nehemiah 13:29My God, do not forget that those people who have married foreign women have caused it to be a shame/disgrace to be a priest, and have caused people to despise the agreement that you made with the priests and with the other descendants of Levi who help the priests►!
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:17-24
16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, 19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, 20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; 21… Read the whole commentary →