Leviticus 21:17

21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations ¹  who has a physical flaw ²  is to approach to present the food of his God.

Leviticus 21:21

21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward ³  to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God.

Leviticus 21:18

21:18 Certainly ⁴  no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, ⁵  or a limb too long,

Leviticus 21:23

21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy ⁶  or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus ⁷  he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

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¹ tn Heb “to their generations.”

² tn Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. KJV, ASV “any blemish”; NASB, NIV “a defect.” The rendering “physical flaw” is used to refer to any birth defect or physical injury of the kind described in the following verses (cf. the same Hebrew word also in Lev 24:19-20). The same term is used for “flawed” animals, which must not be offered to the Lord in Lev 22:20-25.

³ tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).

⁴ tn The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty (GKC 498 §159.ee).

⁵ tn Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects (HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 292, n. 7); cf. KJV, ASV “a flat nose”; NASB “a disfigured face.” The NJPS translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146).

⁶ sn See the note on Lev 16:2 for the rendering “veil-canopy.”

⁷ tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.