^21:17“Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations²⁷ who has a physical flaw²⁸ is to approach to present the food of his God. ^21:18Certainly²⁹ no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose,³⁰ or a limb too long, ^21:19or a man who has had a broken leg or arm,³¹^21:20or a hunchback, or a dwarf,³² or one with a spot in his eye,³³ or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash,³⁴ or a crushed testicle. ^21:21No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward³⁵ to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. ^21:22He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, ^21:23but he must not go into the veil-canopy³⁶ or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus³⁷ he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’ ”

^21:24So³⁸ Moses spoke these things³⁹ to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.

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Footnotes

27 Heb “to their generations.”
28 Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. , “any blemish”; , “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.
29 The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty ( §159.ee).
30 Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects ( II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [], , n. 7); cf. , “a flat nose”; “a disfigured face.” The 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 [], ).
31 Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See יָד and רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [], ) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.
32 Heb “thin”; cf. “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , ).
33 The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. , , ., and . have plural “his eyes.”
34 The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (), ; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (), , , ; and R. K. Harrison, 1: and 2:.
35 Or “shall approach” (see נגשׁ).
36 See the note on for the rendering “veil-canopy.”
37 Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
38 Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) introduces a concluding statement for all the preceding material.
39 The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food; yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’ ”

So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect is to come near to present the food of his God. No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed; no man who has a broken foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. No descendant of the priest Aaron who has a defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy. But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate my holy places, for I am the Lord who sets them apart.” Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God. No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed, or has a broken foot or arm, or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the Lord. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God. However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the Lord who makes them holy.”

So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations, in whom is a physical defect, shall not come near to present your God’s food. Indeed, any man in whom is a physical defect shall not come near: a blind man or lame or disfigured or deformed, or a man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle. Any man from Aaron the priest’s offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his God’s food. He may eat his God’s food, from the most holy things and from the holy things. But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect is in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’ ”

Thus Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.

KJV 1900King James Version

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. 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, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. 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. And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

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