Leviticus 21:16

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
spake	וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר vay.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֥ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
saying	לֵּאמֹֽר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:16–end

The priesthood being confined to one particular family, and entailed upon all the male issue of that family throughout their generations, it was very likely that some or other in after-ages that were born to the priesthood would have natural blemishes and deformities: the honour of the priesthood would not secure them from any of those calamities which are common to men. Divers blemishes are here specified; some that were ordinarily for life, as blindness; others that might be for a time, as a scurf or scab, and, when they were gone, the disability ceased. Now, I. The law concerning priests that had blemishes was, 1. That they might live upon the altar (Lev 21:22): He shall eat of the sacrif…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 21:16

Whosoever he be . . . hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God--As visible things exert a strong influence on the minds of men, any physical infirmity or malformation of body in the ministers of religion, which disturbs the associations or excites ridicule, tends to detract from the weight and authority of the sacred office. Priests laboring under any personal defect were not allowed to officiate in the public service; they might be employed in some inferior duties about the sanctuary but could not perform any sacred office. In all these regulations for preserving the unsullied purity of the sacred character and office, there was a typical reference to the priesth…

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Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21:13

He shall take a wife in her virginity - בתוליה bethuleyha. This is a full proof that בתולה bethulah is the proper Hebrew term for a virgin; from the emphatic root בתל bathal, to separate; because such a person was in her separate state, and had never been in any way united to man.

John Gill on Leviticus 21:16

And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had spoken to him of the holiness of the priests, that they should not defile themselves, neither with the dead nor with impure marriages, he proceeded to add some things concerning blemishes in their bodies, which rendered them unfit for the service: saying; as follows.

Dictionary and topics

Hair — (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. “So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a…
Priest — The Heb. kohen, Gr. hierus, Lat. sacerdos, always denote one who offers sacrifices. At first every man was his own priest, and presented his own sacrifices before God. Afterwards that office devolved…
Sanctification · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Leviticus 21:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:16–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 21:16

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21:13

John Gill on Leviticus 21:16

Dictionary and topics

Leviticus 21:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:16–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 21:16

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21:13

John Gill on Leviticus 21:16

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Leviticus 21:16–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 21:16-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Leviticus 21:10-15

Rashi on Leviticus 21:15