Leviticus 22

The LORD spoke to Moses and said,

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

NoteWhere the King James prints LORD in capital letters, the Hebrew has the personal name of God, four consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish practice from ancient times was to avoid saying it aloud and to read "Lord" in its place; English Bibles follow that custom with the capitalized form.

2Tell Aaron and his sons to keep themselves away from the holy gifts that the people of Israel set apart, so that they do not treat my holy name as something common in the things they set apart for me. I am the LORD.

2Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.

Note"Holy gifts" are the offerings brought to the sanctuary. Part of most offerings was burned on the altar; the rest became food for the priests and their households, and that food is what this chapter is about. To "treat as common" (King James "profane") is the exact opposite of "set apart": to handle something reserved for God as if it were ordinary property.

3Say to them: through all your generations, if any of your descendants goes near the holy gifts that the people of Israel set apart for the LORD while he is unclean, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD.

3Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.

Note"Cut off from my presence" is a fixed formula in these laws, and the texts never define it. It has been understood as expulsion from the community, as the ending of a person's family line, and as death at God's own hand rather than by a human court; the wording leaves it open. "Unclean" does not mean dirty or sinful. It is a ritual condition picked up from ordinary events (childbirth, sex, illness, touching a corpse) that temporarily bars a person from the sanctuary until it is removed by washing and the passing of time.

4Any man descended from Aaron who has a spreading skin disease, or a discharge from his body, must not eat the holy gifts until he is clean. The same is true of anyone who touches something made unclean by a dead body, or a man who has a release of semen,

4What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "spreading skin disease" is tsara'at, which covers several scaly or discolored conditions and is also used of mildew in cloth and houses. It is not modern leprosy (Hansen's disease). The "discharge" is an abnormal flow from the genitals, described at length in Leviticus 15.

5or anyone who touches a crawling creature that makes him unclean, or touches a person who makes him unclean, whatever kind of uncleanness that person has.

5Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;

Note"Crawling creature" renders a Hebrew term for small swarming animals (lizards, mice, and the like) listed in Leviticus 11, whose carcasses transmitted uncleanness by touch.

6The man who touches any of these will be unclean until evening. He must not eat the holy gifts unless he washes his body with water.

6The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

NoteWashing and then waiting for sunset is the standard remedy for the lesser kinds of uncleanness. The Israelite day changed at evening, so sundown ended the period of impurity.

7When the sun has gone down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the holy gifts, because they are his food.

7And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.

NoteThe priestly families held no farmland of their own. Their livelihood was these portions of the offerings, which is why the text calls the holy gifts "his food", the rule about eating them is also a rule about eating at all.

8He must not eat an animal that died on its own or was torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD.

8That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.

NoteAn animal that died by itself or was killed by predators had not been slaughtered properly and its blood had not been drained, which Israelite law required. Eating it made a person unclean and so unfit to handle the offerings.

9So they must keep what I have charged them to do, or they will carry guilt for it and die because of it, if they treat it as common. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.

9They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

Note"Die because of it" points to death coming from God rather than a sentence handed down by a court; no human penalty is prescribed here.

10No one outside a priest's family may eat the holy food. A guest staying with a priest or a hired worker may not eat the holy food.

10There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.

NoteThe Hebrew word is simply "a stranger," meaning anyone outside the priesthood, including ordinary Israelites. The verses that follow work out exactly who counted as part of a priest's household and who did not.

11But if a priest buys a person with his own money, that person may eat it, and so may anyone born in the priest's house. They may eat his food.

11But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.

NoteA slave bought with a priest's money, or born to slaves already in his house, was a permanent member of that household and ate from its food. A hired worker or a guest staying temporarily belonged to some other household and did not.

12If a priest's daughter is married to a man outside the priestly family, she may not eat any of the holy gifts that are offered.

12If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.

NoteMarriage moved a woman into her husband's household. A priest's daughter who married a non-priest ate from her husband's table thereafter, not from the sanctuary portions that supported her father's house.

13But if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced, and has no child, and has come back to her father's house as she was in her youth, she may eat her father's food. But no one outside the family may eat it.

13But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.

NoteThe childlessness matters for household membership: a child would have kept her attached to her husband's family, and the child would have supported her. With no child and no husband, she reverts to being a dependent of her father's house and eats what it eats.

14If a man eats holy food by mistake, he must add a fifth to its value and give it, along with the holy food, to the priest.

14And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.

Note"A fifth" is twenty percent of the value, added on top of full replacement. It is the standard compensation elsewhere in these laws for accidentally using up something that belonged to the sanctuary.

15The priests must not treat as common the holy gifts that the people of Israel present to the LORD,

15And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;

16and must not let the people carry guilt that calls for punishment by eating those holy gifts. For I am the LORD, who makes them holy.

16Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

17The LORD spoke to Moses and said,

17And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

18Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel, and say to them: if anyone of the house of Israel, or any foreigner living in Israel, brings a gift for any of his vows or any of his freewill offerings, to present it to the LORD as a burnt offering,

18Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;

NoteA vow offering is one promised in advance, often in connection with a request made of God; a freewill offering is given spontaneously, under no obligation. A burnt offering is consumed entirely on the altar, nobody eats any of it. The "foreigner living in Israel" is a resident outsider settled permanently among Israelites, who could take part in the sacrificial system, unlike a passing traveler or trader.

19you must offer a male without any defect, from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats, so that it will be accepted for you.

19Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.

Note"Accepted for you" means accepted on the offerer's behalf, counted in his favor by God. The phrase recurs through the chapter as the test of whether an offering has done what it was brought to do.

20You must not offer anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted for you.

20But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

21When anyone brings cattle or sheep to the LORD as a peace offering, either to carry out a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must be perfect to be accepted. It must have no defect.

21And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.

NoteA peace offering was shared out: some burned on the altar, some given to the priests, and the rest eaten by the person who brought it, together with family and guests. It was the one kind of sacrifice that produced a meal for the worshiper.

22An animal that is blind, or has a broken bone, or is injured, or has a running sore, or a festering rash, or scabs, you must not offer any of these to the LORD, or place any of them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD.

22Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.

NoteThe Hebrew names for several of these defects occur rarely and their exact meaning is uncertain, which is why translations differ over "wen," "scurvy," "running sore" and "festering rash." The common thread is a visible, disabling injury or growth.

23You may offer a bull or a lamb that has a body part too large or too small as a freewill offering, but it will not be accepted for a vow.

23Either 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.

NoteThe distinction is between a gift and a debt. A freewill offering is brought by someone under no obligation, so a slightly deformed animal is tolerated; a vow is a payment already promised, so it must meet the full standard.

24You must not offer to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, or crushed, or torn, or cut, and you must not make such an offering anywhere in your land.

24Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.

NoteThe four words describe ways of destroying an animal's testicles, the language of castration, which was common practice for working and food animals. The last clause is genuinely ambiguous in Hebrew: it may forbid offering such animals anywhere in the land, or forbid the practice of castrating animals in the land at all.

25You must not take any such animal from a foreigner's hand and offer it as food for your God. They are damaged and have defects in them, and they will not be accepted for you.

25Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.

Note"Food for your God" translates a Hebrew idiom, literally "the bread of your God," used throughout these laws for what is placed on the altar. The verse addresses animals obtained from foreign traders or given by outsiders: their origin is not the problem, their condition is.

26The LORD spoke to Moses and said,

26And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

27When a bull, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must stay with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be accepted as an offering made by fire to the LORD.

27When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

NoteA newborn animal had to survive a full week before it counted as a viable animal fit to be given; the eighth day is the same reckoning used for circumcising a child.

28Whether it is a cow or a ewe, you must not kill it and its young on the same day.

28And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.

29When you offer a sacrifice of thanks to the LORD, offer it so that it will be accepted for you.

29And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.

NoteThe thank offering (Hebrew todah) is a kind of peace offering, brought in response to a rescue or a benefit already received.

30It must be eaten that same day. You must leave none of it until morning. I am the LORD.

30On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.

NoteOther peace offerings could be eaten on the following day as well; the thank offering could not. Since a whole ox or sheep cannot be eaten by one family in a day, the rule effectively required the giver to invite others to share it.

31So you must keep my commandments and do them. I am the LORD.

31Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.

32You must not treat my holy name as common. I am to be treated as holy among the people of Israel. I am the LORD, who makes you holy,

32Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,

33who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.

33That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.