Leviticus22
New American Standard
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they dedicate to Me, so as not to profane My holy name; I am the Lord.
3Say to them, ‘Any man among all your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy gifts which the sons of Israel consecrate to the Lord, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from My presence; I am the Lord.
4No man of the descendants of Aaron, who has leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has a seminal emission,
5or a man who touches any swarming things by which he is made unclean, or touches any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness;
6a person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water.
7But when the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food.
8He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by animals, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord.
9They shall therefore perform their duty to Me, so that they do not bear sin because of it and die by it because they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
10‘No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired worker shall not eat the holy gift.
11But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, that person may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food.
12If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the offering of the holy gifts.
13But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no child and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; but no layman shall eat of it.
14If, however, someone eats a holy food unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy food to the priest.
15And they shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the Lord,
16and thereby bring upon them punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
17Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
18“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘Anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their voluntary offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering—
19for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.
20Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you.
21When someone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a voluntary offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be without defect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.
22Those that are blind, fractured, maimed, or have a wart, a festering rash, or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord.
23Now as for an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may present it as a voluntary offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted.
24Also anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor sacrifice in your land,
25nor shall you offer any of these animals taken from the hand of a foreigner as the food of your God; for their deformity is in them, they have an impairment. They will not be accepted for you.’”
26Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
27“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it will be considered acceptable as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to the Lord.
28But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day.
29When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.
30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning. I am the Lord.
31So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.
32“And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you,
33who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 22.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Laws concerning the priests and sacrifices. (1-33).
vv1-33
In this chapter we have divers laws concerning the priests and sacrifices, all for preserving the honour of the sanctuary. Let us recollect with gratitude that our great High Priest cannot be hindered by any thing from the discharge of his office. Let us also remember, that the Lord requires us to reverence his name, his truths, his ordinances, and commandments. Let us beware of hypocrisy, and examine ourselves concerning our sinful defilements, seeking to be purified from them in the blood of Christ, and by his sanctifying Spirit. Whoever attempts to expiate his own sin, or draws near in the pride of self-righteousness, puts as great an affront on Christ, as he who comes to the Lord's table from the gratification of sinful lusts. Nor can the minister who loves the souls of the people, suffer them to continue in this dangerous delusion. He must call upon them, not only to repent of their sins, and forsake them; but to put their whole trust in the atonement of Christ, by faith in his name, for pardon and acceptance with God; thus only will the Lord make them holy, as his own people.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אַהֲרוֹן: Aharon, the brother of Moses
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
נָזַר: to hold aloof, i.e. (intransitivey) abstain (from food and drink, from impurity, and even from divine worship (i.e. apostatize)); specifically, to set apart (to sacred purposes), i.e. devote
קֹדֶשׁ: a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
קָדַשׁ: to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally)
חָלַל: properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively, to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an 'opening wedge'); to play (the flute)
Cross References
Leviticus 22Exodus prohibits eating torn meat; matches Leviticus forbidding priests from eating what dieth of itself.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Jesus references this restriction regarding the showbread, which was only lawful for priests to eat.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Malachi rebukes Israel for offering blind, lame, and sick animals in violation of this law.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Deuteronomy explicitly forbids sacrificing any animal with a blemish, such as lameness or blindness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Condemns offering blind, lame, or sick animals, directly mirroring the prohibitions of Leviticus 22:22.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Calvin highlights that keeping the commandments is the beginning of a good and upright life.
Supported by John Calvin
Aaron bears the iniquity of holy things to prevent profaning the Lord's holy name.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeats the vital injunction that the priests and people must not profane God's holy name.
Supported by John Calvin
Defines the penalty of being cut off for eating peace offerings while ceremonially unclean.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Establishes status of servants bought with money or born in the house, qualifying them to eat.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The requirement of physical blemishless animals prefigures Christ, who offered Himself without spot to God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Expands on the requirement to perform vows made to God without slackness or defect.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Connects blemishes that disqualify priests with those that disqualify sacrificial animals.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Rebukes the offering of blemished sacrifices as profaning God's holy name.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels the command that a newborn animal must be seven days under its dam.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Details the portions of the wave offerings assigned to Aaron's clean family members.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Priests with polluted genealogies were barred from eating holy things until cleared by Urim.
Supported by JFB
Prohibits eating anything that dieth of itself, reinforcing general holiness and blood laws.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the restriction that no stranger or foreigner may eat of the sacred Passover meal.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Establishes restitution laws and adding a fifth part for unwitting trespass in holy things.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Establishes the foundational principle that whatever has a blemish shall not be accepted.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Rebukes offering defiled bread on the altar, correlating to offering blemished animals.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Commands kindness to animals, prohibiting taking the mother bird with her young.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels the law of eating the sacrifice on the same day, leaving none until morning.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Detailing rules for peace offerings and thanksgiving sacrifices, which must be eaten quickly.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Links remembering and doing God's commandments with being holy unto God.
Supported by John Calvin
Points to Yahweh as the one who sanctifies/hallows His covenant people.
Supported by John Calvin
Stresses holiness based on God's redemption of His people from the land of Egypt.
Supported by John Calvin
Explicitly forbids sacrificing any animal with an ill blemish, such as lameness or blindness.
Supported by Matthew Poole