What Does Deuteronomy 15:21 Mean?
And if it has a blemish, lame or blind, or any evil blemish, you shall not slaughter it to the LORD your God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.THE KEY
The Hebrew word for lame shares its root with pass over and Passover, placing bodily impairment and sparing in a word-family English separates.
THE MEANING
The verse states a direct boundary: an animal that is lame, blind, or otherwise blemished is not to be sacrificed to the LORD. Its condition is named as the reason it is not an acceptable offering.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The act of offering something does not erase the stated condition it must meet.
THE ROOT
פִּסֵּחַ
pissēaḥ
GROWS FROM
פ־ס־ח
p-s-ḥ
To limp or skip; other forms mean to pass over or spare.
The verse’s word for lame is פִּסֵּחַ (pissēaḥ), meaning lame, from a root whose other forms name passing over and Passover. The shared consonants join meanings that English separates, while the verse uses the word plainly to identify the animal’s condition.
ALSO GROWS
pāsaḥ: To pass over; to spare
פָּסַח
This verb shares the root’s three consonants with the word for lame, creating an echo English does not show.
pesaḥ: Passover
פֶּסַח
The Hebrew name for Passover grows from the same root, linking the festival’s name to the word-family found in this verse.
מוּם
mūm
GROWS FROM
מ־ו־ם
m-w-m
A physical defect or blemish.
The verse uses מוּם (mūm), meaning blemish or defect, first for the general condition and again after naming lameness and blindness. The repetition makes those examples instances of a wider category rather than a complete list.
ALSO GROWS
mūmîm: Blemishes; defects
מוּמִים
This plural form shows the same root naming multiple defects under one category.
lō-yihyeh bō mūm: There shall be no blemish in it
לֹא־יִהְיֶה בוֹ מוּם
Leviticus 22:21 uses this wording for an offering, repeating the same root in a closely related boundary.
תִּזְבָּחֶנּוּ
tizbāḥennû
GROWS FROM
ז־ב־ח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter or sacrifice.
“slaughter” in this verse is tizbāḥennû. The Hebrew verb for sacrifice shares its root with the word for altar. That family keeps the verse’s boundary concrete: it concerns the animal brought to be slaughtered as an offering.
ALSO GROWS
zevaḥ: Sacrifice; slaughter
זֶבַח
This noun grows from the same root as the verb translated sacrifice in the verse.
mizbēaḥ: Altar
מִזְבֵּחַ
The altar’s name shares the slaughter-root, joining the place of offering to the act named here.
THE PATTERN
In sacrificial instruction, setting an animal apart does not erase the stated condition for presenting it.
And whoever brings near a wholeness offering to the LORD to set apart his vow, or a willing offering from the herd or the sheep, it shall be whole to be pleasing; no blemish shall be in it.When you bring near the blind for slaughter, is it not evil? And when you bring near the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Bring it near now to your governor. Will he be pleased with you, or lift your face? says the LORD of hosts.How much more will the blood of the Anointed One, who through the breath of the ages brought himself near without blemish to God, cleanse our shared sight from dead works to serve the living God.THE THREAD
And whoever brings near a wholeness offering to the LORD to set apart his vow, or a willing offering from the herd or the sheep, it shall be whole to be pleasing; no blemish shall be in it.The same Hebrew term מוּם (mūm), meaning blemish or defect, appears in both verses. Leviticus makes explicit the boundary Deuteronomy states through its examples: the animal presented as an offering is not to have a blemish.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us