What Does Leviticus 21:18 Mean in the King James?
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,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew ties “approach” and “offer” to the same root, making bodily exclusion part of the very act of drawing near.
THE MEANING
You encounter a rule that makes a priest’s body a condition of whether he may approach the altar to serve. It names blindness, lameness, a flat nose, and a superfluous bodily feature as grounds for exclusion, without softening the boundary.
THE ROOT
יִקְרָב
yiqrav
GROWS FROM
קרב
qarab
Draw near; approach or bring near.
The Hebrew uses the same root קרב (qarab, “draw near”) for “approach” and for “offer,” literally bringing something near. That ties the priest’s barred access to the act of offering itself: the text names bodily conditions that exclude him from enacting that nearness.
ALSO GROWS
hiqriv: Bring near; offer.
הִקְרִיב
This verb shares the root of “approach,” showing that offering is itself an act of bringing near.
qorbān: Offering; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
The word for an offering carries the same root, joining the gift and the act of approaching.
THE PATTERN
In the offering laws, visible bodily wholeness regulates who may serve and what may be brought near.
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.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.And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.THE THREAD
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.Leviticus names the blind and lame among those barred from approaching to offer; Matthew places the blind and lame in the temple, coming to Jesus, where he heals them. Their presence there creates a sharp reversal of access without erasing the boundary this verse states.
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