What Does Leviticus 21:19 Mean in the King James?

Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,

Leviticus 21:19 · KJV

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 repeats one word for fracture in both foot and hand, marking one bodily condition across two different limbs.

THE MEANING

This verse names a broken foot or hand as a boundary on a priest’s approach to altar service. The following verse still gives him a share in holy food. The text holds restricted function and continued provision together in the reader’s present.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A bodily limitation means total exclusion from sacred life.

THE ROOT

שֶׁבֶר

shever

GROWS FROM

שבר

To break or fracture.

“broken” in this verse is shever. The Hebrew repeats shever, fracture, once for the foot and once for the hand: the body parts differ, but the named condition is the same. In the surrounding rule, that fracture limits altar service while the next verse preserves the priest’s share in holy food.

ALSO GROWS

shavar: To break or shatter.

שָׁבַר

The verb shows the action carried by the root behind the noun for fracture.

shavur: Broken or fractured.

שָׁבוּר

This form appears in the offering rules for a broken animal, linking the same root to altar eligibility.

THE PATTERN

A bodily limitation can restrict a particular role while provision or welcome remains available.

He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.

Leviticus 21:22 · KJVThe priest’s bodily condition limits altar service, while this verse still gives him a share in holy food.

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet.

2 Samuel 9:13 · KJVMephibosheth’s bodily condition remains named, while his place at the king’s table remains secure.

But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

Luke 14:13 · KJVThe invitation explicitly includes people whose bodies are often treated as grounds for exclusion.

THE THREAD

Blind, 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.

Leviticus 22:22 · KJV

Leviticus 22:22 uses the same ⁨שבר⁩ root for a broken animal barred from altar offering. The shared word locates this fracture within a boundary around altar eligibility; the surrounding lines distinguish that boundary from the priest’s continued share in holy food.

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