What Does Leviticus 21:23 Mean in the King James?

Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

Leviticus 21:23 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse’s boundary falls on the movement of drawing near: the same root names coming near and qorban (⁨קָרְבָּן⁩, a drawing-near offering).

THE MEANING

The verse holds a hard boundary: a priest with a bodily blemish does not enter the veil or draw near to the altar, lest the sanctuaries be profaned. The LORD says the sanctuaries are set apart by his own act. The body’s condition and the sacred boundary both remain visible in the claim.

THE ROOT

יִקְרַב

yiqrav

GROWS FROM

קרב

q-r-b

Approach, draw near.

Here, “come nigh” is yiqrav (⁨יִקְרַב⁩, draw near), from the same root as qorban (⁨קָרְבָּן⁩, drawing-near offering). English makes the approach sound like location alone; the shared root ties access to the altar to the act of drawing near.

ALSO GROWS

qorban: A drawing-near offering; something brought near.

קָרְבָּן

The altar is precisely where the verse restricts this movement of drawing near.

qarov: Near, close.

קָרוֹב

This branch makes the sense of “come nigh” visible as proximity.

מְקַדְּשָׁם

məqaddəšām

GROWS FROM

קדש

q-d-sh

Set apart as sacred.

The verse’s “sanctify” and “sanctuaries” belong to one root: the places are set apart because the LORD sets them apart. The Hebrew joins the place itself to the act of setting apart.

ALSO GROWS

qodesh: Sacredness; a set-apart thing.

קֹדֶשׁ

It names the sacred status the verse says the LORD gives the sanctuaries.

miqdash: Sanctuary; a sacred place.

מִקְדָּשׁ

The sanctuary’s name comes from the same root as the LORD’s act of sanctifying it.

יְחַלֵּל

yəḥallēl

GROWS FROM

חלל

ḥ-l-l

Make common; profane.

The verse names the danger as making common what is set apart. The root gives “profane” a concrete force: treating the sanctuaries as ordinary.

ALSO GROWS

ḥol: Common, ordinary.

חֹל

It shows the contrast implied by profaning what the LORD has set apart.

ḥillul: Profanation, desecration.

חִלּוּל

It names the act the verse says this boundary prevents.

THE PATTERN

The LORD’s setting apart defines the boundary of approach to what is sacred.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Exodus 3:5 · KJVThe ground is called holy, and approach is bounded by a command not to draw nearer.

Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

Leviticus 10:3 · KJVThe LORD’s holiness becomes the measure for those who approach him, matching the boundary around altar access here.

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

1 Peter 1:16 · KJVThe LORD’s own holiness again defines what is set apart.

THE THREAD

And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.

Leviticus 20:8 · KJV

The same root ⁨קדש⁩ (q-d-sh, set apart as sacred) appears in both passages. Here it names the LORD as the one setting apart the sanctuaries; there it names him as the one setting apart people.

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