What Does Leviticus 21:4 Mean in the King James?
But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
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 verse distinguishes becoming unclean from profaning oneself: impurity crosses the boundary when what is set apart is treated as common.
THE MEANING
A place among the people does not make its bearer exempt from the condition of his own person. Defilement can become self-profanation when the set-apart is made common.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A public title by itself preserves the sacred character of the person who carries it.
THE ROOT
לְהֵחַלּוֹ
lehechallo
GROWS FROM
חלל
ḥ-l-l
To profane or make common; to treat what is set apart as ordinary.
“profane” in this verse is lehechallo. This verb reaches beyond uncleanness: it names the collapse of the boundary between what is set apart and what is common. The self becomes the place where that distinction is lost.
ALSO GROWS
ḥol: That which is ordinary or not set apart.
חֹל
It shows the condition profanation creates: the set-apart is treated as common.
ḥillul: The act of desecrating or treating something sacred as common.
חִלּוּל
It makes explicit that profaning is an action against the distinction itself.
יִטַּמָּא
yitamma
GROWS FROM
טמא
ṭ-m-ʾ
To become or be unclean, impure.
“defile” in this verse is yitamma. The verb describes a change in the person’s state, not simply dirt on the surface. Beside “profane,” it gives the verse a progression: becoming unclean can cross into making the self common.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāmēʾ: Unclean or impure.
טָמֵא
It names the state expressed by the verb in the verse.
ṭumʾāh: The condition of impurity.
טֻמְאָה
It shows the broader state that the verse associates with self-profanation.
THE PATTERN
A set-apart calling is expressed through the distinction between what is clean and what is common.
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:THE THREAD
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;Leviticus 10:10 names the boundary directly: holy versus unholy, clean versus unclean. חֹל (ḥol, common) shares a root with לְהֵחַלּוֹ (lehechallo, to profane himself), showing how self-profanation treats the set-apart as common.
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