What Does Leviticus 21:17 Mean?
Speak to Aaron, saying, “Whoever among your seed in their generations carries any blemish does not draw near to bring near the bread of his 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
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.THE KEY
The verse’s “approach” and “offer” are forms of one root: the priest’s nearness and the offering’s being brought near are one motion.
THE MEANING
A descendant of Aaron with a bodily blemish is barred from approaching to offer the bread of his God. The boundary concerns access to this priestly act, and the verse gives no further explanation.
THE ROOT
יקרב
yikrav
GROWS FROM
קרב
qarav
Come near; draw close.
“draw near” in this verse is yikrav. The verse uses two forms of this root: the priest approaches, and the offering is brought near. The boundary therefore governs nearness itself, including the act of presenting the bread of his God.
ALSO GROWS
hiqriv: Bring near; offer.
הקריב
This is the root’s causative form in the verse’s phrase “to offer,” joining presentation of the offering to the act of coming near.
qorban: Offering; that which is brought near.
קרבן
The word for an offering carries the same root, showing how the act of giving and the motion of nearness belong together.
THE PATTERN
Nearness to sacred service is governed by explicit conditions on the person and the act of approach.
When they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with waters, so that they do not die; or when they draw near to the altar to serve, to make smoke rise from the offering of fire to the LORD.Let us draw near with a true heart in the fullness of trust, our hearts sprinkled from a burdened shared sight, and our bodies bathed in clean waters.THE THREAD
Flourishing is the man you choose and bring near, to lodge in your courts. We will be filled with the goodness of your house, your set-apart temple.The same root קרב appears as “causest to approach” here and as both “approach” and “offer” in Leviticus. Psalm names nearness as granted, while Leviticus places a specific boundary on who may perform this offering; the shared root makes the difference in access visible.
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