What Does Leviticus 21:2 Mean?
But for his own flesh, near to him, for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, he may become soiled.
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
But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,THE KEY
The word “near” carries the root of drawing close, so kinship here is more than a label: it is a bond that comes within reach.
THE MEANING
The verse names closeness through the body’s nearest bonds: mother, father, child, and brother. For these kin, grief has a place within the boundary the passage sets; their nearness matters.
THE ROOT
קָרוֹב
qarov
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
to approach, draw near
The Hebrew word for “near” belongs to the root of approaching and drawing close. Kinship is presented as a bond that reaches into one’s life, not merely a category on a family list.
ALSO GROWS
qorbān: drawing near; an offering
קָרְבָּן
This branch makes nearness an approach: what is brought near is not distant or abstract.
qerev: the inner part, midst
קֶרֶב
The same root can name what is within, showing how nearness can reach from outer proximity to inward closeness.
THE PATTERN
Scripture gives deep belonging a bodily shape through shared flesh and close presence.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for out of man she was taken.For we are limbs of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.THE THREAD
If your brother totters and sells some of his holding, and his nearest blood-redeemer comes to him, then he shall buy back what his brother sold.Both verses use the q-r-b root for the one who is near: here, the priest’s close kin; there, the relative who can redeem what his brother has lost. Nearness names a bond with material consequence, not just sentiment.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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