Limitless Word
or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.
Leviticus 21:20 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.
  • KJV Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;
  • NKJV or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.
  • NASB or a contorted back, or one who is a dwarf, or has a spot in his eye, or a festering rash or scabs, or crushed testicles.
  • NLT or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Various physical conditions, from a hunched back to damaged organs, also excluded a priest from offering sacrifices. The list emphasizes the standard of wholeness for sacred service.

Overview

This comprehensive enumeration underscores that the priest who approached the altar was to be a fitting symbol of completeness before a holy God. None of these conditions implied sin or lesser dignity. The thoroughness of the requirement heightens the contrast with our perfect High Priest, Jesus, who alone meets every standard and ministers without defect.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Deut 23:1No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.
  • Isa 56:3Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Leviticus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Leviticus 21:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LeviticusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.

How Leviticus 21:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.