‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or has a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has had an emission of semen,
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘Whoever of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose offspring goes from him;
- KJV What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
- BSB If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen,
- ESV None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen,
- NASB No man of the descendants of Aaron, who has leprosy or has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And one who touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has a seminal emission,
- NLT “If any of Aaron’s descendants has a skin disease or any kind of discharge that makes him ceremonially unclean, he may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has been pronounced clean. He also becomes unclean by touching a corpse, or by having an emission of semen,
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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
A priest with a skin disease or bodily discharge, or defiled by the dead, may not eat the holy food until he is clean. Ritual impurity barred priests from the sacred meal.
Overview
Various forms of uncleanness temporarily excluded a priest from partaking of the holy offerings until restored. These laws trained Israel to take seriously the distinction between clean and unclean in approaching God. They point to the deeper cleansing accomplished by Christ, who heals the unclean and makes His people fit to feast in God's presence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Lev 11:39“‘If any animal, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- Lev 15:2–3“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean.
- Lev 15:13–16“‘When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
- Lev 21:1Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people;
- Num 18:9This shall be yours of the most holy things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.
- Lev 2:3That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy thing of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
- Lev 21:22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
- Lev 14:1–32Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
- Lev 6:25–29“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before Yahweh. It is most holy.
- Lev 11:24–28“‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- Num 19:11–16“He who touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
- Lev 2:10That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
- Num 18:19All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, I have given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring with you.”
- Lev 13:44–46he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.
- Lev 13:2–3“When a man shall have a rising in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons, the priests:
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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 22:4 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
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