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Leviticus 22:4 American Standard (ASV)

4 What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;

Cross Reference

Leviticus 15:2-3 ASV

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man hath an issue out of his flesh, because of his issue he is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his uncleanness.

Leviticus 15:13-16 ASV

And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. And on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and come before Jehovah unto the door of the tent of meeting, and give them unto the priest: and the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah for his issue. And if any man's seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.

Leviticus 6:25-29 ASV

Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin-offering: in the place where the burnt-offering is killed shall the sin-offering be killed before Jehovah: it is most holy. The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in a holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy; and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in a holy place. But the earthen vessel wherein it is boiled shall be broken; and if it be boiled in a brazen vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.

Leviticus 11:24-28 ASV

And by these ye shall become unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even; And whosoever beareth `aught' of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. Every beast which parteth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, is unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. And whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all beasts that go on all fours, they are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the even. And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you.

Leviticus 13:2-3 ASV

When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and if the hair in the plague be turned white, and the appearance of the plague be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Leviticus 13:44-46 ASV

he is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his plague is in his head. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be.

Leviticus 14:1-32 ASV

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest: and the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look; and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper, then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let go the living bird into the open field. And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days. And it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. And on the eighth day he shall take two he-lambs without blemish, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish, and three tenth parts `of an ephah' of fine flour for a meal-offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that cleanseth him shall set the man that is to be cleansed, and those things, before Jehovah, at the door of the tent of meeting. And the priest shall take one of the he-lambs, and offer him for a trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah: and he shall kill the he-lamb in the place where they kill the sin-offering and the burnt-offering, in the place of the sanctuary: for as the sin-offering is the priest's, so is the trespass-offering: it is most holy: and the priest shall take of the blood of the trespass-offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And the priest shall take of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand; and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before Jehovah: and of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass-offering: and the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah. And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make atonement for him that is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt-offering; and the priest shall offer the burnt-offering and the meal-offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. And if he be poor, and cannot get so much, then he shall take one he-lamb for a trespass-offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth part `of an ephah' of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering, and a log of oil; and two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin-offering, and the other a burnt-offering. And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tent of meeting, before Jehovah: and the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass-offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah. And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass-offering; and the priest shall take of the blood of the trespass-offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand; and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Jehovah: and the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass-offering: and the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Jehovah. And he shall offer one of the turtle-doves, or of the young pigeons, such as he is able to get, even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, with the meal-offering: and the priest shall make atonement for him that is to be cleansed before Jehovah. This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to get `that which pertaineth' to his cleansing.

Numbers 19:11-16 ASV

He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days: the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth a dead person, the body of a man that hath died, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. This is the law when a man dieth in a tent: every one that cometh into the tent, and every one that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. And whosoever in the open field toucheth one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Leviticus 22

Commentary on Leviticus 22 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-16

Reverence for Things Sanctified. - The law on this matter was, (1) that no priest who had become unclean was to touch or eat them (Leviticus 22:2-9), and (2) that no one was to eat them who was not a member of a priestly family (Leviticus 22:10-16).

Leviticus 22:2-3

Aaron and his sons were to keep away from the holy gifts of the children of Israel, which they consecrated to Jehovah, that they might not profane the holy name of Jehovah by defiling them הנּזר with מן to keep away, separate one's self from anything, i.e., not to regard or treat them as on a par with unconsecrated things. The words, “ which they sanctify to Me, ” are a supplementary apposition, added as a more precise definition of the “holy things of the children of Israel;” as the expression “holy things” was applied to the holy objects universally, including the furniture of the tabernacle. Here, however, the reference is solely to the holy offerings or gifts, which were not placed upon the altar, but presented to the Lord as heave-offerings and wave-offerings, and assigned by Him to the priests as the servants of His house, for their maintenance (Numbers 18:11-19, Numbers 18:26-29). None of the descendants of Aaron were to approach these gifts, which were set apart for them, - i.e., to touch them either for the purpose of eating, or making them ready for eating, - whilst any uncleanness was upon them, on pain of extermination.

Leviticus 22:4-5

No leper was to touch them (see Leviticus 13:2), or person with gonorrhaea (Leviticus 15:2), until he was clean; no one who had touched a person defiled by a corpse (Leviticus 19:28; Numbers 19:22), or whose seed had gone from him (Leviticus 15:16, Leviticus 15:18); and no one who had touched an unclean creeping animal, or an unclean man. טמאתו לכל , as in Leviticus 5:3, a closer definition of לו יטמא אשׁר , “who is unclean to him with regard to (on account of) any uncleanness which he may have.”

Leviticus 22:6-7

A soul which touches it, ” i.e., any son of Aaron, who had touched either an unclean person or thing, was to be unclean till the evening, and then bathe his body; after sunset, i.e., when the day was over, he became clean, and could eat of the sanctified things, for they were his food.

Leviticus 22:8-9

In this connection the command given to all the Israelites, not to eat anything that had fallen down dead or been torn in pieces (Leviticus 17:15-16), is repeated with special reference to the priests. (On. Leviticus 22:9, see Leviticus 8:35; Leviticus 18:30, and Leviticus 19:17). יחלּלהוּ , “because they have defiled it (the sanctified thing).”

Leviticus 22:10-16

No stranger was to eat a sanctified thing. זר is in general the non-priest, then any person who was not fully incorporated into a priestly family, e.g., a visitor or day-labourer (cf. Exodus 12:49), who were neither of them members of his family.

Leviticus 22:11

On the other hand, slaves bought for money, or born in the house, became members of his family and lived upon his bread; they were therefore allowed to eat of that which was sanctified along with him, since the slaves were, in fact, formally incorporated into the nation by circumcision (Genesis 17:12-13).

Leviticus 22:12-13

So again the daughter of a priest, if she became a widow, or was put away by her husband, and returned childless to her father's house, and became a member of his family again, just as in the days of her youth, might eat of the holy things. But if she had any children, then after the death of her husband, or after her divorce, she formed with them a family of her own, which could not be incorporated into the priesthood, of course always supposing that her husband was not a priest.

Leviticus 22:14-16

But if any one (i.e., a layman) should eat unawares of that which was sanctified, he was to bring it, i.e., an equivalent for it, with the addition of a fifth as a compensation for the priest; like a man who had sinned by unfaithfulness in relation to that which was sanctified (Leviticus 5:16). - In the concluding exhortation in Leviticus 22:15 and Leviticus 22:16, the subject to יחלּלוּ (profane) and השּׂאוּ (bear) is indefinite, and the passage to be rendered thus: “ They are not to profane the sanctified gifts of the children of Israel, what they heave for the Lord (namely, by letting laymen eat of them), and are to cause them ( the laymen ) who do this unawares to bear a trespass-sin (by imposing the compensation mentioned in Leviticus 22:14), if they eat their (the priests') sanctified gifts .” Understood in this way, both verses furnish a fitting conclusion to the section Leviticus 22:10-14. On the other hand, according to the traditional interpretation of these verses, the priesthood is regarded as the subject of the first verb, and a negative supplied before the second. Both of these are arbitrary and quite indefensible, because Leviticus 22:10-14 do not refer to the priests but to laymen, and in the latter case we should expect אליהם ישׂאוּ רלא (cf. Leviticus 22:9) instead of the unusual אותם השּׂאוּ .


Verses 17-20

Acceptable Sacrifices. - Leviticus 22:18-20. Every sacrifice offered to the Lord by an Israelite or foreigner, in consequence of a vow or as a freewill-offering (cf. Leviticus 7:16), was to be faultless and male, “for good pleasure to the offerer” (cf. Leviticus 1:3), i.e., to secure for him the good pleasure of God. An animal with a fault would not be acceptable.


Verse 21-22

Every peace-offering was also to be faultless, whether brought “to fulfil a special (important) vow” (cf. Numbers 15:3, Numbers 15:8 : פּלּא , from פּלא to be great, distinguished, wonderful), or as a freewill gift; that is to say, it was to be free from such faults as blindness, or a broken limb (from lameness therefore: Deuteronomy 15:21), or cutting (i.e., mutilation, answering to חרוּם Leviticus 21:18), or an abscess ( יבּלת , from יבל to flow, probably a flowing suppurating abscess).


Verse 23

As a voluntary peace-offering they might indeed offer an ox or sheep that was רקלוּט שׂרוּע , “stretched out and drawn together,” i.e., with the whole body or certain limbs either too large or too small;

(Note: In explanation of these words Knobel very properly remarks, that with the Greeks the sacrificial animal was required to be ἀφελής ( Pollux i. 1, 26), upon which Hesychius observes, μήτε πλεονάζων μήτε δέων τι τοῦ σώματος .)

but such an animal could not be acceptable as a votive offering.


Verse 24

Castrated animals were not to be sacrificed, nor in fact to be kept in the land at all. מעוּך compressus , θλιβίας , an animal with the stones crushed; כּתוּת contusus , θλασίας , with them beaten to pieces; נתוּק avulsus , σπάδων , with them twisted off; כּרוּי excisus , τομίας or ἐκτομίας , with them cut off. In all these different ways was the operation performed among the ancients (cf . Aristot. hist. an. ix. 37, 3; Colum . vi. 26, vii. 11; Pallad . vi. 7). “And in your land ye shall not make,” sc., וגו מעוּך , i.e., castrated animals, that is to say, “not castrate animals.” This explanation, which is the one given by Josephus ( Ant . iv. 8, 40) and all the Rabbins, is required by the expression “in your land,” which does not at all suit the interpretation adopted by Clericus and Knobel , who understand by עשׂה the preparation of sacrifices, for sacrifices were never prepared outside the land. The castration of animals is a mutilation of God's creation, and the prohibition of it was based upon the same principle as that of mixing heterogeneous things in Leviticus 19:19.


Verse 25-26

Again, the Israelites were not to accept any one of all these, i.e., the faulty animals described, as sacrifice from a foreigner. “ For their corruption is in them, ” i.e., something corrupt, a fault, adheres to them; so that such offerings could not procure good pleasure towards them. - In Leviticus 22:26-30 three laws are given of a similar character.


Verse 27

A young ox, sheep, or goat was to be seven days under its mother, and could only be sacrificed from the eighth day onwards, according to the rule laid down in Exodus 22:29 with regard to the first-born. The reason for this was, that the young animal had not attained to a mature and self-sustained life during the first week of its existence.

(Note: For this reason the following rule was also laid down by the Romans: Suis faetus sacrificio die quinto purus est, pecoris die octavo, bovis tricesimo (Plin. h. n. 8, 51).)

This maturity was not reached till after the lapse of a week, that period of time sanctified by the creation. There is no rule laid down in the law respecting the age up to which an animal was admissible in sacrifice. Bullocks , i.e., steers or young oxen of more than a year old, are frequently mentioned and prescribed for the festal sacrifices (for the young ox of less than a year old is called עגל ; Leviticus 9:3), viz., as burnt-offerings in Leviticus 23:18; Numbers 7:15, Numbers 7:21, Numbers 7:27, Numbers 7:33, Numbers 7:39.; Numbers 8:8; Numbers 15:24; Numbers 28:11, Numbers 28:19, Numbers 28:27; Numbers 29:2, Numbers 29:8, and as sin-offerings in Leviticus 4:3, Leviticus 4:14; Leviticus 16:3; - sheep (lambs) of one year old are also prescribed as burnt-offerings in Leviticus 9:3; Leviticus 12:6; Leviticus 23:12; Exodus 29:38; Numbers 6:14; Numbers 7:17, Numbers 7:21, Numbers 7:27, Numbers 7:33, Numbers 7:39., Numbers 28:3, Numbers 28:9, Numbers 28:19, Numbers 28:27; Numbers 29:2, Numbers 29:8, Numbers 29:13, Numbers 29:17., as peace-offerings in Numbers 7:17, Numbers 7:23; Numbers 29:35., and as trespass-offerings in Numbers 6:12; also a yearling ewe as a sin-offering in Leviticus 14:10 and Numbers 6:14, and a yearling goat in Numbers 15:27. They generally brought older oxen or bullocks for peace-offerings (Numbers 7:17; Numbers 23:29.), and sometimes as burnt-offerings. In Judges 6:25 an ox of seven years old is said to have been brought as a burnt-offering; and there can be no doubt that the goats and rams presented as sin-offerings and trespass-offerings were more than a year old.


Verses 28-30

The command not to kill an ox or sheep at the same time as its young is related to the law in Exodus 23:19 and Deuteronomy 22:6-7, and was intended to lay it down as a duty on the part of the Israelites to keep sacred the relation which God had established between parent and offspring. - In Leviticus 22:29, Leviticus 22:30, the command to eat the flesh of the animal on the day on which it was offered (Leviticus 7:15; Leviticus 19:5-6) is repeated with special reference to the praise-offering.


Verses 31-33

Concluding exhortation, as in Leviticus 18:29; Leviticus 19:37. (On Leviticus 22:32, cf. Leviticus 18:21 and Leviticus 11:44-45.)