He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.’ ”
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Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
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Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not My holy places; for I am the LORD who sanctify them.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (1)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Leviticus 21:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 21:12 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh.
- Exodus 30:6-8 You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the covenant, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.
- Exodus 40:26-27 He put the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting before the veil; and he burned incense of sweet spices on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Leviticus 15:31 “ ‘Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’ ”
- Ezekiel 44:9-14 The Lord Yahweh says, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel. “ ‘ “But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they will bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house. They shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel. Therefore I have lifted up my hand against them,” says the Lord Yahweh, “and they will bear their iniquity. They shall not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. Yet I will make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service, and for all that will be done therein.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Into the Sanctuary.
Into the Sanctuary.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 21:23 Only he shall not go in unto…
Lev 21:23 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
Ver. 23. For I the Lord do sanctify them.] By my presence, and services there performed.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In unto the veil i.e. to the second veil,…
In unto the veil i.e. to the second veil, which was between the holy and the most holy place, Exo 26:13,36, to burn incense, to order the shew-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that veil, though without.
Nor come nigh unto the altar, i.e. the altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, He shall not execute the priest’s office, which was to be done in those two places. My sanctuary, Heb. my sanctuaries, in the plural number, as it is also Lev 26:31; Jer 51:51; Eze 28:18; for though the sanctuary was but one, yet there were divers parts, to wit, the court, the holy place, and the most holy, each of which was in a large sense a sanctuary, or a holy place set apart for God’s worship.
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I the Lord do sanctify them, i.e. do set them apart for high and holy uses, to manifest my presence and grace, and to receive my worship and service in them. And therefore I will not have them polluted or disparaged by the admission of defiled or deformed priests to minister therein.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Moses told it to Aaron, and to his…
And Moses told it to Aaron, and to his sons,.... What God had said to him concerning the priests defiling themselves for the dead, both common priests and high priest, and concerning their marriages and their blemishes; that they might be careful not to transgress the laws and rules given them concerning those things:
and to all the children of Israel; to the heads of the tribes and elders of the people, and by them to the whole, that they might know who were fit, and who not, to put their sacrifice into their hands, to offer for them: Jarchi thinks this was to warn the sanhedrim concerning the priests, whose business it was to examine and judge who were fit for service and who not; for so we are told (k), that in the chamber Gazith, or of hewn stone, the great sanhedrim of Israel sat and judged the priests, and rejected some and received others.
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(k) Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 3.
Next: Leviticus Chapter 22
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To the veil - To the second veil which…
To the veil - To the second veil which was between the holy and the most holy place, to burn incense, to order the shew-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that veil though without. My altar - The altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, he shall not execute the priest's office, which was to be done in those two places.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 23. He shall not go in unto the…
Verse 23. He shall not go in unto the veil] The priest with a blemish was not permitted to enter into the holy of holies, nor to burn incense, nor to offer the shew-bread, nor to light the golden candlestick, c. In short, he was not permitted to perform any essential function of the priesthood.
1. THE great perfection required in the Jewish high priest was intended principally to point out the perfection of that priesthood of which the Jewish was only the type. And yet, as the apostle assures us, that law made nothing perfect, but pointed out that most perfect priesthood and sacrifice by which we draw near to God.
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2. As none who had a blemish could enter into the holy of holies, and this holy of holies was a type of the kingdom of God, so nothing that is defiled can enter into heaven for he gave himself for his Church that he might purify it to himself, and present it at last before the presence of the Divine glory having neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, Eph 5:27; a passage which evidently refers to the directions in the preceding verse. Reader, art thou become a king and priest unto God and the Lamb? and hast thou obtained, or art thou earnestly seeking, that holiness without which thou canst not see the kingdom of heaven?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 21:23. To the veil — To the second…
Lev 21:23. To the veil — To the second veil, which was between the holy and the most holy place, to burn incense, to order the show-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that veil, though without. My altar — The altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, he shall not execute the priest’s office, which was to be done in those two places.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Veil, which separates the sanctuary from the court. The…
Veil, which separates the sanctuary from the court. The Athenians chose the most handsome man ot be the king of ceremonies; and the people of Eli appointed such only to carry the sacred vessels, &c. (Atheneus xiii. 2.) (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. my sanctuaries] The plural may have reference to…
23. my sanctuaries] The plural may have reference to the sacred building and its surroundings, as in Jer_51:51.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) Only he shall not go in unto the…
(23) Only he shall not go in unto the vail.—That is, into the holy place which was before the vail.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.