Leviticus 21 — Hebrew and Greek compared
← Leviticus 20 compared · Reading text of Leviticus 21 · Leviticus: all chapters · Leviticus 22 compared →
Same 4 Similar 3 Different 10 Divergent 3 Disparate 4
Disparate in this chapter: 21:4, 21:10, 21:18, 21:20
Each verse is rendered independently from the Hebrew (Rabbinic reading tradition) and from the Greek (Saints reading tradition). The badge classifies the relationship between the two readings; the note beneath records the source document’s comparison and attributed interpretation. Each column retains its own verse references where numbering differs.
Mourning and marriage · 21:1–9
21:1 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:1 YHWH said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: A priest shall not make himself unclean for a dead person among his people,
Greek · Saints priority
21:1 The Lord said to Moses, saying: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: They shall not defile themselves for dead persons among their nation,
Hebrew uses a singular priest; Greek addresses the priestly group in the plural.
21:2 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:2 except for his nearest kin: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother;
Greek · Saints priority
21:2 except for their nearest household kin: father, mother, sons, daughters, and brother;
Greek reverses the parents’ order and pluralizes sons and daughters. The same close family categories remain.
21:3 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:3 and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has not belonged to a man—for her he may make himself unclean.
Greek · Saints priority
21:3 and for a virgin sister near to him who has not been given to a man—for these he may defile himself.
Hebrew’s closing for her concerns the sister; Greek for these resumes the relatives collectively.
21:4 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people, profaning himself.
Greek · Saints priority
21:4 He shall not suddenly defile himself among his people, so as to profane himself.
Hebrew baʿal can mean husband or master; its construction is difficult and is traditionally interpreted in several ways. Greek has suddenly, exapina. These are materially different restrictions, though the Hebrew legal scope remains disputed.
21:5 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:5 They shall not make a bald patch on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or cut gashes in their flesh.
Greek · Saints priority
21:5 You shall not shave a bald patch on your head for a dead person. They shall not shave the face of their beard or cut incisions in their flesh.
Greek expressly adds for a dead person and shifts between second and third person. Hebrew leaves the mourning setting to context.
21:6 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present YHWH’s offerings by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
Greek · Saints priority
21:6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they present the Lord’s sacrifices, the gifts of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
Offerings by fire and bread are rendered as sacrifices and gifts. Greek does not retain the bread metaphor.
21:7 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:7 They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute or profaned, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
Greek · Saints priority
21:7 They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute or profaned, nor a woman expelled by her husband, for the priest is holy to the Lord his God.
Greek adds Lord. Expelled is its idiom for the divorced woman; both prohibit these marriages.
21:8 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:8 You shall regard him as holy, for he presents the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, YHWH who sanctifies you, am holy.
Greek · Saints priority
21:8 He shall sanctify him, for this man presents the gifts of the Lord your God. He shall be holy, for I, the Lord who sanctifies them, am holy.
Hebrew addresses you and sanctifies you; Greek has he and sanctifies them. Greek also substitutes gifts and omits to you after holy. The unstated subject of he requires interpretation.
21:9 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:9 If a priest’s daughter profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
Greek · Saints priority
21:9 If a priest’s daughter is profaned by prostituting herself, she profanes her father’s name. She shall be burned with fire.
Greek explicitly makes the father’s name the object of profanation; the penalty is unchanged.
The high priest · 21:10–15
21:10 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:10 The priest who is greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil has been poured and whose hand has been filled to wear the garments, shall not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.
Greek · Saints priority
21:10 The priest who is greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not remove his headgear or tear his garments.
The head restriction is loose hair in this Hebrew rendering and removal of the headdress in Greek. Hebrew pāraʿ also has an uncovering interpretation, so the difference should not be treated as a certain contradiction under every Hebrew reading.
21:11 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:11 He shall not enter where there is any dead person; he shall not make himself unclean even for his father or mother.
Greek · Saints priority
21:11 He shall not enter where there is any dead person; he shall not make himself unclean even for his father or mother.
The high priest’s restriction extends even to parents in both texts.
21:12 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:12 He shall not leave the sanctuary or profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of his God’s anointing oil is upon him. I am YHWH.
Greek · Saints priority
21:12 He shall not leave the holy precincts or profane what is consecrated to his God, for the holy anointing oil of God is upon him. I am the Lord.
Hebrew consecration and Greek holy characterize the anointing oil; the priestly restriction agrees.
21:13 Divergent
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:13 He shall take a wife in her virginity.
Greek · Saints priority
21:13 He shall take a virgin wife from his own kin.
Greek adds from his own kin here. Both texts express a related group restriction in the following verse.
21:14 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:14 A widow, a divorced woman, or a profaned woman who is a prostitute—these he shall not take. He shall take as his wife a virgin from his people.
Greek · Saints priority
21:14 A widow, an expelled woman, a profaned woman, or a prostitute—these he shall not take. He shall take as his wife only a virgin from his own kin.
Greek explicitly coordinates profaned woman and prostitute separately and uses kin for Hebrew people. The broad marriage restriction remains shared.
21:15 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:15 He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am YHWH who sanctifies him.
Greek · Saints priority
21:15 He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.
The offspring restriction and divine sanctification correspond.
Bodily conditions and service at the altar · 21:16–24
21:16 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:16 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
Greek · Saints priority
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
The speech formula corresponds.
21:17 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:17 Speak to Aaron, saying: Any man among your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish shall not approach to present the bread of his God.
Greek · Saints priority
21:17 Say to Aaron: Any man from your kin throughout your generations who has a blemish shall not approach to present the gifts of his God.
Bread becomes gifts, and Hebrew their generations becomes your generations.
21:18 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:18 No man who has a blemish shall approach: a blind man, a lame man, one with a mutilated nose, or one with an overgrown limb;
Greek · Saints priority
21:18 No man who has a blemish shall approach: a lame man, a blind man, one with a mutilated nose, or one with a cut-off ear;
Greek specifies a cut-off ear where the Hebrew term usually denotes an overlong or disproportionate member. The anatomical criterion differs; the exact Hebrew condition is uncertain. Greek also reverses blind and lame.
21:19 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:19 or a man with a broken foot or a broken hand;
Greek · Saints priority
21:19 or a man with a broken hand or a broken foot;
The two injuries are reversed in order.
21:20 Disparate
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:20 or a hunchback, one who is wasted, one with a defect in his eye, one with a scab or skin eruption, or one with a crushed testicle.
Greek · Saints priority
21:20 or a hunchback, one with a skin spot, one with diseased eyelashes, a man with a severe scab or skin eruption, or one with a single testicle.
Several physical criteria differ: Hebrew daq is uncertain, Greek ephēlos concerns a skin mark; the eye terms differ; crushed testicle and single testicle are distinct. These ancient descriptions are not modern diagnoses.
21:21 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:21 No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall approach to present YHWH’s offerings by fire. He has a blemish; he shall not approach to present the bread of his God.
Greek · Saints priority
21:21 No one among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall approach to present the sacrifices to your God. Because he has a blemish, he shall not approach to present the gifts of God.
Greek has your God and gifts of God where Hebrew has YHWH and bread of his God. The exclusion from presenting offerings agrees.
21:22 Similar
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:22 He may eat the bread of his God, both from the most holy things and from the holy things.
Greek · Saints priority
21:22 He may eat the gifts of God, both the most holy things and portions of the holy things.
Both retain the priest’s right to sacred food despite exclusion from altar service.
21:23 Different
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:23 But he shall not enter toward the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a blemish. He shall not profane My sanctuaries, for I am YHWH who sanctifies them.
Greek · Saints priority
21:23 But he shall not approach the curtain or come near the altar, because he has a blemish. He shall not profane the holy place of his God, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
Hebrew My sanctuaries is Greek the holy place of his God. Both restrict approach to curtain and altar.
21:24 Same
Hebrew · Rabbinic priority
21:24 Moses spoke to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel.
Greek · Saints priority
21:24 Moses spoke to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the sons of Israel.
The closing report corresponds.
← Leviticus 20 compared · Reading text of Leviticus 21 · Leviticus: all chapters · Leviticus 22 compared →
Saints Translation · Companion comparison edition · working draft awaiting specialist review.