Leviticus 21 – Biblical Leadership Principles

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan KS, 18 Dec 2016

Wrap-up of Chapter 20: Civil leadership principles

I would like to follow up last week’s sermon with two principles that I believe are important in the implementation of God’s system of civil justice which we saw displayed in Leviticus 20: The first is the principle of Perspective, and the second is the principle of Incrementalism.

1. Perspective

There are distinct contexts that often get confused when we talk about applying the laws we read in the Old Testament:
One set of distinctions is the distinction between the jurisdiction of the three basic spheres of human authority:

The state
The church
and the Family

Anyone who thinks that the church or the family should be implementing death penalties has not been reading their Bible and is necessarily out of step with God’s justice.
Although the Church and the State worked more closely together during the time of Israel than they do in our country now, there were still distinctions. Aaron and the priests held a distinctly different office than did Moses and the judges. One was ecclesiastical, and the other was civil. I believe it is important to keep those jurisdictions distinct and not blur them.
Ideally, the civil authorities submit personally to the spiritual leadership of the elders of their particular church and the church leadership should inform the civil leaders of the principles of civil justice found in God’s word, but the Kings and Presidents and Legislators are ultimately responsible to make their own decisions as public officers.
So when I say that I believe that there should ideally be a death penalty for the offenses listed in Lev. 20 and other pastors say that none of them should get the death penalty, and other pastors say only some of them should get the death penalty, it is not up to us pastors to decide that for our country; it is up to the civil magistrates we have elected to run our government to make the final decisions on capitol punishment.

Another set of distinctions that needs to be kept in perspective is the differences between

The nation of Israel,
Our nation today,
and the future heavenly kingdom.

Or another way of putting it is the perfect ideal vs. what imperfect humans can do in the here-and-now.
When we read a passage like Leviticus 20 with all its death penalties, I believe we have to see it as an expression of the unchanging perfect righteousness and justice of God, yet at the same time, each generation and each nation has the task of figuring out how to flesh it out in their own context, and it is going to look different from one age to another and from one nation to another, although, there will, of course, be significant similarities among cultures that are looking to the same Bible to guide them.
Thus, when I said that these violations of the first 9 commandments in Leviticus 20 should be capital crimes, I should have qualified that by saying that I am talking about the ideal, I am not saying that every lawmaker and judge who doesn’t uphold all of these as capital crimes immediately is sinning. As I noted in the last sermon, not even in Israel was the death penalty consistently applied for all these sins. We are not the nation of Israel, and despite what the radical preterists say, we are not in the new heavens and the new earth either, we are in our own age, and I don’t believe that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the application of the law in each age, although I do believe there are principles that apply to every age. Having a Biblical perspective on jurisdiction and on history helps us to see what to do with specific laws we read in the Bible, and that leads me to the second point:

2. Incrementalism

A common concern for post-modern man when they look at Leviticus 20 is that if Christians put this into practice, there will be a bloodbath, killing all the atheists as well as stoning everybody that has fallen into sexual sin. That argument has been trotted out to counteract Bible-believing Christians multiple times in our own City Hall in recent years by revolutionaries who are working successfully toward government approval of homosexuality.
But this is a mischaracterization of Biblical leadership.

When Ezra moved from Babylon to help reconstruct Jerusalem and heard that a bunch of his people there had married pagan women, he didn’t institute a bloodbath (Ezra 9).
When Governor Nehemiah (Neh. 13) saw the flagrant disregard for the Sabbath that the post-exilic Jews practiced, he did not slaughter them over it. He simply shut the city gate and said, “Don’t set up a market on the Sabbath any more.” He didn’t even slaughter the Gentile merchants that tried to do it anyway. He simply gave them a warning and a second and third chance to comply. These were Godly civil leaders who understood how to balance justice with mercy.
Likewise, when King Josiah discovered that the nation of Israel was in violation of the law for skipping the Passover feast for years, instead of slaughtering everybody for this covenant violation, or banishing them all from entry to the temple, he instead issued a grand invitation to come to the temple on the next Passover and do it right! (2 Kings 23).
I see similar patterns with Jesus and the Apostles.

I would call this principle incrementalism. It is where a godly leader sizes up where his people are at in regards to the perfect standards righteousness in the Bible and identifies a limited number of key issues to address where he can move his people towards the blessing of doing what God says is good.
Having a good perspective that distinguishes between the ideal (which we will only see in heaven), and the historical range of what different godly leaders have done to conform their civil societies as best they could to God’s standards of justice, can enable a Christian leader in the government today to make a wise analysis and implement justice incrementally that will bring blessing in new key areas. Having a Biblical perspective on what your jurisdiction is – whether over a state or over a local church or over your home helps you see where you have the power to implement the principles of God’s righteousness and justice.

Chapter 21: Ecclesiastical leadership principles

Now, as we get into the next chapter of Leviticus, we are still talking about leadership principles, but we shift from Civil to Ecclesiastical leadership. In Chapter 21, we see in particular three areas in which priests were held to a higher standard than the average Israelite. The three areas have to do with whose funeral they could attend, who they could marry, and what physical deformities disqualified the son of a priest from serving as a priest. The apostle James wrote in the third chapter of his epistle, “Let not many of you become teachers, my bretheren, knowing that as such you shall incur a stricter judgment.” Each of these three standards of stricter judgment in Leviticus 21 teaches us principles about spiritual leadership. Let’s look at these together, starting with:

A) Priests had to stay farther away from dead people (Vs.1-6, 10-12 )

v Only the death (or literally the “soul”) of a “close/near relative/family member” was important enough for a priest to allow himself to become ceremonially unclean. The word “dead/dying” actually doesn’t appear until v.11, but the context is pretty clear.

Ø The closeness may have had to do with how close they lived to them – in the same house or family compound, or maybe it just has to do with degree of family relationship, and once a sister got married, she was no longer close enough for a priest to interrupt his calling before God over.

Ø Perhaps this was why the priest in Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan did not stop to help his fellow-Jew who had been beat up and left on the side of the road. The victim was not a close family member.

Ø The high priest was even more restricted. In v. 11, which gives restrictions for the high priest, he couldn’t even attend his own parents’ funerals!

v Not only could they not be involved in burying their dead, they also were not allowed to show signs of mourning.

Ø Ripping bald patches out of one’s hair was a sign of mourning over the death of a loved one, as the LXX explains it. The other four instances of this verb in the O.T. bear this out: Jer 16:6 NKJV “Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.” (cf. Ezek. 27:31; 29:18; Mic. 1:16, and noun forms of the same root: Deut. 14:1b “…nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.” –KJV, Lev. 21:5; Deut. 14:1; Isa. 3:24; 15:2; 22:12; Jer. 47:5; 48:37; Ezek. 7:18; Amos 8:10).

Ø Shaving the beard was also a sign of grief and shame (Ezra 9:3 NKJV So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.” Cf. Isa. 7:20; 15:2; Jer. 41:5; 48:37; Eze. 5:1)

Ø as was lacerating one’s hands and arms (Jeremiah 48:37-38 NKJV "For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth – A general lamentation On all the housetops of Moab, And in its streets; For I have broken Moab...” cf. Jer. 41:5 – although cutting was actually a pagan practice, as we saw back in chapter 19, and the Bible references to this practice describe the practices of Moabites, Samaritans and Phoenicians, not Jews.)

Ø Uncovering the head, in v.10 (or, as the NIV puts it, letting your hair go unkempt) and tearing clothes were also signs of grief. You don’t go to work like that. It was what unclean lepers did in Leviticus 13:45, so God commanded priests not to do this in 10:6.

v Serving God and being able to serve people as priest took priority over attending family funerals.

v As v. 4 puts it: “A lord among his peoples may not let himself become unclean resulting in his being defiled.” The word I translated “a lord” is the Hebrew word ba’al, meaning “owner,” master, or husband, and it is in the place of the subject of the sentence in Hebrew.

Ø The grammar does not support it being an adjective describing the people like the NIV makes it out to be, and there is no word “like/as” to make it a comparative as the NASB and ESV do. Among the standard English translations, I prefer the KJV “But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.”

Ø As I see it, this is a proverb explaining why a priest couldn’t disqualify himself from the ministry by touching a dead body: “A lord” needs to keep leading his peoples and not abdicate his leadership for trivial reasons. His peoples need him there to keep the system running. This principle applied to the priests who had a position of leadership over the people of Israel in spiritual matters. If too many of them were off at a funeral, nobody’s sins could be forgiven that day. That could have dire consequences with God.

v This reason is explained more fully in verse 6: They must be holy ones to their God and not harm the reputation of their God because they are the ones who offer the burnt offerings of Yahweh, the bread of their God, so they must be holy ones. This is repeated in v. 8.

Ø To leave their calling of offering those burnt offerings would actually profane God’s name and violate His reputation. If the people of God who were supposed to be holy were not clean on any given day because where was nobody to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins, what testimony would there be among mankind that God is holy and that God is merciful? It was important that this witness be upheld on the earth that God is holy and merciful, therefore there are forgiven people who are holy.

Ø That’s why in v. 12, they had to remain at their post in the temple and not go to funerals.

v When we look at the New Testament, Jesus declined to interrupt His teaching to greet his mother and brothers. But Jesus revolutionized the Levitical law regarding the dead. “Our Lord Jesus, the great high priest of our profession, touched the dead body of Jairus's daughter, the bier of the widow's son, and the grave of Lazarus, to show that he came to altar the property of death, and to take off the terror of it, by breaking the power of it. Now that it cannot destroy it does not defile.” ~Matthew Henry

v Can you see how this applies to us today?

Ø “…Jesus Christ… has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (that’s a quote from the Apostle John in Rev. 1:6), so this has an application to you, at least in principle.

Ø As a member of the body of Christ, God has given you specific spiritual gifts which He wants you to exercise to build His kingdom [1]. Have you discovered what they are, and are you putting yourself into using the mind and body and resources an opportunities God has given you to serve His kingdom? If not, then you can start by identifying what your calling is.

Ø Put thought into what is important enough to interrupt the work that God has called you to do. If you’re going to the funeral of your aunt’s second cousin twice-removed because you feel obligated to as family, maybe that’s not the best use of your time. Moreover, if you’re spending hours every day gaming or watching TV or movies, then that’s probably an even greater waste of the time God has given you here on this earth.

Ø Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27, NKJV)

Ø To another follower Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60, NKJV)

Ø There are some things that we should avoid simply because of the reputation they create. Since we as God’s people are linked to God’s reputation, we sometimes have to forego them, not because they are necessarily evil, but because other people would misunderstand or be unnecessarily offended by the Gospel.

§ For the Levitical priests, being around a dead body at a funeral associated them with death, so, even though there was nothing morally wrong with attending a funeral, nevertheless, for the sake of the reputation of the Lord, whose nature it is to overcome death, they had to skip funerals that they otherwise would have been able to attend.

§ Are there any edgy things in your life that, for the sake of the reputation of Christ which you carry in this world, you need to avoid?

§ For instance, I have American friends who reach out to Muslims and who keep a separate set of pork-free tableware in their cabinets so that they can have Muslims over for a meal to share Christ’s love without the Muslim having to worry about being defiled by eating from a plate that has touched pork.

§ That’s also why we don’t serve alcoholic wine in our church communion – the distraction and stumbling blocks it would raise, even though we are perfectly free to serve wine.

v Now, there is a balance to everything.

Ø Some of these activities are ways that we rest and find renewal, so I’m not saying that gaming and TV and food and alcohol are intrinsically sinful, I just know how easy it is to cross the line with these kinds of things and allow them to control you and end up using your resources so that you become unfruitful with your time.

Ø There is an opposite extreme, too, what we call the “Martha complex” of feeling like you have to always be serving and you burn yourself out and make yourself unfruitful in the kingdom because you don’t rest enough and you aren’t happy.

Ø Either way, we need to consider carefully the way we spend the 24 hours a day that God gives us and spend each hour with purpose and wisdom.

v You must be the holy ones. In the New Testament, all Christians are called saints.

Ø 1 Corinthians 1:2 NASB To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Ø Eph. 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus… To the saints at Ephesus who believe in Christ Jesus” (NAW)

Ø Reciprocal in Jude 1:3c“…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” (NASB)

Ø Where else are they going to come from? From Capitol Hill? From Hollywood? From the National Parks? It is you who have the Spirit of Holiness inside of you, who are priests to our God and who are called to show the world what holiness is – what it looks like to set apart Jesus as God in your hearts and what it looks like to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and what it looks like to be loved by God. That is your calling, saints!

B) Priests could only marry a holy woman (v.7, 13-15)

7. They may not marry a woman who is a prostitute and therefore violated, and they may not marry a woman who has been expelled from her husband, because he is holy to his God…

14 He may not marry these: a widow or a divorced woman or profane woman or a prostitute; instead it must be a virgin from his peoples that he takes as a wife...

v Priests could only marry a virgin [2]. Their daughters also had to have integrity, according to v. 9. (The idolatry aspect of v.9 was covered in chapter 19, and the adultery aspect of verse 9 was covered in chapter 18 & 20, but here I think the focus is on the priest having a healthy distance from any un-holiness that could disqualify him for his service in the presence of God.)

v Now, once again, was it necessarily wrong to marry a widow or divorcee or even a strange woman? No.

Ø The first chapter of Matthew tells us that Rahab the Harlot from Jericho married a Jewish man named Salmon, and that their great-great grandson was King David.

Ø Furthermore, God commanded the prophet Hosea to marry such a woman as well, so it couldn’t have been intrinsically wrong to do.

Ø Similarly, a woman who had been “put away” by her husband could be married again, according to the law in Deuteronomy 24:1-4,

Ø and 1 Corinthians 7:27-28 specifically says it is not a sin for someone “loosed” from a wife to marry another.

Ø And 1 Timothy 4 encourages younger widows to re-marry.

Ø So once again we have a situation where those who served as priests were called to rise to a higher standard than the law demanded for the average believer.

v The reasons given in v.8 are practically the same as the reasons given for the prohibition against priests going to any-and-everybody’s funeral: Because God is holy, He set apart His servants to be special, and they are to be holy in order to serve Him – offer up His food of praise on the sacrificial altar. Verse 15, however, adds the reason that this will keep the priest’s children from losing their holy status of being in the priestly line.

v Does this principle apply today? If you are free to marry, it is certainly your choice whether or not to choose a virgin. But since you are a servant of God, it is not a choice to be made entirely according to your own personal preferences; you are under the authority of Jesus as your Lord to choose a spouse who will match with the calling that Jesus has put on your life.

Ø For instance, if it is your calling and gifting and passion to live as a missionary on the frontiers of civilization, you are probably not at liberty to marry someone who wants to live close to home, no matter how much you might personally want to marry them.

Ø If it is your calling is to raise children to love Jesus, you are probably not at liberty to marry someone who doesn’t want to have any kids, no matter how much you might be attracted to them.

Ø God’s calling and gifting are more important than your feelings of attraction and must be taken into account when considering marriage.

Ø Now, if it matches your calling to marry someone who is not a virgin, you need to be prepared to take the extra time and care involved in the redemption of that person’s brokenness.

§ My wife and I have counseled quite a few people who didn’t really take that into account and were blindsided by difficulties that arose in their marriage, in childbirth, and in family relationships.

§ These problems can be worked through, I’m just saying they shouldn’t be swept under the rug and ignored.

§ We have a missionary friend who rescued a prostitute from a brothel, converted her to Christ and married her. They have been married for many years now and have a fruitful ministry of helping other girls caught in similar circumstances.

Ø And this is not just an Old Testament principle. We see that the bar is high in the New Testament when it comes to the marriage qualifications of church officers.

§ The wife of a deacon must be dignified, careful in her speech, temperate, and trustworthy, says 1 Timothy 3:11.

§ Gomer, the prostitute that Hosea married would have disqualified him from ever holding office in the church. He’d never know when she might grab the church offering funds go off on a drunken binge or when she might lose her temper and yell obscenities and offend people in the church, or when he would have to be out all night trying to find her on the streets and then be too tired to help other people in the church. So, if your calling is one that will demand a lot of a marriage, consider carefully who you marry.

§ Furthermore the children of an elder are to have integrity, being “faithful” and “not rebellious [3].” A man’s ministry starts in his own household, and if he is failing at spiritual leadership there, it is crazy to expect him to succeed in a larger sphere of leadership like the church (1 Tim. 3:5). For you younger men, focus on learning how to husband your wife as Christ does the church and on training and instructing your children to love Jesus so that you are not profaned and disqualified later in life by rotten fruit when your family matures.

v Verse 8 even indicates that the rest of the people need to offer respect to the fact that a priest needs to attain to a higher standard of separation to do special work for God.

Ø The most obvious application in Moses’ day would have been not to pressure a priest to marry your divorced daughter.

Ø I am hesitant to take this Old Testament principle of treating priests as holy and apply it to pastors today. The New Testament says we are all priests to God, so I don’t think pastors should be considered as being somehow closer to God or doing more significant work for God.

Ø At the same time, there are ways to show special regard for a church officer that are appropriate to their office.

§ For instance, Matt Basel preached a couple of months ago on showing “double honor” to elders who teach and rule well in 1 Timothy 5,

§ and, according to Hebrews 13:17, there is a certain amount of submissiveness that is appropriate to show to leaders who are consistent with God’s word [4].

§ But we are all members of the body of Christ, and all are called to be considerate of one another, for instance, the command to all in Romans 12:10-11 “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (NKJV)

Ø The principle here is that even in personal choices like who you marry, you are not your own, you were bought by the blood of Christ, and you are called to consider what His will is for you first, and let that shape the personal choices you make.

v The third principle of Christian leadership is…

C) The Priesthood could not have a physical deformity (v.17-23)

v Priesthood was a hereditary office in the Old Testament, but not all the children of the priests were representative enough of the holiness of God in their persons to qualify as priests. The beginning of the chapter disqualified those who had been exposed to death, and the second section disqualifies those whose marriage was not a perfect picture of holiness. Finally we come to the third and final section which disqualifies priests for physical defects – whether genetic from birth or sustained in an injury or through sickness. The priests were to represent the holiness of God, not only in their lifestyle but also in their physical bodies.

v Now, God was not mean toward handicapped people. God still arranged to provide income for them in v.22 and promised to make them holy in v.23 [5]. (This is an example to us of how we should accept and care for the handicapped among us to reflect the character of our God who sanctifies and provides for the disabled.) They just could not fill the job of performing the animal sacrifices at the altar or of sprinkling the blood on the curtain inside the tent.

v This was a symbolic way of saying that only a perfect man could stand in God’s presence and reconcile other men to God. The book of Hebrews points out that since the Levitical priests had to keep offering sacrifices day after day, year after year, there was something imperfect about those priests: as clean and healthy as they were, they were still tainted by sin. The only man perfect enough to stand before God and have His sacrifice accepted once-and-for-all to reconcile men to God was Jesus Christ. This points us to Jesus.

v This also sets the standard for Christian leadership, for if the altar (the centerpiece of Old Testament worship) could have only the best-looking and purest animals and people around it, then the centerpiece of New Testament worship (the proclamation of the Gospel) must be similarly attractive, adorned now not with outward good looks but by inward personal character that conforms to the goodness of God’s character.

v The Apostle Paul brought this out in his exhortation to Titus: “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things...” (Titus 2:1-13, NKJV)

Conclusion

So let us implement these principles of godly leadership in our lives

Maintaining perspective of where we are in the big picture,
Incrementally moving those under our authority into God’s blessings,
Refusing to spend time on things that are not the center of God’s will for us,
Forsaking personal liberties in order to prioritize God’s calling on our lives,
And living lives of moral integrity and love that shed spiritual deformities and make us beautiful to God and make the good news we bring about Jesus attractive to others as well.

Comparative translations of Leviticus 21

When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original Hebrew, I use ~~strikeout~~. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. Hebrew text that is colored purple matches the Dead Sea Scrolls, and variants between the DSS and the MT are noted in endnotes with the following exceptions: When a holem or qibbutz pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a vav, when a hireq pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a yod (the corresponding consonantal representation of the same vowel), or when the tetragrammaton is spelled with paleo-Hebrew letters, I did not record it a variant. Dead Sea Scrolls which contain Leviticus 21 are: 11Q1 paleoLeviticus^a (Verses 6-11), 1Q3 PaleoLev-Num (Verse 24), 4Q26a Leviticus^e (Verses 1-4, 9-12, 21-24), and 4Q24 Leviticus ^b (Verses 17, 18, 20, 24).

LXX	Brenton	KJV	NAW	MT
1 Καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων Εἰπὸν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν τοῖς υἱοῖς Ααρων καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς Ἐν [ταῖς] ψυχαῖς οὐ μιανθήσονται ἐν τῷ ἔθνει αὐτῶν	1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt tell them that they shall not defile themselves in their nation for [the] ~~dead~~,	1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for [the] ~~dead~~ among his people:	1 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests – the sons of Aaron – and say to them, ‘No one shall let himself become unclean among his people for the sake of a soul,	א וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֱמֹ֥ר אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ לֹֽא־יִטַּמָּ֖א בְּעַמָּֽיו׃[A]
2 ἀλλ᾿ ἢ ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ τῷ ἔγγιστα αὐτῶν, ἐπὶ πατρὶ X καὶ μητρὶ X καὶ υἱοῖς X καὶ θυγατράσινX , X ἐπ᾿ ἀδελφῷ X	2 but they may mourn for a relative [who is] very near to ~~them~~, for a father and X mother, and X sons and X daughters, X for a X brother,	2 But for his kin, [that is] near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,	2 unless it is for the sake of his family-member close to him – for his mother or for his father or for his son or for his daughter or for his brother,	ב כִּ֚י אִם־לִשְׁאֵר֔וֹ הַקָּרֹ֖ב אֵלָ֑יו לְאִמּ֣וֹ וּלְאָבִ֔יו [B] וְלִבְנ֥וֹ וּלְבִתּ֖וֹ וּלְאָחִֽיו׃
3 καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἀδελφῇ παρθένῳ τῇ ἐγγιζούσῃ αὐτῷ τῇ μὴ ἐκδεδομένῃ ἀνδρί, ἐπὶ τούτ~~οις~~ μιανθήσεται.	3 and for a virgin sister that is near to one, that is not espoused to a man; for ~~these~~ one shall defile himself.	3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.	3 or for his unmarried sister close to him who has not gone to a husband – for her he may let himself become unclean.	ג וְלַאֲחֹת֤וֹ הַבְּתוּלָה֙ הַקְּרוֹבָ֣ה אֵלָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־הָיְתָ֖ה לְאִ֑ישׁ לָ֖הּ יִטַּמָּֽא׃
4 οὐ μιανθήσεται ἐξάπινα ἐν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ εἰς βεβήλωσιν αὐτοῦ .	4 He shall not defile himself suddenly among his people to profane himself.	4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.	4 A lord among his peoples may not let himself become unclean resulting in his being profaned.’	ד לֹ֥א יִטַּמָּ֖א בַּ֣עַל בְּעַמָּ֑יו לְהֵ֖חַלּֽוֹ׃
5 καὶ φαλάκρωμα οὐ ξυρηθήσ~~εσθε~~ τὴν κεφαλὴν [ἐπὶ νεκρῷ] καὶ τὴν ὄψιν τοῦ πώγωνος οὐ ξυρήσονται καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς σάρκας αὐτῶν οὐ κατατεμοῦσιν ἐντομίδας.	5 And ye shall not shave [your] head [for the dead] with a baldness on the top; and they shall not shave X X their beard, neither shall they make gashes on their flesh.	5 They shall not ~~make~~ baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the cornerX of their beard, nor ~~make~~ ~~any~~ cuttings in their flesh.	5 They may not tear out a bald-patch on their head and they may not shave the tops of their beards, and they may not cut gashes in their flesh.	ה לֹֽא־ יקרחה [C] קׇרְחָה֙ בְּרֹאשָׁ֔ם וּפְאַ֥ת זְקָנָ֖ם לֹ֣א יְגַלֵּ֑חוּ וּבִ֨בְשָׂרָ֔ם לֹ֥א יִשְׂרְט֖וּ שָׂרָֽטֶת [D]׃
6 ἅγιοι ἔσονται τῷ θεῷ αὐτῶν καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτῶν· τὰς γὰρ θυσίας κυρίου δῶρα τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτῶν αὐτοὶ προσφέρουσιν καὶ ἔσονται ἅγιοι.	6 They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God; for they offer the sacrifices of the Lord as the gifts of their God, and they shall be holy.	6 They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they [do offer]: therefore they shall be holy.	6 They must be holy ones to their God and not profane the reputation of their God because they are the ones who offer the burnt offerings of Yahweh, the bread of their God, so they must be holy ones.	ו קְדֹשִׁ֤ים יִהְיוּ֙ לֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם וְלֹ֣א יְחַלְּל֔וּ שֵׁ֖ם אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם כִּי֩ אֶת־אִשֵּׁ֨י יְהֹוָ֜ה לֶ֧חֶם אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֛ם הֵ֥ם מַקְרִיבִ֖ם וְהָ֥יוּ קֹֽדֶשׁ [E]׃
7 γυναῖκα πόρνην καὶ βεβηλωμένην οὐ λήμψονται καὶ γυναῖκα ἐκβεβλημένην ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς· X X ἅγιός ἐστιν [τῷ κυρίῳ] θεῷ αὐτοῦ.	7 They shall not take a woman who is a harlot and profaned, or a woman put away from her husband X X X X; for he is holy to [the Lord] his God.	7 They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.	7 They may not marry a woman who is a prostitute and is therefore profaned, and they may not marry a woman who has been expelled from her husband, because each is holy to his God.	ז אִשָּׁ֨ה זֹנָ֤ה וַחֲלָלָה֙ לֹ֣א יִקָּ֔חוּ וְאִשָּׁ֛ה גְּרוּשָׁ֥ה מֵאִישָׁ֖הּ לֹ֣א יִקָּ֑חוּ כִּֽי־קָדֹ֥שׁ ה֖וּא לֵאלֹהָֽיו׃
8 καὶ ἁγιάσει αὐτόν, X τὰ ~~δῶρα~~ [κυρίου] τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν οὗτος προσφέρει· ἅγιος ἔσται X, ὅτι ἅγιος ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς.	8 And thou shalt hallow him; X he offers the ~~gifts~~ of [the Lord] your God: he shall be holy X X, for I the Lord that sanctify them am holy.	8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify ~~you~~, am holy.	8 So you must set him apart as holy because he is the one who offers the food of your God. He shall be holy to you because I, Yahweh, who set them apart as holy, am holy.	ח וְקִ֨דַּשְׁתּ֔וֹ כִּֽי־אֶת [F]־לֶ֥חֶם אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ ה֣וּא מַקְרִ֑יב קָדֹשׁ֙ יִֽהְיֶה־לָּ֔ךְ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם [G]׃
9 καὶ θυγάτηρ ἀνθρώπου ἱερέως ἐὰν βεβηλωθῇ τοῦ ἐκπορνεῦσαι, [τὸ ὄνομα] τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς αὐτὴ βεβηλοῖ· ἐπὶ πυρὸς κατακαυθήσεται.	9 And if the daughter of a priest should be profaned to go a whoring, she profanes [the name of] her father: she shall be burnt with fire.	9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.	9 Now, in a case where a daughter of a man who is a priest is profaned on account of prostitution, she is profaning her father; she shall be burned in the fire.	ט וּבַת֙ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּהֵ֔ן כִּ֥י תֵחֵ֖ל לִזְנ֑וֹת אֶת [H]־אָבִ֙יהָ֙ הִ֣יא מְחַלֶּ֔לֶת בָּאֵ֖שׁ תִּשָּׂרֵֽף׃
10 Καὶ ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἐπικεχυμένου ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ἐλαίου τοῦ χριστοῦ καὶ τετελειωμένου ἐνδύσασθαι τὰ ἱμάτια, τὴν κεφαλὴν οὐκ ἀποκιδαρώσει καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια οὐ διαρρήξει	10 And the priest that is chief among his brethren, the oil having been poured upon the head of the anointed one, and he having been consecrated to put on the garments, shall not take the mitre off his head, and shall not rend his garments:	10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;	10 And the priest who is pre-eminent among his brothers, upon whose head was poured the anointing oil and who was ordained to wear the robes, he may not uncover his head and he may not tear up his clothes,	י וְהַכֹּהֵן֩ הַגָּד֨וֹל מֵאֶחָ֜יו [I] אֲֽשֶׁר־יוּצַ֥ק עַל־רֹאשׁ֣וֹ שֶׁ֤מֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה֙ וּמִלֵּ֣א אֶת־יָד֔וֹ לִלְבֹּ֖שׁ אֶת־הַבְּגָדִ֑ים אֶת־רֹאשׁוֹ֙ לֹ֣א יִפְרָ֔ע וּבְגָדָ֖יו לֹ֥א יִפְרֹֽם׃
11 καὶ ἐπὶ πάσῃ ψυχῇ τετελευτηκυίᾳ οὐκ εἰσελεύσεται, ἐπὶ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ἐπὶ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐ μιανθήσεται·	11 neither shall he go in to any dead bodyX, neither shall he defile himself for his father or his mother.	11 Neither shall he go in to any dead bodyX, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;	11 and he may not attend over any dying person. He may not make himself unclean for his father or for his mother.	יא וְעַ֛ל כׇּל־נַפְשֹׁ֥ת מֵ֖ת לֹ֣א יָבֹ֑א לְאָבִ֥יו וּלְאִמּ֖וֹ לֹ֥א יִטַּמָּֽא׃
12 καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ἡγιασμένον τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι τὸ ἅγιον ἔλαιον τὸ χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ· ἐγὼ κύριος.	12 And he shall not go forth out of the sanctuary, and he shall not profane the sanctuary of his God, because the holy anointing oil of God is upon him: I am the Lord.	12 Neither shall he 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 the LORD.	12 And he may not go out from the holy place, neither may he profane the holy place of his God because of the consecration of the anointing oil of his God upon him. I am Yahweh.	יב וּמִן־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ֙ לֹ֣א יֵצֵ֔א וְלֹ֣א יְחַלֵּ֔ל אֵ֖ת מִקְדַּ֣שׁ אֱלֹהָ֑יו כִּ֡י נֵ֠זֶר שֶׁ֣מֶן מִשְׁחַ֧ת אֱלֹהָ֛יו עָלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃
13 X οὗτος γυναῖκα παρθένον [ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ] λήμψεται·	13 X He shall take for a wife a virgin [of his own tribe].	13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.	13 Again, he is the one who must marry a woman in her virginity.	יג וְה֕וּא אִשָּׁ֥ה בִבְתוּלֶ֖יהָ יִקָּֽח׃
14 χήραν δὲ καὶ ἐκβεβλημένην καὶ βεβηλωμένην καὶ πόρνην, ταύτας οὐ λήμψεται, ἀλλ᾿ ἢ παρθένον ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ λήμψεται γυναῖκα·	14 But a widow, or one that is put away, or profaned, or a harlot, these he shall not take; but he shall take for a wife a virgin of his own people.	14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.	14 He may not marry these: a widow or a divorced woman or profane woman or a prostitute; instead it must be a virgin from his peoples that he takes as a wife,	יד אַלְמָנָ֤ה וּגְרוּשָׁה֙ וַחֲלָלָ֣ה [J]זֹנָ֔ה אֶת־אֵ֖לֶּה לֹ֣א יִקָּ֑ח כִּ֛י אִם־בְּתוּלָ֥ה מֵעַמָּ֖יו יִקַּ֥ח אִשָּֽׁה׃
15 καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτόν.	15 And he shall not profane his seed among his people: I am the Lord that sanctifies him.	15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.	15 thus he shall not profane his offspring among his peoples, for I am Yahweh who makes him holy.”	טו וְלֹֽא־יְחַלֵּ֥ל זַרְע֖וֹ בְּעַמָּ֑יו כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה מְקַדְּשֽׁוֹ׃
16 Καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων	16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,	16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,	16 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,	טז וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
17 Εἰπὸν Ααρων Ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ γένους σου εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν, τίνι ἐὰν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος, οὐ προσελεύσεται προσφέρειν τὰ δῶρα τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ.	17 Say to Aaron, A man of thy tribe throughout your generations, who shall have a blemish on him, shall not draw nigh to offer the gifts of his God.	17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish X X, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.	17 “Speak to Aaron saying, ‘Each man from your offspring throughout their generations upon whom there is a defect may not come near to offer the bread of his God,	יז דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ מִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֞ לְדֹרֹתָ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִהְיֶ֥ה בוֹ֙ מ֔וּם לֹ֣א יִקְרַ֔ב לְהַקְרִ֖יב לֶ֥חֶם אֱלֹהָֽיו׃
18 X πᾶς ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ ἂν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος, οὐ προσελεύσεται, ἄνθρωπος χωλὸς ἢ τυφλὸς ἢ κολοβόρριν ἢ ὠτότμητος	18 X No man who has a blemish on him shall draw nigh; a man blind, lame, with his nose disfigured, or his ears cut,	18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,	18 for every man on whom is a defect may not come near: a blind man or lame or one with missing parts or one with extra-long parts,	יח כִּ֥י כׇל־אִ֛ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ מ֖וּם לֹ֣א יִקְרָ֑ב אִ֤ישׁ עִוֵּר֙ א֣וֹ פִסֵּ֔חַ א֥וֹ חָרֻ֖ם א֥וֹ שָׂרֽוּעַ׃[i]
19 ἢ ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ ἐστιν ἐν αὐτῷ σύντριμμα χειρὸς ἢ σύντριμμα ποδός,	19 a man who has a broken hand or a broken foot,	19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,	19 or a man on whom there is a broken foot or a broken hand,	יט א֣וֹ אִ֔ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־יִהְיֶ֥ה ב֖וֹ שֶׁ֣בֶר רָ֑גֶל א֖וֹ שֶׁ֥בֶר יָֽד׃
20 ἢ κυρτὸς ἢ ἔφηλος ἢ πτίλος τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἢ ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ ἂν ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ ψώρα ἀγρία ἢ λιχήν, ἢ μόνορχις,	20 or hump-backed, or blear-eyed, or that has lost his eye-lashes, or a man who has a malignant ulcer, or tetter, or one that has lost a testicle.	20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;	20 or a hump-back or dwarfism or cataract in his eyes or a rash or scabs or a wiped-out testicle.	כ אֽוֹ־גִבֵּ֣ן[ii] אוֹ־דַ֔ק א֖וֹ תְּבַלֻּ֣ל בְּעֵינ֑וֹ[iii] א֤וֹ גָרָב֙ א֣וֹ יַלֶּ֔פֶת[iv] א֖וֹ מְר֥וֹחַ אָֽשֶׁךְ[v]׃
21 πᾶς, ᾧ ἐστιν ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος, ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος Ααρων τοῦ ἱερέως, οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ τοῦ προσενεγκεῖν τὰς θυσίας τῷ θεῷ [σου· ὅτι] μῶμος ἐν αὐτῷ, τὰ δῶρα τοῦ θεοῦ οὐ προσελεύσεται προσενεγκεῖν.	21 Whoever of the seed of Aaron the priest has a blemish on him, shall not draw nigh to offer sacrifices to [thy] God, [because] he has a blemish on him; he shall not draw nigh to offer the gifts of God.	21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.	21 Any man from the offspring of Aaron the priest who [has] a defect in him may not be present to offer the burnt-offering of Yahweh. There is a defect in him; he may not be present to offer the food of his God.	כא כׇּל־אִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֣וֹ מ֗וּם מִזֶּ֙רַע֙ אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֔ן לֹ֣א יִגַּ֔שׁ לְהַקְרִ֖יב אֶת־אִשֵּׁ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה מ֣וּם בּ֔וֹ אֵ֚ת לֶ֣חֶם אֱלֹהָ֔יו לֹ֥א יִגַּ֖שׁ לְהַקְרִֽיב׃
22 τὰ ~~δῶρα~~ τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων φάγεται·	22 The ~~gifts~~ of God are most holy, and he shall eat of the holy things.	22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.	22 The food of his God is holy among holy things yet he may eat from the holy things.	כב לֶ֣חֶם [L] אֱלֹהָ֔יו מִקׇּדְשֵׁ֖י הַקֳּדָשִׁ֑ים וּמִן־הַקֳּדָשִׁ֖ים יֹאכֵֽל׃
23 πλὴν πρὸς τὸ καταπέτασμα οὐ προσελεύσεται καὶ πρὸς τὸ θυσιαστήριον οὐκ ἐγγιεῖ, ὅτι μῶμον ἔχει· καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ἅγιον [τοῦ θεοῦ] ~~αὐτοῦ~~, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων αὐτούς.	23 Only he shall not approach the veil, and he shall not draw nigh to the altar, because he has a blemish; and he shall not profane ~~the~~ sanctuaryX [of his God], for I am the Lord that sanctifies them.	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.	23 Indeed he must not go to the veil or be present at the altar because there is a defect in him, And he must not profane my holiness because I am Yahweh who makes them holy.”	כג אַ֣ךְ אֶל־הַפָּרֹ֜כֶת לֹ֣א יָבֹ֗א וְאֶל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֛חַ לֹ֥א יִגַּ֖שׁ כִּֽי־מ֣וּם בּ֑וֹ וְלֹ֤א יְחַלֵּל֙ אֶת־מִקְדָּשַׁ֔י כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה מְקַדְּשָֽׁם׃
24 καὶ ἐλάλησεν Μωυσῆς πρὸς Ααρων καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς πάντας υἱοὺς Ισραηλ.	24 And Moses spoke to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.	24 And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.	24 So Moses gave the word to Aaron and to all his sons and also to all the children of Israel.	כד וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן וְאֶל־בָּנָ֑יו וְאֶֽל־כׇּל־בְּנֵ֖י [M] יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

[1] 1 Corinthians 12:7 NKJV But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

[2] Or, as long as he wasn’t the high priest, a priest could marry the widow of another priest (Ezek. 44:22).

[3] Titus 1:5-6 “…set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you — if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination…” (NKJV)

[4] Heb. 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (NKJV)

Jewish tradition indicates that a priest should be the one given the first opportunity to read the Torah or to say Grace before a meal. (Soncino)

[5] Cf. the salvation of other people with defects in Isa. 56:4-8 and Luke 14:13.

[A] Dead Sea Scroll (DSS) 4Q26a, the Samaritan Pentateuch (S.P.), the Septuagint (LXX), Syraiac, and Targums all omit the yod at the end of this word, changing the plural “peoples” to singular “people,” so I think we need to consider it singular, which is what all the major English versions do anyway.

[B] The S.P., LXX, and Syriac put “father” first then “mother.” DSS are not clear enough to tell. It makes no difference in meaning, though.

[C] The keteb reading is 3^rd singular feminine (“she shall not shave”), but the qere reading in the margin of the MT, יִקְרְח֤וּ (“they [3mp] shall not shave”), is preferred by all the major English versions and is supported by the S.P. The LXX reads 2mp “ye shall not shave” and adds the explanatory parenthesis that this kind of shaving was done “for the dead.” The other four instances of this verb in the O.T. bear this out: Jer 16:6, Ezek. 27:31; 29:18; Mic. 1:16, and noun forms of the same root: Deut. 14:1b, Deut. 14:1; Isa. 3:24; 15:2; 22:12; Jer. 47:5; 48:37; Ezek. 7:18; Amos 8:10). The DSS are unclear at this point. The disparity among the manuscripts supports non-acceptance of the keteb.

[D] Singular in the S.P. (perhaps the ת was misread as a ה since it looks so similar), but the plural “cuts” in the MT is supported by the LXX. Shaving the beard and lacerating the arms was also a sign of grief and shame (Ezra 9:3, Isa. 7:20; 15:2; Jer. 41:5; 48:37-38; Eze. 5:1), although the latter was only recorded in the Bible as being practiced by pagans.

[E] DSS 11Q1, S.P., and the LXX all spell this word plural, so I believe the M.T. is wrong here with its singular. However, since the English word “holy” is the same whether it serves as a singular or plural adjective, it is not a problem for us.

[F] 11Q1 omits this direct object indicator, which does not change the meaning, but merely makes the part of speech of the next word more clear.

[G] S.P., LXX, and DSS (11Q1) all agree that the pronominal suffix should be “them” not “you.”

[H] DSS 4Q26 inserts the word “house” here, and the LXX inserts the word “name” here, but it’s not in the 11Q1 DSS, so it’s probably an explanatory insert.

[I] DSS 11Q1 reads without the yod, changing the word “brothers” to singular (“brother”), but the LXX, SP, and the spacing of DSS 4Q26a support the yod found in the MT.

[J] An “or” should be added here to the M.T. to match the S.P., LXX, and Targums. The DSS are too obscure to read at this point.

[K] This should be plural “eyes” to match the S.P., LXX, Syriac, and Targums. DSS are too obscure to read here.

[L] The S.P. omits this object, the LXX reads “gifts,” the MT reads “bread,” and the word is obliterated from the DSS. In such a case, I’ll stick with the MT, although the sense of the LXX is not really different.

[M] The DSS are divided on whether (1Q3, 4Q24) or not (4Q26a) to include the word “sons of,” but it’s in the LXX and S.P. and M.T. so I say we keep it.